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After considerable speculation, Metallica have confirmed their residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, which will comprise eight shows across October 2026.

Continuing the band’s ‘no-repeat’ weekend tradition – which sees them perform two shows in each city with entirely unique setlists on each night – the residency will take place October 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 22 and 24, and 29 and 31.

• READ MORE: “Is this yours?”: Watch the wholesome moment James Hetfield meets a 10-year-old fan – and signs his ESP LTD Iron Cross guitar

Brought to the Sphere in partnership with Live Nation and inKind, Metallica’s Life Burns Faster – taken from the lyrics to Master of Puppets, of course – will see the metal titans harness the venue’s high-resolution LED light display for the first time, which spans the entire spherical roof and consists of over 1.2 million LED pucks. 

A band already known for their elaborate and immersive stage setups, one can only imagine what they have in store for their Sphere residency…

Metallica co-founder/drummer Lars Ulrich commented, “About 12 seconds into the opening night of Sphere with U2 back in ‘23, I thought ‘We have to do this, it’s completely uncharted territory!’ This residency gives us another chance to reinvent how we interact with our fans in a live setting. We are beyond excited to share this with the world in six months time, and way fuckin’ psyched to go next level!”

Both full no-repeat weekend tickets and single-night tickets will go on sale 6 March and 10am PT.

To register for tickets, or get further information on pre-sales, enhanced experiences, travel packages and more, you can head to Metallica.com.

The post Metallica Sphere residency CONFIRMED appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Whether it’s voice memo recordings, videos on your phone, hastily scrawled tabs or a combination of the three, guitarists each have their own ways of documenting riffs and song ideas. As a solo musician, I found Guitar Pro to be the best tool to turn those ideas into songs. Having discovered it just a couple of years into playing guitar, it was also a crucial tool that helped build my music theory understanding.

In this series of guides, I hope to share what I’ve learned in the 15+ years I’ve been using Guitar Pro. Today, I’ll be introducing you to the basics of tabbing out a riff in Guitar Pro as well as giving an overview into the theoretical side of your compositions and how you correctly tab those out.

If you don’t own Guitar Pro, you can download a free 7 day trial for Guitar Pro 8 (the latest iteration at the time of writing) for Windows or macOS and follow along. I’ll be using v7.6 for this guide, but all the features I’ll be talking about will apply to the latest version.

You can apply this guide to an original composition, but you can also use a riff you’ve learned from another artist. It’s how I learned a lot of Guitar Pro’s features in those early days when my own riff ideas were limited (i.e. rubbish).

1. Creating a new file in Guitar Pro

Opening Guitar Pro will bring up the projects screen. As you save more projects, add tabs of your favourite artists, etc. your recent files will begin to populate and allow you to jump right back in where you left off.

For now, we’re just going to click ‘new file’.

2. Choosing your guitar type

It’s now time to choose your starting instrument. You can see there are four tabs: Stringed, Orchestra, Drums and MIDI. We’ll be looking solely at ‘Stringed’ for this guide and will explore the other instrumentation options in future guides.

When ‘Stringed’ is selected, you’ll see two columns with your ‘master’ instrument on the left and the different permutations of that instrument on the right:

• Acoustic – Nylon, 12-string, Steel, Resonator
• Electric Guitar – Overdrive, Distortion, Sitar, Clean, Jazz, 12-String
• Bass Guitar – Acoustic, Fretless, Electric, Synth, Upright
• Other – Banjo, Ukulele, Mandolin

Once you’ve settled on your guitar, you’ll have four further settings to tweak:

• Instrument track name
• Notation type, e.g. tablature, standard and slash notation
• The number of strings and tuning
• The sound of your guitar that you’ll hear during tabbing and playback

All of these settings can be changed after this point, so don’t feel like you need to agonise over them. I’ll show you how to do this in the next step.

For this guide, I’m going to use the following settings:

• Information: Jazz Guitar, jz.guit.
• Notation: Tablature and Standard Notation
• Upper Staff: 6 strings, standard tuning
• Sound: Jazz ES

3. How to tab out a riff in Guitar Pro

Before starting, familiarise yourself with the layout of Guitar Pro. Below is an example of a ‘full screen’ view where you’ll find ‘Edition Palette’ which includes a lot of your note and effect tools; the ‘Global View’ where you’ll find all your instrument tracks and each bar of your song; and the ‘Inspector’ view where you can change the song information and edit your instrument type, amp, effects and playing style.

To begin tabbing out your idea, you need to input the corresponding fret number(s) on the string(s) being used in your riff.

Bar one will show our two staffs; the upper for standard notation and the bottom for our tablature, which represents the 6 strings of our guitar, with the highest line being the high ‘E’ and the bottom being the low ‘E’.

A new project will default to highlighting the lowest string, signified by the yellow square. You can use your mouse or directional keys to change the string you’re on or move to the next beat in the bar.

Below are two tabbed examples, an E Minor chord arpeggio and an eight-note riff across the low E and A strings.

Guitar Pro will default to a quarter note duration on a new file. Use the (+/-) keys to increase and decrease the note duration while highlighting the chord/note based on how it’s played. Use the space bar to begin playback and hear what you’ve tabbed out and refine the note durations where needed. If it’s still sounding a little too fast or slow, double click the tempo at the top of the page and adjust until it feels right.

If your bar is highlighted in red when moving to a new bar, this means there are too few or too many to fill the bar. 4/4 is the default for all new projects in Guitar Pro and means that a single measure/bar is made up of four quarter notes worth of music.

When tabbing out your idea, it’s important to make sure that your note durations add up before moving to the next bar. It’s easy to get the hang of when you’re writing in 4/4, but becomes trickier when writing in odd time signatures.

Here’s an easy way to visualise how different notes fill a bar of 4/4:

If your riff is an odd time signature, fear not! I’ll be talking a little more about that in the next section of this guide.

4. Understanding the notation behind your riff and how to tab it out

Your riff should now be sounding familiar to you, but it might still be missing something. Here are some techniques to get your riff sounding as accurate as possible.

Time signature

When I first started tabbing out ideas in Guitar Pro, I wasn’t all that knowledgeable about time signatures, so much so that I beat my head against the wall trying to understand why my arpeggio crossed a bar and a half of 4/4 long before realising what 6/4 was.

If you think that’s the case with your riff, record a voice memo of you playing your riff and then tap along and count out the time.

The top number in a time signature relates to the number of times a note is played, the bottom the speed of those notes. For example, 6/4 is a measure made up of six quarter notes.

If your riff starts in an odd time signature, you can double-click the symbol in the first bar and change it. If your riff has multiple time signature changes, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD+T (Windows/macOS, respectively) in the respective bar to change it.

Rests, ties and dotted notes

Along with ensuring each note of your riff is the right length, there are some things that can’t be done with just the (+/-) keys.

There may be a gap in your riff where no notes are being played. In notation, this would be marked as a rest, which can be inserted into Guitar Pro using the (R) key on your keyboard. Use the (+/-) keys to set how long your rest lasts for and make sure it sounds right when you playback.

