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Electro-Harmonix releases the Pico Intelligent Harmony Machine

NotPedals.com has announced the listing of two new pedals from Drunk Beaver Pedals, a cult-favorite Ukrainian builder currently based in Poland.

The newly listed pedals – the Drunk Beaver XR Series OD-1 and the XR Series SF-1 Sustain Filter – represent Drunk Beaver at their best: highly flexible, meticulously built, and unapologetically adventurous.

Both XR Series pedals feature extensive clipping options, vintage-inspired components, and striking custom enclosures, offering players everything from familiar tones to wildly expressive textures, all within a single unit.

The XR Series OD-1 delivers a broad spectrum of overdrive voices, from tight and articulate to saturated and aggressive, while the XR Series SF-1 Sustain Filter explores sustain, filtering, and texture in ways that reward experimentation and hands-on tweaking. Both pedals run on a standard 9V DC external power supply (no battery compartment) and feature true bypass switching.

Built in Drunk Beaver’s workshop in Wysoka, Poland, the pedals are the product of Ukrainian transplants with a reputation for taking classic circuits and pushing them right to the edge - and sometimes beyond.

Drunk Beaver joins a growing roster of independent builders from around the world featured on NotPedals.com; a curated marketplace built to make discovering boutique gear easier for players, and global sales more accessible for small makers.

“At NotPedals.com, Drunk Beaver represent a perfect example of the kind of small builder we want to tell everyone about,” said Alex Bray, Founder of NotPedals.com. “High-quality, handmade gear, exciting new ideas, and stunning design. I want people to know this brand, and all the other independent builders we platform, exist, because this is where some of the most interesting sounds in modern guitar are coming from.”

Drunk Beaver’s XR Series OD-1 and the XR Series SF-1 Sustain Filter pedals are available now via NotPedals.com for a street price of $90 USD, with worldwide shipping. For more information visit NotPedals.com.

John 5, the Tele-slinging guitarist, known for his solo work as well as time spent with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, put out his latest record, Ghost, last year. On tour behind it, he stopped at Memphis’ Minglewood Hall, where PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with him for this new Rig Rundown. Check out the highlights below, and watch the whole Rundown for much more, including a custom mandolin!

Brought to you by D’Addario.

I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

John 5’s obsession with Telecasters dates back to his days watching Hee Haw, seeing Buck Owens and Don Rich playing the classic Fender 6-strings. Influenced by aesthetics from Buckethead and Supreme, 5 created his signature John 5 Ghost Telecaster, with DiMarzio D Activator and Super Distortion pickups in the neck and bridge, respectively.

Meyers’ Monsters

Ken Meyers created these oddball instruments for John 5 after running into the guitarist at NAMM and offering to build a guitar for him. 5 requested a light-up guitar, and Meyers delivered, then outdid himself with the queasy-green “Lava” T-style. After a below-zero mishap with a previous model, this one’s been filled with antifreeze.

5’s 5150

Eddie Van Halen himself gifted John 5 one of the first 5150s. He still has it to this day, but on the road he plays this EVH 5150 III S EL34 with a matching cab.

John 5’s Pedalboard

John 5 likes to run with gear that he can replace at a moment’s notice from any local music store, so on his all-Boss board, he runs a pair of SD-1s, an NS-2, RV-6, CE-5, and a DM-2w.

In these difficult times, Brian May thinks we should all be a little kinder to each other, and that spending less time online and a little more time making music or “looking at the stars” would make all the difference.

May, who is also an animal rights activist and astrophysicist, released a new book titled Islands in Infinity: Galaxies in 3-D back in November, marking the first publication to present galaxies in three-dimensional form. In an interview with Radio Times, the Queen guitarist explains why art and science are far more connected than most think, and why he feels increasingly “despondent” about the planet he inhabits all while being fascinated about others more far away.

• READ MORE: “People have a hard time understanding how unsurprising Bohemian Rhapsody was to us”: Brian May recalls people’s reactions to hearing Queen’s magnum opus for the first time

“Most of the most famous astronomers were musicians, from Isaac Newton onwards. It’s not unusual to have this connection in your brain,” he says. “I’ve always thought that art and science were part of the same thing, although I was told as a kid, ‘You have to choose one.’ I’ve fought that all my life. I think appreciating the beauty of the universe is a big part of finding out how it works.

“I feel despondent about the world of humans,” he adds. “It keeps me awake at night. The cruelty, the ignorance, the lies, the rewriting of history. I think an understanding and love of art and music make it impossible to be the kind of person who wants to go out and be cruel to others.

