Fretboard Journal



LA-based singer-songwriter/composer/guitarist Micah Preite joins us this week!

https://micahpreite.bandcamp.com

Though his lo-fi/indie songs have millions of streams on Spotify, Preite’s background includes time with SoCal jazz legend Bruce Forman, a visit as a teenager to the OG 2015 Fretboard Summit in California, and studying music at CalArts. He’s now working on his first full-length movie score and more songs. It’s a great chat with a young musician who can seemingly do it all.

Be like young Micah and join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago (August 20-22, 2026) for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and live podcasts with some of our favorite artists.

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands, performances by Hand Habits, Deep Sea Diver, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Shane Parish, Michael Daves and Antoine Boyer!

Register here: www.fretboardsummit.org.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 555: Micah Preite first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

I am pleased to announce the lineup for our 2026 Fretboard Summit.

This year’s Summit is all about discovery: Hearing new artists who should be on your radar, along with the voices you’ve heard on our podcast and in our print pages. It’s also all about fun.

Included for 2026’s lineup: Jessica Dobson/Deep Sea Diver (Solo); Antoine Boyer; Hand Habits; Jake Xerxes Fussell; Michael Daves & Jacob Jolliff; The Volcano Brothers, featuring Steve Dawson, Fats Kaplin, Richard Bennett, Andy Reiss, & Dave Jacques; Shane Parish; Gabe Noel; Corey Congilio and others. 

2026 speakers and instructors include many of the artists mentioned above along with Chris Martin IV (Martin Guitars), Josh Scott (JHS), Fender historian Terry Foster,  TJ Thompson & Greig Hutton, Sofia Wolfson, Gabe Noel, Evan Gluck (New York Guitar Repair), Mark Stutman (Folkway Music), Barry Grzebik (Grez Guitars), yours truly and others. 

Bob Taylor (Taylor Guitars) will be doing a deep dive extended look into sourcing and using woods for guitars and sharing the decades of experience he’s earned navigating CITES laws, ethically sourcing tropical woods and more.

Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) will be creating the ultimate vintage Gibson acoustic petting zoo, letting you all get your hands on 1930s Kel Kroydons and Gibson L models that you rarely see in person.

Our on-site lutherie showcase (one of the biggest in the world) will spread across the two buildings of Old Town School’s campus and feature big brands like Martin, Yamaha, Taylor, Iris, Bourgeois, and Collings; pedal makers (JHS, Browne, Summer School Electronics, Chase Bliss), amp builders (from Henriksen to Two-Rock), and over 50 independent and small-batch builders of acoustics and electrics.

In years past, Collings and other brands unveiled new instruments and prototypes that weren’t even displayed at NAMM. This is your chance to see what may be next year’s coolest gear release.

The fun doesn’t stop there.

There will be a loud room based on our Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast if you want to try your next guitar purchase out on dozens of vintage amplifiers and PA heads. More into acoustics? We have quiet audition rooms just for those.

The Summit Pinewood Derby is returning, where luthiers put all their craft and heart into a tiny Boy Scout-approved block of pine and see who is the fastest.

We’ll have wine tasting thanks to FJ reader and vintner Bill Downie (coming all the way from Australia).

A 5K run just for guitar geeks.

Our annual Science Fair is happening, where all the uber-creative guitarmakers can show off their cutting-edge creations.

We’ll have pedal-making classes thanks to Mark from Summer School Electronics, where you can go home with the ultimate Summit souvenir, a pedal you just soldered and assembled.

Plus live podcast tapings from the FJ and other content creators, gear givaways just for registrants, and lots more.

Register here for our 2026 Summit and don’t forget to tell your friends. This is like a giant family reunion for anyone who loves guitars. All abilities, ages, styles are welcome.

Some FAQ re: the Summit. 

What is the Fretboard Summit?

It’s a hang, a conference, and a music festival rolled into one.

Basically, it’s our take on the ultimate guitar geek weekend, where you can meet the heroes we celebrate on our pages and podcasts (players and builders); see some ridiculously cool concert lineups; try out (and buy) some insanely unique guitars; learn a bunch; and make some new friends.

It’s also one of the only open-to-the-public conventions that features a who’s-who of legendary guitar and gear makers, large and small batch.

Why?

Because we wanted to celebrate the community around the Fretboard Journal. Acoustic and electric. We also wanted you to be able to meet all these great personalities we interview and showcase in our magazine.

You don’t need to be a serious collector, gigging musician, or virtuoso to attend. Just have an open mind and you’ll have a blast.

Should I bring a guitar?

Only if you want! Most of our workshops are guitar-optional. We do have a guitar check-in if you want to safely store your instrument or grab a bite somewhere, but there are also hundreds of instruments to try out so you may enjoy feeling unencumbered without a guitar case.

Is this just for professionals? 

No! While some of our classes are wonderfully geeky, we craft everything to be inclusive and welcoming to players of all levels. This is a festival made for musicians of all stripes. Beyond all the included guitar workshops, there are unlimited opportunities to play, jam with friends, or try out new guitar gear. We have soundproof rooms if you want to rock out (or just try guitars in private).

Space is limited because this is about as interactive as festivals get. We want you to get hands-on time with cool gear.

What is the Old Town School of Folk Music?

A Chicago institution. Founded in 1957 the Old Town School of Folk Music provides a wide range of music, dance, theater, and visual arts courses to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. It’s a magical 501(c)(3) not-for-profit with an expansive campus featuring two buildings across the street from one another. We take over both facilities and fill them to the brim with sessions, workshops, jam rooms, and demo spaces.

When you picture Chicago, you may think of Wrigley Field or some busy downtown street or that one Wilco cover with the two buildings. The neighborhood that Old Town is in is easily walkable and there are dozens of nearby cafes, shops and restaurants. It’s like the cool neighborhood in your town, but in Chicago.

Who attends the Summit?

An eclectic mix of guitar fanatics (of all abilities), collectors, luthiers, industry members, and working musicians from around the world. Our crowd tends to be more eclectic and diverse than you’d think – young and old, all genders. But we all connect over a love for guitars.

Having said that: We limit Summit all-access passes to just a few hundred. We want everyone who attends to see the concerts, meet their heroes, and have fun without crowds. So if you want to come, it’s best to register soon before it sells out.

Who will I meet?

That’s up to you!

This year’s Summit has some of the most respected names in guitar craft: You can meet the crews behind Martin, Collings, Santa Cruz, Taylor, Lowden, Yamaha, JHS, Bourgeois, JHS, and Chase Bliss. It’s a rare opportunity to talk to lutherie legends like Bob Taylor (Taylor Guitars), Richard Hoover (SCGC) and Martin’s Chris Martin IV under one roof.

You’ll bump into dozens of world-class players and former FJ subjects. We also attract some of the biggest YouTube and podcast influencers around (Rhett Shull will be attending in 2025, along with the Acoustic Shoppe, Josh Scott, Dipped in Tone and others).

Best of all, you’ll meet a bunch of great players who probably aren’t currently on your radar…and fellow collectors.

What does a day look like?

Each day has over 12 hours of programming planned. We don’t expect you to catch it all (that would be crazy), but it’s there for you.

Get to Old Town School on Friday morning (August 20) at around 9 or 10 a.m., get your pass, browse the schedule and decide whether you want to browse guitars at the lutherie showcase or attend a workshop. Proceed however you like.

The Old Town campus has two buildings directly across the street from each other. It’s a little daunting at first, but just consider it a giant guitar funhouse. (Someone from the FJ or OTS will be at the front registration desk to help you if you have any questions.)

I encourage pass holders to take their time and not expect to attend everything. Some of the coolest music moments happen in the lobbies or just by sticking around a sponsor booth for a while.

There’s a lunch break every day, during which attendees and their new friends grab a bite to eat nearby. I like the Indian place about a block away, but there are burgers, dumplings, cafes and more within about 300 yards of the venue. You’ll see lots of Summit badges at neighboring restaurants. Don’t hesitate to introduce yourself. After lunch, there’s a whole new slate of afternoon sessions.

Concerts tend to start after dinner in the two theaters: The historic Maurer Concert Hall (capacity 420) is where our bigger names play, while Szold Hall is where you can catch some of the more adventurous programming. Your three-day pass gets you into everything. You can come and go as you please.

What are the workshops like?

After you’ve made the decision on what class to attend, you just show up. No reservation is needed with your all-access pass. Some classes are intimate affairs, some have 20-50 people. We put the bigger-name workshops in the main theater, but there’s typically room for everyone. You definitely don’t need a guitar to attend these workshops, though an acoustic instrument is nice to have at a few of them (we’ll let you know).

