Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
Norse Guitar Feeds
Alex Lifeson spent years “fighting for guitar rights” after this Rush song: “It’s a strong song, it’s just the mix that I didn’t like”
Rush’s embrace of synthesisers in the ‘80s may have helped redefine the band’s sound, but it also left Alex Lifeson fighting to keep his guitar heard.
Looking back on the recording of Subdivision, the iconic opening track from 1982’s Signals, Lifeson says the song’s mix marked the start of what he jokingly describes as years spent “fighting for my guitar rights”.
In a recent interview with Classic Rock, the guitarist recalls sitting in on the mixing process for Subdivisions and growing increasingly frustrated as his guitar seemed to vanish beneath the synths.
“I was sitting there thinking: ‘I can’t hear guitar,’” he says. “I’m a very easy-going guy, but I thought: ‘This is not right.’ So I pushed that fader up.”
Producer Terry Brown, however, had other ideas.
“I do remember Terry turning to me and smiling, and reaching over and pulling it back down. I could barely hear my guitar on that mix, and that just screams ‘wrong’ to me.”
The mix went on to become a staple of Rush’s catalogue, and while Lifeson never quite made peace with the balance, he never doubted the material itself.
“It’s a strong song, it’s just the mix that I didn’t like,” he says. “I guess I just fought for my guitar rights for years after that.”
The story echoes comments Lifeson made earlier this year during an appearance on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel, where he admitted to feeling resentful as Geddy Lee’s keyboards began taking on a bigger role in Rush’s sound.
“When we got to the mid-’80s, when we were doing those dense keyboard records, it was really a challenge for me. ’Cause, when we recorded those records, the keyboards went before the guitar,” he said.
“I would sit around, waiting, waiting, and waiting to do guitar stuff. And the more keyboard stuff I heard, the more layers, it was almost impossible for me to figure out how am I gonna fit in here. And by the way, I’m the guitar player in this band. What happened?”
For all his frustrations, Lifeson says Rush’s willingness to evolve was fundamental to the band’s identity.
“I guess you could stay where you are and do the same thing over and over and over again, but that’s not the kind of band we are. Progress is important to us. We always need to go somewhere else. We always wanted to evolve.”
The post Alex Lifeson spent years “fighting for guitar rights” after this Rush song: “It’s a strong song, it’s just the mix that I didn’t like” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Joe Bonamassa on the greatest lesson he ever learned from one of his blues heroes: “It was him going, ‘Welcome to the big leagues, kid’”
Joe Bonamassa has looked back on one of the most intimidating moments of his early career, recalling how sharing the stage with blues legend and Telecaster master Albert Collins as a teen taught him some of the “greatest lessons” he’s ever learned as a performer.
Speaking on the No Cover Charge podcast, Bonamassa explains that Collins had a unique way of wielding the guitar not just as an instrument, but as a “weapon” capable of commanding a stage and keeping fellow players on their toes.
“Guitars are great, ‘cos you can use them to coddle people, but you can also use them as a weapon – and I love using guitars as a weapon,” says the guitarist. “You know who’s the best at that? Albert Collins. That was a weapon. They didn’t call him the Iceman for nothing. I mean, I was on the receiving end when I was a kid.”
That unforgettable lesson came at the Silver Lake New York Blues Festival in Hog Rose, where a 12-year-old Bonamassa was invited to sit in with Collins. A year earlier, the young blues prodigy had shared the festival stage with telecaster virtuoso Danny Gatton, where his performance had earned him another slot twelve months later with the Iceman himself.
“They convinced Albert Collins to let me sit in,” Bonamassa recalls. “And he taught me the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned on stage.”
Needless to say, sharing the stage with Collins in his prime was a daunting prospect.
“At the time, I worshiped all those records – the Showdown! record, Ice Pickin’, Frosty.. All that,” says Bonamassa. “So I got up on stage, and I had my little USA Strat with Lace Sensors, and my Sunn Beta Lead solid state 4×12 amp.”
“Debbie Davies was in the band and it was prime time Albert Collins. He had a Tele, a [Fender] Quad Reverb, and about a 150-foot cable because he would go out into the crowd.”
Bonamassa remembers Collins putting him to the test almost immediately.
“He stung a note… He did all that Albert Collins shit, but he kept stinging the note,” says Bonamassa. “I mean, he pointed the Tele like [he was pointing a gun] at me. I’m like this little kid in the cowboy hat. It was his way of saying, ‘Welcome to the big leagues, kid. I don’t care how old you are, being up here requires a certain amount of intestinal fortitude, and I’m testing you to see if you had it.’ So I did my best [plays note] Albert impression.”
Decades on, Bonamassa remains fascinated by the bluesman’s unconventional setup and technique.
“His thing was awesome, because he tuned to open F, and had a really primitive capo. It was kind of gnarly, and I don’t know how he was able to keep the strings from moving. He would bend and not have the strings just move into another position. I don’t know how he did it.”
Watch the full interview below.
The post Joe Bonamassa on the greatest lesson he ever learned from one of his blues heroes: “It was him going, ‘Welcome to the big leagues, kid’” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jazzmaster review: Mexican-made vintage-style offset bliss
$1,349/£1,149, fender.com
It’s strange to think that a few years back, what classed as a bad PR situation for Fender was them shipping the American Vintage II Jazzmaster with a not wholly vintage-correct headstock shape. Simpler times.
Here in 2026, you’d probably forgive Fender taking its eye off the ball a little given everything else that’s going on, but it’s worth remembering that the people actually making and designing these instruments are primarily focused on what they always have been: building the best-sounding, feeling and playing instruments they can at price points that suit pretty much every budget.
The aforementioned AVII headstock snafu was just the latest in a series of incidents where Fender was accused of not quite getting the offset thing by its invariably exacting devotees.
The first Player Jazzmasters, for instance, could have been the best-made guitars on the planet – they were never fully embraced by fans because they had slightly naff-looking open-coil humbuckers in them, and no rhythm circuit. And look, the guy in the demo video didn’t even touch the vibrato, nor did he put the thing through two reverse-reverbs and six fuzzes – do you think he’s even heard Loveless?
A lot has changed since then however, and Fender has done much to make up to the Jazzmaster faithful in the years since – things are undoubtedly better now across the board, but especially in Fender’s Mexico-made Vintera range.
In fact, so good has Ensenada got at making Jazzmasters now, that my colleague Josh felt emboldened to declare that the Road Worn Vintera II guitar he reviewed back in January was “the best all-round Jazzmaster proposition in the Fender range.”
What is it?
The Vintera III range is Fender’s latest attempt to do something that a huge cohort of players want and need the brand to do more than anything else – creating guitars with vintage specs, looks and sounds that don’t require you to take out a small business loan to afford.
It’s been just three short years since the Vintera II launched, however, and there was very little wrong with the old guard, so what’s changed? Well, Vintera III promises to give us an even more accurate take on the vintage JM thing – eschewing the loose decade-spanning scope of the old guitars and focusing on a specific inflection point in a guitar’s development, in this case the mid-1960s – aka the moment that Jazzmasters really started to get fun with custom colours, painted headstocks and the like.
The core sell of the Vintera range remains unchanged – this is a guitar with most of the ‘right’ vintage appointments that’s not so cheap you might as well just get a Squier, and not so expensive that it’s totally beyond the scope of many musicians.
That doesn’t mean it’s cheap, however – sticker shock has come for guitars in a big way over the last few years, and ‘mid-priced’ in Fender terms now stands for $1,349. That is no small number for anyone really, but it’s broadly in line with the guitar it replaced at least – there’s no wince-inducing global inflationary crisis gut-punch that saw hundreds of dollars added to the base price between Vinteras I and II.
While the improvement is clearly iterative with Vintera III, the offsets have changed more than most. Crucially, while the Vintera II Jazzmaster recreated a late-1950s instrument, for III we return to the mid-1960s style of guitar – similar to the first 2019 Vintera run.
As mentioned, that means we have more fun finish options than previous editions – Sonic Blue and Candy Apple Red for those who want matching headstocks, and an Olympic White option – our guitar for today – that comes with a plain headstock.
