Norse Guitar Feeds

As pedal builders, we often field questions about effects, but many players endlessly chase tone without grasping that the guitar-pedal-amp ecosystem is an inseparable whole. The initial signal from your guitar is the primary architect of your tone’s gain structure and frequency response. It’s the “first domino.” Every subsequent device in your chain—every capacitor in that boutique pedal and every line of code in your modeler—is just reacting to the ghost that your pickups sent into the wire.

The relationship between pickups and pedals is highly dynamic—an interaction between impedance and signal level. Consider one of the most popular pedals: the Ibanez Tube Screamer. In the hands of a metalhead with an active-pickup guitar and a high-gain amp, it functions as a reliable booster, yielding an aggressive metal sound. Conversely, in the hands of a bluesman with a Strat and single-coils plugged into a Fender amp, the Tube Screamer becomes the heart of a very SRV-esque blues tone. The same pedal, yet its response and character drastically change depending on the input signal.

The most extreme example is the fuzz pedal. (Personally, we focus on building fuzzes and other unique pedals.) In my experience, fuzz is the most idiosyncratic and signal-responsive pedal, affected not only by the pickup but also by whether the signal passes through a buffer or not. Empirically, my hypothesis is: Fuzz generally struggles to produce a clear, usable sound with high-gain or active pickups.

Technically, this happens because traditional fuzz circuits (especially those using germanium transistors) have low input impedance and severely limited headroom. High-gain pickups send a signal that is simply too “hot,” causing excessive and uncontrolled clipping at the fuzz pedal’s input. This results in a muddy, indistinct sound (or what’s often called “splattering”). Low-gain pickups, on the other hand (like single-coils, P-90s, or PAF-style humbuckers), provide a quieter initial signal, preserving the fuzz circuit’s headroom and allowing it to produce rich, dynamic textures.

The Ampless Rig: A New Challenge

So, what about the current era of all-direct or ampless rigs? Let me share an empirical experience. I’m a huge fan of the sound of a Les Paul plugged into a tube amp. However, the reality is I’m an amateur player who can’t afford a crew to haul that heavy gear to a gig. Whether I like it or not, I had to embrace the modern ecosystem. I started experimenting with a direct system using analog/digital amp and cab simulators.

The results were surprising: My Les Paul with high-gain pickups sounded terrible—dirty and muddy—in this direct setup. Then, I tried a guitar with low-gain pickups, and it worked!

This success wasn’t because the low-gain pickup was magically better, but because it unintentionally fixed a fundamental technical issue: gain staging.

1.Digital Input Clipping: High-gain pickups produce a much higher output voltage. When this hot signal enters the input of a digital multi-effect or direct box, which has headroom limitations on its digital preamp or analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the signal undergoes digital clipping even before the amp simulation begins. This is what leads to a “broken” and indistinct sound.

2. Optimal DSP Headroom: Low-gain pickups naturally send a lower initial signal, providing much better headroom for the digital signal processing (DSP) to optimally handle distortion, modulation, and EQ.

In the modeling era, the biggest challenge is strict gain staging. Different manufacturers—Boss, Line 6, Fractal, Valeton, Nux, Hotone—implement very different analog front ends and output drivers, so results vary. Ultimately, we just have to stick to the golden rule: If it sounds good, it is good!

The bottom line is that when we talk about stompboxes, pedals, multi-effects, or modeling—none of them can stand alone. The sound of an Ibanez Tube Screamer will remain a mystery until you plug it into a guitar and an amp.

If you want to “tweak” your pedal or multi-effect, you must also tweak your guitar’s pickups. Perhaps the problem isn’t the pedal’s algorithm or the modeling itself, but your gain staging is ruined because your pickup is too hot, making the signal too large to be ideally interpreted and processed mathematically by the multi-effect you are using.

And all of this can change with time and need. For me, when gigging with a tube amp, I like using a Seymour Duncan El Diablo in the bridge position (to aggressively push the tube preamp). When using a direct or modeling setup, I prefer a Seymour Duncan Jazz Model in the bridge position (because the cleaner, low-output signal provides better headroom for the digital processor).

Think of your pickup as the lens on a high-end camera. You can have the most powerful image processor in the world—the flashiest DSP or the most expensive boutique pedal—but if the lens is blurry or letting in too much light, the final “picture” will always be a distorted mess.

Adding to the company’s line of boutique effects, Lucky Dog Guitars has introduced the Chicken Nugget compressor, capable of delivering old school guitar compression made famous by country players throughout the decades, but with modern updates. The Chicken Nugget combines classic dynamic compressor sound and feel with an added sparkly clean tone in a separate, parallel channel. The two channels are completely independent and have their own dedicated volume knobs for maximum flexibility as you blend them together. Both channels offer plenty of output above unity gain, so both can be used as volume boosters.