“There’s so much suffering in the world, why would we want to add to it? We’ve lost the ability to discuss things and respect other people’s point of view, we have a horrendous polarisation. If people spent more time looking at the stars and making music, none of this would be possible.”

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Brian May’s book, Islands in Infinity: Galaxies in 3-D, is out now.

The post Brian May believes it should be “impossible” for someone who has a “love of art and music” to be cruel to others appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Producer Don Was thinks John Mayer’s ability to create unparalleled guitar tones sets him apart from other players, even The Beatles’ George Harrison.

As he acknowledges himself, it’s a hot take that may rile up a large sum of Beatles fanatics. But not only has Was worked with Mayer across three of his successful records – Born and Raised, Paradise Valley, and Sob Rock – but he also worked with Harrison on Bob Dylan’s Under the Red Sky, when he contributed a slide guitar solo for its titular track.

• READ MORE: Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer X review – is this the Mayer tone plugin we’ve been waiting for?

During an interview with Everything Mayer on YouTube, Was is asked if there are any elements to Mayer’s work that might be missed by a casual listener, and Was notes his copious amounts of ideas and warm guitar tones as the key aspects that make his work unique.

He begins [via Guitar World], “He’s a great arranger. The thing that separates John from everybody else that I’ve worked with, in terms of the process we go through, is I’ve never seen anyone with that many ideas for arrangements.”

Was adds, “His guitar tones are unparalleled. They’re not just evocative, cool sounds, but they’re thick and they’re warm and they jump out of speakers – and I’m not sure how he does it.

“Yes, he’s got the best gear you can have, but I’ve played his guitars and I don’t sound like him. I think people might take that for granted… George Harrison was good at stuff like that, getting distinctive sounds that you only hear once on a certain song. That’s a strength of John’s. It’s the same thing.”

He concludes, “I was loath to say John’s better than George Harrison. It ain’t gonna sit well with people, but he might be better than George Harrison.”

Check out the full interview below:

The post Producer thinks John Mayer “might be better than George Harrison” when it comes to creating distinctive guitar tones: “It ain’t gonna sit well with people” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Cleartone Strings has introduced the all-new Power Series string sets, engineered for players who are seeking more power, clarity, and endurance from their strings.

Built on a reformulated nickel-iron blend, the Power Series is Cleartone’s longest-lasting string ever, designed to deliver a natural “clean boost” directly from your guitar—no pedals required.

The higher magnetic response of the nickel-iron alloy increases pickup sensitivity, tightening the lows and adding presence and articulation without altering your amp settings. It’s not distortion or EQ—it’s pure, natural gain and frequency enhancement, giving your tone that alive, dynamic feel you get from a transparent boost pedal.

The launch marks the culmination of a long, intensive development process: after a year of testing and fine-tuning countless alloy variations, Cleartone’s engineers have now finalized the Power Series formulation that they feel offers the best balance between power and clarity. Each set includes Cleartone’s twice patented “No-Feel” coating for extended life and consistent tone.

Cleartone’s Power Series string sets are available in gauges 9-42, 9-46, 10-46, 10-52, and 11-48. The sets carry a $19.99 street price. For more information visit cleartonestrings.com.

You don’t need to know Latin, or anything about Salsburg’s past work, to take in ‘Ipsa Corpora.’ It asks only that you listen for 40 uninterrupted minutes.

Ever wondered what Billy Gibbons looks like under that mighty beard? Well, it seems he’s not so sure either. In fact, the entirety of ZZ Top were once offered pretty big bucks to shave their facial hair off on TV – an offer they refused.

Though Gibbons and Dusty Hill were the most bearded of the trio, Frank Beard (more so associated with a moustache, despite the apt surname) was seemingly included in the offer too. Gibbons claims they were offered a whopping one million dollars each.

• READ MORE: “You wake up, lay on the floor and roll around laughing for a couple of minutes”: Sammy Hagar on what it was like selling his tequila company for $80M

Gibbons was asked about the rumour on the Mohr Stories podcast, and said that it was Gillette who offered them the deal, though he claims the company deny ever doing so.

“It’s true. They deny it,” he states. “They wanted us to [for a Super Bowl commercial]. It was a million dollars per man. We called [publicist] Mr. Merlis and I said, ‘Bob, we got this offer.’

“I said, ‘We’ve been offered a million dollars each to shave on TV.’ He said, ‘Well, the money’s good.’ He said, ‘You might as well consider doing it, but I’m not so sure any of you guys know what’s under there.’ So, we passed. We passed and our fans loved it. Word got out,” he says with a smile.