Image: Adam Gasson
The latter is a bit of a shame in my opinion as most real Olympic White Jazzmasters from the mid-60s also sported a painted peghead… at least it’s the right shape? Mid 60s also means that we don’t get the bound board with block inlays that came later in the decade – maybe Fender will save that for Vintera IV?
The company’s product page notes a few differences as to how it’s going about the whole “vintage” thing this time around – no real revolutionary changes, but just an overall upping of the focus and detail – the headstock decals are now being applied over the finish, and we’ve got a period-accurate round-laminated rosewood fretboard rather than a slab board, clay-coloured fretboard dots rather than modern white ones, and a real bone nut instead of a synthetic one.
Hardware, electronics and the neck profile are all now “era-based” rather than “decade-based”, which makes sense, given that a “mid-’60s Jazzmaster” can mean a hell of a lot of different things. Fender doesn’t go as far as to put a year on it, but the specs and finish options add up to something approximating, at the latest, a ‘64 Jazzmaster, as bound necks would be introduced in 1965, and the big block inlays/big headstock combo would follow in 1966.
There’s still one major concession to price, in that the finish is poly rather than nitro – no authentic ageing experience for you here. Maybe, like with Vintera II, Fender will wait a year or so and then roll out a road-worn variant with a lightly-aged nitro finish for a little more cash, but until then, we’re strictly in polyurethane town.
Not that the poly finish looks bad, by any means – the Olympic White example I’ve got here is a lovely deep off-white – the white Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster next to it in my guitar rack looks as rich and inviting as a sheet of printer paper in comparison.
As a whole the guitar presents very well, and small as they are, those vintage-correct details do have a cumulative effect. The clay dots, for example, really bring the look of the neck together, especially given the rosewood ‘board. On our review example, this rosewood is a chocolate colour so rich and deep I am more than a little tempted to take a bite out of it. Even the three-dimensional nature of the headstock decal being placed over the finish – a detail that seems comically minor on paper – adds a bit of vintage panache to proceedings.
Image: Adam Gasson
Build quality and playability
I spend a lot of my time playing fairly modern-feeling necks – not quite multi-scale Strandbergs, but at the very least 9.5” boards and jumbo frets. And so getting my mitts around this mid-60s C-profile neck, with its 7.25” radius and vintage-tall frets, is a surprisingly refreshing affair. It is, of course, no slim shredder, but no less comfortable because of this. There’s enough heft to reassure me that I’m actually holding something, but it still allows for some relatively fast movement.
And while it may not be the perfect playground for sweep arpeggios, leads of a less flashy breed are still a hell of a lot of fun – the vintage tall frets are, well, tall, and are therefore great for digging into the side of a string when bending. Down by the headstock, the more curved surface is a lovely affair when fretting big whole-neck chords.
The setup and fretwork in general are great, with no dead spots to speak of and a nice low action. Fender has also continued its trend of gently rolling its fretboard edges, which makes for a supremely comfortable feel, especially when you launch into a big bend that requires hanging onto the neck for dear life, or land on a big open G with less than perfect positioning – the fretboard edges just melt out of your way.
That’s the left hand – at the right hand, the vibrato is the star of the show, as you’d hope from a classic-spec’d Jazzmaster. I find its factory setup pretty dead-on, with a smooth action for some nice woozy pitch-wobbling and just the right amount of tension on things to make it feel responsive and tactile rather than stiff and unwieldy. The rocking bridge also does its job of keeping things in pretty good tune, even after veering into some over-egged wanging on the bar. The push-in arm also stays where I want it, and if I want to move it out of the way, I can do so silently – it does not, as some bars do, creak like the gates of a gothic castle as you move it about.
Image: Adam Gasson
The one big caveat is this: even sticklers for vintage accuracy would be happy to ignore the anachronism if Fender just admitted defeat, and put a Jaguar bridge on this thing. The threaded saddle bridge has its adherents, but let’s be honest, quite a substantial chunk of offset players will replace theirs by default. There’s a reason the aftermarket Jazzmaster bridge world is absolutely chock-full of options. Fender even makes its own relatively decent mid-priced barrel-saddled option.
We’ve already made one concession to modern player comfort over vintage accuracy, in that these guitars come with 0.010s rather than the heavier strings that work best with the Jazzmaster’s rocking bridge/vibrato combo – so why not just take that extra step, save everyone a few quid, and avoid dooming the stock bridge to rot in a drawer somewhere?
Luckily it’s not a total write-off – the threaded sample example found here does at least function with the factory setup… mostly, as I still occasionally push the low E out of its slot. I’ll put it like this – if I was aiming to make this my main gigging guitar, I’d still seek to replace the bridge as soon as I could, but I wouldn’t shy away from playing the guitar live while said replacement was in the post.
One final gripe – the knobs are still set wrong. When I look down, and the guitar’s on full, I see 4, 5, and 6 – seemingly to let the “volume” and “tone” labels be parallel to the neck. I’ve no idea why they ship like this, because unless you’re playing it like a lap steel you’re not going to see those labels. Everyone else seems to agree that when you look down at a guitar, you should see the number 10 to indicate that you’re on 10. Is this splitting hairs? Yes, but it’s hair-splitting that does actually affect your out-of-box playing experience – if we’re caring about headstock decals being under or over the finish, we’re caring about this, too, Fender!
Image: Adam Gasson
Sounds
The pickups and electronics are fairly straightforward – no noiseless pickups or fancy switching here, unless you count the near-70-year-old rhythm circuit as a fancy addition. The lead circuit provides all of the spank and the punch you’d want from a Jazzmaster, with a bridge pickup that’s nice and bright but by no means an aural ice-pick, and a rounded, warmer neck pickup that’s got quite a present upper midrange.
The output here is relatively low – perhaps not as low as you might expect from some true vintage examples, but far from any sort of modern, hot pickup output. This does mean that there’s a good amount of dynamic range to be had on clean to lightly-overdriven sounds, even if you’ll want to up the preamp gain somewhere along the chain to compensate – and, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s a surprising amount of breadth and clarity when throwing stacked fuzzes, reverbs and delays at both lead positions.
And speaking of such an activity, the rhythm circuit does its thing, which you will find either unusably muddy or an excellent combination with the aforementioned wall of fuzz and delay, depending on your Jazzmaster preferences. Divisive it may be, it’s still a Jazzmaster, and for many it wouldn’t be complete without it – even for those who dislike it, masking off the switch can be part of the ritual. At this point, a couple of inches of electrical tape should come in the case alongside the vibrato arm…
Personally I find the rounded character of the neck pickup makes the rhythm circuit a pretty usable proposition for both smooth leads and messy Kevin Shields impressions, but for pretty much everything else the brighter, clearer sounds of the lead circuit are more likely to do the trick.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy one?
If you own a Vintera II Jazzmaster and you like it – I wouldn’t be in a rush to add an extra ‘I’ to the proceedings, unless you’re desperate for a switch to the 60s spec. However, it’d be wrong to expect Vintera III to totally reinvent the Jazzmaster wheel – that’s not really the point of a new range of Vintera guitars. There are only so many ways to skin the particular cat of an 1964-ish Jazzmaster for this price, and with this in mind it’s very nice to see the focus being placed on sharpening the vintage details. These details are packaged up in an extraordinarily well-constructed instrument, one that successfully builds on the successful points of the Vintera II JM.
Even with that upwards shift of the definition of a “mid-priced guitar”, the Vintera range remains a very good bang-for-buck proposition within Fender’s lineup. If you can get over the poly finish, this is as accurate and as playable as you’re going to get if you want a vintage-spec’d Jazzmaster for anywhere this side of £2,000. Or quite a bit more for the real deal. Of course, that accuracy is both better and for worse, perhaps, in the case of the bridge, but hey, what would a Jazzmaster be without a little obtrusiveness?
Vintera III Jazzmaster Alternatives
If you want a similar experience but fancy that nitro finish, some Road Worn Vintera II 50s Jazzmaster models ($1,699/£1,399) are still available in a few places. If you are an offset fan of a slightly different stripe, Vintera III has also arrived with a Jaguar offering ($1,34.99/£1,129). If you want to save a bit of cash, the Player II Jazzmaster offers a relatively authentic but no less enjoyable Jazzmaster experience for very decent price ($879.99/£759), and if you want to go the whole hog and nearabouts double the price tag, you can look at the American Vintage II 1966 Jazzmaster ($2,799/£2,379) now with the right headstock.