Similarly, your riff may hold a note across two bars, e.g. played on the final beat in bar one and held on the first beat of bar two. For example, it may be that the note needs to last for two quarter notes, but your bar of 4/4 on has one quarter note remaining. You can’t notate it as a half note, because that adds up to five quarter notes or 5/4. To notate this, tab out the first note and then move to the next beat in the bar/next bar and press the (L) key. If you’re using a tie on a chord, press (L) on each string that the chord is fretted.

When a half note is too long, but a quarter note too short, you need a dotted note. A dotted note is when you add half the value of your chosen note duration, e.g. a dotted quarter note is a quarter note plus an eighth note. To notate a dotted note, use the ‘period/full stop’ key on your keyboard on the note you wish to change. The next note you tab will also be dotted, so be sure to remove this if not needed.

Note articulation

The final thing to discuss is how you articulate the notes in your riff. I’m just going to highlight the most common articulations for now, but we will look at more intermediate ones in the next guide.

Press (S) on the first note and then tab out the following note. The two (or more) notes will be linked and play as a legato slide transition during playback. This applies to slides up and down the neck.

Press (H) to link multiple notes where you’re performing hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Highlight the note(s) that you want to be played with a palm mute a press (P).

If you want the notes in your riff to ring out together rather than ending once the next note plays, use (i) on your keyboard to enable the ‘let ring’ function. You’ll be surprised how effective this is at taking your riff from sounding robotic to natural.

If you use dead notes as part of your riff, you can press (X) on any given string and set the note duration. Different strings with a dead note will produce different sounds so try out a combination that works for you.

Press (B) on the note you want to bend and then tweak the force and duration of the bend to your desired effect.

Next time, we’ll build on what we’ve learned here and start to build a complete song in Guitar Pro as we explore customising your guitar tone, adding additional instruments and utilising repeating sections and automation.

The post How to tab a basic riff in Guitar Pro – the essential guide appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Alex Van Halen has confirmed that he’s working on a project involving archival Van Halen material, and the band’s former bassist believes it should remain purely instrumental.

The forthcoming project will feature a bunch of Van Halen demos, but it’s not yet clear if it will go out under the Van Halen name. With Eddie Van Halen having passed away in 2020, the idea of a new album being released today is a sore subject for both fans and artists linked to the band.

Alex has already suggested that he originally wanted Free’s Paul Rodgers to take on vocal duties, who was eventually unable to take on the job, but he’s now “looking for somebody else”. Michael Anthony, who played bass for the band between 1974 and 2006, thinks they should go forwards without one.

• READ MORE: Wolfgang Van Halen thinks rock music is “perfectly great where it is”: “There’s room for everything”

In an interview with Matt Spatz of WNCX, he says [via Ultimate Classic Rock]: “The way I personally feel about it is, if they wanted to do it justice, [the best idea would be] to just finish it up as a great instrumental nod to Eddie.

“You know, because getting a new singer in there, we’re not forming a new band, and then you’ve got to work on lyrics and all that stuff. And who knows when anything would be put out at that point,” he explains.

Speaking on the project, Alex recently told Brazilian journalist Gastão Moreira for KazaGastão that the record’s tracks will feature reworked versions of songs that he and his brother never finished.

“Many people have asked, ‘What about releasing unreleased stuff?’ Well, we’re not gonna release it in its embryonic form because it wouldn’t make any sense. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have Steve Lukather [involved], who was a good friend of Ed’s, and we’re working on putting a record together.”

Steve Lukather has so far been rather elusive about his role within the project. He has already denied doing any guitar work on the record. In a comment under one of his Instagram posts about Eddie, he said: “For the record: Ever since Alex Van Halen dropped some [hints] we were gonna work together I think there is a huge misunderstanding. I will NOT EVER play a guitar note on a VH song ever!

View this post on Instagram

“Al asked me to help him go [through] a ton of unfinished recordings of Al and Ed writing and recording that never saw the light of day. As of now that’s all I got. The fact that ANYONE would think for even a second that I would play anything on this is ridiculous. I have too much love and respect and … I play nothing like Ed… More as a co-producer or something. I am honoured Al would ask me though. Let’s see…”

The post Michael Anthony thinks Alex Van Halen’s archival Van Halen album should be purely instrumental, “if they wanted to do it justice” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When you think of the most quintessential electric guitars, the Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul invariably come to mind. But as Jack White explains in a new interview with Reverb, their ubiquity turned him off the idea as a young guitarist.

Instead, the White Stripes man was attracted to less conventional guitars at the time, like Silvertones and Airlines.

• READ MORE: “The guitar that started it all”: T-Bone Walker’s 1949 Gibson ES-5N is up for sale on Reverb for over $2M

“[In my late teens], I decidedly hated anything to do with Stratocasters, Les Pauls – any of the common instruments that you see everybody use,” White says. 

“I just thought it’s so overused, and so indicative of ‘white boy blues’ if you had a Stratocaster, or you’re heavy metal if you use this kind of guitar. 

“It just seemed like, I would rather try to find something that didn’t have any connotations already thrown on it. So I was attracted to Silvertones and Airlines and things that you just didn’t see on TV or on videos.”

The guitarist does admit, however, that the popularity of a particular guitar model depends heavily on the time period.

“In the ‘90s in general – if I had a Silvertone guitar, to me, in Detroit, I never saw anybody use that guitar,” he continues. “I never saw anybody on TV, definitely nobody playing shows or anybody I knew that owned one. So when I was using it, it felt very unique. 

“But then you start talking to older people, and it’s like, ‘When I was a kid, that’s all anybody had, was Silvertones. Nobody had enough money to pay for a real guitar.

“[It’s] different time periods, you know – now you can obviously see everything, but in your own zone, it’s just [about] trying to find a uniqueness; a new voice for yourself. I didn’t wanna use the same tool that everyone else was using. 

“I’m glad I did that. I’m glad I had that desire to carve something out. Because once you do that, then you can rewind, and put on one of those more common guitars and get something out of it.

Watch the full Reverb interview below:

The post Jack White never wanted to use a Stratocaster because they were “overused” and “indicative of white boy blues” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

He may now have his own signature guitar with Schecter, but Aaron Marshall hasn’t forgotten the rig that started it all.

In a new interview with D’Addario, Marshall revisits his early musical journey – including the humble high school setup he claims would “still smoke most rigs these days”.

Like many players, Marshall’s obsession with music came before the instrument itself.

“As a kid, the first thing I fixated on or latched onto was certainly music. Guitar entered the picture after hounding my parents for drums, funny enough, which did happen,” says the Intervals guitarist. “But the pivotal moment was.. our first DVD player.” More specifically, Carlos Santana’s Supernatural Live on DVD.

• READ MORE: “I committed to poverty for that”: Whitesnake’s Joel Hoekstra says you have “a hole in your head” if you get into music for money

“Watching that at home in the living room was kind of a crazy experience,” Marshall recalls. “I was probably blown away by how enamoured my parents were with it, so I actually gave it some attention. And it made me wanna explore music. That was probably the catalyst for my dad taking me to a pawn shop and we got my first acoustic guitar. ‘Oh, okay, well, we’ll start with that. See if you like it. See if you commit.’”

As with many first acoustics, it felt enormous.