The Chicken Nugget’s eye-grabbing graphics are augmented by a large retro-style jewel pilot light (in a “fried chicken” color) and playful descriptions for the control set. The compression channel offers three knobs and a two-position toggle switch for tone shaping. The “Cluck” knob controls the amount of compression; “Crow” varies the compression release time; and “Comp” adjusts the output volume level of the compressor channel.

The compression channel’s two-position toggle adds EQ flexibility: its “Greasy” and “Crispy” settings can tailor the effect to your guitar’s pickups. Use the “Greasy” setting with bright single coils for classic compression twang. Use the “Crispy” low-cut setting for tightening up a humbucker by eliminating muddy low-end frequencies.

The pedal’s clean channel offers two control knobs. “Gain” adds body and juice to your clean signal, while “Volume” controls the clear, uncolored signal parallel that can be added to the compressed signal.

Other features include:

• Soft switch controlled mechanical true bypass – if the pedal loses power it immediately goes into true bypass so you don’t lose your signal
• 9-volt operation using standard external power source – no battery compartment
• Retro-cool graphics and “chicken head” knobs, color coded for ease of use: cream for the compression channel and red for the clean channel

The Lucky Dog Chicken Nugget carries a $189 street price and is available through luckydogguitars.com

On-Stage, a leading supplier of music instruments and accessories and brand of The Music People, has released the GSWB5000 Guitar Stand Workbench, a guitar-maintenance solution that safely supports an instrument while making it easier for the user to perform tasks ranging from simple string changes to intricate repairs. Its adjustable height and tilt allow the user to dial in the best angle for working on various projects.

Compact and portable, this versatile tool conserves floor space and can be set up anywhere work needs to be done on an instrument. The guitar-holder assembly provides four tilt options, letting the user choose the best angle for working on setups, pickup swaps, potentiometer and switch replacements, nut filing, or hardware upgrades. Plus, when it’s not being used as a workbench, this versatile accessory can be configured for use as a traditional guitar stand.

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The headstock and body yokes adjust to fit a wide range of instruments including electric, acoustic, and bass guitars. Bumpers and nonslip padding protect the guitar’s finish from scratches and increase instrument stability. The height of the stand can also be set to optimize viewing and comfort while work is carried out. To ensure ideal weight distribution and balance, the guitar-holder assembly can slide so that the heaviest part of the guitar is positioned over the base.

All of these adjustments are quickly and easily achieved through the use of twist-and-pull knobs that require minimal turning and securely lock settings in place. And rotating leveling feet make it possible to compensate for uneven flooring.

The On-Stage GSWB5000 Guitar Stand Workbench carries a $99.95 street price. For more information visit On-Stage.com.

Looks can be deceiving. But there is something extra playful about the graphical subterfuge Monger Pedals employs to conceal the ferocity of their latest stomp, The Little Guy. Behind the Beatrix Potter/Timmy Willie-styled enclosure art depicting a wee country mouse and creeping vines, there lurks a beastly mash-up of op-amp fuzz and operational transducer amp (OTA)-based phaser. But The Little Guy’s roar is not just ferocious, it's also unconventional—making the most of the unusual phaser section to twist staple psychedelic sounds into many altogether weirder things.

Monger of the Mangled

Op-amp fuzz can take many shapes in the hands of a clever builder, but most players would consider the op-amp Big Muff and the Pro Co RAT as the archetypes of the effect. Of the two, The Little Guy aligns most closely with the Big Muff. I don’t have an op-amp Big Muff in my pedal collection, but the Little Guy (like a real op-amp Big Muff) has a sonic signature much like a raspier 4-silicon transistor Big Muff. Of the Big Muff types I used for comparison, a ram’s head-type sounded most similar to the Little Guy’s fuzz, and the two share a capacity for sizzly, buzzsaw-like tones that define the op-amp Big Muff. That said, the tone control in the Little Guy’s fuzz has enough range that I could dial in sounds nearly equivalent to those from a Sovtek Big Muff, which tends to be rounder and more bass-rich than an op-amp Big Muff.

