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$3,999, lslinstruments.com

What a time to be reviewing an LsL guitar. Yes, for the last few weeks this Baribone has been awkwardly slotted into my guitar rack next to a few Fenders, no doubt feeling like it had wandered into a bar in the wrong part of town, the part where the honky-tonk piano crashes to a stop when the saloon doors swing open, and all the patrons tentatively reach for their lawyers’ email addresses.

• READ MORE: Gretsch Electromatic Jet Baritone review: more long-scale chaos from Gretsch

Thankfully, for guitar reviewers who are running out of ways of describing the elephant in the room without wanting to waste a lot of word count reminding people about current events, the instrument we have here is mercifully separated from the current hurley-burley, though it is extremely on brand for 2026.

What is it?

So what’s different about today’s guitar? Well, it’s baritone for starters, with custom appointments that make it pretty far what even the Fender Custom Shop might make you unless you were prepared to remortgage the house and have a nice long chat with a Master Builder.

The custom nature of the Baribone line means LsL is pretty flexible about what your final instrument looks like, but the core model pairs a T-type body paired with a 27.5” scale length.

That baritone scale is a good middle-ground, particularly for faster playing – the tension is still quite hefty at B-B, but the fret span isn’t so wide that it feels like a different instrument.

From here, custom appointments open up a pretty wide world of single-cut downtuned fun – you can keep it traditional with a bridge plate and single-coils, go full modern with dual humbuckers and exotic woods, or combine your own personal mix of modern and vintage specs.

The latter has been done here: its future owner intends it to be used for progressive metal while still looking like something designed in the 1950s. And, indeed, used very hard every day since the 1950s – so it’s a vintage-styled heavy relic from a distance, but take a closer look, and something far more aggressive rears its head, with hefty humbuckers and jumbo frets.

Build quality

While it still polarises, artificial ageing has become a pretty commonplace thing in the guitar space. From Novos and Murphy Labs to Mexican Fenders… hell, even super affordable instruments can be found with aged finishes now (Harley Benton’s new range, for instance).

As anyone who has got up close with these cheaper guitars can attest, artificial wear and tear can look a little artless up close when done on a mass-production scale. Conversely, this guitar is a reminder of just how much of an art form ageing an instrument can be.

The finish wear, for instance, very much accentuates the three-dimensional nature of the lacquer, with satisfying, crackly checking and smears of damage that reveal sequential layers of colour, primer and wood.

The hardware ageing is subtle compared to the body’s, which is good to see from a comfort perspective (no one wants an actual rusty bridge), and a thin vintage-style finish will obviously take the brunt of genuine wear-and-tear. The look of the headstock really benefits from the ageing, too, with a really pleasing character added to the substantial bevels by the complex chipping.

Importantly, the effect is cohesive. An easy tell for rubbish relicing is a sort of mish-mash of damage, the obvious result of randomly throwing screwdrivers at the guitar for an afternoon, rather than a wear pattern with a more narrative aspect.

Everything flows together here, and feels verisimilitudinous (there’s one for your next Scrabble game) in where it lies – forearm wear smooths out the area where your forearm rests, the pick wear is where you’d pick, and also sort of clears the way for you with a little scoop in the bevel of the pickguard.

The only gripe I have with the ageing is the slightly inconsistent feel of the neck – some of the process has left that darker patch where my thumb rests below the seventh fret feeling just a tad rough. It’s subtle enough that it’ll likely smooth out after a couple of sweaty gigs, but maybe just one more pass of a micromesh pad might have given the same aesthetic effect without the slightly raw feeling on the pad of my thumb.

As for the rest of the actual build quality, it’s frankly faultless. The guitar presents as an extraordinarily complete instrument, with none of the little compromises of setup and alignment that factory guitars sometimes have to make. For this kind of cash, of course, you’d hope that it would be so – but it’s worth putting across just how neatly everything has been made and assembled here.

Playability

Picking up the guitar and giving it an unplugged strum, it’s striking how lively it feels. The factory setup and strings make for quite substantial tension in B standard – and that translates to extra twang and resonance from the lightweight, lightly-finished body. To channel Nigel Tufnel for a moment – even unplugged, it sustains for absolutely bloody ages when you ring out a big chord.

The neck profile is a custom C profile designed by LsL master builder Chris Fleming – and aside from the aforementioned rough patch it’s a very pleasing profile. Longer scale length aside, it still feels like a comfortable vintage Tele-style neck, particularly thanks to the 1.65” nut. Aforementioned rough spot aside, the texture of most of the neck is lovely and smooth – here the phrase “played-in” means that you’re never running up against any sticky gloss that’ll slow you down.

The jumbo frets here are mirror-smooth and, at first, distractingly massive – the vintage look makes me instinctively expect frets that aren’t railway-sleeper chunky, but, that cognitive dissonance quickly melts away upon actually playing the thing. The 12” radius helps things feel extremely glassy – not that I’m doing much bending on it, mind, thanks to that higher tension, but leads are a breeze and wide-open chords have a chewy, satisfying feel thanks to the extra space underneath the string.

At the right hand, the hipshot hardtail bridge is one of the best options for a no-nonsense string-through hardtail, with its little ramp for comfy palm-muting, and solidly made saddles that don’t drift downwards or rattle. Like a more traditional string-through Telecaster bridge, it makes for a pretty snappy feeling – but with a lot more comfort when it comes to heavier playing.

Sounds

Plugging in, the first thing I notice is that the Bare Knuckle Impulse that’s in the bridge position sounds absolutely killer. This is a signature design for Josh Smith from Northlane, and it’s voiced specifically for heavy baritone tones. It makes good on that promise, smartly cutting enough low-end to keep things clear and tight rather than flabby, but by no means does it let go of any impact. It’s a little like having an always-on tightening booster, something like an EQD Arrows, which, if you’ve ever used you’ll know just kind of makes most dirt pedals sound better.

The neck pickup is an in-house LsL humbucker. It’s fairly hot, but not to the point of overwhelming the signal, and in tunings like this, you don’t want to have something with too much power in the neck. Tonally it’s a little more of a classic humbucker, although most things are when compared to huge quad-bladed things like the Impulse. Regardless, it provides a nice contrast – a refined Japanese chef’s knife next to the sharp-but-brutal two-handed longsword of the bridge pickup – allowing for a more dynamic experience once you get that pickup switch in play.

Both are, of course, made nice and lively by the generally resonant character of the guitar – and while you can argue about psychosomatic transferral of tonewood characteristics through high-gain gear all you like, what you can’t argue with is the feel of the thing springing back in your hands and against your body as you strum it.

Overall, my time with this Baribone was pretty excellent, and I was (unsurprisingly) extremely sad to pack it up and send it on to its owner.

What I find exciting about baritones, too, comes across very strongly in the Baribone, resonantly and articulately projecting the huge presence of a downtuned instrument.

For heavy music, I can appreciate the ultra-thin shreddy necks and heel access down to the 22nd fret, but for my purposes the ergonomics of a Fender-style construction, replete with a vintage neck profile and nice big square heel, never provided a barrier.

Should I buy one?

Thinking about it, that term “Fender-style” is a lot more loaded with potential legal ramifications than it was a few months ago, isn’t it? And it’s fair to say that lots more people will recognise the name LsL Instruments than they might have either.

For transparency’s sake, I should note that this review was arranged before the brand became the focal point of a legal firestorm, but it’s tricky to untangle it from the wider notoriety here in September 2026.

That being said, it’s nice to be able to check out something like the Baribone in the shadow of what else is going on and appraise why people might want a guitar from LsL, beyond social media cheerleading.