“I could barely get my arm over it,” he says. “And did that for a while, and then it became a Stratocaster. I learned everything from Blink-182 to Slipknot on that thing.”

Not long after, Marshall found himself in his first band: “[It] was not too long after discovering the guitar. I’d say ninth grade. I remember a friend who was a drummer who’s a couple grades ahead of me. I guess there weren’t a lot of options… and they wanted someone to come play guitar in their band, and it was like the first time anyone had given me a shot.”

What followed was, in his words, “your quintessential first emo band” – and a rig that still earns his respect.

“The rig was the midnight blue made-in-Mexico Stratocaster into a [Fender] Hot Rod Deluxe with a [Boss] Metal Zone. That’ll still smoke most rigs these days too,” Marshall insists. “I was in like a progressive metal band, kind of like Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero. And I did that up until I left those guys and started doing Intervals like 15 years ago.”

Check out the full interview below.

The post Aaron Marshall says his old Strat-Metal Zone setup from ninth grade would “still smoke most rigs these days” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

With an often-cited collection of over 600 instruments, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry is as prolific a guitar collector as he is a riff writer.

And in a new interview with Guitar World, Perry highlights some of his favourites from his collection, including the custom Gibson BB King Lucille he had designed to celebrate his longtime wife, Billie Paulette Montgomery. The guitar – which features a painting of Billie’s face on its lower bout – has attracted considerable attention when he has brought it out on stage over the years.

• READ MORE: “The fact Wolfgang trusted us to come in and not totally ruin the legacy meant a lot”: Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on recording the new Alter Bridge album at 5150

“I got that in the ‘90s,” Perry explains. “The main reason for that guitar is that I love history, and I was looking back and fascinated by what they call ‘nose art’. Pilots would have artwork on the nose of their planes in World Wars I and II, and it would be pictures of their favourite movie starlet or their wife, and they’d name the plane after them.

“I thought, ‘Why not do that with my guitar?’ That was the main reason I picked that body style – the BB King Lucille body. It doesn’t have F-holes; I wanted something with plenty of room for the artwork.”

The artwork – designed and painted by Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer’s drum tech John Douglas – was inspired by a number of polaroid photos Perry took of Billie, who the guitar came as a massive surprise to when it was first revealed to her.

“She had no idea this was going on!” Perry continues, reflecting on the moment she saw it. “Billie just stood there for a second, and they came out with this guitar case and said, ‘Close your eyes.’ We opened it up, and she turned beet red. 

“Long story short, she wouldn’t come out when I’d put the guitar on; she’d kind of leave the side of the stage because she was so embarrassed about it. She’s not somebody who looks for the spotlight, but she got used to it.”

Perry continues: “Sometimes I would stand out at the end of the ramp, and the girls in the crowd would point to the picture on the guitar and want to know who it was. I’d point to my wedding ring, and they would melt. They thought it was so romantic!”

The guitar wasn’t just a DIY job, though; it came as an official collaborative work between Joe Perry, John Douglas and Gibson.

“I took some pictures of Billie with a polaroid and got the guitar from Gibson, who were in on the plot,” Perry recalls. “I had them paint it pearl white but without the final touches so that John could paint it.

“There’s a picture on the front of the guitar and on the back, and I picked white because I thought the artwork would stand out. Again, I was driven by the visuals. [laughs] After John painted it, it went back to Gibson, and they put the neck and their touches on it and finished it with the electronics… That happened in Nashville, where I got to go to the factory and check out the stuff at the Custom Shop.

The post “Girls in the crowd would want to know who it was. I’d point to my wedding ring and they’d melt!”: Joe Perry on his custom Gibson BB King “Billie” Lucille appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Alter Bridge guitarists Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti have reflected on the honour of recording their latest album at Eddie Van Halen’s legendary 5150 Studios.

The band’s self-titled eighth album arrived in January, and saw Kennedy, Tremonti and co enter the hallowed ground of 5150 in Los Angeles, California. And in a new interview with Guitar World, the guitarists reveal how the opportunity came about.

• READ MORE: “The guitar that started it all”: T-Bone Walker’s 1949 Gibson ES-5N is up for sale on Reverb for over $2M

“Wolf was incredibly kind enough to bring that offer up with our manager,” Kennedy says. “We were like, ‘Really?’ We knew the history of all the incredible music that had been made there. Just the fact that he trusted us enough to come in and not totally ruin the legacy really meant a lot. When we all showed up, we were very cognisant of that, and we wanted to honour the situation.

“If you know you’re going into this sacred ground where all these incredible riffs have been constructed and recorded, the last thing you want to do is show up empty-handed. It was definitely fuel for the creative fire.”

Asked whether a Van Halen flavour worked its way into the songs on Alter Bridge, Tremonti says, “We by no means sound like Van Halen in any way or form. But you can feel the spirit of the band and Eddie in that room.”

“The riff for Silent Divide has definitely got an ‘80s vibe. Mark kept comparing it to an old Judas Priest riff, but with the way I keep coming back to that chugging on the low D, I think of a riff like Unchained.

“Those were such important riffs for me. Does it sound like Unchained? No, but there’s definitely that element there.”

“I try to explain to people that 5150 Studios isn’t some sterile environment where they’re cleaning up for the next band to come in. It was pretty much left the way [Van Halen] used it last. Wolfie has a great Neve console in there now, but it’s pretty much the same letters on the kitchen fridge; there’s the 5150 necklace hanging over the door – all the cool stuff that was there when those guys were there.”

Listen to Alter Bridge’s new album below:

The post “The fact Wolfgang trusted us to come in and not totally ruin the legacy meant a lot”: Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on recording the new Alter Bridge album at 5150 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Things have taken a strange turn in the CKY camp. Last week, bassist Mike Leon announced his departure from the band, citing what he describes as a toxic and increasingly unworkable environment driven by frontman Chad I Ginsburg.

Ginsburg has since publicly disputed the claims, insisting Leon was actually fired for entirely different reasons, including an alleged dislike of touring with dogs.

• READ MORE: “I had the kid in a headlock, and Anthony physically threatened me to let go”: Flea recounts how he met fellow Red Hot Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis

Taking to Instagram on Friday (20 February), Leon confirmed he would not be joining the band for its upcoming shows. The bassist – formerly of Soulfly – says his stint in CKY began as a dream opportunity but ultimately unravelled behind the scenes.

“I want to let you know that my time with CKY has come to an end. Growing up, I was a huge fan of the band, and getting the opportunity to play with them was a dream come true. I genuinely enjoyed my time there, and it was fun… until it wasn’t.”

“For full transparency, I will not be participating in the band’s upcoming shows,” says Leon. “As unfortunate as this is, given the circumstances, I believe this was the right move to make. The differences regarding logistics and business decisions, primarily driven by the actions of the band’s leader [Ginsburg], created internal issues that made an already stressful environment increasingly difficult to work in.”

The bassist also alleges long-standing issues within the band’s leadership, saying “this unprofessionalism and lack of accountability was known well before I joined, and persisted throughout my time with the band, making day-to-day operations a constant challenge. The love I had for the band blinded me to the red flags my peers and the band’s previous history had warned me about, especially surrounding the frontman, yet I chose to believe things would be different.”