Certainly, the Little Guy’s fuzz section is versatile. I may not be in the majority in this sentiment, but my favorite among the fuzzy, distorted sounds I coaxed from the circuit were those I derived when fingerpicking (using the flesh of my thumb, rather than nail or pick) and working with low-gain, treble-attenuated fuzz settings. This application is more consistent with Monger’s description of the fuzz as “lo-fi”—often evoking Steve Malkmus, Sonic Youth, and Graham Coxon in their hazier states. Yet it’s a combination that’s surprisingly sensitive to touch dynamics and yields more high-mid range detail and a much more oxygenated tone environment than you would expect. Just switching between neck and bridge pickups can reveal whole worlds of color with this approach. The Little Guy’s fuzz rips at the other end of its operational spectrum, too, and it rarely sounds lo-fi here. Settings in the latter third of the pedal’s gain and tone control range are searing but still massive in a way that suits Fender single-coils and PAF humbuckers alike.

Vexing Vortices

If the Little Guy’s fuzz section is agreeable and intuitive, the phase section is a tougher nut to crack. Familiar sounds in the fashion of a Phase 90 or Small Stone (the latter of which shares an OTA as foundation for its architecture) lurk among the interactions between the five controls, but tend to be more subtle. In fact, for all the phaser’s weirdo capabilities, in much of its range it generates super-subtle modulations. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if you like phase as a constant, backgrounded presence. The Little Guy excels at producing this mellow phase texture in a way that a Phase 90 or Small Stone cannot.

But there are many other low-key modulation colors here. You can dial in super-slow (and I mean slow) modulation rates, and then emphasize peaks in those lazy cycles by using feedback from the regen control and narrowing the frequency range with the range control. The LFOs width control is excellent for subtly backgrounding modulations so you don't mask tone nuances from elsewhere in your chain. That capability is enhanced by the effect send and return, which lets you situate pedals between the fuzz and phase effect.

"For all of this phaser’s weirdo capabilities, in much of its range it generates super-subtle modulations."

The Little Guy’s weirder phase voices are refreshingly unique. The pedal is able to generate a variety of rich, vowel-y, “wow”-type pulses more reminiscent of a vintage Mu-Tron or Ludwig Phase II. It’s also capable of fresh takes on lively auto-wah and filter sounds, and slow, sweeping versions of these tones can take on a sort of parked-wah-on-nitrous-oxide personality that I don’t encounter every day.

The Verdict

Monger’s The Little Guy sells for just less than $225. That’s a great price for almost any pedal that combines two wide-ranging effects. But it strikes me as an especially good deal when you consider the very high build quality, clear sense of craft, and thoughtful design execution. The Little Guy won’t be a great value for every player. Rather than aping canonical phase sounds, it inhabits many very idiosyncratic corners of the fuzz/phase tone realm. And if you just want a Big Muff and Phase 90, there are simpler, less-expensive, and less space intensive solutions. Consequently, you should consider my enthusiastic tone and value ratings on a sliding scale relative to your needs.

But if you’re on the hunt for variations on the fuzz/phase theme that can set a track apart and inspire new directions, Monger’s Little Guy is brimming with them—particularly if you’re willing to probe the sometimes complex and idiosyncratic interactions between its controls.

February 27, 2026 Today’s Update was quite different from recent, if not most ones. It was inspired by a comment from a student just this morning who had recently been taken by an old, original piece of mine, Sweet Child. This was a tune I recorded for my 1992 album Yesterday’s News. I started with […]

The post Totally Guitars Weekly Update February 27, 2026 appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.

February 20, 2026 A little Grateful Dead, some Neil Young and a few classic riffs were on my mind today, but the main thing I wanted to get to was a few thoughts on practicing, particularly with a metronome. At the top I went into some of last week’s TG Live where we went into […]

The post Totally Guitars Weekly Update February 20, 2026 appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.

Canadian boutique builder Deslongchamps Guitars has unveiled their latest electric guitar model: The Puffin.

The Puffin pays homage to the SG guitar and the Firebird, blending classic designs with modern sensibilities, aesthetics and playability. Built with premium materials and craftmanship, the Puffin model is lightweight and the shape makes it agile and comfortable.

The Puffin can be built in two configurations: an okoume body with a flamed maple top all of it bound in white, quartersawn flamed maple neck coupled with a dark rosewood fretboard; or an ash body coupled with a torrefied maple neck and fretboard for even lighter weight and feel.

Players can choose among a variety of different Fralin pickup configurations, including PAF-style humbuckers, P90s, singlecoil Thunderbird pickups and more.

Specs:

• Okoume or Ash body
• Maple neck
• Maple of rosewood fretboard
• 24.75” or 25.5” scale length
• Tune-o-matic and stop bar bridge or Descendant bridge and tremolo combo
• Gotoh tuners
• Includes a hard case

The Puffin carries a $3500 street price. For more information visit www.deslongchampsguitars.com.