The post Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jazzmaster review: Mexican-made vintage-style offset bliss appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
TONEX Ecosystem Evolves
MoMojo Records Set To Release Precious Company Sept. 18th
Press Release
Source: Nick Loss-Eaton PR
Jad Tariq
Precious Company slated for September release Memphis-based guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Jad Tariq made an unforgettable first impression in early 2025 with his debut release, Jad Tariq Sings.
Effortlessly blending feel-good swing with the raw emotional power of the blues, the album quickly captured the attention of audiences and critics alike.
As one reviewer observed, “Jad Tariq leaves no doubt that he has arrived, and that we will be enjoying his artistry for years to come.”
That prediction has proven remarkably accurate. For his highly anticipated sophomore release, Precious Company, Tariq has crafted ten compelling original songs that showcase both his growth as a songwriter and his musical maturity.
Throughout the album, Tariq delivers his well-crafted lyrics and melodies with a rich tone, and his electric guitar dazzles as his playing moves between intimacy and intensity. Backed by some of Memphis’ finest players, Precious Company captures an artist fully stepping into his own, delivering a sound that is both timeless and unmistakably original.
Originally from Trumbull, Connecticut, Tariq began performing professionally at just twelve years old, honing his craft in bars and clubs throughout the tri-state area. At eighteen, he relocated to Memphis, immersing himself in the city’s rich blues tradition.
Since then, he has become a fixture on the Memphis musicscene, performing regularly with his own band while also serving as a sought-after sideman for many of the city’s most respected artists.
Jad has garnered national attention through collaborations with multiple Blues Music Award-winner, John Németh, renowned musician Tony Holiday, and legendary harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Most recently, he earned the prestigious honor of being invited to join Bob Dylan’s touring band for a series of dates. One writer noted: “His instant chemistry with his new bandmates rendered a familiar setlist into something novel and exhilarating. It was easily one of the best Dylan shows I’ve seen over the last 20 years” – fitting praise for one of the most exciting young artists to emerge from today’s blues scene.
“It’s a blessing to see such a talented young artist establish himself and flourish in such a short time,” says MoMojo label manager Debra Clark. “Jad is the complete package. His musicianship speaks for itself, but what impresses me just as much is his professional-ism, humility, and work ethic. Those qualities have earned him the respect of everyone around him and are the basis for what I believe will be a long and remarkable career.”
Jad adds, “I’m so excited to share these 10 new tunes with you all! We recorded these tunes live in my living room studio right here in Memphis. The songs are raw and honest, and I hope you enjoy listening to this record as much as I enjoyed making it!”
Pre-orders will begin August 21; two singles will be released (August 21, September 4) prior to the release date of September 18, 2026.
Win a Taylor Guitars Gold Label 517e Acoustic!
Experience aged-in warmth and deep dreadnought projection. PG has partnered with Taylor Guitars to give one lucky winner a Gold Label 517e! Enter now. (US residents, 18+ Only)
Taylor Guitars Gold Label 517e Giveaway
Gold Label 517e
The Gold Label 517e delivers deep, powerful tone with old-school character. Torrefied Sitka spruce, solid mahogany, fanned V-Class bracing, and Action Control Neck™ provide exceptional projection, sustain, and playability.
Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Terry Bozzio Announce Tour of the U.S.
King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN, alongside STEVE VAI and TERRY BOZZIO approach the next chapter of BEAT. The quartet has announced a tour of the U.S. that will stage 40 appearances. The general on-sale is set for Friday, August 7 at 10AM local time. Tickets and VIP experiences will be available here: https://beat-official.com/tour. The artist pre-sale goes live on Tuesday, August 4 at Noon Eastern time with the password BEATTOUR. Fans can access the ticketing page and simply enter the code at checkout. All pre-sales will end at 10am local time Thursday, August 6.
Adrian Belew shares, “For those of you who’ve seen BEAT live, it’s important to note we’ll be adding some material from ‘90s Crim to our U.S. tour. Along with the addition of superman drummer Terry Bozzio, we feel this will result in a new experience for our audience. We’re very excited to play for you again. Don’t miss it!”
The global audience has celebrated the existence of BEAT, responding to the music, chemistry, spirit and respect this collective of esteemed musicians has brought to one of the most remarkable catalogs in progressive rock. BEAT continues to evolve whole remaining true to the music and the spirit that inspired it.
As Adrian, Tony and Steve approach the band’s upcoming activity, Terry Bozzio enters the fold behind the kit. Danny Carey remains an important part of the BEAT family, and simply his Tool commitments prevent him from being available for this upcoming run in the Fall. Steve Vai offers, “Terry is one of the truly legendary drummers of our time, whose remarkable career and unique musical voice make him the perfect artist to join us for this tour. He brings his own extraordinary artistry to BEAT, and that's something worth celebrating.” Adrian Belew shares, “Our deepest appreciation goes to our brother Danny Carey—a true BEAT-Poet. His extraordinary musicianship, generosity, humor, and explosive creativity helped establish BEAT as something far beyond a tribute. He helped create its identity. While Tool commitments keep him from joining us this fall, he remains an essential part of our family.
When the ensemble’s existence was first made public on April 2, 2024, the vision was simply to present a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums - Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Just over forty appearances were announced across the U.S., triggering a majority of those planned appearances reaching sold-out status in days. Additional performances were added, creating an inaugural run which staged 65 concerts across the U.S. Appearances in Mexico, South America and Tokyo’s legendary Budokan followed, most recently staging an extensive run of the U.K. and Europe performing in 31 cities this year.
When the band heads back out in the Fall, fans should anticipate some exciting additions to the repertoire being performed, with several songs rotating out while other classic King Crimson pieces emerging in to the set. Those details will come to light once the tour begins.
The itinerary kicks off on October 9 at the Quarry Amphitheater in Santa Cruz, CA, with a final appearance planned in at Riverside, CA’s Municipal Auditorium on December 3.
In front of the 2024 tour, guitarist Adrian Belew reflected, “The 1981 through 1984 King Crimson created a music all its own. Timeless. Beautiful. Complex. Fierce. For the fans who lived through it then, and the ones who never got to witness it, our aim is to bring it to life again. A monumental task but we're going for it! There are not enough exclamation points to express my excitement!”
Guitarist Steve Vai stated, “Being a part of this ensemble is an extraordinary privilege and opportunity to perform some of the most beloved, timeless, and monumental music of the 80’s (and beyond) with truly inspired musicians. This music resonates deeply with me. Father Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses. His highly specific and exceptionally brilliant guitar technique is studied and revered. His contribution to the quality of my musical life, and so many others is supreme.”
Bassist Tony Levin offered, “Revisiting some of my favorite music is a treat in itself. It’s also great that we’re not just playing a few shows, we’re hitting it hard. So, Road Dogs are coming to your area soon.”
Drummer Terry Bozzio shares, “All of these guys are my friends and excellent musicians who l’ve played with before! When l was asked to join this tour, l was honored & very grateful to do it!”
An exclusive meet & greet with Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Terry Bozzio will be staged at each appearance planned. There are three tiers available with limited availability. First, the “BEAT On-stage Experience” features one premium reserved ticket, the rare opportunity to watch the show from an exclusive on-stage VIP viewing area, early entry in to the venue, a pre-show meet & greet and a group photo opportunity with all four members of the band, access to a pre-show soundcheck, a limited edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and an official side-stage laminate and lanyard. This top tier has very limited availability. The second tier is the “BEAT Meet & Greet / Soundcheck Experience.” It features one premium reserved ticket located in the first five rows, early entry in to the venue, a pre-show meet & greet and group photo opportunity with all four members of the band, access to a pre-show soundcheck, a limited-edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and a Meet & Greet laminate and lanyard. The final tier is the “BEAT VIP Tour Package.” It features one premium reserved ticket located in the first 15 rows, a limited-edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and a commemorative laminate and lanyard. There is limited availability for each of these packages, which are available for purchase at https://beat-official.com/tour.