“In all of my years of working in this industry, I have never experienced this level of toxicity from an individual, and it stings extra having been perpetrated by the very band that first inspired me to start my career as a musician,” the statement continues.

“Music should be a source of joy, but the environment became a source of stress that ultimately outweighed the positive aspects of being part of the band I grew up loving. I will continue creating music, and I sincerely thank all of you for your unconditional support.”

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Ginsburg has since responded via Instagram Stories [via Stereogum], flatly rejecting Leon’s version of events.

“I don’t know what Mike Leon is talking about in his post. However, I do know the facts and the facts are, Mike, and you know them too, is that we fired you last night because you hate dogs and you didn’t want to tour with the dogs and you wanted more money and you weren’t happy with anything ever. So unfortunately it’s not working out, Mike. But what you wrote is fucking crazy, dude. Like, prove any of that fucking shit.”

The musician then posted requests for bassists from Nashville to DM their auditions to the band.

The public fallout adds to a turbulent chapter for CKY. In 2024, Alien Ant Farm frontman Dryden Mitchell kicked the band from a tour after Ginsburg reportedly punched him during a backstage altercation.

The post “We fired you last night because you hate dogs”: CKY frontman makes bizarre claim over bassist’s exit appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Getting into music with dreams of dollar signs dancing in your head? Well you might want to think again. Such is the advice of Whitesnake guitar hotshot Joel Hoekstra, who likens the music industry to the “Wild West” – chaotic, unpredictable, and with no guaranteed path to fame or fortune.

Now 55, Hoekstra – who also logs arena miles with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra – says he never imagined a life on the big stage. Raised in the blue-collar suburbs of Chicago, the odds weren’t exactly stacked in his favour.

• READ MORE: Looking for an entry point into baritone guitars? You can’t go wrong with this Harley Benton model for just £299

“We were poor, quite frankly. We had no money. We grew up in a blue-collar area, the suburbs of Chicago, where none of this was supposed to happen for me, like literally none,” he tells Guitar World [via Blabbermouth]. “So, for me to get to the point where, through hard work and, I guess, a bit of luck, you find yourself able to do some great things.”

“And then, in a way, I’m playing with house money, but in a way, I wanna see how far it can all go. So I just keep pushing and hope for the best. But that being said, I know my limitations as a guitar player and I know my fortes, I suppose. I just try to work at music every day and see where it all takes me.”

If there’s a master plan, it’s a simple one: making a living with his instrument.

“I’ve never really had any grand plan beyond being a professional guitar player,” Hoekstra admits. “As funny as that sounds, for the guy that ended up on stage with Whitesnake throwing shapes with the long hair and everything like that, the most important thing for me was to make a living with my guitar. That’s what I set out to do as a kid. And I committed to poverty for that. I went, like, ‘Okay, I’m probably gonna be poor the rest of my life.’”

That willingness to accept instability, Hoekstra stresses, is part of the job description.

“You have to have that ability, I think, to get into music,” says the guitarist. “If you’re getting into music to make money, man, you have a hole in your head, man, ‘cause you could get any other job and work much, much easier hours and have a nice, clear path to do so, where music is like the Wild West, I think. It’s, like, anything can happen at any point in time.”

Still, it’s not all caution tape and tumbleweeds. If the industry is unpredictable, it’s also more accessible than ever. Hoekstra points out that players today are armed with tools he could only dream of when he was starting out: affordable home studios, and direct access to audiences and collaborators across the globe at the click of a button.

“It’s possible through hard work. And I think that should definitely ring true for any younger players out there now,” he says. “Especially with the Internet, the world has shrunk. You can get your music out to anybody, and home recording has gotten to the point where you can make a professional record right there where you are.”

“So I don’t care where you are – if you’re located in a more rural area, if you still have the ambition to reach out to name players and try to expand your name, and obviously things being in the digital domain like they are, you never know where that can take you.”

The post “I committed to poverty for that”: Whitesnake’s Joel Hoekstra says you have “a hole in your head” if you get into music for money appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Canadian pop-punk band Victories revealed that its lead guitarist has lost two fingers following what was described as a “horrible” work accident.

“Hello everyone. Following a horrible accident, our Victories brother and lead guitarist Steph has lost 2 fingers,” the band shared via Instagram.

“Playing guitar and performing is his life,” the post continued. “We simply cannot imagine the pain that he is going through right now. He is, and will always be, a core part of the Victories family. Though he isn’t personally taking messages, please keep him in your thoughts during this very difficult time.”

• READ MORE: “Two weeks before the show, they said he could die. But he wanted to do it so bad”: Sharon Osbourne on Ozzy’s insistence to perform one last time at Back to the Beginning

Fans have since flooded the comments section with support, offering encouragement and well-wishes.

“He is very brave … prayers to him,” one user commented. “Just focus on recovery then hopefully you will find a way back to music somehow. God bless.”

Another added, “I can’t imagine the pain he’s in, both physical and mentally… sending love to him and everybody else.”

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It isn’t clear which fingers Stephane lost, though further details were later shared by the band’s bassist, Christopher, who explains that the accident took place on a construction site, where Stephane works outside of music.

“A little over a week ago, Steph was on a job site, he works in construction, and there was an accident, and he lost two-and-a-half of his fingers,” he says in a video update.

“Had it not been for the quick reaction of his brother Pat, I would be telling a eulogy right now instead of answering questions.”

According to Christopher, the guitarist lost a “tremendous amount of blood” and spent more than a week in intensive care. “He’s lucid. He’s in a lot of pain.”

“We don’t know what his road to recovery is going to look like,” Christopher says. “There is two things he loves in life and it’s his son and playing music and what happened put both of those in jeopardy.”

That said, the band remains determined to keep Stephane’s musical contributions front and centre. Before the accident, the musician had tracked guitar parts for six unreleased songs. Victories plans to release the material in stages across the coming months, with the first having arrived on 13 February.

Christopher also explains that the band’s singer, Marc, will take on Stephane’s parts for upcoming live shows. However, he makes clear that the guitarist’s place in the band remains unchanged: “Stef’s spot is his,” he says.

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For the eco-conscious guitar player, guitar strings pose something of a dilemma. They are, by their very nature, a consumable part of the guitar experience, but it certainly doesn’t feel great tossing a combined 20 feet of nickel or bronze-wrapped steel in the trash every time you need to restring.

Now, string brands like D’Addario have tried to create a solution for this, by placing guitar string recycling bins in participating guitar stores. And depending on where you live you may be able to take your strings to where you recycle your scrap metal. Neither of those is exactly what you’d call a friction-free solution however – but what if there was a way you could upcycle your strings into something fun and unique? Well, enter Chicago-based music store, Fret12.

• READ MORE: Mark Tremonti names his five favourite extreme metal guitar players

Fret12 is a music store that sells a curated collection of guitars, pedals and amps of course, but also a bunch of really interesting other things that transcend the usual kinds of guitar store merch. Yes we’re talking t-shirts here, but also button-ups, candles, art, magazines, coffee… and its most famous creation, the String Thing.

The genius of the String Thing is in its simplicity. It is a hefty lump of black plastic shaped roughly like a human being, with 146 pre-drilled holes running through the arms, legs, head and torso.