For Episode 111, I’m joined by highly respected guitar builder Raymond Kraut.

Ray shares why he’s embraced unconventional sound ports while staying true to his traditional tone, how his porting designs have evolved over time, and what he’s learned through real-world testing.

We also dive into Ray’s Derrio Wood Company, which sources and supplies desert ironwood and other unique tonewoods. Ray talks about what makes desert ironwood so special, its tonal character, and why it’s becoming an exciting alternative for guitar builders.

Links
https://www.derriowoodco.com/

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Acclaimed vintage guitar repairperson Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) joins the Fretboard Journal Podcast once again.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://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).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

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

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The Lamb of God shred king sits down to discuss making LoG's 10th album Into Oblivion, designing his new signature Gibson Les Paul, writing his memoir Desolation, and he offers three hot takes on guitar culture.

Cory Wong has given an insight into his perfectionism when creating his signature Archetype plugin with Neural DSP.

Archetype: Cory Wong X packs the jazz-funk virtuoso and Vulfpeck guitarist’s gear into a plugin, and remains a highlight of Neural’s ever-expanding Archetype lineup.

And as Wong tells MusicTech in a new exclusive interview, he insisted the plugin was perfect – good enough for him to use himself regularly – before being released into the market.

• READ MORE: Neural DSP Quad Cortex Mini review: “This is the most universal Quad Cortex yet”

“I was like, ‘The only way this thing goes out is if I am 100% satisfied, and if you are 100% satisfied,” Wong remembers telling Neural DSP. 

“They sent me version one, and it was pretty good. And we made revisions. By version five, I was still like, not yet. It is great, but I don’t plug into it right now and think, ‘I have to use this for everything’. So we got to, like, version nine!”

Wong also tells MusicTech how his signature Archetype plugin forms an integral part of his signal chain when it comes to recording.

“Most of the time, I use the Archetype: Cory Wong X plugin that I helped create with Neural DSP,” he says. “There’s basically an emulation of an SSL console and a Neve console; there are characteristics of both hidden in there. But then there are also very clean amps in there.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the guitarist – though known for his formidable playing chops – explains how he prefers to focus on the arrangement of a song rather than fretboard fireworks when composing and recording.

“There’s a long history of the guitar being this thing where we’re showboating our technical facility,” Wong says. “Or just constantly shredding guitar. And there’s a time and place for that – I like a lot of that music. But that’s not really what I want to do, and that’s not really what I feel is the most compelling part of my artistry.

“Sure, there are times where it’s like, ‘Let’s give them the fireworks! I’m going to get out there and shred.’ But I like the sound of other instruments. I like the arrangement,” he says.

Check out Archetype: Cory Wong X at Neural DSP. Read the full interview at MusicTech.

The post “The only way this thing goes out is if I’m 100% satisfied”: What Cory Wong told Neural DSP when offered his own signature Archetype plugin appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Bandmates and close musical collaborators for decades, Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have come to know each other like brothers – and understand what helps when tensions rise.

Rush made headlines towards the end of last year when they announced plans to head out on tour again after years of speculation as to whether they ever would. As expected, the demand for tickets after the initial announcement was so high that Lifeson and Lee – with touring drummer Anika Nilles – added 17 more dates to the trek.

And in a new interview with The Guardian, bassist Lee and guitarist Lifeson reflect on their enduring friendship, and the extent to which they know each other so well.

• READ MORE: Dave Mustaine claims Megadeth would have been less successful if not for the motivating factor of Metallica “trying to hold me back”

They note the difference in how they both handle feelings: “He’s really emotional,” Lee says of Lifeson, to which Lifeson readily agrees: “I am… too emotional.”

Lee continues: “He can go from zero to 100 at a seemingly innocent remark. ‘Al, calm down. That’s not what we’re talking about.’

“He can really explode. A real Serbian. The only thing that calms him down is to go eat a pig somewhere. And I’m probably too controlling for him… and too rational.”

But despite their somewhat opposing approaches to handling emotions, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have been metaphorically attached at the hip for decades. They note how it often happens that they are only interested in each other at larger gatherings, remembering one time in particular: “They had planned this wonderful dinner party, and we just alienated them,” Lee says. “That happens a lot!” replies Lifeson.

Elsewhere in the interview, Geddy Lee remembers late Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died in 2020.

“He was a mentor to me in many ways,” he says. “He was a very stimulating person to be around.”

Tickets for Rush’s Fifty Something reunion tour are available now via the band’s official website.

The post “The only thing that calms him down is to go eat a pig somewhere”: Rush’s Geddy Lee explains the secret of his enduring relationship with “emotional” Alex Lifeson appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While peacefully coexisting in 2026, the relationship between Metallica and Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth has been rocky over the years, to say the least.