Every year, we have live podcast tapings, advanced master classes, songwriting workshops and more.

If you want to leave a session early, just politely get up and go. There are usually two to three sessions going every hour, so you can try something else.

What styles of music are represented?

Rock, bluegrass, roots music, blues, jazz, folk, singer-songwriters, and all points in between. Basically, the pages of the FJ coming to life.

How expensive is it?

For 2026, we’ve preserved our pricing from last year: Three-day passes are $400.

This includes everything, all-day-long.

Admission to all the evening concerts, all the instructional workshops, opportunities to win some truly cool guitars in our raffles, the ability to buy Summit exclusive gear, networking events, a great swag bag, and surprises.

You also get early and unlimited access to the lutherie showcase featuring over 80 guitarmakers.

Even without the rest of the Summit programming, this is arguably the largest handmade and boutique guitar showcase in North America.

Walkable dining options abound near the venue at every price point. You can stay wherever you like (see below).

Where should I stay?

We get asked this a lot.

Honestly, you can stay wherever you like in Chicago. Probably aim for a hotel or Airbnb that fits your price range somewhere north of downtown Chicago and south of downtown Evanston. If the reviews online look good and it fits your price range, go for it. (Checking your cab fare ahead of time using an online calculator is also a good idea.)

All Summit activities take place at Old Town School, from morning to night. So once you’re there each day, there’s no need to go anywhere else. Hotel Zachary near Wrigley is an Old Town staff favorite, but you really can’t go wrong if the Tripadvisor reviews and room rate meet your standards.

If you’re on a guitar forum or have friends into guitars, post about the Summit and see if you can go in on an Airbnb. There are many in the vicinity of Old Town, but they tend to get reserved quickly.

How do I sign up?

Register today at www.fretboardsummit.org. And holler if you have any questions.

Still trying to picture this event? Check out these totally unsolicited videos posted by some of our past attendees… 

The post Fretboard Summit 2026: Lineup and Details first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Today’s podcast episode is with songwriter and guitarist Alex Amen, who has a new album out today on ATO Records.

https://alexamen.com

In this conversation, we talk about Alex’s Texan roots, mountaineering, living on a California commune, and the musical influences found on his new album.

Above image: Jackie Domi

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago (August 20-22, 2026) for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and live podcasts with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear! 2026 speakers include Josh Scott (JHS), Mark Stutman (Folkway Music), Chris Martin IV (Martin Guitars), Fender historian Terry Foster, and many other fretted instrument luminaries.

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: www.fretboardsummit.org.

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 554: Alex Amen first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Before talking amps, we talk life! Longtime friend of the show John Vanderslice (Tiny Telephone) joins us to talk about moving to the Netherlands, the life of an expat, the equipment that he moved to Europe (and didn’t), staying curious with your gear, and so much more.

Around 50 minutes in, we get the answer to last episode’s Baffler, field various questions and do the usual TAVA amp troubleshooting.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:00 Special guest: John Vanderslice!

50:28 Our sponsors!

51:47 What’s on Skip’s bench: A Supro Galaxy

1:01:19 The O.W. Appleton guitar (link)

1:02:33 The answer to episode 155’s baffler: Two types of hum

1:07:03 The high and low power switch on a Music Man HD150

1:10:34 How can I swap the speaker on my 1949 Spiegel 79-C, pre-heating cast iron

1:14:35 Ranch Style beans, Herdez guacamole salsa, Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 mic-pre, Peavey Valverb, using an iso cabinet, using both jacks in a Princeton

1:24:37 Terry Foster at the 2026 Fretboard Summit 

1:26:11 How many speakers can a Silverface Champ drive safely? Why did Fender keep changing the Princeton schematic?

1:31:13 Skip at the Fretboard Summit?

Above and below: Listener Bernie’s Spiegel amplifier. 

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 166 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Editor’s Note: Jazz, funk and blues guitar legend James “Blood” Ulmer passed away on June 3, 2026 at the age of 86. We profiled Ulmer in a lengthy Fretboard Journal 50 profile penned by contributor John Kruth (with photos by Stan Schnier). To pay tribute, we’re sharing the story here in its entirety. 

Tuning to Your Head

Free language with James “Blood” Ulmer

The eldest of nine children, James “Blood” Ulmer was born in 1942 and raised in rural St. Matthews, South Carolina. Brought up in the church, Ulmer’s father, a Baptist preacher, showed him his first guitar chords at the age of 4.

“My daddy played guitar and good harmonica and would sing to me and put my fingers on the guitar strings. When I was a kid, the only instruments around were an organ and a guitar,” Blood recalled. “We had a pump organ that was maybe a hundred years old. Somebody would be down on the floor, pushin’ the pedals while someone played the bass keys and somebody else played the high part.”

In elementary school, young James joined his father’s gospel group, the Southern Sons, and traveled the South over the next seven years, where he was inspired by vocal groups like the Five Blind Boys of Alabama and the Dixie Hummingbirds. “There were four of us,” Blood said. “And we got pretty good…playing church songs.”

While the Carolina Piedmont region is famous for its distinct brand of fingerpicked blues and rags, played and recorded by guitar masters Blind Boy Fuller, Reverend Gary Davis and Brownie McGhee, Blood claimed to be unfamiliar with their music. “I don’t know nothin’ about that music!” he groused. “We didn’t have no records and nothin’ to play ’em on. Even if I did, my mama would’ve whipped my ass if it wasn’t a record about Jesus. We came from the church. We couldn’t play no stuff like that. They were playing that music in order to survive and make an identity for themselves. So, I didn’t play like that. Copying another man’s style could get you killed,” Blood stressed. “You were messing with their livelihood.”

Ulmer’s lifelong relationship with the instrument began with his “first real guitar, a Stella.” When I mentioned that Lead Belly also played a Stella, Ulmer replied: “Lead Belly! It was a damn shame the way people treated him. Those musicians never could travel anywhere without somebody making a threat on their life…made them ride in the back of the bus. They could have done so much more. They mostly played what record companies wanted them to play, what they thought would sell. The business has crushed the real American music. They don’t want you to know where it came from. Their idea of what music is supposed to be comes from Europe! Those musicians never got the chance to express themselves and play the real American music. I couldn’t put up with that kinda shit. I woulda been dead if I had to live like that.

“After I graduated high school, I wanted to get outta South Carolina. My father told me, ‘I can’t send you to college, but you can go into the army, and they’ll put you through school. So, I went downtown, and flunked every test they gave me ’cause all those questions were made for people living on a farm. I didn’t live on no farm! All I had to do was go to school and church and sing!”

Classified 4F by the Selective Service, Ulmer headed north to Pittsburgh and lived with his aunt. “She told me to get a job. ‘I’m gonna charge you six dollars a week for rent and I don’t want you stealing!” Blood’s cousin found him work at a local hospital cleaning pots and pans. “And that’s where I met my first wife. She was a cook,” Blood said, chuckling. But after receiving a check for a lousy 15 dollars after two weeks of work, Ulmer made a solemn vow to never live as a wage slave.

“Damn! That’s the last time I looked for a job! At the time, there were all these doo wop groups singing all over the streets on each corner and they were making some money. So, I went up and asked, ‘Y’all need a guitar player?’ They said, ‘Yeah!’ I said, ‘But I ain’t got no guitar!’ They got me a Silvertone guitar and a Silvertone amp! I went to the rehearsals and right then and right there—boom! [claps his hands loudly] I had a gig with the Savoys! I stayed with them for a while and then got me a gig playing with the Del-Vikings [one of the few racially integrated doo wop groups at the time, best known for their hits “Come Go with Me” and “Whispering Bells”]. That was 1958. I was 18 years old when I started playing guitar for my living. Been doin’ it all my life!”

Around this time, Blood crossed paths with a young George Benson playing guitar in front of his house in Pittsburgh. “George Benson was a bad motherfucker! He played like any guitar player you could name when he was 13 or 14 years old. You’d say ‘Gimme Wes,’ and he’d do it. He could play like anybody, but he could only copy somebody else. He didn’t have his own song!” Ulmer emphasized. “He was giving lessons, but you only needed one to get it. Then he went on the road with [jazz organist] Jack McDuff.”

Blood recalled playing an early prototype Fender Stratocaster around the same time. “When I was 18 or 19, they were just about giving them away, just to get people to play them. But it’s the way you got the guitar tuned that makes a guitar a guitar. It’s got six strings and frets. Does it feel right in your hands? Does it play smooth? It don’t matter what name is on top. The important thing is to play music!”