Last year, Gibbons looked back on his first meeting with Dusty Hill, after he was recommended by Frank as a replacement for Billy Ethridge. Gibbons told Rock & Roll High School, “Frank said, ‘Hey, I want to introduce you to Dusty.’ He’s coming over at three this afternoon. Around four o’clock, then five o’clock, no Dusty. At 6pm, I said, ‘Well, where’s this guy Dusty?’ And, I guess around seven o’clock, there’s a knock on the door. I went and opened it, and this guy was standing there.

“He had a gallon jug of wine, and he stepped in and he said, ‘Hey, man, I wanted to let you know, I’m Dusty.’ And with that, he fell on the floor and passed out. This is going to be my guy! But the next day, we picked up, and we started saying, well, ‘Let’s jam a number or two.’ And we wound up three hours on a shuffling speed. And I said, ‘Man, this is going to work.’”

The post Gillette once offered Billy Gibbons $1M to shave his beard – the ZZ Top guitarist’s reason for refusing makes lots of sense appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Should bands predominantly play their greatest hits at live shows? Or should they be free to delve into the deeper cuts of their catalogue and serve fans a show they’re not expecting? It’s a debate that sparks strong opinion on both sides.

On one hand, metal titans including Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold have expressed a disinterest in leaning entirely on the hits during live sets. In 2024, Metallica frontman James Hetfield spoke of the importance of “challenging” fans to enjoy deeper cuts from their catalogue at shows.

• READ MORE: “Next thing you know, I get handed one of Kirk Hammett’s Les Pauls!”: System Of A Down‘s Daron Malakian reflects on filling in for James Hetfield during Metallica‘s Summer Sanitarium tour

“We know that people wanna hear the best stuff, and you gotta challenge them to listen to the new stuff as well,” he said. “Because we certainly don’t wanna be a legacy band that just plays the greatest hits and then that’s it, you know? It’s all part of it.”

But some musicians think playing the hits is important in putting on a good show and having the fans leave happy. In a recent interview with Utah’s 103.5 The Arrow, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx hints that during the band’s upcoming summer tour, they’ll be leaning heavily on the hits.

“We get in, and we know the fans want to hear the hits,” Sixx says [via Ultimate Guitar]. “I hate it when a band goes out and doesn’t play their hits. I just remember [David] Bowie doing that, and I was like, ‘He’s one of my favourite artists. I don’t want to go hear a bunch of C and D tracks off of records that I love. I want to hear songs like Rebel Rebel. At that point, he was like, ‘I’m so tired of playing the same songs.’”

Where most artists seem to agree is on playing the hits to keep the fans happy, but also interspersing the setlist with some lesser known tracks, too.

“We’re not tired of playing those hits,” Sixx goes on, “but we are excited about getting into a set list and diving into some songs that we maybe never played, or haven’t played in a long time, and shaking it up.

“If you’re playing a song from the first album, that’s going to dictate a lot of what production looks like, you know? So for us, it’s like this moving creative ball of energy. It’s super exciting.”

Elsewhere, shortly after the release of their latest album Life Is But a Dream… in 2023 – which came seven years after The Stage in 2016 – A7X vocalist M. Shadows explained his stance on staying artistically fresh as opposed to prioritising giving the fans a hit-packed setlist.

“I don’t even know how I’d feel if we had to go up there and play all of our old songs after five years of being off. I would feel like I’m stuck in the mud…

“Not only will bands veer away from new stuff live, because they’re worried – they want that pure energy setlist – but they also start allowing the fanbase to dictate, like ‘I paid money, I wanna see all the hits.’

“There’s bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden that continually play new stuff and reinvent themselves. And it pisses people off, but it allows them to be interested in what they’re doing.”

Meanwhile, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme isn’t shying away from playing the band’s biggest tracks.

“I understand that I’m always going to play No One Knows because I still like playing that song and that’s something that it’s an agreement with the audience,” he said in 2023. “I assume that this is a part of coming here to see us, and here you go.”

The debate will surely rage on, but what do you think? Should artists cater to the fans and fill their setlists with their biggest tracks? Would you be happy to pay money to see your favourite artist play a set predominantly loaded with deeper cuts?

The post “I don’t want to go hear a bunch of C and D tracks”: Should bands play their biggest hits live? Nikki Sixx thinks so – and here’s why appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Robert Fripp has been reflecting on King Crimson’s most misunderstood album, 1974’s Red.

The seventh album from the band followed successful records like 1969’s In the Court of the Crimson King, 1973’s Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, and Starless and Bible Black, which landed in early 1974. But tensions were bubbling among the band as they began to make Red, and though much more broadly appreciated in retrospect, it became their lowest charting album upon release.