Flattley Pedals Introduces Centurion 10 AE Overdrive
Flattley Pedals has introduced the “Centurion 10 AE”, the company’s special 10th Anniversary Edition of the Centurion transparent overdrive.
As it’s our 10th anniversary in 2026 at Flattley Guitar Pedals, we wanted to continue with the celebrations and add some special features to our existing Centurion transparent overdrive product by adding some extra mojo.
The Centurion 10 AE comes with purple laser etched control knobs, metallic black paint with the stunning eye-catching silver paisley skulls hydro graphics along with a purple halo LED light ring to light it all up.
The Centurion 10 AE version also got an internal make over and comes with special vintage germanium tube diodes giving the Centurion 10 AE version a whole different feel and sound than the standard version Centurion pedal. These vintage germanium tube diodes just sound so warm and soft which really suits the Centurion circuit.
The pedal’s purple halo light ring installed diffuses the light when playing live, so you can avoid being blinded by standard LEDs, and a purple laser etched aluminium foot topper gives you more real estate for contact when switching the pedal on and off during quick changes when playing live.
All Flattley "Platinum Range" pedals are hand processed in our Flattley paint shop, with a strikingly unique finish.
The Centurion 10 AE includes this control set:
Centurion 10 AE Controls
- Volume: Controls the overall output level.
- Gain: Controls the amount of gain/overdrive
- Tone: Controls the amount of treble/bass
Other features include:
- 9-volt external power operation (no internal battery option)
- 20mm purple anodised aluminium custom etched control knobs
- Purple halo light rings installed
- The Centurion 10 AE comes with a purple custom etched aluminium foot topper
All Flattley pedals are handmade and hand wired in the UK using high quality components.
The Flattley Centurion 10 AE carries a street price of $319/£259/€319. For more information visit flattleyguitarpedals.com.
Marcus King partners with Epiphone to revive the El Dorado acoustic: “This guitar means the world to me”
Everyone remembers their first guitar – it’s by your side through thick and thin, no matter how ear-splitting your chord progressions may sound to your peers. For some, that first axe can be a gateway to a beloved hobby… or, in the case of Marcus King, learning the ropes on a 1963 Epiphone El Dorado Acoustic essentially kickstarted a Grammy-winning blues career.
Now, King has partnered with Epiphone to reimagine his legendary first guitar. The result is the limited edition Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado, which serves as yet another way King has honoured the most important, formative guitar in his musical history.
Originally, King’s father gifted him the 1963 Epiphone acoustic when he was just four. King was instantly keen to master the instrument, and he’s always speaking about the importance of the El Dorado throughout his journey. Even his 2020 debut, El Dorado, is named in honour of his all-important guitar.
“This guitar means the world to me,” he says in a press release. “My first El Dorado was a gift from my father, and it carried me through some of the earliest and most important moments of my musical journey. It has always represented family, home, and the songs that shaped me.”
While the guitar has shaped King, this comes as his chance to shape the guitar in return, as well as sharing its vintage charms with the next generation of guitarists. While the guitar’s design captures that feel of ‘60s and ‘70s era El Dorado acoustics, King’s signature sits proudly on the headstock. “Partnering with Epiphone to share that feeling with players around the world is an incredible honour, and I hope this guitar inspires people to write their own stories for years to come,” he adds.
Available in Antique Natural, the Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado sits at 25.5” in scale and is built with all-solid tonewoods. The woods in question consist of a square-shoulder dreadnought body, rosewood back and sides, a spruce top and a C-profile mahogany neck, There’s also a custom pickguard modelled after the one on King’s vintage El Dorado guitars.
Credit: Epiphone
In terms of the headstock, alongside King’s autograph, the design draws inspiration from 70s MIJ-era and include a bone nut, Epiphone Deluxe tuners, and a mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo. Further down, the fingerboard is rosewood, with 20 frets and rounded-corner mother-of-pearl block inlays. The acoustic is also kitted out with L.R. Baggs Element Bronze under-saddle pickup and preamp.
King recently released Darling Blue / No Room For Blue back in May, and the blues rocker is also set to embark on a tour across North America this August.
The limited edition Marcus King El Dorado is available now for £949. For more information, head to Epiphone.
The post Marcus King partners with Epiphone to revive the El Dorado acoustic: “This guitar means the world to me” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI Review
Do you know that feeling when a well-restored vintage car slowly passes you on the street? You stop, you stare, you gasp, and for a fleeting moment, you dream. That is how I felt when I opened the case for the Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI. It was a peek into a time portal, and I felt an audible, focused exhale leave my lungs. But unlike all those vintage cars I see, I got to take this one for a drive. It was a pleasure that pointed the way to a lot of creative possibilities.
The Middle Way
The concept of a 6-string bass was around for several years before Fender introduced the Bass VI in 1961. Bu though it had formidable rivals—the more straightforward Danelectro 6-string bass, for one—the Bass VI had its own vibe. There’s a hint of chime, a hint of bass, and a trace of the dark arts. The Bass VI became a useful tool for players straddling the fence between octaves, and its 30" scale made it a useful compromise for guitar players wanting to play bass and bass players looking for more chances to get fired. But regardless of how it fits into an individual musician’s life, it remains a valuable tool for finding unusual sounds.
Our Focused Era
As part of the Vintera III line, the Bass VI features many enticing 1960s-vintage details, including a real bone nut, clay dots, and a headstock decal applied over the finish. Fender also claims that the pickups and neck profile are more aligned with early ’60s specs. Given how much those elements could vary from guitar to guitar back then, it’s hard to pinpoint a definitive example. Still, this Vintera III version is outwardly inspired by the most desirable version of the Bass VI, which was discontinued in 1975.
“With almost any approach, the Bass VI is great. No, more than great. It’s inspiring. And plugging in and exploring the possibilities is pure joy.”
Let’s say it now: This bass looks like a million bucks. The gloss polyester candy apple red finish (olympic white and 3-tone sunburst are also available), mint green 3-ply pickguard, and matching headstock are a dazzling combination. The offset alder body and round-laminated rosewood fretboard combination (with clay dot markers) are equally complementary. The guitar is also well put together, with a tight neck joint, no fret issues, and a great setup.
Does it Bass? Does it Guitar?
Before I plug into any amp, I like to hear the resonance of an instrument on its own, and with the Bass VI, this process, in a way, involves listening to two instruments at once. You also have to account for how the different scale, strings, and body size change the way you play. For example, I often found myself strumming the top four strings and taking a more conventional bass approach for the traditional four strings of a bass. Your instincts might differ. But with almost any approach, the Bass VI is great. No, more than great. It’s inspiring. And plugging in and exploring the possibilities is pure joy.
The Bass VI has three single-coil pickups that can be switched on individually or in combination, with dedicated on/off switches. The fourth switch is the bass-strangle switch, which filters the low end. Making my way through various pickup configurations, I found rich, useful tones across the board, but very different uses for different ones. The neck pickup solo is probably my favorite for bass-side picking. But the middle and bridge pickup combination is my favorite for more guitar-style playing.
As a dedicated bass, the Fender is interesting, unusual, and effective. It shares a certain sense of feel with a short-scale 4-string bass, and encourages certain short-scale bass techniques. But the subtle differences in the pickups take the Bass VI from a deep 4-string bass voice to something more pointed, and players looking for more focused tones outside of typical bass range will love what they find here.
In terms of feel, the only rub for me is the string spacing, which is much tighter than my Precision Bass-trained hands are accustomed to. Most players new to the Bass VI will have to adapt in some way. It feels truly unique. But it doesn’t take much practice before you sense that you can make it work creatively.
On the guitar(-ish) side of the equation, the Bass VI can sing as well as it can rumble. In more guitar-like applications, the pickups give me tones that range from dark and brooding (neck and middle) to downright twangy (bridge only). The strangle switch helps the pickups shine a little brighter, too. Splash a little chorus on the signal and nudge the floating tremolo, and the Bass VI becomes an instrument well outside conventional guitar or bass categories.
An Old Idea Made New
Though it was sometimes derided—and more often removed— in its time, the 1960s-era string mute that Fender has re-introduced in this Vintera III version is, for me, a secret weapon. Located between the bridge pickup and the bridge, this very simple device can be rocked into place to mute the strings. At least for me, it was an instant game changer. I think a muted bass line speaks volumes, so I love this option.