In 1965, Blood got a gig playing in organist Hank Marr’s group at The 502 Club in Columbus, Ohio. By the end of the 1940s, Columbus had transformed into a red-hot boiling pot for R&B and jazz. Saxophonist Rusty Bryant, who sold a million copies of the funky, chugging “Nite Train,” and jazz diva Nancy Wilson were regarded as local royalty. The city was a regular stopover for the touring big bands of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Lionel Hampton as well as Miles Davis, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Dizzy Gillespie’s groups. Lights from theaters, restaurants and nightclubs illuminated the Ohio night sky like a small Las Vegas. Nightclubs like The 502, The Regal and The Cadillac Club were the hot spots where the musicians played for keeps and the crowd dressed to kill.

Hitting the road with Hank Marr’s band, Blood toured the States and Europe, while making his recording debut on the organist’s 1967 release Sounds from the Marr-Ket Place. Built on Marr’s soul grooves, the album features a slinky guitar lead from Ulmer and a robust tenor sax played by George Adams, best known for his work with Charles Mingus. While echoes of Wes Montgomery can be heard in Ulmer’s playing, the choppy, angular phrases that would soon define his style added fire to a set of otherwise cool lounge vamps.

“When I first heard Wes, I thought, wow! He’d really found something on the guitar! I wasn’t a copycat or trying to figure out how to play like him. I just liked the sound he made! It was just like somebody talking,” Blood said.

Ulmer eventually crossed paths with his inspiration one night during a week-long gig with Marr at The Hubbub Club in Montgomery’s hometown of Indianapolis. “We played two sets and Wes walked in and stood at the bar all night long.” Meanwhile on the bandstand, Ulmer grew anxious, hoping Montgomery would complement his guitar playing. When the band took their break, Blood strolled past his hero a few times and even deliberately stood beside Montgomery at the bar, but Wes never uttered a word. “He never said anything. And after that gig, I just made a left turn and stopped trying to play that way [in the typical style of jazz guitarists of the day].” Montgomery’s silent snub inspired Blood to no longer look towards others for encouragement or inspiration but to develop his own voice. “After that, I didn’t follow other men. I just followed the guitar!” he said.

In 1967, Blood headed for Detroit, spending the next five years there. “That’s a baaad town—full of great music! I got a job teaching at a guitar workshop for about two or three years.” While best known for the Motown sound of the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, the Motor City also had a great jazz scene, providing venues for Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane. The Jones Brothers—Hank, Elvin and Thad, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, pianist Alice McLeod (Coltrane) and guitarist Kenny Burrell—all called Detroit home.

At a session for Blue Note Records in August 1969, Blood could be heard comping choppy chords and adding snaky, fiery licks to the cool groove of organist Big John Patton’s album Accent on the Blues. Around this time, Ulmer was jammed with a crew of wild musicians at The 20 Grand club who later become world-known as Funkadelic.

Following a six-month gig at the Bluebird, the club owner kindly staked Blood the bread to go to New York in hopes of meeting and playing with Miles Davis.

“When I came to New York, I was 31 years old, and never thought nobody could make no money playing free music So, I always played structured blues and R&B and dance music. But then I abandoned it. I just totally went another way and got my own group together, ‘Blood and the Blood Brothers!’ Ulmer said with a chuckle.

Jamming with a cast of improvisers from Joe Henderson, Rashied Ali and Arthur Blythe to Paul Bley, he still kept one foot in the straight-ahead jazz world, gigging with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. But his stint with Blakey’s band didn’t last long, not with the likes of their star trumpeter Woody Shaw scowling at him every time he soloed.

At the same time Miles Davis bent the heads of hippies at The Fillmore with the electric funk of Live Evil and On the Corner, and Sun Ra transported free-thinking jazz passengers to the outer reaches of Aldebaran, organist Larry Young (aka Khalid Yasin) mixed up some musical marmalade of his own with the help of Ulmer and free-jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders on his 1973 album Lawrence of Newark. This obscure disc remains an unsung gem in the jazz canon while revealing aspects of Blood’s music to come.

While Ulmer never ran into jazz’s “Prince of Darkness” (as Miles was sometimes known), he did cross paths with Ornette Coleman’s drummer Billy Higgins in 1972, who introduced him to the enigmatic free jazz saxophonist. For six months, Blood lived at Ornette’s lower Manhattan loft, studying and playing harmolodics—Coleman’s unique philosophy of making music.

“With Coleman, I had to go through a whole lotta changes and think about the way I was playing the guitar, to figure out what the harmolodic theory was—the avant-garde way of playing. Then one night I had a dream that I was tuning the guitar… How ya gonna play it if you don’t dream it?”

Blood’s fortuitous dream would liberate him from all past musical conceptions. When he awoke, he began tuning to the notes he’d heard in his head while asleep.

“I was living with Ornette and couldn’t wait to show him what happened. So, I went to his room and woke him up and said, ‘Coleman, listen to this!’ and started playing the guitar with all my strings tuned to one note. He listened for a long time and said he never heard nothin’ like that before. The music was jumping out! He said, ‘Blood, you have moved the tonal center, making the treble clef a transposing note for the guitar.’ Then he picked up his horn and said, ‘Play B flat.’ I said, ‘I ain’t got one!’ He said, ‘Play E flat.’ ‘I said, ‘I’m not tuned to E flat!’ I said, ‘What do you want me to do?’ He didn’t know, ’cause he didn’t play no damn guitar! So, I had to figure out how to fit with what he was doing.”

Ornette considered Blood “a natural harmolodic player” and produced his album Tales of Captain Black, cut in one session on December 5, 1978, at RPM Sound in New York.

When I interviewed Ornette Coleman a year before his passing in 2015, he marveled at how Blood “scientifically broke down playing [notes] in unison. He knows that shit backwards!” Ornette enthused. “When he plays the blues, he can make you think what you’re hearing disappear.”

“Coleman was amazed. He made me feel like I graduated from his harmolodic school of music. But I just play the music!” Blood shrugged. “And that’s enough. Y’know, you can spend a whole lifetime just trying to get the timing right!”

So, what’s this mysterious system of harmolodic music all about? What are the secret ingredients behind Coleman’s sonic recipe? The word “harmolodic,” I should point out, is a mash-up of one part harmony, one part motion and one part melody, of which melody, as Blood stresses, is the key component.

“The harmolodic system is based on the e-lim-in-a-tion of chords and scales, so you can just play the music,” Ulmer stressed. “In harmolodic music, the instruments are all in the same key. We play all 12 notes at the same time, while European music is mostly chords and scales. The harmolodic tuning gives you a whole ‘nother structure of how to go. Y’know, I should be charging you for this lesson,” Blood said with a laugh.

“This one is tuned regular,” he said, reaching for his black 1954 Gibson Byrdland Custom (strung with medium-gauge flat-wound strings) and began firing off a series of rapid, splintered riffs and fractured phrases.

Blood plays hard and his instruments bear the beating they’ve taken over the years. On the cover of Ulmer’s 1981 breakthrough album Free Lancing, he’s seen playing a big beautiful blonde Gibson Byrdland. But after years of wear and tear from constant gigging, he had it painted black to cover the visible signs of distress.

“About eight or nine years ago, my wife bought me this guitar,” he says picking up his “new” 1962 blonde Gibson. “They’re both the same, but tuned differently,” he stressed, brushing the strings with his thumb. “This one is tuned harmolodic [and strung with medium-gauge wound strings].”

Over the years, Ulmer has employed various tunings, with both a low E or A as the root note. The A tuning, which this guitar was in, was tuned (from high to low): E A E A A A. Blood can be seen explaining the intricacies of “The Unwritten Theory of Guitar Harmolodics” on a YouTube clip where he also tunes his guitar in E (from high to low): E B E B E E.

The blonde Byrdland also boasts a big, brassy Bigsby tailpiece. “I never use that thing! Whadda ya call it?” he asked with a husky chuckle. “A whammy, a tremolo or a twang bar,” I replied. “Never use it. I don’t even know how you do it…it’s just there.”

“So, the tunings provide a couple of languages or set of directions to start from,” I reply, trying to break down Ulmer’s rootsy yet abstract theory. Blood laughs at my attempted analysis.

“Yeah, I hear you, but I don’t think about it like that. I just wanna make it through the night!” he said. “Y’know, it’s a fight to play the real American music, ’cause most people in America are playing European music. I don’t care what you’re playing. It all comes from the keyboard, from Europe. That’s what they respect. In America, our families all came from somewhere else. But this country has its own music without going to Africa or anywhere… And it’s guitar music! Not keyboard music. The Africans got their own tribal music and their own way of playing.”