Because obviously, there are bits of Fender in this guitar’s DNA, but it melds that with a bunch of stuff that you simply cannot get from a production Fender guitar right now. A USA-made hybrid vintage/modern T-type baritone may not be a mass-market instrument, but it’s still a very cool thing that would not exist without smaller builders like this.

With that out of the way: should you buy an LsL Baribone? Well, if you’re spending this much money on a guitar, I’d hope you’d be certain enough in your intentions that a single paragraph of a single review wouldn’t be the final thing to tip the balance – but, to be just a data point in your decision matrix anyhow: you should.

LSL Baribone alternatives

There are a good few other baritone instruments in this price range, but they tend to err on the side of more vintage-y or at least less heavy in their application. Novo makes a baritone version of the Serus J ($4,499), which is a similarly high-end custom with more of an offset vibe if that’s your thing. There’s also the Duesenberg Julietta Baritone ($2,999), a weirder unique thing with an undeniable eye-catching presence.

In the more explicitly metal world, ESP’s high-end offerings include some hefty seven-string baritones with somewhat T-style appointments, although more in the Jim Root tradition than the Roy Nichols one. Gibson has also just announced a ($2,499) bari version of its hard-rockin’ Victory model, too – it’s a cool thing for the 80s-inclined. And at around 1/10th of the price, there’s also something like the Squier Classic Vibe Baritone Telecaster ($549.99) and Gretsch Electromatic Jet Baritone ($549) if you’ve read this review and started to salivate at the idea of a single-cut baritone but are currently not in a position to drop $4,000 on an instrument.

The post LsL Instruments Baribone review: custom baritone T-type finds the balance between vintage and modern appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Back in April, Guitar Center got the guitar world talking when it announced plans to launch its own in-house guitar brand, outsourcing some ideas to its community while offering limited rights or remuneration for successful ideas. 

The response wasn’t all positive at the time, but the retail giant has steamed ahead, and after months of R&D, is finally offering players the chance to test its first prototype…

• READ MORE: Seymour Duncan recreates the P-90s in Joe Bonamassa’s prized pawnshop 1961 Gibson SG Special

In May, CEO Gabe Dalporto elaborated on how the company became inspired to start its own guitar brand. As he explained, a lot of it came down to his perceived lack of variation or substantial innovation in the guitar industry. “The world doesn’t need another Tele or Strat clone – it just doesn’t,” he said.

Now, Guitar Center has issued an open invitation for guitarists to come and taste what it’s been cooking. Concrete information as to the build remains pretty limited – testers need to sign an NDA in order to do so – but you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t be another S-type or Les Paul copy…

As it stands, neither the new guitar design or in-house guitar brand as a whole has been publicly given a name.

“We’ve been building and creating a new guitar line from scratch, and that new guitar line has been based on interactions with you and your feedback,” Dalporto says in a new post on Instagram. 

“You guys have been giving us tons of feedback on your aspirations and dreams and hopes of what you would like to see in a new guitar. We are now at the point where we’re getting prototypes into our office and we want real-world feedback – feedback from you.”

View this post on Instagram

Fancy getting your hands on the prototype? If you’re in the LA area, you might be in luck. Testing for the new guitar will take place at Guitar Center’s Westlake Village, California offices in late September and early October. If you want to participate, you can email Guitar Center at info@GCPLB.com. 

Rich Thrush, the man in charge of the new project at Guitar Center, has also taken to Reddit to confirm those wanting to test the prototype will need to sign an NDA.

“We’re now entering the next phase of the project, and we’ll have a new round of prototypes ready to test near the end of September and into October,” he writes. “The prototypes are still early and we have a long way to go but the vision is coming together. As always, we’ll be inviting players to come in, spend time with the guitars and give us honest, unfiltered feedback. We’d love to open that opportunity up to members of this community as well.

Because we’re still working on features and designs that aren’t public yet, there are a couple of requirements. You’ll need to visit our Westlake Village, CA office in early October, leave your phone outside the testing area, and sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before participating.”

“If you’re primarily an influencer or represent a brand, please let us know when you reach out. We’d still love to connect, but we’ll likely involve you at a later stage of the project.”

You can learn more at the official r/GuitarLab subreddit.

The post Want to test the prototype from Guitar Center’s new in-house guitar brand? Here’s how you can appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

One of Megadeth’s most recognised instrumental parts was written by Dave Mustaine on bass, which went on to be used as intro music in a rather peculiar context.

The bass riff that can be heard on Peace Sells of Megadeth’s 1986 album Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? was formerly used as intro music for MTV News in the 1990s. Played by David Ellefson, it was originally crafted as a guitar riff by Mustaine who then transferred to bass.

• READ MORE: Dave Mustaine’s new memoir, In My Darkest Hour, has arrived, and he’s embarking on a three-stop US book tour

Speaking to The New York Post in promotion of his new book, In My Darkest Hour, Mustaine claims that the band never received any royalties for its use: “MTV cut it off right before I would get paid for it … at least that’s what I was told by our management and the auditors,” he says.

“So it was kind of bittersweet. Funny thing is, people don’t know that I wrote that part, because it’s played on a different instrument. I was in our rehearsal room in a place called Vernon, California.

“God’s been good to me,” he adds. “I don’t need to have every single crumb, that I’ve earned. I can afford to walk away from certain things. You know, when you get into legal battles, nobody ever wins.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mustaine also speaks of his battle with throat cancer in 2019. Now in complete remission, he underwent more than 50 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy.

Speaking to Metal Hammer last month, Mustaine shared how a number of people reached out to him during his treatment, including fellow cancer survivor Bruce Dickinson.

“Bruce had some fantastic stuff to say as a cancer survivor,” Mustaine said. “There’s a big difference between someone saying, ‘You’re in my thoughts and prayers’, versus somebody who goes into detail about his treatment and tells you about the outcome.”

Megadeth are currently on their final tour ever. You can view their full list of remaining live shows via the Megadeth website.

The post “People don’t know that I wrote that part”: Dave Mustaine on creating one of Megadeth’s most well-known bass riffs appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Soundgarden teamed up with The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready for the NFL halftime show at Seattle’s Lumen Field.

The game took place on 9 September, and saw the Seattle Seahawks go up against the New England Patriots, and win 13-10. The one-off supergroup performed Soundgarden tracks Outshined and Spoonman, and McCready also performed the US national anthem prior to the game.

• READ MORE: Mike McCready says using a digital amp modeller has pushed him to play better than ever: “I just felt more confident”

The grungey performance was really something to behold, with cheerleaders dancing along to the slow tempo of the trudging tracks – a task that’s surely not easy, given the lack of usual pep for cheer dances. You can watch the show below:

The show isn’t the first time that Momsen has filled in on vocals for Soundgarden since the tragic passing of frontman Chris Cornell, who died by suicide in 2017.

Last July, Momsen spoke of how much she admired Cornell in an interview with NME surrounding the release of The Pretty Reckless’ album Dear God, in which she explores grief and depression.

“I can only speak for me, I can’t speak for the world, but for me all of Chris Cornell’s work speaks to me on a level that nothing else does,” she said. “When something touches you that way, it’s hard to put into words just exactly why.

“There is just this connection, and it’s like it is speaking to you on a level that is so deep that it feels like a part of you. I’ve listened to his solo work and to Soundgarden so many times, but every time I listen to them, it evokes something different in me.”

Soundgarden are continuing to work on an album that features vocals from Cornell that were recorded before his death. Guitarist Kim Thayil recently told Guitar World, “It’s emotionally draining and there are things about it that are sad and melancholic. But at the same time, it’s exciting to finish the work that we started with Chris.

“It’s a tribute to Soundgarden and a tribute to Chris. To not do this would be a great disservice to everyone, including the fans who knew we were in a writing cycle while we were touring,” he said.