The idea is that instead of tossing your used strings, you thread them through and around the string thing, over time converting this non-descript fella into your own unique ‘string mummy’. The idea has become a phenomenon – in addition to selling the String Thing itself, Fret12 sells over 30 different String Thing-related products, including t-shirts, art prints and even guitar straps.

It’s all a damn sight more interesting than those companies that turn recycled guitar strings into necklaces and other human-repelling items of jewellery, so we had to catch up with Fret12 main man, Daniel Tremonti (who happens to be the brother of Creed/Alter Bridge guitarist Mark) to find out how this all happened…

Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for the String Thing?

“Several years ago, I was side-stage at a show talking with a tech who was changing strings. He opened the drawer on his road case and there was a stash of neatly coiled used strings. Each had a piece of gaffer tape labeled with a city and a date – he collected them as mementos from the tour.

“I thought it was cool he didn’t just send them to the landfill, and that they were great collectibles. He gave me a batch, which ended up in my own junk drawer. Some time later, I decided to mummify a random action figure, and the String Thing was born. I really liked the idea of this thing feeding on spent strings from guitar players everywhere – the living dead of guitar strings. It became the mascot for Fret12.”

It’s obviously a fun thing to do, but there’s a sustainability element to it, right?

“I am really into adaptive reuse and upcycling for a couple of reasons: it’s responsible handling of waste, and there’s no substitute for the authentic patina and history of a used item.

“I’ve wrapped a lot of things in strings, from skulls to hands, to photograph for my designs, but nothing captures the magic as much for me as the initial shot of the original String Thing in that mummy stance – that was what I wanted to try to capture if I could figure out how to make it a product.

“Depending on how often you change your strings, it could take a little bit to fully wrap the character, so I wanted to make sure the underlying character looked just as striking with one set of strings or 10. And it had to capture that original pose.”

At what point did you realise that it was something people would want to own themselves?

“People have always gotten a kick out of the String Thing visual and it has been successful across our clothing and content. I knew that if I could figure out how to enable people to wrap their own, there would be a segment of the guitar playing audience that would appreciate and get a kick out of it.

“We’ve had conversations with some big folks in the gear space who have made comments like, ‘this is something every guitar player should own’, so that has been encouraging. We also did a String Thing pedal collaboration with Earthquaker Devices recently that was a hit. We’ve gotten some pretty good traction, and I would say we are just getting to that point where enough people have discovered the String Thing and a real buzz is building.”

Has it been surreal seeing people all over the world upcycle their strings with the String Thing?

“It has, especially because each one is completely unique and you can tell when someone has put some real time and thought into their creation. I really want to see people go wild with it as the army of String Things grows.”

There are so many lame-ass ways to upcycle strings – this is fun, but it still has that sense of preserving a moment in time…

“Absolutely, when I saw those used strings in the tech’s road case, it was the first time I had seen someone making a conscious effort to handle the waste responsibly. I hadn’t really considered it before that, but it got me thinking. There isn’t a lot of research available out there to give us precise figures on how many strings end up in landfills, but there are a lot of strings going in the bin, and hopefully String Thing can play a part in reducing that. Think twice before you pitch those dead strings, or the String Thing cometh!”

The String Thing character has captured the guitar public’s imagination like it has?

“It’s out of left field, and people like disruptive things. I think a lot of the merchandise and accessory graphics used in the guitar space are really on the nose. If you see me design a tee with a winged skull guitar on it, it’s time for me to hang it up. The String Thing is mysterious and a bit of an inside thing for the guitar community. I often wonder what non-guitar players think it’s wrapped with. Do they know it’s guitar strings? We did a String Thing beer collab with Hop Butcher Brewery here in Chicago and it didn’t dawn on me until I saw it in the store that people may have no idea what it is. The guitar space at large doesn’t have a mascot, other than ones tied to manufacturers. Maybe the String Thing can fill that role.”

It doesn’t hurt that the String Thing came from a brand that has such a strong identity as a creative and unique music store, how did that all happen?

“I have had a unique perspective living and working in the music space and most people experience only a small fraction of what it takes to make music, be a great musician and entertainer, and thrive in the music business.

“I’ve always been energized by the behind the scenes and the nomadic nature of music – raw rehearsal spaces, tour buses, road crews, gear, green rooms, and sound checks. I wanted to peel back the curtain on touring and recording musicians and create better access for fans and musicians, while creating products that capture the patina and raw nature of musicianship and touring.

“A community formed that really enjoyed the connection we gave them with the artists through the content we made, but also appreciated what we were doing and the connection with each other. It became less artist-centric and more focused around the shared love of live music and guitar. The folks who have been with us since the beginning are the Army of 12 – you know who you are!”

It definitely feels like a club you want to be a member of…

“Our favorite explanation of Fret12 that we heard from one of our supporters is ‘it’s like a back alley entrance into the music scene.’ At our core, we are huge supporters of live music and guitar, and we promote both every day.

“We create content and experiences that provide that insider access, sell a curated selection of high-quality gear, and handcrafted products to express your love of music in everyday life – art, clothing, and home goods.

“The String Thing is one of those out of left field products, and we’re always trying to come up with designs, products, and experiences that people aren’t expecting to keep things fun and engaging. In this case, the product helps solve a problem through upcycling and it makes people think differently about their strings – these are a testament to your hard work and commitment to guitar. And it’s a great conversation starter!”

Find out more about the String Thing at fret12.com

The post “I really liked the idea of this thing feeding on spent strings from guitar players everywhere!” how the String Thing made upcycling your guitar strings fun appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender’s Tone Master Pro is currently on offer at Sweetwater, and you can save nearly $80 and get a free IR sampler pack chucked in the mix too.

The Tone Master Pro was launched in 2023, and earned an 8/10 from Guitar.com. It marked Fender’s first entry into the world of multi-effects and floorboard modellers, and followed an online leak. At its launch, the brand hailed it as an “exciting new chapter in digital amplification”.

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With lots of competition in the floorboard modeller market, Fender didn’t take its development lightly, and it arrived after a four-year period of dedicated research and development.

The workstation features over 100 of the world’s most popular amps and effects, including all of Fender’s Tone Master models, the first officially licensed EVH 5150 III Stealth model, and a range of other amps which have been “perfectly replicated” using Fender’s proprietary Tone Master modelling process.

• READ MORE: Fender Vintera II Road Worn 50s Jazzmaster review: “vastly improves the overall Vintera II package”

This process is described as “ultra-accurate” and captures all the detail and sonic nuance from analogue gear and carries it over to digital in full. It includes 6,000 configurable IRs, over 500 preset slots, a full-colour 7-inch graphic touchscreen, and can also be tweaked with the Tone Master Pro desktop editor.

You also get four FX loops and a 60-second looper, full MIDI functionality, third-party IR support, and an XLR mic input. Through Sweetwater only, an Eminence IR sampler pack is included for free.

Learn more in the launch video below:

In other Fender news, it recently partnered with New York specialist guitar store The Music Zoo on a range of Custom Shop 1957 Strats boasting body-matching painted necks and fretboards.