The Verdict
The Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI is a beautiful creation. It sits in a sweet spot between tonally interesting and extremely useful, making it an essential studio staple in my book. Guitar players that play bass on their tracks will love it, and bass players will appreciate its 1960s tone vibes. I went for years without any experience with a Bass VI. Now? I am smitten.
Vintera III Early '60s Bass VI 6-string
6-string Electric Bass with Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, 3 Single-coil Pickups, and Tremolo - Candy Apple Red
“It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster”: This is one of Joe Bonamassa’s favourite vintage guitars – and why hybrids can be “the best”
Joe Bonamassa is one of the most prolific collectors of vintage guitars. But he doesn’t possess the purism you might expect from a vintage collector. In fact, one of his favourite guitars is a heavily modified 1968 Fender Telecaster loaded with Gibson PAF humbuckers…
Blues ace and owner of one of the world’s greatest collections of vintage instruments – housed at Nerdville East and West in Nashville and LA, respectively – Joe Bonamassa has hundreds of guitars. But this guitar remains one of his favourites, and it’s precisely because it’s a hybrid, he explains in a new interview with Guitar Center.
“These are PAF humbucking pickups from Gibson,” he says. “I bought this guitar from a guy in Daytona Beach, Florida about 15 years ago. It wasn’t a lot of money. And I plugged it in and it was magic. Sometimes a hybrid can turn out to be the best.”
The Tele, he explains, is fitted with 500k potentiometers – which let less high frequency content bleed resulting in a brighter tone.
“It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster,” says Bonamassa. ‘But the difference is you have a maple neck and an ash body. And they sound great. And that’s the beauty of a Fender Telecaster: you can pretty much do anything to it.
“Now, do I suggest going out there and buying a very expensive vintage Telecaster, taking a pin router to it and jamming a whole bunch of pickups in there? No. If they’re already modified, then that’s the beauty of it. And you can save yourself some money and have literally just a utility plank that can play anything.”
Of course, one of JoBo’s favourite guitars has obviously seen its share of stage use…
“I’ve used this guitar for jazz fusion gigs, I’ve used it for rock gigs. I’ve used it for everything, because it has so much flexibility.”
He might be a vintage guitar collector, but his love of hybrid guitars isn’t the first opinion that might poke at the gear purists. Increasingly so lately, he’s been touting his love of digital amp modellers.
Recently admitting that he “wanted to hate” amp modellers, he explained: “I was wrong about the fact that no modeller will replace a tube version, I think they’re gonna get there and surpass.”
The post “It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster”: This is one of Joe Bonamassa’s favourite vintage guitars – and why hybrids can be “the best” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
This is why your guitar’s scale length actually matters
Scale length is one of those items on the spec sheet that I always saw, for many of my early years before I ever knew what it actually was or what it meant. I would hear terms like “Fender scale” or “Gibson scale” and politely smile and nod.
There were so many differences between a Les Paul and a Telecaster that I never thought much of the scale, but it does have quite an effect on the playability of the models. In this article, we’ll explain what scale is and why it matters – and how you can use that to choose a guitar with the right scale for you.
What the number actually means
Scale length is the working length of the string, measured from the nut to the saddle. The simplest way to find it is to simply measure it. A 25.5-inch scale length has 25.5 inches of string free to vibrate on every course, and that’s all the number tells you on its own. Everything worth knowing comes from what it forces the rest of the instrument to do.
A lot of electric guitars you’ll pick up will sit in one of two camps. Leo Fender built the Telecaster and Stratocaster around 25.5 inches, and that became the standard for Fender and for the mountain of guitars built to copy them. Gibson went with 24.75 inches on the Les Paul, SG and ES-335. If you’re wondering why it is measured in inches instead of metric, its simply because Fender and Gibson were based in the US and the specs fell into that unit of measurement.
Three-quarters of an inch sounds like a rounding error, and as a measurement, it nearly is. A few builders split the difference on purpose. PRS landed on 25 inches, reaching for a bit of Fender’s tightness and a bit of Gibson’s give in the same neck. Other guitars exist outside the 25.5-24.75 thresholds. We’ll get to them later in the article.
Why a longer scale length guitar fights back
Bringing a string up to pitch takes a set amount of tension, and a longer string needs more of it to reach the same note at the same gauge. The relationship isn’t gentle, either. Tension climbs with the square of the scale length, so swapping a 24.75-inch guitar for a 25.5 with identical strings and tuning piles on roughly six per cent more tension across every string.
Six per cent doesn’t read like much, but your fretting hand will feel it. The longer Fender scale pushes back against your bends and snaps to pitch faster. It stays firm when you dig in. It’s a big part of why players coming off a Les Paul onto a Strat so often drop string gauge from 10s to 9s, just to get the old slack back. A shorter scale does the reverse. It’s looser and more forgiving, and bends come without a fight. Plenty of blues and rock players build their whole feel around that softer response.
What scale length does to your tone
Tension shapes the sound as much as the feel. A tighter string speaks with more clarity and top end. There’s more harmonic content sitting under the note, and the low end holds firmer, which is a chunk of that bright, almost piano-like attack baked into the classic Fender voice. A looser string leans harder on its fundamental and comes back warmer and rounder, with the highs pulled off the top. So crediting Gibson warmth entirely to mahogany and humbuckers leaves something out. The short scale is in there doing its share.
Fret spacing is the most visible effect. You cant just move a Fender neck .75 inches further into the body and have it work as a Gibson scale – the fret spacing is different. A longer scale stretches the frets apart, which keeps notes separated but asks more of your hand down near the nut. A shorter scale brings them in tighter, friendlier for small hands and fast chord work, though it can feel cramped once you’re past the body/neck joint.
Non-traditional scale-lengths
Step outside the Fender-versus-Gibson norms and builders start reaching for scale length on purpose. Short-scale guitars like the 24-inch Mustang and Jaguar, or the old Danelectros, play slinky and run a little dark, which is half of why indie and garage players love them. Basses follow the same logic. A 34-inch scale keeps a low E from going to mush, while 30-inch short-scale basses trade some of that tightness for warmth and an easier reach.
Baritones are usually defined as having a scale length of 27 inches or more. The whole point is to tune well below standard without the strings turning to wet noodles, since the extra length holds the tension together down in low drop tunings.
Fanned-fret guitars chase the same fix from another angle. Ralph Novak’s Novax designs run a longer scale under the bass strings and a shorter one under the trebles, with the frets angled so the geometry lines up. The low strings hold their tension and the high strings stay easy to bend. That was the idea behind fanned frets.
So, which scale is right for you? That’s not for me to say. My advice is always to get your hands on as many guitars as possible and see which ones feel and sound best to you. That’s why I love guitar stores where you can pick a guitar up and test it out. It allows you to know what you’re looking for when buying a guitar.
You might prefer the look of Fender guitar but the more compact dimensions of a Gibson – that’s what I realised, and it’s why I build Fender-style necks with 24.75-inch scales for my guitars. Warmoth and other aftermarket companies make these sorts of conversion necks as well if you’re set on the look of one body shape but prefer a different scale length.
Few players can tell the difference by looking at it, but the feel is undeniable. That’s why scale length is such an important part of any guitar equation.
The post This is why your guitar’s scale length actually matters appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Epiphone Introduces Marcus King El Dorado Acoustic
Epiphone has announced the Marcus King El Dorado, a limited-edition signature acoustic guitar based on a 1970s-era Epiphone model. King, a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and GRAMMY®-nominated artist, has cited a personal connection to the El Dorado, which was his first guitar and a gift from his father. He named his 2020 solo debut album El Dorado after the instrument. The Marcus King El Dorado Limited Edition is available in Antique Natural at authorized Epiphone dealers, Gibson Garage locations in Nashville and London, and at Epiphone.com.
The Marcus King El Dorado is built with a square-shoulder dreadnought body, solid rosewood back and sides, and a solid spruce top.