The post Grunge with a side of cheer: Watch Soundgarden perform with Taylor Momsen and Mike McCready at the NFL halftime show in Seattle appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Marty Friedman is a champion of uplifting other guitarists, and he’s recently highlighted another player he particularly admires.

Since relocating to Tokyo in Japan back in 2003, Friedman has integrated himself deeply into the country’s guitar scene, appearing on a number of Japanese music television shows like Rock Fujiyama, and networking with other musicians.

• READ MORE: Marty Friedman explains why practicing guitar at home won’t help you find your own sound

In a new interview with Guitar World, he highlights Asterism’s Hal-Ca as one of his favourite players to jam with. The band formed in 2014, and have gained international recognition for their own genre, which they call “mass metal”.

“There are a lot of super female rock guitarists in Japan, but if I were forced to choose a favorite, it would be Hal-Ca,” Friedman begins. “Her band is called Asterism, and we’ve done a lot of cool things together, notably performing the song Gyutto, which we wrote together on Sony’s The First Take video series.

“Hal-Ca is an extremely aggressive heavy metal player, with a precise machine-gun right hand for rhythm that I wish I had. Her soloing is wild, well thought out, and performed with ease and abandon.

“Hal-Ca will be doing some shows with me as my second guitarist on tour, and that requires some pretty high-level abilities,” he shares.

Hear Hal-Ca in action below:

Earlier this year, Friedman also shared his thoughts on the impact that social media has had on the guitar industry. In an interview with musician Tobias Le Compte, he argued that guitar’s popularity has always been cyclical – but today’s platforms are amplifying it in ways that weren’t possible before.

“It goes up and down in popularity as an instrument,” he said. “But the great thing about now is social media is just such a big support of guitar.

“Just right now, I did two things that are, without social media – no one would know what they are. But I did a great collaboration with Ichika Nito, and it’s all over social media now.”

Find out where you can catch Marty Friedman on tour by heading over to his official website. 

The post The guitarist with “a precise machine-gun right hand” that Marty Friedman loves to work with appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

A previously unreleased Van Halen demo recorded in 1974 is set for release alongside the limited-edition version of Alex Van Halen’s new book, Van Halen.

The new track, Glitter, marks the earliest Van Halen recording ever to be officially released, and features brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen, alongside frontman David Lee Roth and original bassist Mark Stone.

Arriving alongside the signed limited-edition version of Alex Van Halen’s book, Glitter will be available via a 7” picture disc with artwork based on the band’s classic 1984 tour design. The record will also feature a spoken-word recording from Alex Van Halen, taken from exclusive interviews from the new book.

• READ MORE: The best deals from Thomann Guitar Days – save up to 60% on guitars from Fender, Gibson, Strandberg, Solar and more

Published by Genesis, Van Halen is described as the “official chronicle of the band”, and is limited to just 1,500 signed and numbered copies worldwide.

The book draws upon AVH’s private archives, tracing his and Eddie’s journey from childhood to their arrival in California from Holland, charting “backyard parties in Pasadena” through to their formative years playing the legendary Sunset Strip, and their landmark 1978 debut album.

The book is made up of 312 pages in total, featuring photography of iconic moments, previously unseen images, correspondence, tour memorabilia, album artwork, press material, musical equipment and other archival material.

Of the total 1,500 copies, copies 351 to 1,500 are presented as Collector boxed sets, arriving in a quarter-bound black vegan leather with silver page edging and a silver-debossed Van Halen logo taken from the band’s 1978 world tour.

In other news, two Eddie Van Halen Kramer guitars recently went up for auction – accompanied by his used cigarette butts… They sold for $205,000 and $100,000, respectively.

The book is available now for pre-order via Genesis.

The post A previously unheard Van Halen track is about to be released – here’s how you can listen to it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The Linda Lindas’ new album begins with a twisted sort of disco. It’s not the usual sound most would ‘expect’ from the four-piece punk band, but their titular opening track proves exactly why this new era is so exciting.

• READ MORE: Inside the music shop where rising guitar band Westside Cowboy formed: “It helped me find my love for guitar again”

“I had this crazy funk phase right before we started writing,” laughs Bela Salazar. “I was listening to The Brothers Johnson and [artists] like that. If you listen closely, there’s a lot of funky guitar parts. They’re not played in the context that they’re supposed to be played in, but I was deep diving and learning about the picking styles.”

Listen to the lyrics on Gotta Get Out, however, and it all starts to make sense. As demonstrated on their 2022 debut Growing up and 2024’s No Obligation, the Linda Lindas are good at this sort of oxymoronic thing: while their instrumental work is often colourful, their lyrics reveal inner stories of mental health struggles, burnout, pressure, and societal concerns, from climate change to warped politics.

Different Strokes

There’s no doubt about it though, this album feels different, both from a listener’s perspective and for the band behind it. They’ve levelled up.

“We’re very proud of how much we’ve grown,” reflects Lucia de la Garza. “It’s really cool to get to do it with a band and have that shared experience. We’re really lucky to be making music still.”

Half a decade has passed since they went viral for their LA Public Library performance of their song Racist, Sexist Boy. Fast forward to the present, and it’s a busy August morning for the band – completed by Mila de la Garza and Eloise Wong – as they’re set for a day of both press and practice for their upcoming tour. They’re quite happy to have a chock-full calendar though; it was the comedown of their last tour that put the wheels in motion for album three, afterall.

“We toured No Obligation, and it was so, so fun. We were having the best time. Then we got home and were like, ‘Now what?’ And immediately decided that it was time,” recalls de la Garza.

“The process of No Obligation took a long time; from having written the songs to releasing them was a very long time, so the time from releasing them to touring them was even longer. We’d sat with them. They had been in our hearts and in our heads for a while. We had so many ideas for a third album.”

Spinning Around

Not only is Gotta Get Out funky, but it’s metal AF, it’s classic emo, and it’s pop-rock, all in the same body of work. To forge the record as a fresh experiment, the band set out to break from familiar habits when writing, retreating to Palm Springs and Long Beach to work together in the same room for the first time.

A synergy was created between the two six-stringers, with Salazar starting most guitar parts, then de la Garza adding her own spin on them and pushing them even further. The whole band was in their element, inspired by trial and error, and a desire to learn new things.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t really know how to do a lot of things. I’m going to learn how to use Logic. I’m going to demo out all my ideas,’” shares Salazar. “We had a couple of writing trips. I got really into pedals and became a little bit more of a tonehead.”

No gear snobbery round here, partner. The gang used a mix of classic pedals, multi-effects units and modellers, as well as a range of guitars, some of which echo back to the very first instruments they picked up.

The duo dipped into the world of EarthQuaker pedals – from the Westwood overdrive to the Sea Machine super chorus – the Line 6 HX Stomp, and Fender’s ToneMaster.

“I had a SG, I had a Strat, I had a Jazzmaster, I used a St. Vincent [Music Man],” lists de la Garza. “We’re getting ready for tour right now, and I’m going to be taking a Jazzmaster on the road, which I’m very excited about because I stopped [using one for a while].”

“In the studio, I used a [Gibson] ES-330, a [Fender] Jaguar, a Tele. I love Teles,” emphasises Salazar, who these days opts for lightweight models. “On tour, I think I’m going to go back to playing a Tele. My back is all messed up from guitar… I’m getting a Tele [that has] the inside carved out.”

Blood Work

One of the most impressive exercises in the band pushing things further tonally is on track Blood On Our Hands. The band picked up their most metal axes and got to work on finding a classic metal sound. The result is mega, and works in tandem with ultra sharp lyrics: ‘All the people here, we’ll let them go hungry, How does building camps and dropping bombs help our country?’