Shop this deal and more at Sweetwater.

The post Get over $75 off the 8/10-rated Fender Tone Master Pro at Sweetwater appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The newly reopened Regent Sounds guitar shop on Denmark Street is celebrating its rebirth by listing “one of the most valuable and historically important musical instruments in existence” – T-Bone Walker’s legendary 1949 Gibson ES-5N – on Reverb.

Billed as “the guitar that started it all”, the ES-5N was one of only 22 built in 1949, and accompanied the blues legend for almost two decades during the formative years of the electric blues. 

It comes with documented provenance and a unique 77-year history, and thus commands a hefty price tag, with Regent Sounds inviting starting bids in the region of £1.5M.

• READ MORE: Bass used on The Specials Ghost Town expected to fetch £20k at auction

T-Bone Walker is widely regarded as one of the most influential guitarists of all time. That is, because he practically invented electric guitar blues as a concept; many of the tried-and-tested blues licks played by both the genre’s modern and classic players originate with T-Bone Walker.

Think of the world’s most influential guitar players: Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gregg Allman, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards. Well, they were all, in some way or another, influenced by T-Bone Walker.

So the lucky new owner of Walker’s treasured 1949 Gibson ES-5N will need deep pockets, as the rich history of the instrument means it comes with a seven-figure price tag.

The guitar is being sold by Regent Sounds, which reopened in September 2025 following a major restoration project. The sale is part of the shop’s new Rare and Vintage Lounge, a space for high-end instruments.

The ES-5N will be on sale on Reverb until 31 March, and will be on public display at Regent Sounds, 4 Denmark St, London WC2H 8LP. Private appointments for close inspection are available on request.

“This is a rare opportunity to own a piece of music history, T-Bone Walker’s influence on the evolution of blues into modern rock can’t be overstated, and this guitar was a leading character in that story,” says Jim Tuerk, Reverb’s VP of Marketing. 

“Reverb exists to help guitars and other gear get second, third, and fourth lives, and it’s fitting that Regent Sounds – which is legendary in its own right – is the shop to give this guitar its next home.”

“Without T-Bone Walker’s genius and virtuosity, it’s unlikely we would have had the proliferation of rock and roll from artists like the Rolling Stones or Jimi Hendrix, whose footsteps make Regent Sounds such sacred ground for music fans,” adds Tony Bacon, author of ELECTRIC BLUES! T-Bone Walker & The Guitar That Started It All.

“Regent Sounds has always been a mecca for music fans because of our rich history,” says Crispin Weir, co-owner of Regent Sounds. 

“But the recent expansion of the shop across two floors, the opening of the Vintage Lounge, and addition of our soundproof booths mean that we have an even brighter future ahead. The sale of T-Bone’s legendary ‘guitar that started it all’ and tie-up with Reverb are just the beginning.”

Take a look at the listing of T-Bone Walker’s treasured Gibson ES-5N at Reverb.

The post “The guitar that started it all”: T-Bone Walker’s 1949 Gibson ES-5N is up for sale on Reverb for over $2M appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Want to try a baritone guitar but don’t want to splash all your cash right away? Look no further than Thomann, which is currently running a deal on the Harley Benton SC-Custom III Baritone AB.

Now reduced to £299, it makes for a great budget-friendly entry point into the world of baritone guitar for both experienced and beginner players.

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As its name suggests, this guitar is a single cut model, and offers a Les Paul-style body shape at a super affordable price range with a baritone-scale 712 mm (28”) neck, shaped in a comfortable Modern C profile, so you can experiment with heavier riffing and a chunkier sound for less.

• READ MORE: “Always ready to ribbit”: This pedal makes your guitar sound like a frog – because why the hell

This model offers a Meranti body and neck, and features a WSC Tune-O-Matic bridge, along with a graphite nut. It has a rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo stainless steel frets, and tones are powered by two Tesla TM VR-Nitro Alnico-5 humbuckers.

It has two volume controls and a single tone control with push/pull coil split functionality, plus a three-way toggle switch. It comes in an Army Burst Satin finish that will fit right in any heavy music setting.

As for another bargain Harley Benton find, Thomann is also offering a great price on the Harley Benton DNAfx GiT Pro amp modeller unit. For less than £200, you get 50 amp models, more than 40 effects, and 31 IR cab sims that can be configured and stored as patches in up to 200 memory slots using its colour display. This Pro version is the flagship model in its DNAfx GiT line, which also includes a standard and streamlined core version.

Shop this deal and more at Thomann.

The post Looking for an entry point into baritone guitars? You can’t go wrong with this Harley Benton model for just £299 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The bass guitar played by Horace Panter on the Specials’ 1981 hit Ghost Town is headed to the auction block, and is expected to fetch up to £20,000.

As auctioneer Gardiner Houlgate explains in a press release, Panter paid £200 for the 1971 blue Fender Precision bass in 1981, and admits he’s “not overly attached” to the instrument, and would rather it go to someone who will play it.

• READ MORE: Trump tariffs rejected by US Supreme Court – what could this mean for the guitar industry?

“It would be nice if it went to someone who’ll play it rather than shut it in a vault. It plays really well,” he says.

The Special’s Ghost Town spent three weeks at Number One in the UK, and 11 weeks in the top 40, and “summed up the depressed mood of Britain at the time”.

After the Specials disbanded in 1981, Horace Pantr used the bass with new wave supergroup General Public, which also featured former members of The Beat, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and the Clash.

Panter sold the bass in 1988, before re-acquiring it in 2010 to use when the Specials reunited.

“This is a bass guitar that’s going to stir up quite a lot of interest among fans and collectors,” says Gardiner Houlgate auctioneer Luke Hobbs. “Ghost Town is such an evocative track reflecting the social and political unrest of Britain at that time – and Horace Panter’s bass is a big part of it.”

Horace Panter’s 1971 Fender Precision bass will be available for public viewing on Friday 6 March and Monday 9 March from 09:00 – 17:30, and on 10 March, the day of the sale itself.

The auction will take place at Gardiner Houlgate, 9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW.

Learn more at Gardiner Houlgate.

The post Bass used on The Specials Ghost Town expected to fetch £20k at auction appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Held in July 2025, Back to the Beginning marked Black Sabbath’s last-ever show, with a who’s who of metal’s elite – including, to name a few, Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira and Lamb of God – gathering at Birmingham’s Villa Park for the heavy metal founders’ swansong.

The event culminated in a short but showstopping set from Black Sabbath, with a frail,  throne-bound Ozzy Osbourne performing War Pigs, N.I.B., Iron Man and Paranoid alongside guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward one last time to a crowd of tens of thousands of heavy metal disciples.

• READ MORE: Yungblud got the Changes gig just 48 hours before Black Sabbath’s farewell show

Ozzy – then 76 – had been battling a number of health conditions for years, including Parkinson’s, which caused worsening mobility in the later years of his life. 

And as his widow and longtime manager Sharon Osbourne explains in a new interview of the Dumb Blonde celebrity podcast, her husband “knew” he didn’t have long to live as preparations reached their peak ahead of Back to the Beginning.