Dave Mustaine was Metallica’s lead guitarist from 1982 to 1983, writing riffs that would later appear on debut album Kill ‘Em All – and even followup Ride the Lightning – before being ousted from the band for alcoholism, drug misuse and aggressive behaviour towards his band members.

And as he’s asserted over the years, it was the fallout with Metallica which heavily influenced his drive to succeed with Megadeth.

• READ MORE: Is 2026 finally Iron Maiden’s year to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Mustaine has reflected on his relationship with Metallica a lot in the past few months, after it emerged that a cover of Ride the Lightning – the title track from Metallica’s sophomore album – was set to appear on Megadeth’s self-titled final album.

And now, in a new interview with the LA Times, the guitarist and frontman reflects again on the motivating effect of the fallout and subsequent hostility.

“Think of it,” he says. “Where would I be right now if I didn’t have one of the biggest bands in the world spending their time trying to hold me back? They don’t do it anymore, but most of the time when they did, it just made me shake my head.

“And it wasn’t just Metallica, it was everybody. For a long time, it very much was me against the world. It was like, okay, if you’re not with me, you’re against me.”

On Megadeth’s Ride the Lightning cover, Mustaine continues: “There may not be a chance to ever say hello to James [Hetfield, Metallica guitarist] or Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] again. I knew some people would have a hard time with me doing the song, but that’s okay because I wanted to pay tribute and show my respect.

“If they like it, fine. If they don’t like it, fine. If they listen to it, fine. If they don’t, fine.”

Megadeth are currently on tour in support of their landmark swansong record, Megadeth. See the band’s official website for dates and tickets.

The post Dave Mustaine claims Megadeth would have been less successful if not for the motivating factor of Metallica “trying to hold me back” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you ever memorised every riff on Guitar Hero, air-guitared in your bedroom like a rock god, or desperately tried to hit that perfect streak on your plastic axe, Stage Tour is about to teleport you straight back to your glory days.

RedOctane – the studio behind the first Guitar Hero – has returned with a brand-new “rhythm-action” game designed to capture all the chaos, joy, and pure fun of the plastic-instrument era.

• READ MORE: “It had to be shiny and sparkling”: Inside Björn Ulvaeus’s wacky Eurovision 1974 star guitar

Built by the original devs who brought five-fret note highways to life, Stage Tour promises a mix of nostalgia and modern gaming flair: full-band setups, flexible inputs, and live-service features that keep the game evolving.

“Stage Tour is our love letter to rhythm gaming,” says RedOctane boss Simon Ebejer. “We want Stage Tour to feel familiar and authentic, but also fresh… With new instruments and deep charting systems, we’re raising the bar on what we believe a rhythm game can be, while also catering to those wishing to simply enjoy a casual experience and have a good time.”

Stage Tour supports guitar, bass, drums, vocals – as well as keyboard, mouse, and standard controllers. And yes, there’s a brand-new Kramer-inspired guitar controller, alongside a drum kit and wired or wireless mics, for the full plastic-instrument rhythm gaming experience. There will also be Gibson-branded in-game guitars, a nod to the original Guitar Hero series.

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Unlike the old rhythm games that relied on fixed tracklists and DLC, Stage Tour is being designed as a live, evolving platform. The studio plans regular in-game events, seasonal content drops, and track charts that adapt not just to difficulty you pick but to the controller you’re using.

“Real moments. Real themes. Real updates,” says RedOctane. “We want to evolve the game alongside the fans who support it. Improve it. Expand it. Keep it alive.”

The studio also teases that players can “expect some absolute banging tunes” – because let’s be honest, what’s a rhythm game without killer tracks and riffs to shred along to?

Closed alpha testing is scheduled for late spring or early summer 2026, ahead of the planned fall release on PC and consoles.

More information is available at Stagetour.

The post Guitar Hero creators return with Stage Tour, a new rhythm game built for your inner ’90s rock god appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Having spent over five decades on stage, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has seen just about everything a rock ‘n’ roll career can throw at him. But few moments have been as simultaneously horrifying and hilarious as the time one of his favourite guitars went airborne… and came down in pieces.

Speaking to Guitar World, Perry looks back on that chaotic night and the instrument at the centre of it: his black 1956 Gibson Junior double-cutaway with pearl inlays.