Blood’s comment suddenly triggers something a Nigerian guitarist named Idowu Awe once told me back in 1978. He strode into my February-cold Berlin pad like he owned the place and laid his guitar case on the kitchen table. Pulling up a chair, he sat down, set his guitar on his lap and began tuning his guitar, starting with the low E string, which he loosened until it was slack. Then he began tightening it back up again. I wasn’t sure if he knew what he was doing or if he was messing with me. So I just sat there watching as he tuned his strings in what seemed to be a totally random fashion. While the E string was tuned to the lowest pitch, the rest of the notes didn’t follow any logical or conventional order.

“I tune to my head!” Idowu said, smiling. “That way, every time I play the guitar, it is fresh and new.” After finally settling on his latest tuning, Idowu began to chop a syncopated rhythm that I could find neither the top nor the bottom of. Once I tossed out any rational, Western approach to music, I picked up my mandolin and just fell into the groove, intuitively playing along. We wound up jamming happily for the next couple of hours.

“Music is not an instrument!” Blood emphasized. “It’s much bigger than that. You gotta figure out what it is. But you also gotta figure out what it ain’t. Don’t look down—look up! Look forward and get all the obstacles out of the way,” Ulmer said. “People want to hear music. They need music! But they don’t really know what it is. It’s not about a flat four or a flat nine!” he said with a laugh.

As Ornette Coleman often pointed out to his fellow musicians, “That’s not just a saxophone you’re playing—that’s music! That’s not a guitar! That’s music you’re playing!”

Blood also designed (and copyrighted) a chart of the harmolodic clef, which illustrates how the theory works. “He wrote it all down. It shows how each note relates in harmolodic law. I will find it for you,” Blood’s wife, Eva, said, returning a moment later with what looked like a cryptic treasure map comprising three intersecting angles with notes written on both sides, indicating how they interrelate with each other.

“That’s just harmolodic theory,” Blood said, shrugging. “You need to hear the sound. Music is a language. It’s information. Different people make different music. I’m different from you! So, why would my music sound anything like yours? [laughs] The instrument might help to break it down, but that ain’t music. If you can find it, then you can play it!

“You’ve got to remember, the instrument did not come first,” Blood emphasized. “That tells you something right there. Music came before instruments. People made instruments, but music was here before the instruments! Y’see, that’s the problem. You can play the instrument, but that don’t mean you’ll find the music.”

Ulmer’s unique system of tuning helped him to blow open doors of new possibility, inspiring him to stretch beyond the well-worn cliches and the pitfalls of patterns employed by most blues, jazz and rock guitarists. Blood’s harmolodic approach to playing gave him an incredible range of expression and the unique ability to construct harmonies as no other guitar player has, before or since. But what about the music he first learned to sing and play: gospel?

“Now gospel is something that don’t always come into you but comes out of you. They always want to teach you something to put it in your brain, without givin’ a damn about what was in your brain before.”

Speaking of shuffling the deck of your mind, Bill Frisell recalled seeing James Blood Ulmer play for the first time in Ornette Coleman’s group at the 1978 North Sea Jazz Festival. “It was wild…psychedelic…mind altering,” he enthused. A few months later Frisell caught Blood playing the small [now defunct Manhattan jazz club] Sweet Basil with saxophonist David Murray, and again with Arthur Blythe. “Any chance I could get,” he said. “With [his band] Odyssey, or solo. I love Blood. He changed the way I think and inspires me every time I hear him. He showed me a whole ’nother world. The past and the future. Deep, deep down into the earth and way, way far out into outer space at the same time. He is for sure one of the true one and onlys.”

Experiencing James Blood Ulmer live in New York punk clubs in the early ’80s was an intense and unforgettable experience. Onstage, the natty electric griot projected an imposing presence The music was loud and aggressive. Notes chimed and jabbed, blurted and shrieked from his amp (either a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 or Fender Twin Reverb), casting a spell over the crowd. For young, adventurous punk rockers exhilarated by Captain Beefheart’s fractured grunge and John Lydon’s edgy Public Image, Ulmer’s music connected all the dots, from Delta blues to free jazz to punk.

While Ulmer respected tradition, he had no use for convention. “My music came from a different direction,” Blood explained. “I call it modulating funk. We were the first black band [drummers Shannon Jackson and Calvin Weston, bassist Amin Ali, David Murray on sax and trumpeter Olu Dara] playing that kind of music at Hurrah and Danceteria. That shit was happening! But you don’t have those kind of gigs anymore.”

For better or worse, Blood was crowned the “New Hendrix” by a pair of reputable critics—the New York Times’Robert Palmer and Robert Christgau of the Village Voice, who appreciated his “catchy themes” and deemed Ulmer’s playing “the densest guitar improvisations anyone has put on record since Hendrix.”

Along with Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew’s innovative playing on King Crimson’s Discipline (released September 22, 1981), Ulmer was one of the few guitarists to extend the vocabulary of the guitar beyond Hendrix’s lexicon of sonic inventions.

It’s difficult for most folks to grasp harmolodics. It’s chaotic and revolutionary stuff. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like standing under a waterfall, a kinetic shower of notes and rhythms. If your brain doesn’t freeze in the headlights of analysis, you’ll be transported to another realm by the sound rushing over you as it scours your ears, mind and soul.

“People like art they understand,” the great American modernist composer Charles Ives once said. After an audience booed experimental pianist Henry Cowell [whose unique tonal clusters inspired Hungarian composer Béla Bartók], Ives allegedly leapt to his feet and shouted, “Shame on you! Sissy ears! Learn how to listen to real music!”

So, how does Ulmer feel about those folks that don’t get what he’s putting down? “I don’t give a shit,” he laughs. “I’d tell ’em to shut up and get out if they don’t like it!”

While Blood performed in various New York jazz clubs, it was the burgeoning downtown experimental No Wave scene that initially embraced his sonic onslaught. “I never did one thing at a time,” he explained. “I’d play one way and then another and another. I can get a blues gig, but…” Ulmer cracks up laughing at the notion of playing for the House of Blues crowd of musical tourists wanting to boogie and chow down on hand-crafted beer and high-rent plates of ribs.

“Look at the computer and you see some young fat kid singing old-time blues and people think that’s where it’s at!” Blood cackles with laughter. “That’s blues? Talk about the rise and fall of America’s music! What is music in America?” Blood asked rhetorically. “The only thing I can call it is prayer. That’s the music you take to the stage with you and play. That’s the music people will sit and listen to and like. But that’s the same damn reason you’ve got to take the music somewhere and change it. But if you make too many changes, it can’t exist. Nobody [record companies, radio or the media] will make room for it. I don’t hear no horn players that can play like John Coltrane anymore. John Coltrane was prayin’ so hard with that saxophone…but nobody will talk about that. A whole lotta horn players trying to play like Coleman or Coltrane, trying to sound like someone else they heard, thinking maybe they’ll make some money.”

“Absolutely no one sounds like Blood Ulmer on guitar, and I think we all know how near miraculous that is, especially in these times of tutorial homogeneity,” exclaimed Nels Cline (guitarist with Wilco and Plastic Ono Band). “But I must add that no one sings like Blood Ulmer either! Listening to him sing and play is like hearing an electrifying merging of past, present and future musics; front porch story songs, spiky iconoclastic improvisation, a whole other kind of blues.”

In 2001, Ulmer embarked on a series of blues-based albums produced by Living Colour’s Vernon Reid. Memphis Blood (recorded at Sun Studios) and No Escape from the Blues (recorded at Electric Ladyland) offered Ulmer’s reworking of Son House’s classic “Death Letter Blues,” and Willie Dixon and Lightnin’ Hopkins numbers like “Spoonful,” “Little Red Rooster” and “Trouble in Mind” (which featured this author on a droning tanpura).

Was it an attempt to simplify his music by playing something people were more familiar with, and not forcing them to think or listen too hard to understand and appreciate?

“I don’t play blues to get recognized. Blues is about language. It’s not about being a guitar player or a saxophone player,” Ulmer emphasized. “It’s scripture! Now, I don’t mean that it reads like or comes from the Bible. It’s a language that was taught to man. But I ain’t got no proof!” he said with a raspy laugh. “But I don’t like to talk about [that] because it don’t make sense.”

Speaking of not making sense, after two cutting-edge albums for Columbia in the early ’80s, the powers that be suggested Blood cover a Bruce Springsteen song in hopes of reaching a larger audience. Hare-brained as this scheme sounds, Ulmer’s cover of Neil Young’s “F*!#in’ Up” which he performed at Hal Willner’s Neil Young Project for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, was smokin’ hot and heavy as a steamroller on a July afternoon. Ulmer’s ferocious version was in part enhanced by employing a Steinberger guitar.