• READ MORE: “My hand would stay numb from the moment I woke up till soundcheck”: Adrian Belew reveals he needed hand surgery after playing King Crimson guitar parts on BEAT tour

The line up at the time consisted of drummer Bill Bruford, vocalist and bassist John Wetton, and Fripp, with violinist David Cross having been voted out of the group. The band ultimately split at the end of 1974 after the launch of Red, and despite its rocky release, it’s regarded by many as a formative proto-metal treasure.

Speaking to Guitar World in its new print edition, Fripp says that “the strength of Red is that the power is in the music”. Looking  back on its conception, he explains, “It was very, very open. But it’s a very difficult and uncomfortable place to be.

“If someone comes in with a pretty well-written piece of music and says, ‘Let’s play this’, then it’s relatively safe and straightforward. But the problem is, when you know what you’re doing, if you know where you’re going, you might get there, and that’s not an interesting place to be. Where you wish to arrive is where you could never possibly know you might be going. But that is a very difficult tension to hold together.”

Fripp also has a pretty accepting stance on Red, and that has seemingly come with time: “I would’ve stayed as an estate agent in Wimborne, Dorset, if I had known the grief that was coming my way. I would have stayed in real estate!” He jokes. “My approach has been, if you read your press, you read all of it. And if you read all my press, there have been — by and large — as many people who hated it as who enjoyed it.”

The post “If I had known the grief that was coming my way, I would have stayed in real estate!”: Robert Fripp on facing the backlash to King Crimson’s Red appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

£160, ghostnoteaudio.uk

The 1980s haven’t been this big since, well, the 1980s. Blame Stranger Things, blame a few viral TikTok videos, blame the ever-shortening cycles of trend repetition engendered by the accelerating death-spiral of western culture under quasi-oligarchical free-market capitalism, but the fact is this: people are using chorus pedals again.

• READ MORE: MXR Rockman X100 review – it’s the 80s in a box

The Ghost Note Audio Swirls, however, is not just a chorus pedal: it’s billed as “an entire 80s rack in a pedal”. That includes two modulation effects, a built-in compressor and true stereo output. Seems like pretty good going for £150 when you consider it’s made in the UK… and has a radical shape-shifting trick thrown in.

Image: Press

Ghost Note Audio Swirls – what is it?

You might want an introduction to Ghost Note first. Based in West Sussex, this maker of guitar pedals, studio gear and software plugins recently launched a range of three digital stompboxes called the Daedalus Series, of which the Swirls is one. Or is it, in a sense, all three?

Because you see, the Swirls, the 3 Bit Fuzz (a bitcrusher) and the Amverb (a rack-style stereo reverb) are all built on the same hardware platform – and if you want to change one of them into another, all you have to do is download the firmware and pipe it in via USB-C. Interchangeable faceplates are £20 each, but the firmware is free.

I tested out the brain-swap process and it worked without any issues… so here goes with a couple of micro-reviews: the bitcrusher is excellent, offering tight yet belligerent fuzz with lots of control over the EQ; and the reverb is equally nice but, a little weirdly, not suitable for use with guitar amps.

And what was the other one? Oh yeah, the Swirls! Inspired by old rackmount devices, specifically the Dyno-My-Piano Tri Stereo Chorus, this is a pedal for people who like their modulation rich and syrupy enough to serve for dessert at a Roman orgy. It includes a ‘detune’ effect that can be added to the main three-channel chorus and controlled separately, plus a compressor that Ghost Note describes as “very fast and aggressive”. It has mono and stereo ins and outs, and can store two user presets.

Image: Press

Ghost Note Audio Swirls – is it easy to use?

It doesn’t look easy to use, does it? Not for those of us who generally like our chorus pedals with a maximum of two knobs and maybe, if we’re feeling really extravagant, a switch for vibrato mode. And indeed, this is a tricky stomper to navigate at first.

The key is to see the six knobs as two lines of three: the top row controls the main chorus, and the bottom row is for the detune effect. Secondary functions are accessed by holding down the button in the middle: now the top row gives control over the left, centre and right channels of the chorus, and the bottom row runs the compressor.

In summary, this is not your Boss CE-2. But the good news is, it should be able to do a whole lot more than any basic chorus pedal…

Image: Press

Ghost Note Audio Swirls – what does it sound like?

It’s tough to break the sound of the Swirls down into its constituent parts, because the overall effect is such a seamlessly integrated audio concoction. The short version is that it sounds every bit as retro-tastically sweet and shiny as you might hope.