“This guitar means the world to me. My first El Dorado was a gift from my father, and it carried me through some of the earliest and most important moments of my musical journey,” says Marcus King. “It has always represented family, home, and the songs that shaped me. Partnering with Epiphone to share that feeling with players around the world is an incredible honor, and I hope this guitar inspires people to write their own stories for years to come.”
Highlights include:
- Solid rosewood back and sides, solid spruce top
- Neck: 25.5″ scale mahogany neck with a C profile, headstock volute, and dovetail neck joint
- Body: Four-ply top binding, single-ply back binding
- Headstock: 70s MIJ-style design, bone nut, Epiphone Deluxe tuners with metal buttons, mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo
- Fingerboard: Three-ply bound rosewood, 20 frets, rounded-corner mother-of-pearl block inlays
- Bridge: Belly-down rosewood bridge with compensated bone saddle and black pins; inlays depict South Carolina's outline and Tennessee's Tri-Star emblem
- Pickguard: Custom design based on King's original vintage El Dorado
- Electronics: L.R. Baggs™ Element Bronze under-saddle pickup and preamp, with volume and tone controls mounted at the edge of the soundhole (requires one 9-volt battery, not included)
- Case: Hardshell case with Marcus King signature graphic
Available in Antique Natural finish for a limited time, the Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado carries a street price of $999. For more information visit Epiphone.com.
The release coincides with the Marcus King Band's Darling Blue / No Room For Blue, released May 1, the second half of the Darling Blue project first issued as a Record Store Day exclusive. The 12-track collection is available on all streaming platforms and covers themes including clarity, growth, heartbreak, addiction, and renewal, spanning rock, bluegrass, country, blues, and Americana.
King and his band are touring in support of the release on the Waltz Across Texas Tour and Darling Blue Pt. 2 Tour, with dates in July, August, and September 2026, including markets such as New York City, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta, festival dates, and select shows with Mumford & Sons.
For tour updates, see King's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts, or marcuskingofficial.com.
Tour Dates
- Aug 20: Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena (with Zach Top)
- Aug 21: Allentown, PA — PPL Center (with Zach Top)
- Aug 22: Bangor, ME — Maine Savings Amphitheater (with Zach Top)
- Aug 26: East Hampton, NY — The Clubhouse Hamptons
- Aug 28: Gilford, NH — BankNH Pavilion
- Sep 11: Raleigh, NC — Red Hat Amphitheater
- Sep 12: New York, NY — Summerstage in Central Park
- Sep 13: Ithaca, NY — State Theatre of Ithaca
- Sep 15: Burlington, VT — Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
- Sep 18–20: Telluride, CO — Telluride Blues and Brews Festival
- Sep 20: Charlottesville, VA — John Paul Jones Arena (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 22: Grand Rapids, MI — Acrisure Amphitheater (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 23: Madison, WI — Kohl Center (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 29: Birmingham, AL — Coca-Cola Amphitheater (with Mumford & Sons)
- Oct 1: The Woodlands, TX — Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (with Mumford & Sons)
- Oct 2: Bossier City, LA — Margaritaville Resort Casino
Yngwie Malmsteen To Release His Mesmerizing New Album Hell Or High Water November 3!
Press Release
Source: SKH Music
One of the world’s most captivating guitarists, Yngwie Malmsteen has announced his new studio album, Hell or High Water, which will be released on November 13 via Music Theories Recordings / Artone Label Group. To whet your appetite, he has also revealed the first single from the album, ‘Now or Never,’ which you can listen to HERE.
When we think of the greatest guitar players of all-time, specifically the crème de la crème musicians who invented a whole new style and sound on the instrument, Yngwie J. Malmsteen is a name that sits comfortably alongside game-changers like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Edward Van Halen.
The nine tracks that make up his latest triumph were crafted meticulously and purposefully, away from the distractions that stall the creative process in the modern age. This is something he first tried with 2021’s Parabellum – mainly because of the state of the world at that time – and the results were so strong, he decided to stick with this as his modus operandi moving forward.
Pre-Order/Stream HERE.
“When I started making records, I would just take the songs I had lying around,” he admits. “Later on, I fell into a schedule – make a record, tour the record and then write the next record. Over the pandemic, I realised it was better to focus completely uninterrupted, so I stayed at home to write this album over the course of eight months. I had around 80 or 90 tracks finished, and then I had to decide which ones were the strongest.”
For a man born with a gift to conjure up overtures “out of nowhere”, the science behind writing a song is something that’s hard to explain. But, in any case, he’s grateful for the abundance of gold-standard ideas that do arrive – the kind that would take other musicians months or even years to realise into actuality. For Yngwie J. Malmsteen, this is simply what he was born to do.
Click here to view the embedded video.
“Even without a guitar in my hands, the music just comes to me,” he reasons. “It’s like that movie Amadeus. Mozart was getting music given to him in complete form. I understand the building blocks and can therefore build you anything you like. If you asked me to write you a death metal song, call me back in five minutes, and I’d have it ready for you. You want country and western or reggae? No problem. I can give you whatever you want. The language of music is simple. There are certain notes that belong together in whatever stylistic direction and sound pleasant to the ear. The ideas don’t come all the time, but when they do, it’s like an avalanche. The pieces I choose for my records are like gifts that I capture because they amaze me. I’m very lucky in that sense.”
Lead single ‘Now Or Never’ is a perfect storm of palm-muted riffing, baroque counterpart melodies, soaring vocals and mind-blowing dexterity. If you’re looking for Yngwie in a nutshell, this is very much it, and similar things could be said of the second track and instrumental pièce de résistance ‘Am Caprice/Hell Or High Water.’
‘(On The) Battlefield’ and ‘Eye For An Eye’ feature some of the singer/guitarist’s strongest vocal performances to date, alongside the stunning instrumentals ‘Antikythera’ and ‘Beyond Zeta Reticuli’ – which were both named after important scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.
Hell Or High Water is an album that’s bursting with emotion from all corners, but the closing track ‘Father’ is undoubtedly the most spirited of them all, written in tribute to the guitar legend’s dad, who passed away last year.
“He was an amazing man,” remembers Yngwie. “I was proud to have him as a father, and I loved him. I wanted to dedicate all of this to him, and that one particular track is for him. I wanted others to feel what I felt when they hear it. Nicola Paganini once said, ‘One must feel strongly in order to make others feel strongly’. It’s one thing to be a typewriter and another thing to be someone who writes stories that can touch people. That was always the point.”
All these years on, Yngwie J. Malmsteen looks and sounds more determined than ever. If the music feels good to him, that’s enough – anyone else liking it is a bonus. And this is precisely the creative fortitude and single-mindedness that turned him into a household name among the guitar community. There is no such thing as half measures or compromise in his world. Here is an artist who will be forever bound to authenticity and creative honesty.
Tour Dates
Tickets available HERE
September 4 – Beijing, China @ East Third Live House
September 6 – Shanghai, China @ Phase Live House
September 11 – Tokyo, Japan @ Toyosu Pit
September 13 – Yokohama, Japan @ Pacifico Yokohama
Yngwie Malmsteen Online
https://www.yngwiemalmsteen.com/
www.facebook.com/officialyngwiemalmsteen
www.instagram.com/yngwiemalmsteen_official
/www.tiktok.com/@yngwiemalmsteen_official
https://www.youtube.com/@officialyngwiemalmsteen622
“My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow”: Fender CEO responds to his previous comments on AI
Back in May, Edward “Bud” Cole likened AI to “cover music” in an interview with T3, noting that the act of learning and adapting another artist’s songs and techniques is like a form of “analogue AI”. Now, the Fender CEO is keen to clarify his comments.
In a new statement shared with Fast Company, Cole explains that he hadn’t “fully conveyed” his perspective on AI during his T3 interview. “My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow,” he explains.
He goes on to explain that, while AI can help a player grow, that will never take away the human spirit that keeps the guitar community thriving. “Music is an inherently human experience, and great songs are born out of people’s lives, their creative energy and the countless hours spent learning their instruments – something no machine can ever replicate,” he writes.
“Many of the concerns people have about AI are real,” the CEO continues. “Conversations need to happen about how to advance AI while protecting artists and upholding respect for their work.”