“We picked the heaviest guitars we had, which for me was the SG,” shares de la Garza. “It took a long time to get there. We were playing for a while and tinkering, figuring it all out. My dad, who’s the producer on the album, really wanted to get it all right and [give] it the heaviest and coolest sound possible. We were using Marshalls a lot in the studio for the big, classic sound.”

Another significant track on the record is the band’s collaboration with Paramore’s Hayley Williams. It was a long time coming given the band’s longstanding bond with Williams, who showed her support from them right off the back of their 2021 viral performance.

“Most of the song was done by the time that she heard it. We layered a bunch of guitars on for the demo because we knew that was the sound that we wanted. She’s like the queen of emo, pretty much! So it was a little bit daunting showing it to her, but also pretty awesome,” says de la Garza.

“We ended up adding more to the bridge in terms of guitar after she heard it. She had ideas to bring it to that place where [it is now]. [Of course we were] going to trust her opinions on how to bring it home in terms of honouring the legacy of the genre.”

No Pressure

Much like Williams, who also started out in the industry as a young teenager, The Linda Lindas have found that breaking into music before adulthood can be a complicated journey of figuring yourself out in front of a public lens.

“Honestly, Hayley told us early on [about the] power of saying no,” explains Salazar. “That has helped us so much because it’s hard to say yes to every opportunity that comes in. We’ve learned to protect our peace.”

The Linda Lindas have their heads screwed on. Making art with good people and building a defiant community around them is not only an act of rebellion, but the hope they hold onto. Here’s to the next five years and beyond.

“One of the things that’s been really cool about being in this band is how many friends we’ve gotten to make along the way that do creative things too,” says de la Garza. “That’s something that AI can’t do, is build a community like that, build something bigger than yourself… We’ll never stop doing what we do, which is being creative and being true to us.”

The Linda Lindas are on tour from September. Head to their official website to find out more.

The post “We’ll never stop doing what we do”: The Linda Lindas on the power of community, working with Hayley Williams, and becoming toneheads appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Blues maestro Joe Bonamassa has teamed up with pickup powerhouse Seymour Duncan on a new set of Custom Shop P-90s.

Recreating the sound of the P-90s in his treasured 1961 Gibson SG Special – which made him fall in love with the sound of P=90s in the first place – the Joe Bonamassa “Pawn Shop Special” 1961 P90 Set utilises Alnico 4 magnets, a custom wind and “historically accurate components” to deliver “airy highs, expressive midrange and snarling overdrive”.

• READ MORE: The best deals from Thomann Guitar Days – save up to 60% on guitars from Fender, Gibson, Strandberg, Solar and more

Joe Bonamassa’s love affair with P-90s began in 2010, when he discovered his now-prized ‘61 Gibson SG Special at a pawn shop while on tour. Though dating back to the first year Gibson ever launched the now famous SG model, the guitar is said to have been a “pristine example of a first-year SG Special”.

As he remembers, he was alerted to the presence of the pawn shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana by a member of his crew.

“Very rarely do you find a special guitar in a pawn shop,” Bonamassa says. “Well, one day in 2010, I was playing the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne. It was the middle of winter, and I heard there was a pawn shop around the corner with an interesting SG from one of the crew guys.”

He continues: “I ended up bringing it back to the Embassy Theatre. I plugged it in, and these particular P-90s were the P-90s that I was searching for. Over the years, I always thought they were either too dark or too bright; not for me. But this was the beginning of my love affair with P-90s.”

Seymour Duncan has been tasked with recreating the pickups of some of Joe Bonamassa’s vintage guitars in the past, but this collaboration marks the first time the brand has made a custom Joe Bonamassa P-90 set.

The pickups are outfitted with historically accurate dimpled P-90 bottom plates, covers and other period-correct details, and come wax potted as per JoBo’s preferences for his live performances.

Owing to the special place that ‘61 “Pawn Shop Special” SG has in Bonamassa’s collection – it was the very first instrument he catalogued, marking it as inventory item #001 – the first 610 sets of the new pickups come with a Nerdville #001 inventory tag, plus a certificate of authenticity signed by both Joe and Seymour Duncan.

Nerdville, of course, refers to the two locations in LA and Nashville where Joe Bonamassa houses his vast collection of vintage instruments.

The Joe Bonamassa “Pawn Shop Special” pickups are available now, priced at $375 a set.

Learn more at Seymour Duncan.

The post Seymour Duncan recreates the P-90s in Joe Bonamassa’s prized pawnshop 1961 Gibson SG Special appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In the market for a new guitar? Perfect timing, as Thomann has just launched its Guitar Days sale, which across the rest of September, offers discounts of up to 60% on a huge range of guitar gear.

Whether you’re looking for your first guitar or simply another instrument to add to the collection, Guitar Days has deals running the gamut of price points, so regardless of your budget, you’ll find your perfect new guitar in no time.

Naturally, as there’s hundreds of deals on offer – over 500, to be precise – it’s a bit of a task to sift through them all to find the right one for you. Thankfully, though, we’ve scanned the entire sale to find the very best deals to make your life a little easier.

Budget-constrained/looking for something entry level? There’s a huge range of Thomann-owned Harley Benton electric guitars up for grabs, like the shred-ready Fusion-IV HSS RW SGD, discounted by 20%, down from £429 to £345. Or if you’re after a single-cut, try the SC-Custom III in Purple Satin, down 10% to just £232. This one’s fitted with Tesla humbuckers and a raft of player-friendly features, and could very well be your next riff machine for under £250.

Headless guitars are all the rage these days in the virtuosic prog metal world, so if this is your bag, you’ll need one in your collection. And during Guitar Days, there’s some solid headless options discounted until the end of September.

The top-rated Strandberg Boden Prog NX 7 Deep Blue has seen a massive 31% knocked off its price tag, taking this seven-string beauty down from £2,259 to just £1,555. Obviously fifteen hundred quid ain’t cheap, but £700 in savings is nothing to be sniffed at. Specs include a swamp ash body with a flame maple veneer, a carbon fibre reinforced neck, Fishman Fluence pickups and a headstock featuring – oh no, wait, that’s missing.

Meanwhile, there’s a six-string option available, too – the Strandberg Boden Metal NX 6 in Black Granite, discounted by 26%, now just £1,350 instead of £1,825. This one sports Suhr Aldrich humbuckers, a carbon fibre-reinforced neck, and a basswood body.

If you want a headless guitar at a fraction of the price, try the Hils Next HN5 Met. in Coral Orange, with nearly half off the price tag at just £291 down from £511.

In the guitar world, Fender and Gibson remain the two big dogs. So if one is missing from your collection, now’s the time to branch out… There’s a number of Fender and Gibson guitars on offer during Guitar Days, like this Les Paul Studio, down 18% to just £1,135 from £1,390.

Or if you’ve got a little more budget to play with, a Gibson Firebird is a prestigious addition to any guitar collection. This Firebird Custom is discounted by £600, and is now £3,490 throughout the Guitar Days sale.

On the Fender side, you can get this Made-in-Japan ‘60s Jazzmaster for just £1,199 down from £1,350.

If none of these tickle your fancy, take a look at some other highlights we’ve picked out below!

And if there’s still nothing here that’s tempting you, feel free to head over to Thomann to browse the full Guitar Days sale yourself!

The post The best deals from Thomann Guitar Days – save up to 60% on guitars from Fender, Gibson, Strandberg, Solar and more appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In just 15 years, Positive Grid has established itself as one of the most innovative guitar gear makers in the game. Lately, most of the San Diego-based brand’s equipment has seen AI as a key selling point. Take BIAS X, for example, a comprehensive in-the-box amp suite featuring AI-driven text-to-tone capabilities. Or the Reactor, a physical amplifier that ships with an AI chatbot…

But its latest release sees the company foray into the world of floor-based amp modellers, placing less emphasis on AI this time around and returning to the basics that made its flagship Spark amps so popular: top-quality tones, Bluetooth connectivity for jamming and practice, and a massive suite of digital amps and effects to play with.