“I don’t like it. It’s too cold,” he groused. “If you weren’t playing one of them, you didn’t have an avant-garde gig back then. The Gibson is more like a woman. But that guitar—well, it’s easy to travel with,” Ulmer allowed, referring to the Steinberger’s trademark missing headstock. Then he chuckled and recalled an odd moment in Vancouver when Lou Reed showed up with a Steinberger over his shoulder and saw Blood playing one as well. “He went and got something else!”

Back to the Columbia debacle: After Ulmer handed in his third album, Odyssey, the label unceremoniously dropped him. “They wanted a hit, but I don’t play no E, A minor, B major kind of thing. They wanted some Springsteen, and I gave ’em an album with no bass player!” Blood said, laughing. Odyssey, the album and the trio named after it, featured Ulmer’s choppy, rhythmic guitar riffs contrasted by Charlie Burnham’s languid, gooey, wah-wah-laced electric violin and propelled by Warren Benbow’s muscular polyrhythmic drums. (If you need a reference point, think a black, rootsy version of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra—but make sure to listen to the album!) But here’s the twist—Ulmer, who has a deep, soulful, bluesy voice, delivered a funky, foot-stomping rendition of his trademark song that asked the question “Are You Glad To Be in America?” three years before Springsteen’s smash “Born in the USA” in 1986. (Ulmer had previously recorded the song and titled his 1980 Rough Trade release after it.)

As Blood pointed out, there was no bassist on the session, as his detuned low strings covered the bottom end most effectively. In keeping with the freedom principle essential to the harmolodic creed, each instrument retains an equal voice and presence. The rhythm section is no longer forced to sit in the back of the musical bus, designated to serve the “lead instruments,” and are free to play and interpret the music as they feel.

More startling collaborations followed with Ulmer’s bands, Music Revelation Ensemble and Phalanx. ButBlood’s most unusual project came in 1993 with Harmolodic Guitar with Strings, which featured Ulmer’s voice and guitar a string quartet comprising violinist John Blake, Akua Dixon on cello with violinist sister Gayle Dixon, and Ron Lawrence on viola. Ulmer’s yearning, bleating vocals on “Maya,” buoyed by the transcendental strings, sounds like a lost song from Porgy and Bess.

“That was a wonderful session,” said Akua Dixon of Quartette Indigo. “My sister Gayle and I and John [Blake] had worked together before on sessions with [saxophonist] Archie Shepp and Ornette [Coleman] when he premiered a new piece at the Harlem Philharmonic. When you work with some people it’s about rehearsal, then hit the gig, and you don’t really absorb that much about the person and their music—and sometimes you’re glad you didn’t!” Akua laughed. “But in the case of Blood’s music, that was the only way you get to play it. It’s not about just what he wrote on the paper. Blood was very specific and unique. He didn’t write tunes, he wrote compositions. That whole album was a composition. It’s not a tune here and there. There are tunes within it and things you can take and make into a tune. It was all notated music, written by him. But it was written to a certain point, like a guide. It wasn’t like European music, with exact numbers of measures. But I understand it, because to keep the music growing, as a science, the system of notation that’s allotted in European classical music is no longer enough. Even on Charlie Parker with Strings, those were union musicians who got paid well, and were hired by the record companies for the gig. But they sure didn’t swing!” she emphasized. “But Blood? He is totally unique. His music is about moving on.”

As a composer, Blood translates the music playing in his head in various ways. Although he rarely plays flute live or on recordings, he uses the instrument for composing. On an earlier visit to his Soho loft, Ulmer sat on the couch, the sound off on his television, playing breathy melodies, silvery and blue. “I can write and read music faster on the flute than I can with the guitar,” he explained. “I don’t like to read music,” he grumbled. “I play music! I’ll read for hire! It’s hard to read someone else’s music. It’s just there to help you remember.”

So how has the 82-year-old iconoclast of harmolodic music fared during the dark days of the pandemic, holed up in his downtown loft?

“I mostly play in Europe now. They sat two here, two here…” Blood said, referring to the solo gigs he recently played in Holland, despite the threat of COVID, and by the time you read this, his band, Odyssey, will have returned to play Detroit for another epic harmolodic hoedown.

This article originally appeared in the Fretboard Journal 50, now sold out. Subscribe today and never miss out on a future issue.

The post Tribute: James Blood Ulmer (1940-2026) first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we’re joined by photojournalist and musician Ryan Salm.

When the 2026 World Cup descends on North America, Salm and his group of friends, The Home Team String Band, will hit the road in a converted school bus, visiting match sites to play music and bridge cultural divides.

It’s a fun tale of soccer fans using music to open doors and make friends.

Follow the Home Team String Band and their adventures here:
https://hometeamsoccerbus.com

https://www.instagram.com/hometeamstringband

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: www.fretboardsummit.org.

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 553: Ryan Salm and the Home Team String Band first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



This week’s podcast guest is Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Darryl Rahn.

Rahn recounts a fateful day in the 5th grade that convinced him to take up guitar, his tips for using a pickup on an acoustic, the gear he used on his new album (Darryl, out now), and more.

https://www.instagram.com/darrylrahnmusic/?hl=en

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 552: Darryl Rahn first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Musician Brad Barr joins us this week to share the story of the Barr Brothers’ 2025 album, Let It Hiss, and talk guitar.

Brad’s guitar playing is uniquely shaped by world music sounds. For years now, Brad has been using a simple but effective trick to make drone/violin sounds on his guitar: Tie a piece of sewing thread on a guitar string near the bridge. The effect, inspired by the playing of Romanian violinist Nicolae Neascu of Taraf de Haidouks, is hauntingly beautiful.

He explains how he came about with the technique and where he wants to take it. We also chat about his 1951 Gibson J-45, the musicians from Mali who inspired him, and so much more.

https://thebarrbrothers.com
https://www.instagram.com/thebarrbrothers

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 551: Brad Barr first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Working out of his solo shop in Quebec, Thierry André is a builder of truly one-of-a-kind instruments.

For episode 114 of the podcast, Thierry dives into his design process and explains why he believes every instrument should include an element of danger and surprise. We also talk about his formative time apprenticing with Fred Carlson and much more.

GoFundMe to help Thierry Andre beat cancer: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thierry-andre-beat-cancer

Links: https://www.thierryandre.com

https://www.instagram.com/thierryandre.studio/

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Thierry Andre first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Brad Barr of the Barr Brothers demonstrates one of his trademark guitar effects: A simple nylon sewing thread tied to his guitar string around the bridge.

The technique, inspired by Romanian violinist Nicolae Neacsu, is basically free (just find some sewing thread) and produces a haunting drone effect.

While Brad was here, we also interviewed him for the Fretboard Journal Podcast, Ep. 551.

https://thebarrbrothers.com

The post Brad Barr’s Sewing Thread Trick: A Tutorial first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Most Fretboard Journal readers, whether players or collectors, have been afflicted by the incurable disease of Guitar Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). No matter how good the instruments in our possession are, we have an insatiable hunger for something better, be it a holy grail of tone, a rare combination of woods, the work of a legendary builder, or an historic instrument from a favorite brand. For many of us, certainly for me, this longing lives in the uncomfortable land between unquenchable and unaffordable.

So, how is it that a 1944 Martin D-28, a wartime wonder of perfect wood (straight-grained Brazilian rosewood and Adirondack spruce) and symphonic tone, is on a stand in my office, beckoning me to play it again?

Truth be told, it’s an instrument so far beyond my ability that it’s laughable. I literally can’t pick it without giggling.

My modest instrument collection includes a 2001 Martin 12-fret 000 and a rosewood OM I built last year in partnership with a luthier (see that story in Fretboard Journal 59). They are both lovely-sounding instruments, as fellow players and audience members regularly tell me. But compared to this D-28, they might as well be cigar box guitars.

What’s a fellow like me doing in (temporary!) possession of a guitar currently selling for more than I made in annual salary most of my 35 years working in human services?

Every February, the Fretboard Journal collaborates with the Wintergrass Music Festival to present the Vintage Instrument Tasting Workshop. This event, a highlight of the four-day festival, features some of contemporary acoustic music’s top players demonstrating guitars and mandolins from the 1840s to the 1940s, ranging from Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolins to Regals, an 1848 James Ashborn parlor guitar to, you got it, this 1944 Martin D-28.

The roster of instruments is curated by Mark Demaray and Bill Clements of the Wintergrass Board of Directors. Instruments on loan come from FJ readers, collectors and players across the country and, sometimes, from stores in Western Washington.

This particular D-28 is a loaner from Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, where it is on consignment.

Its historical significance is described on the store’s website.