To round off, Cole asserts that he still believes that AI is a supportive tool for guitarists of all levels. In his mind, it serves as a way of opening new doors to “explore, refine and experiment with their own creative ideas”. But “music starts and ends with people, and it always will”.
The post “My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow”: Fender CEO responds to his previous comments on AI appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele likens AI music tools to a “really smart guitar pedal”
Recently, backers of the pro-AI movement are taking a new approach when defending its use in the studio. Instead of addressing on the plagiaristic realities of AI training, musicians are focusing on how it improves musical productivity.
The latest artist to proclaim AI as a useful “tool” in the studio is Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele. In an interview with iHeartRadio Canada, the singer said that AI technology is the same as using a “really smart guitar pedal” that can “empower artists that know how to use it” [via Consequence Of Sound].
Steele is aware of the fact that AI’s steadily increasing influence in the music industry could result in artists falling to the wayside. “I think you’ve got to be careful, you know?” he notes. “‘Cause [AI] is so powerful… it’s going to empower artists that know how to use it, and they’re going to become unstoppable… [if you don’t keep up], it’s going to come and swallow you like a boogie monster at night.”
This isn’t the first time the singer has spoken out in support of AI. In fact, back in April, Steele told Clash Magazine that AI was an “amazing breakthrough in the world”, and explained what AI tools Empire Of The Sun were actively using in the studio.
“I think it’s a breakthrough for artists, too because it’s such a powerful tool…” he said. “We’ve been building out of Base44… [we are using] this thing we called Song Mountain, [which is] like a lyric maker that has all the different tongues of different kinds of words from scriptures to ancient American-Indian Quotes, to different flavours of taxi conversation, it can all be used to kind of help craft different ways lines and verses are written.”
It’s a vastly different approach to the artists standing against AI. Recently, both Sophie Burrell and Sophie Lloyd have spoken out about AI plagiarising their music and likeness, while Rhett Shull has also spoken out about AI ripping off his content.
In terms of artists in the opposing camp, Boy George comes as one of the latest to wave the AI flag. Last week, he proudly asserted that he used AI to write a pro-Israel track, We Will Dance Again. Earlier in the year, George also sunk AI’s praises on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, explaining that it AI technology has “really helped [him] as a lyricist”.
In the days following We Will Dance Again’s release, Bandcamp quickly took it down, with a spokesperson telling NME: “The track was removed based on violation of our Acceptable Use & Moderation Policy, which in specific regard to this case, prohibits music and audio that is wholly or in substantial part created, composed, or generated by artificial intelligence”.
The post Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele likens AI music tools to a “really smart guitar pedal” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Slash says his decades-long feud with Axl Rose wasn’t personal: “It really had to do with other people”
A full decade ago, Guns N’ Roses surprised the rock world by announcing they would be reuniting to perform at 2016’s Coachella Festival. Considering Slash and Axl Rose had previously been caught in a decades-long feud, it was a wonder that the pair could stand performing together again – and then, in another shock, they even decided to keep the band going for another ten years.
However, despite Slash and Axl being at one another’s throats in the past, Slash insists that it’s all water under the bridge now. In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, the guitarist even says it was “easy” to move on from any bitterness once the pair had a proper heart-to-heart about their issues.
- READ MORE: Slash admits that he was getting tired of the “very predictable Marshall sound” in his music
Before Coachella was even on the cards, Slash reveals that Axl reached out to him to mend old wounds. “I was on the road with The Conspirators in South America, and I got a call from my management saying that Axl’s management wanted to get in touch,” he recalls. “That wasn’t even about Guns N’ Roses getting back together… that was really about mending the fences, so to speak.”
“When I got off the road, he and I had dinner, and then everything just sort of blossomed from there…” he continues. “It was always a bummer to me that it went the way that it went… it was nice to get together with him and talk about it, and realise that all these issues were really on the surface and superficial and stupid.”
As Slash puts it, his issues were never with Axl directly. The problem was more to do with people interfering in their relationship. “The actual issues between Axl and I weren’t insurmountable,” the guitarist admits. “It really had to do with other people that had gotten involved – that sort of exacerbated the issues that we had. It caused a lot of issues. So without [those people], it was really easy for me and Axl to just get past it, you know.”
In fact, the Guns N’ Roses legend even explains that mending the relationship instantly left him with a “warm, fuzzy family feeling” in his gut. “And we haven’t had one fucking fight the whole 10 years that we’ve been together this this this time around!” he announces proudly.
Not only has their renewed bond allowed them to carry on rocking for another ten years, but it’s also allowed Slash to help Axl meet one of his heroes – namely the Prince of Darkness. “I got Axl back there to meet Ozzy Osbourne for the first time [when we played Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning show], because they’d never met each other,” Slash remembers.
“Axl obviously was always a fan of Ozzy, but what Axl didn’t know was Ozzy was a huge fan of his!” he adds. “It was nice to see them actually meet.”
Now, Guns N’ Roses are slowly working towards the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy. “There’s a lot of writing going on with Guns,” Slash reveals. “So after I get back from [touring with The Conspirators], we’ll see if [Guns N’ Roses] can start putting some stuff together and getting in the studio.”
In the mean time, a new record from the The Conspirators is set to drop in February next year after Guns wrap up their tour. It’s set to be the first record from the project since 2022. “It’s it’s good for me just to have all these musical outlets, so I can constantly be playing,” Slash says.
The post Slash says his decades-long feud with Axl Rose wasn’t personal: “It really had to do with other people” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
How Ben Garnett Turns the Acoustic Guitar into the Engine of a New Kind of String Band
“Almost nobody can afford a 1959 Les Paul”: Mark Agnesi on why Gibson wants to make the most vintage-accurate guitars possible
The price tag of a proper original 1959 Gibson Les Paul puts it firmly out of reach of the vast majority of guitar players. Only 643 Les Paul Standards were ever shipped in 1959, so their extreme scarcity – and legendary status in the rock world – means these guitars, when they hit the market, command six-figure price tags most budgets would wince at.
So how can guitar companies give players on more typical budgets the feeling of landing a vintage instrument without having to sell their house in order to do so?
The vintage guitar market remains strong, with many guitarists seeking instruments that look and feel like they’ve been extensively played in. But again, real vintage guitars are pricey, so many companies offer pre-aged models – guitars that are brand-new but made to look old.
Gibson, for example, has a dedicated division, the Murphy Lab, which specialises in artificially aging its electric and acoustic guitars.
“We don’t relic guitars; we age guitars and we try and age them to specific levels of wear with real examples that we see in the wild,” Gibson’s Director of Brand Experience Mark Agnesi tells Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto in a new podcast episode.
“Anything you can do to make a new guitar feel like – we call it the vintage guitar ownership experience. The feeling like I have a $700,000 ‘59 Les Paul in my hands, but when I open the case, I feel like this is the one. That’s the feeling.”
Agnesi says owning a real original ‘59 Les Paul is “unobtainium for almost everybody”, so the brand looks to create a similar experience for a fraction of the cost.
“Not everyone can afford it,” he continues. “Almost no one can afford an original 1959 Les Paul… So what you do [is] try and give the most amount of people the experience of when they open that case, they go, ‘Holy shit.’ That’s what the GIbson Custom Shop, and specifically the guitars coming out of the Murphy Lab, that’s what they’re trying to do. And I think they’re doing a phenomenal job.”
Agnesi says he himself has been fully converted to vintage-accurate guitars: “It’s all that I can own now. Once you get a couple of them, it’s like I need to get rid of all [of my old guitars] and replace them with the exact same thing [but aged].
“After playing vintage guitars for a decade, it’s hard to not have the feel of the neck [where] that binding has been rolled by somebody’s thumb going over it. Or that feel and texture of lacquer checking on the back of the neck.
“To me, it’s a lot more to do with the feel of the back of the neck than how cool it looks or how much paint got taken off the body. For me, it’s about the feel of the neck, and the binding roll – there’s no crisp edges anywhere. It just feels like putting on your old blue jeans. To me, that’s the most important part of an aged guitar.”