• READ MORE: Why Reverb’s big data can help tell interesting stories about the guitar market

“I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘56,” says the guitarist. “It’s one of those Juniors that started off with cherry stain, but it wasn’t a burst – it was just a cherry stain. It’s got one P90. I actually had two of them in the mid-Seventies, like the ones Johnny Thunders and Leslie West played. They’re killer guitars. It’s just volume, tone and a P90, and it screams. I was lucky enough to get two of them.”

That luck would soon be tested.

“We were doing a show at a festival and I threw this thing up in the air at the end of a song,” Perry recalls. “This was before wireless, so it went to the end of the patch cord and came down on the neck – and the headstock snapped off. I remember thinking as it was going up in the air, ‘Wow, I can’t believe it. That looks so cool.’ And then, on the way down, I was thinking, ‘Holy shit, what did I do?’ [Laughs]”

Things got even more chaotic when frontman Steven Tyler tried to toss the broken instrument into the audience.

“After it came down and was broken, Steven grabbed it and wanted to throw it out into the audience, so I had to wrestle him for it,” Perry laughs. “I knew we could fix it, you know? I got it back and gave the pieces to my guy, and the show went on.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Perry highlights some of his other favourites from his legendary collection of over 600 guitars. One standout is a custom Gibson BB King Lucille, designed in honour of his wife, Billie Paulette Montgomery.

“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?’”

The artwork, which features Billie’s face on the lower bout, was painted by Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer’s drum tech John Douglas. Perry remembers her reaction: “She had no idea this was going on! 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,” says Perry.

The post The time Joe Perry snapped the headstock of one of his favourite guitars: “Steven wanted to throw it into the audience – I had to wrestle him for it!” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Haim made history in 2021 when they became the first all-female rock band to earn a Grammy nod for Album of the Year. Now, with a nomination in the Best Rock Album category, the trio once again find themselves representing women in a space that hasn’t always made room for them.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Danielle Haim of Haim reflects on what this recognition means for the band – and for women in guitar music altogether.

“We’re so honoured to be nominated in the rock category,” says the guitarist. “Growing up, my favourite artists were women. When I think about Stevie Nicks, the Pretenders, Heart, the Go-Go’s, the Bangles – all these incredible women who were in rock bands – those are the artists I looked up to. All we want is to inspire women to pick up guitars and drums.”

• READ MORE: Is 2026 finally Iron Maiden’s year to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

For Danielle, the nomination is proof that sticking to their instincts has paid off.

“As far as being recognised, we were so honoured to be nominated for Best Rock Album,” she continues. “Part of the reason I love what we do is that people have had a hard time putting us in a box; maybe there was confusion about what box we fit into. But what’s amazing is, over the last few years, we’ve just kind of kept doing what we’ve always done – and to be recognised in this way is really, really special.”

That refusal to be boxed-in has been central to Haim’s appeal – a band equally at home with sun-soaked pop hooks and classic rock crunch. As lead guitarist, Danielle has been a key driver of that sound.

Asked about her “go-to” instrument, she says: “I started on a Gibson Melody Maker that my dad bought me, and when it came time to graduate to my next guitar, I picked the SG because it was so light. It turned into my favorite guitar, so I continued with it for a long time.”

More recently, though, her sound has been shaped by a different six-string.

“And then Rostam [Batmanglij, ex-Vampire Weekend and one of Haim’s collaborators] bought a really nice Strat from the Fifties, and it’s the most fun guitar to play. So we used that a lot on the last two albums [Women in Music Pt. III and I Quit], and I melded into more of a Strat player.”

The post “All we want is to inspire women to pick up guitars”: Haim on their recent Grammys nomination appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

ABBA delivered a performance for the ages when they took the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with Waterloo. The band’s glam styling became instant pop iconography, and central to that image was the outrageous-looking 13-pointed, silver star guitar slung over the shoulder of lead guitarist Björn Ulvaeus.

The instrument quickly became part of ABBA’s visual identity, but its origins have long been misunderstood. For years, many assumed it was a custom build from Hagström, the Swedish brand Ulvaeus frequently played. In reality, the flamboyant guitar was crafted by Stockholm luthier Göran Malmberg.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Malmberg details how the now-legendary guitar was conceived and completed under intense time pressure ahead of the Brighton contest – and why it had to be, in his words, “shiny and sparkling”.

• READ MORE: Gibson Custom Shop recreates Mick Ronson’s David Bowie-era Les Paul with super limited run

According to Malmberg, Ulvaeus approached him with just six weeks to go before Eurovision. The brief was simple: create something visually arresting enough to match ABBA’s glam aesthetic.

“Björn and I met and discussed what it could look like,” Malmberg recalls. “It had to be shiny and sparkling, so a star shape was suggested. We decided I would draw some drafts of the guitar and then show them to him. Björn approved one of them, but there was only six weeks left until Eurovision!”