“An exceedingly well-kept Wartime Martin with sparingly few repairs and a limited service history, this genuine vintage herringbone D-28 has the transitional feature set consistent with late ’44 production including tapered X-bracing on the Adirondack spruce top, ebony neck reinforcement, and one of the first ebony fingerboards on a D-28 to feature dot inlay  (a shift from the notched diamond inlays seen earlier in the year).”

Wintergrass needed someone to transport the guitar from the store to the festival in time for Friday’s Tasting and return it to the store when they open on Tuesday. FJ publisher Jason Verlinde was out of town on Friday. So, I was lucky enough to be asked to play courier. As of this writing, it’s Monday. Guess what I’ve been doing all day? Hint: My callouses are worn out.

And my nerves are a little frayed. I was volunteering all weekend at the festival, and the guitar was in my house, alone, for much of that time. Sitting at Wintergrass on Saturday, it was all I could do not to imagine the break-in, the difficult phone calls to my insurance agent and to Mike & Mike’s, the shame…Why didn’t I handcuff it myself?

History aside and forgetting the fact that for an 82-year-old, this thing is in stellar condition, what does it sound like?

I expected a boomy, bass response befitting the appellation “a cannon” we often hear applied to vintage dreads. Nope. The low end is sweet and focused; the notes have a rounded bloom, like an organ’s pedal tones. There is incredible resonance and natural reverb. The trebles are the real highlight. You could chime a note, go get a kombucha from the fridge, and come back to the sweet ringing tails of tone hanging in the room like contrails from a jet. Chords sound like a choir, each note distinct but vibrating with the others. A D-28 is perhaps best known as a bluegrass guitar, so often flatpicked at 120 beats per minute or more. But played slowly, the projection and tone of this beauty really shine, making a modest rehearsal room sound like a cathedral.

Here’s a little taste of the tone. Please forgive the mediocre picking and listen to the notes bloom. Recorded sans any effects via an AT 2035 mic, through a Focusrite Scarlet into Ableton.

Like most of our readers, I love to visit guitar stores and sample the wares. I usually leave a little jealous of some box or another, but mostly happy for the guitars waiting for me at home. I could never afford this D-28 and will say goodbye to it soon. But it will forever be lodged in my memory, the supermodel that deigned to spend the weekend with me, a queen of tone whose voice I will never forget.

Watch our 2026 Wintergrass Vintage Instrument workshop (including this guitar) here. 

The post Babysitting a Super Model (D-28) first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



It’s episode 165 of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast!

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

00 Jason and Nigel

6:26 Our sponsors!

10:42  A letter, two beers, some washers, and a crossroads: Follow Joe here and on Instagram

17:10 1967 Fender Princeton Reverb project with a replaced power transformer; a shorted reverb transformer

31:36 A baffler: Two kinds of hum

36:16 What are “getter” and “wings”? The Barkely Marathon (Wikipedia)

40:31 Has anyone put the tweed Princeton tone circuit in a guitar? swaddled meat is tender meat, cast iron

44:15 A Fender Super Reverb that kept blowing fuses; the 1972 Sacramento Farrell’s Ice Cream parlor plane disaster (Wikipedia)

53:33 Federico’s pizza dough recipe on the TAVA Patreon; the Tone Quest Report; Tin Can Valley Letterpress

55:08 Replacing the foam gasket on my Traynor YGM-3 reverb’s tank; Vacaville’s Pacific Hardware

1:00:04 Rickenbacker M-11 thoughts; King Sunny Ade

1:04:51 What’s on Skip’s bench: Slim Dossey’s Tweed Bassman and another Bassman

1:08:59 Skip’s potential barn sale ponderings

1:12:29 Once an amp has replaced caps, do you still need a Variac? rice balls

1:15:28 Skip still needs a wooden Epiphone Electar Zephyr schematic (all-octal tube with vibrato) schematic!

1:17:01 1964 Fender Princeton 6G2 with non-working trem

1:20:16 Adding a stereo headphone jack to a Princeton clone

1:24:04 Jenson transformer website schematics (link)

1:27:38 What should I do with this untouched 1976 45-watt Fender Pro Reverb?; cornbread

Above: Listener Matthew’s Rickenbacker M-11. 

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 165 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this week’s podcast, we’re mixing things up. Take a peek inside our brand new, 59th issue and hear an excerpt from our cover story with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Also, Fretboard Summit news, some of Jason’s favorite stories, and more.

Get the issue here.

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 550: Inside Fretboard Journal 59 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Wintergrass is one of the greatest bluegrass festivals on Earth. It also happens to be in our PNW backyard.

In what has become an annual Wintergrass tradition, the Fretboard Journal hosts a workshop where we gather as many rare and vintage instruments as we can, put them onstage, and have a few great players showcase their magic. No two workshops have ever been the same, and without fail, we always learn something and hear some great music.

This year’s session featured John Reischman and Caleb Klauder on mandolins and Patrick Sauber and Nina Gerber on guitars.

Huge thanks to Mark Demaray for emceeing and the Fretboard Journal readers and the Wintergrass community who let us borrow their instruments. Special thanks to Ear Trumpet for the microphones and D’Addario for all the strings.

Learn more about Wintergrass: https://wintergrass.com

We’ll be diving deeper into vintage acoustics at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago, taking place August 20-22, 2026. Register here: https://fretboardsummit.org

The post Watch: The Fretboard Journal’s Wintergrass 2026 Vintage Instrument Workshop first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

[Editor’s note: This Tucker Zimmerman interview conducted by Jamie Etherington was slated for the Fretboard Journal’s print edition. With the artist’s passing on January 17, 2026, we’ve decided to share it in its entirety online. It is probably one of the last interviews the self-proclaimed “song poet” did, and we hope it sheds light on his profound music and influence.]

Photographs by Dirk Leunis

If Tucker Zimmerman is an unfamiliar name to many readers, that should come as no surprise. As West Coast musician Zach Burba tells me, Tucker’s music has until recently gone largely unnoticed. “People may be inclined to call this a crime, ‘how could we miss out on such vital music!’ but I know that this was by design,” he says. “Tucker had many chances to grab a career in the spotlight and he just listened to something in his gut that said, ‘maybe not this time.’”

Over seven decades, Zimmerman has released a dozen albums–a sonic memoir incorporating folk, 12-bar blues, full-band rock concertos, and classical piano compositions. Born in California in 1941, he graduated with an MA from San Francisco State College at the height of the Beat era. In the summer of 1966, he had just received his draft papers when he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study musical composition in Italy. During his two years in Rome, Tucker emerged as a fixture on the Roman folk scene, playing the clubs in Trastevere. It was in the Eternal City that he also met his future wife, Marie Claire.

In 1968, the couple moved to London where Tucker befriended a young Tony Visconti, at the time an apprentice producer learning his trade at the Regal Zonophone studios. This friendship lead to Visconti producing Zimmerman’s debut album, “Ten Songs.” In the early ‘70s, Tucker and Marie Claire crossed back over the Channel, setting up home in her home country of Belgium. Thereafter, Tucker spent the following decades quietly working the European festival circuit, biking around the Belgian countryside, raising their son, Quanah, and all the while writing and recording.

His most recent record, Dance of Love, on which he collaborated with Big Thief, has finally garnered the 84-year-old Zimmerman some wider later-life attention. Zach Burba, who also played on the album, recalls the first time he heard Tucker’s music.

Zach Burba: Adrianne [Lenker] played me “Foot Tap” one evening when we were hanging and sharing songs in James Krivchenia’s old downstairs garden apartment, in a now burnt-down Altadena home. I was taken by Tucker’s liberal use of phaser pedal on his lo-fi country songs. After a few songs I readjusted my focus to the lyrics and was smitten with the playful surrealism and humble gentleness of the poetry.

Earlier this year, I caught up with Tucker via Zoom from his home deep in the Belgian countryside to chat about his journey from San Francisco to Belgium, explore his creative process, talk about guitars, and the making of Dance of Love. My first question, however–reflecting the geographer in me, was wanting to know where in Belgium Tucker and Marie Claire call home.

Tucker Zimmerman: We’re in Stockay Saint-Georges, which is on the plateau above the Meuse river. We came here in 1978. It’s a farming community: Potatoes, beetroots and corn. We’re 20 kilometres from Liège, in a small valley that leads down to the Meuse. My studio is just down the hill from the house.

I mention to Tucker Zach’s observation that his relative obscurity is by design and that it reminds me of something Michael Hurley said about his own low profile, “Calling me an outsider artist? Yes, I think that’s apt. It’s taken me a long time to join the gang.” I wondered to what degree that sentiment resonates with him?