The post “Almost nobody can afford a 1959 Les Paul”: Mark Agnesi on why Gibson wants to make the most vintage-accurate guitars possible appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Bruce Cockburn’s New Album “The Blood of Others” out October 16th on Sunset Boulevard Records
Press Release
Source: Hello Wendy PR
Bruce Cockburn – Image by Daniel Keebler
Bruce Cockburn has spent more than five decades writing some of the most enduring songs in Canadian music, and on his new album, The Blood of Others, released October 16ththrough Sunset Boulevard Records, he turns his attention to the songs that shaped him long before he wrote a single lyric of his own.
The album gathers material written by others, tracing a musical lineage that stretches from the gospel and blues records he heard as a child in Ottawa to the folk clubs and coffeehouses where he first found his voice. “What began back in the eighties as a vague notion grew over time into a strong desire to put together a collection of material, written by others, that I found sticking to the edges of my musical landscape,” Cockburn explains. “The accumulation of these songs started in the sixties, before I’d even begun to try to create my own.”
The album’s title comes from an unexpected literary source, Simone de Beauvoir’s novel of the same name, written during the Nazi occupation of France. “Among other things it deals with personal responsibility in the face of scary oppression, and the kinds of choices people make,” he says. “I have borrowed the title because it seems perfect for an album of songs I didn’t write.”
The Blood of Others opens with “Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down,” a Robert Wilkins gospel number Cockburn first encountered on an early ‘70s compilation. “Wilkins’ powerful bottle neck guitar and passionate singing made this conversation with God instantly memorable,” he says, noting he reworked the arrangement using the angular harmonies of his DADGAD tuning. From there, the album moves into “As Time Goes By,” the Herman Hupfeld standard forever tied to the Casablanca film. “Who doesn’t love the scene in Casablanca in which Dooley Wilson plays this song, Ingrid Bergman at his side?” Cockburn says. “I thought I should include the original preamble, which gives the familiar part of the song a context, but it seemed to want an update. Hopefully Herman approves.”
The album also traces Cockburn’s early fascination with jazz and ragtime through “Buddy Bolden’s Blues,” a song he learned not from a record but from a book. “My friends were singing country blues and old timey music,” he recalls. “I was drawn to the somewhat more sophisticated style of ragtime and early jazz.” That thread continues on “You Belong to Me,” a song Jo Stafford’s voice carried into his childhood home. “Jo Stafford’s gorgeously true voice was all over the radio with this when I was five,” Cockburn says. “The geographical references were exciting, awakening the travel bug in me years before “On the Road” lit a fire under it.”
Elvis Presley’s influence looms large on The Blood of Others as well, most directly on “That’s Alright.” “Elvis Presley hit the radio in Ottawa right when I was hitting adolescence,” Cockburn says. “He was captivatingly charismatic of course, but the guitar. Scotty Moore’s leads, by turns raucous and tender, bred a burning desire to play the instrument.” Cockburn notes his own version leans closer to Arthur Crudup’s original recording than to Presley’s.
A hometown connection surfaces on “Four Strong Winds,” the youngest song on the record. Cockburn credits Le Hibou, the Ottawa coffeehouse he calls his spiritual home, for introducing him to the song’s writers, Ian and Sylvia, who played the venue regularly through the sixties. “We were all very excited when their song showed up on the radio,” he says.
The album’s emotional core runs through several songs tied to formative personal memories. “God Bless the Child,” the Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog standard, dates back to a record Cockburn bought with his Sunday collection money as a teen. “A couple of years later I got to hear Billie Holiday’s original version,” he says. “Theologically a bit off base, but a deeply moving expression of disappointment with the human species.” “Louis Collins,” the Mississippi John Hurt classic, arrived through an afternoon Cockburn still remembers in vivid detail. “Barbie Luther invited me to her parents’ house to listen to music,” he recalls. “She opened a bottle of Mateus wine and put on Mississippi John Hurt’s rediscovery album. I was blown away by the sweetness, the idiosyncratic phrasing and the way he put voice and fingerpicked guitar together.”
Cockburn also revisits “Yellow Dog Blues,” a song he first heard on a Bessie Smith collection as a youth boy. “Right away I fell in love with the lyrics,” he says, tracing the song’s origins to WC Handy’s time in Clarksdale, Mississippi. “Fare Thee Well” carries its own full circle story, one that connects Cockburn’s earliest musical memories to a career highlight decades later. “It came back to mind when I got to perform it with the McGarrigle sisters at Pete Seeger’s ninetieth birthday event in NYC,” he says.
Few songs on the record carry the personal resonance of “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Cockburn describes hearing a version on the radio in the nineties, in the aftermath of what he calls “a brief but heart opening relationship,” and mishearing a lyric that reshaped how he understood the song. “I thought that version ended with the line, I’ll be looking at someone, but I’ll be seeing you,” he says. “That’s not in the original lyrics. They only refer to the moon, but it hit me in a powerful way.” That memory led him to give the song a rhythmic treatment inspired by “I Only Have Eyes for You.”
The album also carries a story about the road not taken. Cockburn recounts a night in Ottawa when he and friends dressed up to see blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, whose 1964 Paris recordings had captivated him years earlier, and requested “Laplegged Drunk Again” from the stage. “He shook his head and smiled, and said, Oh, I can’t play that song in a place like this,” Cockburn remembers. The record closes out its story arc with “One for My Baby,” a Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen standard Cockburn traces to Frank Sinatra’s 1958 recording, “Les Feuilles Mortes,” the French original of “Autumn Leaves” that Cockburn discovered through the poetry of Jacques Prévert, and “Peace in the Valley,” a Thomas A. Dorsey gospel song Cockburn first heard through Elvis Presley.
The Blood of Others marks Cockburn’s 39th album, a milestone that speaks to the remarkable consistency of a career that began in 1970. Along the way, he has earned 13 Juno Awards, been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and awarded 9 Honorary Doctorates including the Berklee School of Music. His songs, including “Lovers in a Dangerous Time,” “Wondering Where the Lions Are,” and “If I Had a Rocket Launcher,” remain touchstones of Canadian songwriting, covered by artists from the Barenaked Ladies to Jimmy Buffett to Jerry Garcia.
That legacy was still growing as recently as his previous studio release, O Sun O Moon, recorded in Nashville with longtime producer Colin Linden. “Time takes its toll, but in my soul I’m on a roll,” Cockburn sang on that album’s opening track, a line that could just as easily describe the restless curiosity behind The Blood of Others. Speaking about his songwriting at the time, Cockburn put it simply: “I just don’t want to ever keep doing the same thing.” With this new record, he proves that philosophy extends even to the songs he didn’t write himself, each one chosen and reshaped with the same care and instinct that has defined his catalogue since 1970.
Cockburn will bring these songs to audiences across North America on an extensive run of tour dates.
TOUR DATES:
Aug 7 — Los Angeles, CA — Ford Theatre **
Aug 26 — Iowa City, IA — Englert Theatre **
Aug 27 — Des Moines, IA — Hoyt Sherman Place **
Sep 8 — Omaha, NE — Astro Theater **
Sep 9 — Lawrence, KS — Liberty Hall **
Oct 3 — Eugene, OR — McDonald Theatre **
Oct 15 — Kitchener, ON — Centre in the Square
Oct 16 — Ottawa, ON — National Arts Centre
Oct 17 — Toronto, ON — Massey Hall
Oct 18 — Montréal, QC — Gesù Salle
Oct 20 — Plymouth, NH — Flying Monkey&
Oct 21 — Portland, ME — State Theatre&
Oct 23 — Boston, MA — Chevalier Theatre&
Oct 24 — New York, NY — Town Hall&
Oct 25 — Philadelphia, PA — Keswick Theatre&
Oct 27 — Washington, DC — Warner Theatre&
Oct 29 — Durham, NC — Fletcher Hall&
Oct 30 — Charlotte, NC — Carolina Theatre&
Nov 1 — Nashville, TN — CMA Theatre&
Nov 2 — Knoxville, TN — Bijou Theatre&
Nov 4 — Atlanta, GA — Variety Playhouse&
Nov 6 — Ponte Vedra, FL — Ponte Vedra Concert Hall&
Nov 7 — Fort Lauderdale, FL — Amaturo Theatre&
Nov 8 — Key West, FL — Key West Theatre&
** With Judy Collins
& With Livingston Taylor
Pages