• READ MORE: Metalheads: this sleek AF Cort guitar could be your new favourite affordable singlecut

Built on Positive Grid’s HD Tone Engine – the same DSP architecture found in the flagship Spark 2 – the Spark PEDAL offers guitarists 33 onboard amp models and 43 effects, as well as access to over 100,000 tones via PG’s online ToneCloud tone-sharing community.

The Spark PEDAL features an intuitive set of controls, with multi-function knobs depending on the mode selected. In Amp Mode, these knobs adjust your standard amp parameters, like Gain, Bass, Mid and Treble. Meanwhile, switching to FX Mode makes these knobs control Drive, Modulation, Delay and Reverb depth. The centre multi-function knob can be held down to activate a built-in tuner, while guitarists can also store up to six presets across two banks via the onboard footswitches.

There’s also an onboard 60-second looper, which can be operated via the unit’s footswitches, meaning no menu navigation and seamless looper access. Guitarists can also jam along to tracks via a mobile Bluetooth connection, and practice silently using the stereo headphone out.

In terms of connectivity, the Spark PEDAL can function in a range of scenarios. Alongside its functionality as a standalone floor-based amp pedal, the amp section can be bypassed and the unit used as an effects unit in front of an existing rig, it can be used on an existing pedalboard, and even as an audio interface for desktop recording.

AI has made up a big part of many of Positive Grid’s most recent products, and via the free Spark app, Spark PEDAL users can also utilise Text to Tone to describe and be delivered any tone they can imagine. These tones can then be either saved or manually tweaked further.

Additionally, the Spark PEDAL features an impressive onboard battery, with up to seven hours per charge.

The Spark PEDAL is available now for $199. For more information, head to Positive Grid.

Credit: Positive Grid

The post Spark PEDAL: Positive Grid crams an entire guitar rig – with amps, effects, a looper and Bluetooth – into a compact pedal format appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When Mike Clem joined Sweetwater back over 20 years ago, the Indiana-based retailer was a $2 million a year business. Nowadays, the US retail giant is knocking on the door of $2 billion. In that time, Clem has steered Sweetwater’s evolution into America’s biggest music eCommerce brand. But despite his technical background, his love of music has driven his rise to the top of the brand.

• READ MORE: Inside the music shop where rising guitar band Westside Cowboy formed: “It helped me find my love for guitar again”

“I was a band geek by day, and a rock star at night!” Clem chuckles. “I’d be in smoky bars till 3am and then up in the morning playing at church. I just absorbed as much music as I possibly could.”

Clem nearly went to music college, only deciding at the last minute to pivot to his “second love” of computer science. Armed with the software skills to take advantage of the earliest days of the internet, Clem became something of a pioneer in the world of online retail.

In 2003, the Indiana native had an opportunity to “combine passions” with a job at Sweetwater. “We were building technology and figuring out how to make that experience great online,” he explains. “You know, Sweetwater.com went live in 1994. It was one of the very first websites on the internet, let alone this industry! And from day one, it was about educating, and it was about community: commerce came later.”

Servant Hearts

A huge part of why Sweetwater has become the billion-dollar behemoth it is today is their unique approach in an era where online retail is about as impersonal as it gets. Every customer gets assigned a “Sales Engineer”: a highly trained and knowledgeable customer service representative who will remain their permanent point of contact at the company. It’s a level of personalised service that comes straight from Sweetwater founder Chuck Surack.

“There’s definitely a love of the game here,” Clem explains. “We’re in it for more than just the business part. Music is a high-passion industry, and success is moving you along that musical journey. And so that’s why this relationship model pays off. We’re picking up the phone, saying, ‘Hey, tell me about your goals. Where are you trying to get to?’ And then we can be a companion along that journey. We’re actually understanding customers at a personal level – it’s not just transactional and through a spreadsheet.”

Economies of Scale

Another part of Sweetwater’s success has been a different approach to growth – “Chuck was smart enough to say there,” Clem says, “there’s such a thing as growing a company too quickly.” The company, which was founded 1979, has intentionally ensured it didn’t grow too fast or expand too hastily at the expense of that customer-centric focus.

“It’s easy to get one customer experience right. It’s hard to do that consistently across 14 million,” Clem freely admits. “It requires you to create structure, to create culture. We have to hire the right people that come in with a mindset to serve others. There’s a culture of obsessing over details like I’ve never seen in any other company. No detail is too small.”

For Clem, there’s something unique and special about music makers that makes this approach even more effective.

“Y’know, music resonates with our souls and in ways we can’t understand,” he explains. “Those moments when you get goose bumps on the arm. Nothing can ever replace that core human feeling.”

Passing The Torch

After decades working on Sweetwater’s multifaceted digital offering, Clem took over from Surack as the CEO/President of the brand in 2023. But rather than try to put his own stamp on the brand, Clem has proven passionate about preserving their founder’s core values and ethos above all else.

“Part of my promise to Chuck was to maintain the heart of the company, not the growth,” Clem explains. “Chuck would always say, we just take care of one customer at a time, one detail at a time. If we come in every day and do that with passion and precision, the growth will follow, the money will follow, but we stay focused on the customers.”

Instead of pursuing growth for growth’s sake, Sweetwater is instead focused on doing things that benefit all musicians and music lovers.

“That’s really the north star at Sweetwater: how do we grow the entire industry?” he reveals. “It’s not about growing the company or sales or profits. It’s about how we introduce a new generation to the joy of making music.”

The post Sweetwater CEO Mike Clem on what makes them different: “It’s not about profits. It’s about how we introduce a new generation to the joy of making music” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As the end of Megadeth looms ever closer, Dave Mustaine is getting existential. While the guitarist has put pen to paper in the past, with 2020’s Rust In Peace autobiography reflecting on the band’s iconic 1990 album of the same name, his new biography is a far more personal. Released today, In My Darkest Hour tells the tale of how a cancer survivor, family man and legendary thrashman “saved himself” when the pressure was on.

To spread the word of his new memoir, Mustaine is also embarking on a three city US book tour. The first stop on release day will be extra special, with a New York fan Q&A where Mustaine will be discussing In My Darkest Hour, adding further depth to the release and answering audience questions. After, he’ll before stopping by Boston on 9 September and Manassas on 10 September for meet and greet events.

• READ MORE: “I feel the most ‘me’ whenever I’m playing guitar”: Aziya on her rock journey and the beauty of being “wrong and strong”

While the Virginian meet and greet in Manassas is already sold out, New York’s launch event and Boston’s event both still have some spots left. Each ticket purchase also includes a signed copy of the book. Each of the three events has also been planned to align with Megadeth’s slot on Iron Maiden‘s Run For Your Lives World Tour, so there’s no need to worry about missing the show.

As for the memoir itself, In My Darkest Hour is set to be, unsurprisingly, pretty dark. When the book was first announced, Mustaine revealed that it explores the “harrowing” experience that followed his stage three throat cancer diagnosis in June 2019. “One of most harrowing experiences of my adult life has been my seven-year journey through cancer treatment and onward into remission,” he wrote on the Megadeth website.

“This story is considerably more than just go to the doctor, get diagnosed, get treatment and hopefully I live happily ever after,” he continued. “This was a journey of me saving myself, staying alive, keeping my family together, and continuing to make music through it all.”