“Two weeks before the show, they said he could probably die, and he did,” Sharon says [via Blabbermouth]. “But he wanted to do it so bad. He needed it. And it’s, like, ‘Whether I die in two weeks or I die in six months, I’m still dying. And I wanna go my way.’ And he did. He went like a rock star.”

Sharon says that the love and tributes to Ozzy Osbourne and his illustrious career at Back to the Beginning were “bittersweet” because they “knew” Ozzy didn’t have much time left.

“Ozzy had sepsis earlier on last year,” she continues. “And very few people ever walk away from that without losing a limb or their life… And as soon as he got sepsis, the kids and I, we knew it was time. And then when we went to England, he went into hospital for a week. And when he came out, they said, ‘You know, Ozzy, this could kill you.’ And he said, ‘I’m doing my show.’ He went out like a king.”

Sharon goes on: “The thing is when you’ve lived your life that way, and it was like, ‘Okay, six months more to go out the way I wanna go out.’ It’s like saying, when you get really old and somebody’s still smoking and they’re, like, 78 years of age, and you’re like, ‘Just let him smoke. Leave him alone. He’s 78. Leave him alone.’

“[Ozzy] went the way he wanted to go. He knew. He knew.”

Sharon also reflects on the moments surrounding Ozzy’s death: “It was so quick. And thank God. I knew when they were trying to revive him, I knew. I’m, like, ‘Don’t. Don’t do it. Leave him.’ “He was done. But again, he went out like a rock star.”

In terms of how she is coping in the wake of Ozzy’s death at the age of 76, Sharon says: “I’m getting there. It’s hard. Jesus, it’s hard, but I’m getting there. I’m gonna keep working and I’m gonna keep doing what I do in my life. And that’s it.”

The post “Two weeks before the show, they said he could die. But he wanted to do it so bad”: Sharon Osbourne on Ozzy’s insistence to perform one last time at Back to the Beginning appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Tensions have very much died down now, but Metallica and Megadeth don’t exactly have a totally amicable history. As the story goes, Megadeth founder and frontman Dave Mustaine was Metallica’s lead guitarist from 1982 to 1983, before being ousted from the band for alcoholism, drug abuse and aggressive behaviour.

But during his time with the group, Mustaine helped write many of the band’s early tracks, including Ride the Lightning, the title track from Metallica’s sophomore album, released a year after his departure.

Mustaine recently revealed how the division of songwriting credits on some of the band’s early tracks became a “bone of contention” between him and Metallica frontman James Hetfield, contributing to their fractured relationship.

• READ MORE: Trump tariffs rejected by US Supreme Court – what could this mean for the guitar industry?

Last month, Megadeth released their last-ever album, and with it came a landmark cover of Ride the Lightning, the track Mustaine helped write decades ago. And in a new interview with Portugal’s Metal Global, bassist James LoMenzo recalls hearing from Mustaine of his plans to record the cover.

“I was delighted. I was surprised,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “My eyebrows went up, but I was kind of delighted that he was gonna even go there, because there’s always that subliminal undercurrent tension – you know, ‘Oh, Metallica [vs.] Megadeth.’

“And I always thought, like, Megadeth, for God’s sake, I always thought Dave won in a way, because he’s built this giant thing all by himself. And it made a lot of sense to me logically. It seemed like if this is the last thing we’re gonna do, then we should go out, end with a band, but also kind of address the full history of the band. And that’s step one.

“So I thought it was great in the end. But yes, my eyebrow went up when I heard him say that, yeah.”

Elsewhere in the interview, LoMenzo is asked whether he believes Megadeth is better than Metallica “when it comes to riffs and solos”.

“I can’t go on board with you there,” he replies. “I’m a company guy – sure, I think we’re better, but semantically, I don’t really believe that. It’s all about taste and approach, right? And I think if Dave had stayed [in Metallica], it would’ve certainly been a lot more complex, but they would’ve not lost any energy that they had. 

“It comes down to, like, who do you like better – Motörhead or The Ramones? One seems silly, one seems really serious, but I love them both.”

Watch the full interview below:

The post “I always thought Dave won – because he’s built this giant thing all by himself”: James LoMenzo on the ever-present “subliminal undercurrent tension” between Megadeth and Metallica appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$199/£199, tru-fi.com/joespedals.com

There are normal people, and then there are fuzz pedal geeks. Normal people know about Fuzz Faces and Tone Benders, and might be vaguely aware that the British stompbox boom of the late 60s also produced one or two other models; fuzz geeks howl and weep in despair over the thought that those ‘others’ – specifically the Colorsound Power Boost and Overdriver – have been so widely forgotten.

• READ MORE: Manson Supermassive Black Fuzz review: heavy, heady filter fuzz that’s not just for Muse worship

Essentially 18V and 9V versions of the same circuit, the Power Boost (1969) and Overdriver (1971) were arguably not only fuzzes but also the first ever overdrive pedals. No wonder David Gilmour, Jeff Beck and Jan Akkerman loved them so much.

Time for a revival? American boutique maker Tru-Fi certainly thinks so, and has included a combined tribute to both pedals in its Mini series, with a toggle switch letting you flip between the two voltages (and power coming from a standard 9V supply or battery). It’s been brought to the UK by Joe’s Pedals, and it looks very cute indeed.

Tru-Fi Mini ’71 Colordriver – what is it?

Tru-Fi specialises in vintage-minded pedals, mostly fuzz, in beautifully made metal enclosures. They’re also somewhat vintage-sized, but the Minis have been shrunk down by 1/3 and have the jack sockets at the top, making them significantly more ’board-friendly.

This is the ’71 Colordriver; there’s also a ’69 version that’s bright orange and has different silicon transistors (BC109 instead of BC184), for a tone that’s described as “a bit smoother”. Both have a volume knob on the side – a feature the originals lacked, leaving them stuck in extra-boosty mode. Maybe that’s why they went out of fashion in the first place?

Tru-Fi Mini ’71 Colordriver – what does it sound like?

There’s a theory that this circuit demands a lot of headroom – it was, after all, designed to be plugged into much louder tube amps than what most people use today – but that really depends on what you want from it. I began my testing with a 20W combo attenuated for bedroom levels, so about as much headroom as a catflap… and fell in love with the Colordriver instantly.

With the amp set clean-ish, anything shy of halfway on the pedal’s central dial is definitely more overdrive than fuzz: it’s tonally uncoloured (until you start messing with the highly responsive tone controls), and crunchy in a way that caresses the eardrums. There’s a roughness to decaying chords that some people won’t like, but the full-frequency openness works brilliantly for tight rhythm playing.

The second half of that drive knob is all classic Brit filth, with some colossal Fuzz Face sounds on offer towards the very top, just as it starts to feel splattily overloaded. It also opens up really nicely when you turn the guitar’s volume down, albeit with a slight thinning out of the tone.

Through a bigger amp it’s a dramatically different story: now we feel the real noise-bringing potential of the Colordriver, with a tremendous low-end thump to go along with that sweetly singing midrange. It’s a match for any Fuzz Face, but only if you’re in the mood for high gain: with the guitar volume backed off it now sounds quite clangy, and with the pedal’s gain at halfway it’s just not as likeable as it was through the little amp. At the other end of the scale, though, the combination of treble, bass and master volume knobs does allow for some extremely tweakable boosting with the gain set even lower.