TZ: Well, I only had one brush with this–going one way or the other. It was in England in the late ‘60s and I was surrounded by the pop music world at that time. I made my first record and there were gigs, but things weren’t happening. The government wouldn’t give me a work permit, so I couldn’t do gigs legally. I did them, but under fake names. There was no way of getting to where I wanted to go. But, at the same time, I saw around me what happens to people who desire fame and fortune. And I said, I don’t want to do that. The British government kicked me out of England as I wasn’t making any money. In a way, it was fortuitous. They kicked us out and that put me into the world I wanted to be in. I started doing gigs in Belgium and Northern Europe and decided I’m going to stay here and keep going, because it was too good!

Belgium has been very receptive to me. I came at a good time because this was the late ‘60s, Woodstock had happened and they were looking for some sort of Woodstock scene! My first gig after being in the country for only a couple weeks was at a big event in Brussels. I entered a room that held about 700 people, it was packed. There were so many people on the stage, I had to wade through bodies to get to the microphone. That began something positive for me. I started to become known. It all stemmed from the movement created by Woodstock and this desire to join in internationally with the spirit that was happening in America. So, they chose their American! At the same time, I started touring West Germany and I took in every corner of that country too.

I remark that his early career appears to have been a perfect trifecta of timing, location and talent.

TZ: It always is, isn’t it? You run into things and you just happen to be there. My life has been like that all along. These coincidences which have been beneficial for me. I arrive in a place and it works out, you know. In Germany, the mood was a little bit different than Belgium. The students were still reeling from World War II and what had happened politically in Germany. They were saying we’re going to make sure this doesn’t happen again and, in the early ‘70s, they were supporting anything positive that came along. I was a cultural outlaw for them and they supported that very strongly. I had that good run of 15 years with Germany as well. It was great and I was working all the time. I remember one year in the mid-‘70s, I did over 250 gigs!

I had great audiences all through the ‘70s, until the students got older, started having families and children and then I lost my audience. This happened at the same time as MTV came along in 1984. That ruined everything! However, it was a fortuitous moment too as it brought me into other things and took me into another world.

The Dead, Miles, and Moondog

I wanted to hear about Tucker’s student days in San Francisco. His song “Old Hippies Lament,” namechecks Wavy Gravy and Ken Kesey. I wondered if his immersion in the late ‘50s counterculture had influenced him creatively.

TZ: The thing is, I was part of that movement. I grew up in my teen years, 10 years up through high school, in the country on a ranch. But I came back in 1958 to go to college in San Francisco, and I plunged immediately into the Beat era. That movement influenced me the most. The writing of Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, and Ginsberg got me going.

Tucker says that in ’64–’65 he lived on Downey Street in Haight-Ashbury.

TZ: [It] was the cheapest rent in the city! You could get a flat or apartment for $60 a month. That’s why I went there, because it was cheap! Garcia and the Grateful Dead were living one block over. The Dead were playing almost every weekend at the Avalon. I didn’t miss a set.

Within the Dead camp, Tucker found common ground with Phil Lesh.

TZ: I was studying musical theory and composition in San Francisco and he was across the bay at Mills College. He was also a student composer and we met at concerts of our music. That’s how I got to know him. We shared this idea of being student composers. I knew him as a trumpet player and he was pretty good. I heard his compositions, he heard mine and we exchanged ideas. We never became close friends but I knew him.

In late ’65, however, he says the demographic of Haight-Ashbury changed.

TZ: We had a nice community up until the invasion started happening. People, kids…started moving in. They heard the news, you know, and paradise was gone.

This period was also the golden era of West Coast jazz. The San Francisco scene in particular was a vibrant one, cantered around venues such as the Blackhawk and Bop City. Tucker recounts one of those “I was there” moments, disclosing that he was at the Blackhawk in 1958 when Miles Davis and John Coltrane were rehearsing the running order for Kind of Blue.

TZ: It was an incredible moment in my life. I’ll never forget it. It was a small club with little round tables where you’re supposed to hold your drinks, and I was right in front of Miles Davis. He was looking right at me when he was playing, Coltrane was off to my left, and Adderley was off to my right. That was pretty much the unit. It was overpowering in a way, because these guys played, I mean, really played. I attended all three performances. I think Miles got tired of looking at me one point. He turned his back on me and played in the other direction. He was a funny guy, in a way, because I think maybe he didn’t like white people. With good reason. I understood it.

Tucker also sought out John Lewis, who led the Modern Jazz Quartet.

TZ: I met him several times on purpose as an invitation to sit and talk about music. And he was interested that I was composing. I knew when the MJQ was coming to the Blackhawk and we’d set up a meeting at his hotel, which was right next door. We’d spend an hour in the afternoon, before the gig, talking about composition. He would analyze what he thought about Bartok, for instance. He had great musical knowledge, which went way beyond jazz. I considered them lessons. He talked, I listened and I absorbed. I wasn’t going to butt in because it was too interesting.

As for Tucker’s other musical influences, I had heard that Moondog and Leadbelly were important figures for him.

TZ: Well, those recordings, of course. I actually met Moondog later on in Germany in the ‘80s but that’s another story. I ran into some recordings of their music. Leadbelly and Moondog are quite different, but both touched me deeply.

Tucker says that listening to “On the Streets of New York” and “Snaketime Rhythms” as a 10-year-old gave him his first idea of someone being a composer.

TZ: Oh, people can do that? They can construct things and play them, make them perform them. That was cool. With Leadbelly, it was more abstract in the sense that I loved his voice and the sound of the 12-string guitar. I said to myself, someday, maybe I’ll play music like this and if I do, I’ll have to have a 12-string. And that’s exactly what happened. I still only play the 12-string.

Ten Songs

We then talk about Tucker’s time in England. I was intrigued how he met and befriended the legendary producer, Tony Visconti.

TZ: I didn’t have a work permit, only a three-month visa. I said, well, I’m going to try to find gigs anyway. I went around to several clubs, including Les Cousins in Soho. The guy heard me play and said, ‘I’d love to take you on, but do you have a work permit?’ In the same room was this young guy, Nick Jones, who was a sort of hanger-on but in a nice way. He was the son of Max Jones, the jazz editor of Melody Maker. Nick came up to me and said, “I like what you’re doing. It’s a shame you can’t get anything going.” Nick knew everyone on the scene at the time, partly through his father and the magazine. One of them was Tony Visconti. He said, “I want you to meet this guy, you might get along” and he took me over to the demo studios at Regal Zonophone.

Tony had only been in England a few weeks. He’d been brought over by Denny Cordell. Tony was getting started. He’d done some arranging and a little bit of production. We clicked personally and immediately became friends. Over the next couple weeks, he heard more of my music and wanted to record it. Denny had gone to America and left Tony in charge of the place. Tony said, “Listen, I’m not going to talk to Denny; we’re going to go in the studio and record.” Of course, when Denny came back, he was pissed off, “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want this artist.” Tony says, “Well, I do” and that began a more solid foundation between Tony and me. He stood up for me and found gigs for me under a fake name. We were actually talking about doing a duet together at one point and played a couple gigs as Tony & Tucker. We’ve remained friends ever since.

The Song-Poet

Tucker vehemently resists the label “singer-songwriter,” preferring the epithet “song poet.”

TZ: Somebody gave me that tag way back before I was touring Germany in the early ‘70s. I accepted it. It sounded right, and I never paid much attention to it. I’m glad it happened because these days it seems everybody is a singer-songwriter. I know they haven’t put in 50 years of work to be where they are, and I don’t know how much more they would do. They’re so young, some of them, and I know most of them will drop out. I don’t have any respect for that tag “singer-songwriter.” I’m glad I have this “song poet” thing to fall back on.

We then exchanged thoughts about the modern curse of pigeonholing musicians by label or genre, which prompted an impassioned response from Tucker.

TZ: Well, that’s good as I don’t want to be a pigeon! I don’t like to be pigeon-holed and I’ll resist it. When people say, “Oh, well, you know, that sounds a lot like Townes van Zandt,” I’ll say I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to know because you’re already letting the pigeons crap on you!

I ask Tucker about the intense periods of writing he refers to as “river runs”–what prompts them and how he engages with them on the creative plane.

TZ: I had a big run on poetry in the first 10 years of this century, and there’s been moments when I’ve had periods of intense writing, but they come unexpectedly. I’ve no control over that. It’s sudden, I have to do it, and if I didn’t, I’d get in trouble with myself. If you don’t follow these things, it’ll block up and cause all kinds of problems. But that’s not actually the reason. The reason is that it feels so good to do it. There was one period in the ‘90s somewhere, I wrote 80 songs in a week. That seldom happens. I was running between my writing desk and my Pro Tools, and I’d write the lyrics, run over and make up the song.

Tucker volunteers that the day before, he had been looking over the lyrics for his new record.