The memoir is set to explore Mustaine’s experience balancing chemotherapy and studio sessions, all leading up to the band’s 2022 record, the Sick, The Dying…and the Dead! As the press release explains, it also explores how Mustaine confronted “his own mortality” throughout this period, which “brought him closer to his family, taught him how to ask for help, strengthened his faith, and challenged the vulnerability of his art”.

As for Megadeth, the band are continuing to enjoy their final victory lap before calling it a day. After earning a Billboard #1 record with their last ever album, the self-titled Megadeth, the band’s global farewell tour is set to run until at least 2027.

In My Darkest Hour is out now. For news on Megadeth’s final tour, head to the band’s website. 

The post Dave Mustaine’s new memoir, In My Darkest Hour, has arrived, and he’s embarking on a three-stop US book tour appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

South Korean guitar maker Cort has expanded its single-cut electric guitar lineup with the all-new CR300MT.

Focusing on “traditional material choice” and seemingly aimed squarely at metal players, the CR300MT features a solid mahogany body configured for “sustained resonance and low-end warmth”, finished in a luxurious Black Satin designed to highlight the “physical architecture of the guitar body without distraction”. Elsewhere, the guitar sports a multi-ply black-and-white binding around the perimeter of the body and headstock.

• READ MORE: Elevate your coffee table with this new book showcasing some of the most stunning vintage guitars ever

The CR300MT also features a mahogany set-neck – which helps transfer string vibrations across the whole instrument more effectively – as well as a 24.75” scale length, a Micarta fingerboard with 24 frets with a 12” radius and nickel-silver frets (because what modern metal machine is complete without 24 frets?) and a premium Graph Tech TUSQ nut.

Electronics come by way of a pair of active EMG humbuckers – the classic metal-ready pairing of an 81 in the bridge position and a 60 in the neck position – controlled via two separate volume and two separate tone knobs and a standard three-way toggle switch.

Finally, the guitar boasts Grover Rotomatic tuning machines for rock-solid tuning stability and precise micro-adjustments, and a Tune-O-Matic-style bridge paired with a secure stop tailpiece.

The CR300MT is available now, priced at $899.99.

Learn more at Cort.

The post Metalheads: this sleek AF Cort guitar could be your new favourite affordable singlecut appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Being a rockstar isn’t always glamorous. Yes, there’s the glitzy world tours and hoards of adoring fans, but performing can also get a little… sweaty. For over 50 years, Bruce Springsteen has been strutting onstage looking like a drowned rat. Seriously – his perspiration is so excessive that fans have genuinely wondered how he’s avoided being electrocuted from sweat dripping onto his guitar.

Finally, Springsteen has addressed the sweaty elephant in the room. In a new interview with Fender celebrating the Telecaster’s 75th anniversary, the guitarist reveals that his sweat really has been an electrocution hazard in the past. “I was sweating so much that halfway through the show, the guitar would short out,” he reveals, adding that, at one point, it was happening “regularly halfway through shows”.

Luckily, he found a solution to protect both himself and his Tele: “I had to insulate the entire inside of the guitar with rubber.”

• READ MORE: “I feel the most ‘me’ whenever I’m playing guitar”: Aziya on her rock journey and the beauty of being “wrong and strong”

At the time, Springsteen wasn’t quite at the height of his fame; he couldn’t afford having multiple axes to hand on tour. “I would lose all my highs and would just sound like crap…” he recalls. “I was only using one guitar for the entire show. You didn’t have three or four others that you could switch with. So they insulated the entire guitar with rubber, so when water came pouring down, it continued to play.”

Despite his sweat shorting out his Telecaster, Springsteen doesn’t hold it against the iconic Fender model. Instead, he has nothing but praise for the humble Tele. “At the beginning, when I signed my first record contract, I was going to get to buy a new guitar, but I knew I wanted a Telecaster…” he explains.

“[The Tele] is your working man’s axe,” he continues. “First of all, it’s just a hunk of wood with strings and a neck – it’s your fundamental tool for rock and roll, or soul music, or whatever you want to use it for.”

He later explains how the Tele truly feels like an “extension” of himself. “When I have this guitar on, I don’t feel like I have a guitar on,” he notes. “It feels like my arm… like an extension of your physical self. I may take it in the coffin with me if I go… I’ve identified myself with this guitar and with the Fender Telecasters my whole life, and I will continue to do so until it’s over.”

The post Bruce Springsteen would sweat so much during gigs that his guitar would short out – here’s the bizarre thing he did to fix it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Picture this: you’ve just made the most beautiful artisanal coffee. You head over to your couch, set it down on the coffee table, and realise the only thing missing is some appropriately relaxing reading to accompany this moment of utter tranquility.

Yep, no coffee table is complete without a coffee table book, and thanks to this new offering from photographer, author and former Guitar.com contributor Eleanor Jane, you can now complete yours.

• READ MORE: Eric Clapton reveals why he always starts writing songs on acoustic “It makes you play a certain way”

The Guitar Chronicles, arriving 17 September via Welbeck and available via all major bookstores, shines a spotlight on some of the most beautiful and history-rich vintage guitars that exist today, including classic instruments owned by Jeff Beck, Jack White, Jeff Tweedy, Mike Bloomfield and Jake Kiszka.

Also showcased are “beaten-up, barfly Telecasters thick with nicotine stains and battle scars from dive bars across America and catalogue guitars modified with mailbox stickers by eager kids in the ‘50s emulating the elaborate neck inlays of country heroes”.

Indeed, it’s not just guitars wielded by some of the most iconic guitarists in history that are showcased in The Guitar Chronicles; you’ll also feast your eyes on pawnshop classics plus even survivors of fires and tornadoes.

“These are instruments that inspired the artists you love, along with countless others who may not have been household names but helped shape the landscape of music in their own way,” Jane explains.

“I’m beyond thrilled with how this project turned out, the stories I’ve been able to tell, and all the beautiful new work I have to share.”

The book has even received praise from Gibson Director of Brand Experience Mark Agnesi, and Hollywood A-lister and bass guitar aficionado Jason Momoa.

“I love seeing these amazing guitars that are so life-worn, with all that mojo, through Eleanor’s eyes and lens. Beautiful,” says Momoa.

“Eleanor has a unique ability to tell stories through her photographs,” adds Agnesi.

The Guitar Chronicles will be available from 17 September. You can pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, or your local bookseller.

The post Elevate your coffee table with this new book showcasing some of the most stunning vintage guitars ever appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

“This is Johnny Roadhouse Music, where Westside Cowboy technically started,” is Jimmy Bradbury’s welcome address at his former workplace, ushering us upstairs with his bandmate Reuben Haycocks. The two live around the corner from the music shop, which is located on Manchester’s Oxford Road: the nucleus of student life in the city. 300m away is the Royal Northern College Of Music, where Haycocks met bassist Aoife Anson O’Connell – who we run into shortly after this conversation – and drummer Paddy Murphy back in 2021.

• READ MORE: “I feel the most ‘me’ whenever I’m playing guitar”: Aziya on her rock journey and the beauty of being “wrong and strong”

Bradbury recalls his ‘interview’ to become the shop’s guitar tech: “‘Can you use a soldering iron? Done. I’ll see you tomorrow at 11 o’clock.’” Founded in 1955 by the late saxophonist John Roadhouse, the family-owned business specialises in second-hand instruments, meaning you get “crazy guys knocking on the back door, like, ‘I’ve got 30 guitars in the back of this van. Do you want to buy them?’” Roadhouse’s son now runs it with his wife, who both sing Westside Cowboy’s praises before Bradbury and Haycocks enter like returning heroes.