All of the above, by the way, is equally true at both voltage settings, with 18v sounding that little bit bigger and clearer than 9v. It’s great to have the choice, but you might find yourself popping that switch into the up position and leaving it there forever.

Tru-Fi Mini ’71 Colordriver – should I buy it?

This pedal sounds great through a small amp and great through a big amp, but in totally different ways. That makes the “should I buy it?” question more complicated than usual, but here are two key facts to bear in mind: one, the ’71 Colordriver is an absolutely top-class stompbox; and two, the geeks are right and this near-forgotten giant of early fuzz needs to be on your radar.

Tru-Fi Mini ’71 Colordriver – alternatives

You can still buy a full-size reissue Colorsound Overdriver (£429) or Power Boost (£399), both with master volume, courtesy of legendary London dealer Macari’s. Modern US-built alternatives include the IdiotBox Effects Power Drive ($139/£125) and Basic Audio Futureman ($200/£209.99).

The post Tru-Fi Mini ’71 Colordriver review – an underrated classic of early fuzz is reborn… in miniature appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Who would have predicted that the kid who threatened you on your first day of school would one day become your bandmate? Certainly not Flea.

In a recent interview with MOJO, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist revisits the chaotic first encounter with frontman Anthony Kiedis and the unlikely friendship that forged despite Kiedis’s “intimidating presence”.

• READ MORE: “These are recordings that were going to be the next Van Halen record”: Alex Van Halen sheds light on upcoming “Van Halen” album featuring Steve Lukather

Asked about Kiedis’s claim that he once “held a gun” to Flea’s head on their first day at school, the bassist chuckles: “A gun? I think he was being metaphorical, but the first time he met me he did threaten me.”

“There was this other kid who was my friend and I was kind of being an asshole. I had the kid in a headlock and doing what we call in Los Angeles a noogie, which is when you grind your knuckles into someone’s head,” Flea explains. “I was doing it playfully but I don’t think he appreciated it. And Anthony was, (shouts) ‘Lay off him!’ He physically threatened me to let go of that kid. I was like, Who is this guy?”

It wasn’t long after that tense introduction that Flea and Kiedis became fast friends. Flea describes the early connection as immediate and rare: “Very shortly after that Anthony and I had classes together and we became inseparable friends,” he says.

Interestingly enough, music wasn’t what initially brought them together.

“[Anthony] came from a completely different world. He lived with his father who was kind of like a Hollywood playboy-actor-wildman [Blackie Dammett] and Anthony knew about rock music and early punk rock and new wave and shit that was happening through his dad who was in the Hollywood scene,” Flea recalls. “But I didn’t know anything about that, I had my trumpet. So he kind of exposed me to that world, the excitement of it. My mother said I came home from school very serious and said, ‘Mom, I finally found someone I can talk to.’”

Looking back though, Flea admits that time has inevitably reshaped their bond.

“[It’s still like that] on occasion, but not like we were,” he says. “We don’t see each other as much. Time has definitely… We’ve grown in different directions in some ways.”

That said, the Red Hot Chili Peppers show no signs of easing up on the creative front. Flea recently hinted at the prospect of new music on the horizon, saying: “We’ve been writing music together, recording at [guitarist] John Frusciante’s house, and the music feels great.”

The band’s most recent album, Unlimited Love, arrived in 2022.

The post “I had the kid in a headlock, and Anthony physically threatened me to let go”: Flea recounts how he met fellow Red Hot Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that president Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he invoked a law designed for national emergencies to impose sweeping tariffs on many countries around the world starting in early 2025.

Tariffs have made up a significant bulk of Donald Trump’s economic policy since he took office for his second presidential term in January 2025, and, indeed, during his first term, too. But the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, reached on Friday, 20 February, 2026, marks a major setback to that policy, as some of the tariffs imposed by Trump have been invalidated.

• READ MORE: Vista Musical Instruments acquires Scottish retailer Kenny’s Music and confirms relaunch plans

It’s important to note, though, that the ruling only applies to select tariffs – those imposed via Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, and not on all tariffs imposed since he took office.

So how might the new ruling affect the current state of play of the guitar industry? Well, it’s hard to say, but potentially not by much.

The ruling centres around tariffs, yes, but more specifically Trump’s February 2025 invocation of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which states that the sitting president can step in via executive order to regulate trade in response to a national emergency. 

He said drug trafficking from China, Mexico and Canada was an emergency worthy of invoking this law. He used the same law in April 2025 to impose sweeping tariffs between 10 and 50 percent on most countries around the world.

However, it seems there’s not much cause for guitar brands to get excited quite yet, as a number of industry-specific tariffs remain in place on steel, aluminium and, crucially, lumber, under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which is unaffected by the Supreme Court’s latest ruling.

So, as it stands, much of the economic hardship faced by guitar brands in the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariffs will remain in place, but could the ruling of the highest court in the country against Trump’s tariff-heavy economic policy set a precedent in which more tariffs could later be overturned?

In the wake of Trump’s tariffs last year, NAMM President and CEO John Mlynczak spoke of the “deeply interconnected” international supply chain that keeps the guitar industry healthy, and which has been affected by Trump’s tariffs.

“The reason why we have companies that can afford to build their highest-end products in the US is because they have the revenue from the mid-to-entry level products from overseas,” he said. “Our supply chain is deeply interconnected.”

“It’s not like an instrument is solely made in China or Mexico. What happens is you have certain components that are made really well in China that are then imported for final assembly. Or you have a factory in Mexico that has a specialty in making certain components that are imported. Then they are assembled in the US. This happens because this work is highly specialized.”

Mlynczak later teamed up with executives from Fender, Gibson, PRS and other guitar giants to lobby congress over wood tariffs.

“The tariffs are incredibly nuanced and complicated,” he admitted. “But there are various Section 232 investigations [an investigation by the Department of Commerce on the impact of certain imports on national security – Ed] on various industries happening right now.

“One of them is on imports of timber. And so the high level task that we wanted to work on, was making sure that we submitted letters to congress, and we submitted investigation letters through the process.

“But we also met with high-level members of Congress just to follow up and say, ‘Hey, we’ve done this… and by the way, American made brands can’t make these products unless they get wood from overseas. We don’t grow these species of wood in the United States!’”

In the wake of the new ruling, anti-tariff organisation We Pay the Tariffs has called for “swift refunds” for the affected businesses which have paid tariffs.

“The administration’s only responsible course of action now is to establish a fast, efficient and automatic refund process that returns tariff money to the businesses that paid it,” says the organisation’s director Dan Anthony.

Donald Trump has not yet commented on the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Read more about how Trump’s tariffs have affected the guitar industry below:

• Report reveals how Fender is tackling tariffs and a “weaker macroeconomic environment”
• Why boutique pedal makers fear tariffs will destroy the entire US pedal industry
• Are your favourite guitar strings about to get more expensive? D’Addario expects to incur more than $2 million in tariffs this year as a result of US trade policy
• How Trump’s tariffs are stretching US amp and pedal companies to breaking point
• Höfner blames effects of US tariffs for bankruptcy

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