With the design agreed, construction began immediately. A Stratocaster-style neck was selected, but the radical 13-point body required careful engineering to avoid the pitfalls that often plague extreme shapes.

“The body had to have the correct weight balance so that the guitar would remain in position, even if Björn released his grip on the neck,” Malmberg explains. “Furthermore, the tips of the star shape could not be in the way when he was using it.”

To prevent the sharp points from breaking, the body was built from several layers of plywood glued together. The outermost layers were 1mm birch plywood aka “airplane plywood”, chosen to minimise surface cracking in the finish. Particular care was also taken to ensure the guitar would remain balanced on a strap, even if Ulvaeus released the neck mid-performance.

“The extra-long horn provided the balance for the attachment of the shoulder strap, and there were two horns on each side of the guitar’s body,” says Malmberg. “The placement of the control knobs and the cutaway horns helped to counter the weight, too.”

As for electronics, Malmberg says he “mounted the humbuckers, especially the treble pickup, further from the bridge to get a slightly darker sound, suitable for rhythm guitar playing.”

Finally, the finishing touches delivered the show-stopping effect Ulvaeus had requested. “The guitar was lacquered with metal stain on a silver base, and 20 layers of clear lacquer were used,” Malmberg says – ensuring it would gleam under the Eurovision stage lights.

While the exact inspiration behind the star design remains unclear, some have pointed to the influence of British glam-rockers The Glitter Band, who toured Sweden shortly before Eurovision and were known for their own star-shaped instruments.

“The Glitter Band did a tour of Sweden, and this band came to see us play; they told us they really liked our music and that it was really good,” bassist John Springate previously revealed. “Then, three weeks later, we saw them on Eurovision, dressed like us, with a star guitar, and that was ABBA!”

The post “It had to be shiny and sparkling”: Inside Björn Ulvaeus’s wacky Eurovision 1974 star guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$2,199.99/£2,150, yamaha.com

As a rule, people buy a Yamaha Pacifica because they’re feeling sensible. But there have been a couple of dangerously desirable options on the table since 2024: the Standard Plus and Professional. And now, just to get us in even more of a fluster, that table has been stacked a little higher with the return of Yamaha’s single-cutaway design.

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There were a bunch of single-cut Pacificas floating around in the late 90s, but since then – Mike Stern signature model aside – it’s been Strat-influenced double-cuts all the way. The Pacifica SC Professional marks a revival of the more Tele-like body style, with a fixed bridge and two pickups… but this Japanese-made instrument is far from being just another Fender-alike.

Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional – what is it?

Yamaha is, of course, a Japanese company – so when it decides to build a guitar at home, rather than outsourcing to somewhere with lower production costs, you know you’re dealing with the top of the line. Mind you, that much is obvious from the SC Professional itself: it’s as beautifully crafted in the hands as it is well appointed on the spec sheet.

The starting point is indeed a T-type design, with a very familiar-looking pickup mounted to the bridge plate next to a trio of compensated brass barrel saddles. But then things go wandering off from the template – starting with the neck pickup, which is a humbucker. Both pups are Yamaha’s Reflectone types, co-developed with Rupert Neve Designs.

As well as the standard three-way pickup selector, you get another distinctly non-standard feature borrowed from some of the Revstar models: a focus switch. This is a pull-out tone knob that engages a passive filter on the single-coil, opening up more tonal options.

There are no surprises in the other core specs – poly-finished alder body, bolt-on maple neck with maple or rosewood board, TUSQ nut, Gotoh locking tuners, 25.5-inch scale length, medium jumbo frets – but there are a few more notable features to mention before the artless thrashing begins.

The fretboard has a compound radius, going from 9.5 inches at the strummy end to a flatter 12 inches for easier string bends up top; the body has some chambering inside the lower horn for acoustic reasons; and, as you might expect at this price, it comes in a fancy hard case.

Oh, and one more thing: every guitar is subjected to Yamaha’s proprietary Initial Response Acceleration (IRA) treatment, which involves applying vibrations to simulate the tone-enhancing effect of years of ‘playing in’. In other words, it’s been sonically relic’d.

Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional – playability and build quality

This thing couldn’t be easier to play if it came with built-in hands that did it all for you and then gave you a back massage afterwards. There’s something supernaturally smooth about the frets, and the neck itself – on the rounded side but nothing too scary – is eminently huggable. The balance is good, while the contoured neck heel and upper-body chamfer make it an ergonomic dream.