TZ: Nick Holton at Big Potato proposed another album and we’re finishing that one right now. It’s called “Dream Me a Dream.” We recorded it here in my studio. Nick came with his recording material, even though I have Pro Tools. He said, ‘Let’s leave that aside. You don’t have to worry about doing that. You just concentrate.’ We sat on the other side of the studio at my writing desk, I had the guitar and let the songs come out. 11 or 12 of them, most new and a couple of old ones.

“I Consider Myself a Drummer More Than a Guitarist”

This being a FJ interview, I naturally wanted to ask Tucker about the 12-strings he has owned, in particular the ones made by Tony Zematis and Božo Podunavac. I had been forewarned, however, that Tucker is somewhat reluctant to indulge the nitty-gritty of guitar nerdom.

TZ: I’ve been surrounded by people in the ‘70s and, even still today, who want to talk about guitars and strings! I’m not interested. I’m not a guitar player. I use the guitar. I consider myself a drummer more than a guitarist, because I play a drum that has nice sounds…chords. That’s how I treat it. I don’t change the strings on my guitar for two, three or four years. I think the strings have been on there for five years right now! I don’t change them, it’s too much trouble. I know a little bit about guitars, of course, because I’ve looked around for good 12-strings. I’m always open for a new 12-string!

I played the Zematis for a few months, then found too many faults in it. It was not a good guitar. Then, a friend in Holland found a Božo for me, and all I knew was that Leo Kottke played one. I love the sound of it on his recordings. My friend called up and said there’s a Božo in Utrecht, you’d better come up and look. And it was cheap, 1600 guilders. It was a good guitar, so I got it and used that for a long time.

Music by River, Words by Ear

Before wrapping up, I wanted to ask Tucker about the origins of “River Barge,” a melancholic, haunting track that conjures images of fog-bound marshlands and a sullen northern European river.

TZ: Well, I wrote it in Maastricht, which is on the Meuse. I’d been bicycling with an American friend, a sculptor who I’ve known for over 50 years. Another artist in my life! He was setting up an outdoor exhibit sculpture. I had been working on this poem all day long, looking at the river and thinking about the barges going by. I thought, would I like to live on one for a while to see what it was like? In my head, I was composing all these verses about the river barge. We finished the exhibit, went bicycling and ended up at a cafe above Maastricht eating potato soup. I had written about 16 verses, which I read to John. He listened and said “there’s too much river barge.” That night I got home, picked up my guitar, and reduced the 16 verses down to three. John pushed me into reforming the poem and I made it into a song. I still play it with my trio.”

I mention that it’s a personal favorite, lyrically and musically, and his response is entirely in keeping with what Zach had told me about Tucker’s ability to speak directly to the best and most engaged version of whoever he is talking to.

TZ: Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad because it reaches out and touches you. That’s why I write. It’s important we keep in contact with everybody. When I sing for people, that’s the initial point. If we lose that, we’re gone. The person sitting next to you is a friend that you don’t know yet. I cannot be with a person and ignore them. Even waiting at a stoplight, across the street there’s somebody next to me. I say, how you doing, in French or whatever. Maybe not much comes of it in terms of words, but they know that I know them. I recognize them as another human being. An example is you asking for an interview. Of course, I will. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to sit and talk.This was good. I appreciate you being there. I have to find Marie Claire with the oatmeal!

The post Tribute: Tucker Zimmerman first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this week’s podcast, we’re joined by Adam Dardeck and Andy Cambria of The Music Emporium. Founded in 1968 by Stu Cohen, The Music Emporium is one of the most successful retailers of boutique and vintage guitars in the world. This year, the Lexington, Mass.-based store is sponsoring our 2026 Fretboard Summit and, thanks to their generous support, we’re granting our first-ever scholarships to the guitar festival!

To apply for the scholarship, go here.

Follow The Music Emporium here.

We talk to Adam and Andy about the new program, the Summit, how The Music Emporium has evolved over the years, 2026 retail sales, the brands that they are loving right now, and more. Plus: Even more Summit updates.

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 549: The Music Emporium’s Adam Dardeck and Andy Cambria first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



For episode 113 of Luthier on Luthier, I’m joined by guitarist and educator Sean McGowan.

We focus on his recent Archtop Foundation recording project, featuring 20 tracks across nine exceptional Blue series archtop guitars, and dig into his detailed approach to capturing their unique voices in the studio. Sean also shares highlights from his musical journey, his work as an educator at the University of Colorado in Denver, and the realities of making a living as a modern musician.

Link: https://seanmcgowanguitar.com/

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Michael Bashkin’s Hub of Acoustics 2026 US Academy: https://hubofacoustics.com/en/#Colorado_Academy

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Sean McGowan first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Issue 59 of the Fretboard Journal is an instrument lover’s dream. Legends, some fresh faces, historic guitars, interviews with songwriting heroes, and even a philosophy lesson.

Here are some highlights found in this issue’s 128 keepsake pages.

Nearly every guitar fanatic has thought about building their own instrument. The Fretboard Journal‘s Mike Buchman flies to Colorado to make his dream come true under the watchful eye of luthier Robbie O’Brien. He documents the process…and the finished product.

The word troubadour is tossed around far too often these days, but what else can we call songwriter Jesse Welles? Musician Bob Minner talks to Welles about small-town living, small-bodied guitars, and the power of social media to spread a song far and wide.

Tube amps don’t have to look like old Fenders. Case in point: Vancouver, British Columbia’s Gary Economy, who creatively repurposes old radios and telecommunication relics to house his guitar amplifier builds. Writer Brian Lynch pays a visit to Economy’s studio to hear all about his latest upcycling adventures.

Frequent contributor and The Luthier’s Tool Box author Jamie Etherington talks to Welsh primitive guitarist Gwenifer Raymond. How does a young guitarist from a small village in the UK become enamored in the music of John Fahey? Etherington finds out…and so much more…while acclaimed guitar photographer Eleanor Jane takes the pics.

Ella Feingold has taken the record industry (and Instagram) by storm. The guitarist, who has performed with Charlie Hunter, Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, and Erykah Badu – has a knack for rhythm guitar and demystifying the playing of Jeff Buckley, Prince and others like no one else. It’s no wonder that everyone from Johnny Marr to Bill Frisell now follows her. David Von Bader talks to Ella about her background, her mentors, playing funk authentically, and more.

Can the right guitar calm the nerves? Writer Noah Lekas delves into the zen of music as a discovery journey and what Krishnamurti calls a “conclusion mindset” through the lens of guitar. Art by Donald Groscost.

Michael Watts accompanies guitar wizard Alan Gogoll into Hansa Studios, the famed recording studio where Bowie, U2, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and Depeche Mode all re-invented themselves.

Jeff Tweedy is in the midst of a creative streak like few others. Fretboard Journal publisher Jason Verlinde talks to the Wilco frontman about Twilight Override, his triple-solo album; the joys of working with your kids; and his ever-growing guitar collection.

Remember Ann Brashares 2001 book, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Twenty-five years later, musician Daniel Marcus Clark writes about an archtop guitar that – like those jeans – seems to fit just about everybody. The instrument, a 1942 D’Angelico New Yorker, was originally built for a jazz hero, but ended up in the hands of Leo Kottke. Clark documents its history and its many travels.

To celebrate our 59th issue, we take a peek at the mystique of the 1959 sunburst Les Paul with help from the experts from Emerald City Guitars. ECG’s Trevor Boone and Tyler Geske have seen and authenticated dozens of these coveted instruments. What do they look for when they pop open a Lifton case? You may just be surprised…

Want this issue? Subscribe today and we’ll send it to you.

The post What’s Inside: Fretboard Journal 59 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Guitarist, composer and Berklee professor Lyle Brewer joins us this week.

We talk about his journey as a professional guitarist and educator, how he ended up teaching at Berklee (and what the students are listening to), his influences (from Pat Metheny to Andy Shauf), his love for nylon-string guitars, workshopping new music on the internet, and so much more.

Brewer has a ton of insights on composing, songwriting, the future of AI and music, and more.

https://lylebrewermusic.net

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal print magazine here.

The post Podcast 548: Lyle Brewer first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

On today’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to guitarist (and frequent Fretboard Journal contributor) Ryan Richter, who just wrapped up playing two of the most talked-about sets at Coachella backing Dijon.

We discuss the prep that went into Dijon’s Coachella performances, the gear he used, and more.

Give a listen to Ryan’s solo albums here: https://ryanrichter.bandcamp.com

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

The festival takes place August 20-22, 2026.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation. (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout) and Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar. 

The post Podcast 547: Ryan Richter on Playing Coachella with Dijon first appeared on Fretboard Journal.