“You see so many different types of playing in here,” reflects Bradbury. “Everything from shredders to really old country guys and Flamenco players. Wandering around the shop, I feel like the guitar is a very open, welcoming instrument. There’s so much you can do by just learning a couple of small things on it.” When Murphy started bringing Haycocks and Anson O’Connell here to meet his pal Bradbury, the four began congregating here multiple times per week.

“I had never really come across gear before, [growing up in] Shropshire,” says Haycocks, who is easily distracted by the newly-arrived 1976 Martin D-28 on the wall. “I hadn’t been around people who were bothered about cool old guitars. I’d watch James pick up a guitar and play random shit. You can’t play the songs that you’ve learned in a guitar shop – because you look like a knob – so if I wanted to play this really cool ’70s Gibson SG, I had to pick it up and play some classical things, rather than going through my rolodex of songs that I knew. And then maybe one AC/DC song…”

The University Of Life

Having decided on a whim at Johnny Roadhouse to form Westside Cowboy, the quartet have transformed into one of Britain’s most exciting guitar acts. Although the title of 2024 debut single I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You) sounds like it belongs on an early Arctic Monkeys or Fall Out Boy album, their alt-country twang straddles folk, indie and Americana soundscapes. Their live show alone won them a slot at Glastonbury 2025, and they’re now signed to a major label and Fontaines D.C.’s management.

Initially cutting their teeth in local bands DieKaiDai and Katz at venues like Fuel, Manchester’s musical landscape proved pivotal to Westside Cowboy’s eventual path. “Being in a scene is the most rewarding part about being in music, seeing all your friends do really well,” says Haycocks. In a city where Live Nation and Mission Mars continue to swoop in on independent venues, community-driven spaces – be it a café or Johnny Roadhouse – are essential to meet like-minded folk, reckons Bradbury. “So many musicians come in and speak to someone who they [wouldn’t] in the street, because you have common ground.”

Although a primary school Bradbury and an early teenage Haycocks fell out of love with guitar, a friend who played Guns N’ Roses riffs and reduced focus on musical grades respectively re-ignited both guitarists’ love affairs with their instrument. Though Haycocks describes a “musical rebirth” upon coming to Manchester, both bring up the inhibitive nature of their university studies. “People telling you, ‘You have to play these chords and scales,’ it can really beat you into a corner,” says Bradbury. “[Working] at Johnny Roadhouse, it helped me find my love for guitar again, seeing so many different types of instruments and playing.”

Haycocks whips out his 1979 Gibson SG, which “feels like the scale length of a Fender with the sound of a Les Paul on an SG body”, while Bradbury grabs some water. “It has a really thick neck, and you have to really fight it,” Haycocks continues. “When I’m on stage, if something feels too nice, it creeps me out. I need to be slightly uncomfortable.” Bradbury has named his 1987 Jackson Charvel (when the two companies were co-owned) ‘Peggy’, having replaced its “horrible” high-output metal pickup with a simpler ’50-style Esquire. “It’s just got one volume knob,” he shrugs. “I don’t like too many buttons – it gets in the way!”

It’s Not Rocket Science

Simplicity is a guiding principle for Westside Cowboy, who’ve made the previous mistake of “songs that have way too many chords in”, Bradbury recalls. Earlier earworms Can’t See and Don’t Throw Rocks tap into punchy riff-work and cosy changes in velocity; both are visibly moulded into shape by their impulsive live show. Three-chord hit Kick Stones (The Boys), the lead single of their debut album It Goes On, is arguably their most precise work to date, recorded to ensure Haycocks’ gritty strumming is audible like it’s an entire instrument itself.

“There are certain bits of ear candy like that which make you feel more connected to the song and make it feel more real than a DI would,” explains Haycocks. “We’re always looking for it to sound like you’re standing in the middle of the room [with us], and I think that adds to the ‘authenticity’ of the sound,” he smiles, reluctant to toot his own horn. “In terms of a rock band versus a rock ‘n’ roll band, Westside Cowboy has more of the ‘roll’ in it,” adds Bradbury, who prefers not to overcook songs with distortion or pedals. “When you hear Reuben strum, you can feel the roundness of the individual strings that brush through it.”

The band’s approach draws parallels with recent comments from Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale, who described her “epiphany” upon realising “you don’t have to be a virtuoso guitarist to enjoy playing music with your friends”. She’s “very right”, Bradbury responds. “By no means is this a new idea,” elaborates Haycocks, “but it’s a personal thing when you actually realise. Everyone is aware that lots of chords don’t make a great song… but it’s taking that step yourself and actually believing what you’re saying. Westside Cowboy was that, for us: the epiphany moment.”

It’s why, as their self-named ‘Britainicana’ tag follows their sound onto whatever heights they will achieve, those core values will serve them well. All four write music, individually, in their spare time, but there is a shared understanding of what defines a Westside Cowboy song. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that It Goes On retains a clear consistency from top to bottom, solidifying the buzz that their first two EPs and talked-about gigs helped generate.

“Your uncle always tells you that a good song will still be a good song on an acoustic guitar, and at the start of the band, we just ran with that,” admits Haycocks. “Without guitars, ‘Britainicana’ wouldn’t have existed.” Bradbury adds the final layer. “The idea of ‘Britainicana’ comes down to the values around that song. If you can’t play it with either a guitar or piano and your voice, where it still resembles that piece of music, then maybe it’s not very Westside Cowboy.”

It Goes On is out now via Island

The post Inside the music shop where rising guitar band Westside Cowboy formed: “It helped me find my love for guitar again” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Growing up in a “romanticised Americana” town, the grit of hard rock didn’t quite match up with Jake Kiszka’s ‘white picket fence’ childhood. However, the Greta Van Fleet guitarist couldn’t resist the rockstar lifestyle – and his guitar helped him escape suburban mundanity.

Speaking to Guitar World, Kiszka describes his first experience with a guitar as almost spiritual. “When I picked up a guitar when I was a kid, it was this object or artifact,” he explains. “It was a monolith of freedom and self-expression. Being raised in the place we were raised in [the small town of Frankenmuth, Michigan]… we’re learning who we are, what we’re meant to do and where we belong… There’s this sense of great repression in some ways – social confines.”

• READ MORE: Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka says people who dismiss them as being imitators are ignoring the “far more complex and nuanced” reality of their music

While Greta Van Fleet are currently one of the world’s most prominent (and divisive) newer hard rock groups, there was a time when Kiszka didn’t know whether his dreams would become a reality. So he clung onto his guitar, and refused to abide by the “social confines” around him. “To me, the guitar was something no one could take away,” he says. “I had so much taken away at a young age, and this was sort of a defiance against structure and systems.”

“[My guitar] was an object of fighting for freedom, like Excalibur or something… I really felt that way,” he emphasises.

Of course, Kiszka’s upbringing wasn’t dreadful. Speaking to radio station 102.1 The Edge in 2018, he describes his “romanticised Americana” childhood, where he was “playing in the fields, exploring the forests and [swimming in] the many streams and rivers” that surrounded his hometown. However, “there wasn’t much going on” – which was a perfect catalyst for focusing on music.

It’s a similar case for Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme. Last month, Homme told the Queer the Music podcast that growing up in a “very empty, very idyllic small town”  in Palm Desert was pretty boring… but “boredom” lead him to music. “The gift of nothing is a very real thing,” he explained. “In the boredom… you’re allowed to practice playing guitar, piano, or drums.”

As for Greta Van Fleet, Kiszka is keen to continue wielding his Excalibur to inspire other budding guitarists to pursue the art of rock ‘n’ roll. “We’re trying to bring a sense of imagination, hope and love to a generation through rock ‘n’ roll,” he tells Guitar World.