Even the half-knurled volume and tone knobs feel nice, with a slick but sturdy ‘thunk’ when you pull up the latter for the focus switch. And the factory setup on my review instrument was close to perfect, though the shared saddles mean you might have to compromise a little on intonation.

Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional – sounds

It’s impossible to pick up a guitar that looks like this and not expect it to sound like a Telecaster – and the Yamaha website isn’t exactly helping with its promise of “vintage twang” – but that really is not the deal at all. There’s twanginess on offer for sure, but as with the newer double-cut Pacificas, the Reflectone pickups go big on hi-fi clarity… in this case, bigly big.

What you do get from that three-way switch and pull-out knob is an array of five very distinct sounds covering a broad tonal spectrum. The humbucker on its own is full, smooth and breezy; the middle position brings plenty of sugary twinkle; and the bridge pickup has so much shimmering top end I found myself looking down to check it hadn’t secretly turned into a 12-string. Pulling up the focus switch has a mild softening effect on that middle setting, but it completely transforms the single-coil on its own, shaving off a lot of that over-eager treble and replacing it with a bucketful of midrange spank.

Even so, in all positions, this is that rare phenomenon: a guitar with a tone knob that you’ll actually want to use. And luckily it works well, taming the zing without turning everything muddy even when it’s down to halfway. All of that makes the Pacifica SC Professional a versatile electric guitar… but through a clean amp at least, it’s not especially likeable or characterful.

On goes the overdrive, then – and now those pickups find their natural home. The sustain is piano-like, the smoothness is never compromised, and if you’re a technically tidy player you’ll find the guitar’s solidity and snappiness make it a supremely capable partner for your fiddliest lead runs. Palm-muted chords are not so strong – with high gain all that bright resonance translates to a ringiness that can spill over into the gaps – but you’ve probably worked out by now that this is not a guitar for sweaty punk chuggers.

With distortion in the picture the tonal differences between the pickup settings are reined in to a more sensible range, but all five are balanced and articulate. Couple that with the effortless playability I was raving about earlier, and you have a Professional that absolutely lives up to its name.

Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional – should I buy one?

It isn’t going to destroy any stereotypes about Yamahas not being very rock’n’roll, but there’s no denying this is a monumentally classy piece of work. And while the voicing of those pickups is hardly a recipe for instant mojo, they’ve clearly been designed to do a particular job – one that’s likely to involve an overdrive pedal or two – and they carry it off impeccably.

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Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional – alternatives

The obvious alternative for anyone who can’t stretch to this kind of money is the Yamaha Pacifica SC Standard Plus ($999/£992), which is made in Indonesia and has only minor spec differences. See also the Eastman FullerTone SC’52 ($899/£799) – or, for a more traditional T-type instrument with a neck humbucker, you might prefer the Fender American Vintage II 1977 Telecaster Custom ($2,599/£2,299).

The post Yamaha Pacifica SC Professional review – the ultimate in solidbody sophistication? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The Tone King Royalist Preamp brings the sound and feel of the Royalist MKIII amplifier to a compact, high-voltage pedal format built for today’s stage and studio workflows.

Powered by three 12AX7 tubes running at full amp voltages, the Royalist delivers authentic tube touch sensitivity, harmonic bloom, and dynamic response — without the volume of a cranked amp.

Real Power-Stage Feel — No Speaker Required

At its core is Tone King’s Zero-Watt Power Amp, a genuine tube-driven phase inverter circuit that recreates true power-stage compression and interaction. Players experience the feel of an overdriven British amp — at any volume.

Three Eras of British Tone. Two Fully Independent Channels.

Each channel features:

• Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble
• 1964 / 1967 / 1970 voicing switch
• FAT switch for added body and punch

From warm, vintage-inspired cleans to aggressive classic crunch and tight arena-ready drive, the Royalist delivers the evolution of British rock tone in one pedal.

Direct-Ready for Stage and Studio

The Royalist includes low-latency Impulse Response (IR) cabinet simulation with 20 curated OwnHammer IRs, six onboard IR slots, and stereo balanced XLR outputs for direct connection to FOH or recording interfaces. The IR section can also be bypassed for use with traditional power amps and cabinets.

Modern Control, Maximum Flexibility

• Save up to 128 MIDI presets
• Stereo series effects loop (bypassable)
• Reverb with assignable routing and trails
• USB-C connectivity with Tone King Editor software
• Headphone output for silent practice

Equally at home on silent stages, in the studio, or integrated into traditional rigs, the Royalist Preamp delivers the unmistakable voice of British rock — anywhere, at any volume.

Available February 26, 2026, The Royalist Preamp Carries a Street Price of $599.99 - go to TONE KING AMPS for more information.