Back in May, Greta Van Fleet sparked breakup rumours after releasing a cryptic social media video. However, they’ve recently confirmed that they’re still together, and their fourth album, Palace For The People, is dropping on 9 October. The group have already shared a pair of new singles: Saw You Stand and Play Your Games.

Palace For The People is out 9 October. You can pre-order it now.

The post Jake Kiszka claims guitar was his ticket to self-expression as a kid: “I had so much taken away at a young age, and the guitar was an object of fighting for freedom, like Excalibur” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Eric Clapton is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players to ever live. His hits like Layla and Wonderful Tonight showcase his extraordinary ability to craft timeless electric guitar lines, but as he explains in a new interview with Guitar Center, he prefers to practice using an acoustic guitar.

As the guitar legend explains, he started out his guitar journey as a teenager playing an acoustic guitar. “I started on the acoustic. That’s the thing,” he says. “And when I practice, I practice on the acoustic. It makes you play a certain way.”

• READ MORE: “I’ve learned grown-up chords”: Anthrax’s Scott Ian says playing with these experimental rockers stopped him being a “caveman” on guitar

“I always revert back to what I heard as a kid that made me wanna play, and it is acoustic blues. Then I heard electric blues,” he continues.

Clapton explains how the arrival of Muddy Waters to the UK in the ‘50s had a profound effect on his dream of becoming a professional guitarist himself.

“I remember when Muddy [Waters] came here with an electric guitar, and it was like, ‘What’s all this?’ It was like Bob Dylan, just 50 years before, you know. And so he had to come back again, acoustically. 

“So it was very much [that] the skiffle thing was going on. It was really big, and that’s what gave me… I thought, I’m not doing well at school with what I’m being taught, and I’d gotten so much out of music, I’m gonna try and play the guitar, because it moved me so much – the sound of solo guitar.”

Elsewhere in the same interview, Eric Clapton remembers the release of his now classic Unplugged live album. As he explains, he didn’t even want the album to be released, and even bet his label boss $100 that it would be a flop. Of course, the album has since gone on to sell over 25 million copies…

“I wanted to do a deal with them… to put it out as a limited edition,” he says. “Just 500 copies or something. I just didn’t want to hear it anymore… I had a real aversion to it for a long time.”

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He may play a part in the Big Four of Thrash, but Anthrax’s Scott Ian has never been that fussed about shredding. As far back as 2015, he’s branded himself as a “caveman rhythm guitarist”, ignoring advanced technicality in favour of using the guitar as a “tool” for shaping rhythms and songwriting.

However, that all changed in 2019 when Ian joined Mr. Bungle. In a new interview with Guitar World, Ian explains how the band’s experimental funk-metal-jazz-rock clusterfuck entirely transformed his approach to guitar. “Being around the guys in Mr. Bungle for six years has opened my caveman world,” he says.

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Rather than treating his axe like a basic tool to carve out songs, he’s understanding that there’s a lot more to guitar playing than he thought. “Outside the basic realm of major and minor, I didn’t really know a lot of other stuff,” he admits. “Getting to play with them has definitely made me a better player. And playing a lot of crazy cover songs like Olivia Newton John’s Hopelessly Devoted, I’ve learned grown-up chords.”

While he admits that he still doesn’t know many official terms or techniques, he’s just having fun fleshing out his palette. “I still don’t know the names of most of [the chords I’m playing], but I know how to play them, and I’m moving them around the neck now,” he says. “I also learned a lot of cowboy chords playing on and off with [my wife] Pearl Aday [in hard rock band Motor Sister] over the years.”

He closes off with his ultimate piece of advice for any other stubborn “cavemen” guitarists out there: “Any time you dip your toes into another genre, it’s only going to make you a better musician.”

Back in 2015, Ian explained what his “caveman” approach entailed. “I look at guitar in a completely different way than most people,” he told Guitar Interactive. “I would rather listen to [AC/DC’s] Malcolm Young play an A chord than anything else on guitar… other than maybe Eddie Van Halen.”

“I’m a caveman when it comes to guitar,” he said. “Guitar, for me, has only ever been a tool to write songs. Guitar is a tool used to create music and to play with other people. That’s what guitar is for me. That’s what makes me happy as a guitar player… From a technical standpoint, [shredding] is amazing… But I didn’t become a lead guitar player, and I didn’t focus on that, because the work wasn’t fun for me. I just wanted to get up there and rip big chords.”

Of course, when he’s not dabbling in his avant-garde Mr. Bungle antics, Ian has still been ripping up big chords with Anthrax. The band’s latest album, Cusum Perficio, is set to drop on 18 September.

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Andy Williams – former Every Time I Die guitarist who turned pro wrestler under the ringname ‘The Butcher’ – has died aged 48, prompting an outpouring of tributes from the guitar and metal worlds and beyond.

According to a report by TMZ, Williams was participating in a tag team wrestling match in Pennsylvania when he collapsed, and later died in hospital. 

While a pro wrestler as part of All-Elite Wrestling for 10 years, Andy Williams was also a founding member of Every Time I Die, and was an integral part of the Buffalo, New York heavy metal outfit until its disbandment in 2022. He played on all nine of their studio albums, most recently 2021’s Radical.

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Since the news of his death broke, musicians far and wide have penned tribute to Andy Williams, with Bring Me The Horizon’s Lee Malia regretting the pair never having made music together.

Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou writes: “Today we mourn the loss of an old friend, musical visionary, storyteller, force of nature and all around rad dude, Andy Williams. I’m not ready to put on a smile and play a show, but the only way through grief is forward.”

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Balaguer Guitars – the guitar brand with whom Williams had a number of signature models – writes in a post: “You were a light in a darkening world and anyone who knew you, loved you. What a devastating loss. Andy was hilarious, caring, and loving. He always went out of his way to make sure you knew he cared about you. He was one of a kind.”

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“Andy was the nicest guy ever. And he was one of the greatest to ever do it,” says Scott Ian of Anthrax. “If you don’t know, do yourself a favour and go down an ETID wormhole on YouTube and watch him destroy.”

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Fit For an Autopsy guitarist and Grammy-winning record producer Will Putney writes: “If you knew Andy, you understand why he is so universally loved. A testament of hard work and artistic creativity. One of the funniest, kindest, and craziest dudes. A perfect storm of a human. He could accomplish anything he wanted, and he did. 

“Last week he told me he would bite someone for me if I asked him to, I woke up still laughing about it today. I loved talking shop about gear, I loved his excitement for music, his drive, his overwhelming kindness. 

“I loved seeing his rise as a wrestler when the odds were against him, I loved making records with him, and challenging ourselves to be better. I loved the inside jokes, the banter, and everything else you can’t even explain. There will never be another person like Andy. I looked up to him like a fucking hero.”

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Back in 2021, shortly after the release of Radical, Williams spoke to Guitar.com about the difficult act of balancing wrestling with playing guitar in one of metalcore’s most dominant bands. He explained how the Covid pandemic led him to commit further to his pro wrestling career.

“You spend all this creative energy doing this beautiful record, you get out, you play one show and the entire world shuts down,” he said. “At that point in time I had been working with AEW but I was getting paid by appearance. If they booked me for a show, that was the only time I got paid. It seemed like that was what they were going to do with me and my [tag team] partner. But then they offered us the full contract.

“It was right when things started getting dicey with the pandemic. I was like, ‘The universe is really speaking to me. I have to do this.’ I’ve been listening to that record for almost two years, and every time our manager would hit us up because it was looking like we could book some shows, they would get cancelled. I dove headfirst into wrestling – if the other thing doesn’t come back, I need to set myself up. I went full on, to say the least.”

The post “I looked up to him like a hero”: World pays tribute to Every Time I Die guitarist and pro wrestler Andy Williams, who has tragically died aged 48 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.