By modern chorus standards you might find it ever so slightly cold in tonality, because the emphasis here is all on the shimmering trebly sheen. The two modulation types are broadly similar in character, except that the detune has a much less pronounced ‘wave’ effect, but the real magic happens when you mix them together… and then press the stereo button.

With any chorus pedal, you can get a nice stereo effect by sending a dry signal to a second amp; what you get from the Swirls’ dual outputs, though, is a sense of scale and immersion that’s on a whole different level. It can sound like the Cocteau Twins, it can sound almost like a Leslie speaker, and it can sound so overwhelmingly luscious that after a while you start to feel a bit queasy.

And the compressor? It will add a gentle thump to the transients if you want it to, but mostly it just does what compressors do best: making everything seem louder than it really is. And is this context, that just means more lushness and more hugeness.

Image: Press

Ghost Note Audio Swirls – should I buy it?

The Swirls prodded my nostalgia glands much more forcefully than I was expecting it to. It did also remind me of why I ended up getting sick – quite literally – of the chorus effect, but that’s not the pedal’s fault: you just need to show some restraint when working with this kind of ultra-sweetness.

For simply adding a bit of wobble to a clean guitar, there are simpler options that will do just as well or better – and without generating anything like as much background hiss. But if you want to go all-in on the whole immersive 80s thing, this is where it lives.

Ghost Note Audio Swirls alternatives

A couple of other options for that extra-swirly multi-chorus effect are the Eventide TriceraChorus ($279/£249) and Free The Tone Tri Avatar (¥39,500/£269). Or if you really want to feel like a time-traveller from 1984, try the combined chorus, compression and distortion of the MXR Rockman X100 ($245.99/£249.99).

The post Ghost Note Audio Swirls review – much more than a chorus pedal appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As we gather ’round the fire and stare at the ashes of what used to be the record business, I’m reminded of Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel (and later, movie) High Fidelity. In one iconic speech straight from the book, John Cusack says: “But the most important thing is … what you like, not what you’re like. Books, records, films—these things matter. Call me shallow, it’s the fuckin’ truth.”

Commercial record stores first appeared in the 1920s, but mass marketing did not kick in until 1948, when Columbia invented the 33 1/3 rpm long-playing (LP) record, and 1949, when RCA countered with the 45 rpm single.

In the mid 1950s, rock ’n’ roll exploded with Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, and records were everywhere. By the time I came along in the ’60s and ’70s, even in remote Montana, our grocery store, pharmacy, and gas station all had a record section. There were also several dedicated record stores around town where you could hang out, listen to music, and occasionally buy records, black light posters, rock ’n’ roll t-shirts, and even a bong, if you wanted. By 1999, global recorded-music revenue crested at roughly $40 billion, with CDs costing a stiff 18 bucks. We were buying the same albums we already owned on vinyl, just shinier. From the first commercial phonograph cylinders in the early 1900s to the absolute peak in 1999, the whole glorious scam ran 100 years; shorter than the Ottoman Empire, longer than MySpace. But not by much.

Then two things happened almost simultaneously: Shawn Fanning gave every dorm-room genius the power to copy anything, and Steve Jobs sold us the radical idea that maybe we didn’t need “Smells Like Teen Spirit” permanently welded to 12 other tracks. Napster lit the fuse; iTunes handed us the à la carte menu.

But the big bad record labels didn’t die. Rather, they molted. They stopped selling plastic and started renting you the same songs forever, ten bucks a month, please and thank you. Today, streaming constitutes 84 percent of U.S. recorded-music revenue. Your Spotify subscription gets carved up like a pizza: the platform keeps about 30 percent for servers and the like, the rights holders split the remaining 70 percent, and the label—owner of the master recording—walks away with roughly 55 percent of the total pool before the artist sees a dime. Same old middlemen, new religion.

Labels began to diversify like a hedge fund. Sync licensing is the golden ticket now—one 30-second needle-drop in a Netflix trailer can out-earn a billion streams. Performance royalties still trickle in every time your song plays in an Applebee’s. Weirdly, vinyl in 2024 finally outsold CDs in units. Labels press lavender-swirl limited editions for $300 a pop and the superfans line up like it’s 1973. The game isn’t dead; it just learned to stop relying on a single point of failure.

“One 30-second needle-drop in a Netflix trailer can out-earn a billion streams.”

Record labels today operate like venture capitalists: professional gamblers who bet other people’s money on startups that usually have no revenue, no profits, and a 70–90 percent chance of going to zero. The job is to find the one or two out of 100 that become Airbnb, Uber, or Jelly Roll. Write and record your songs, work social media, put money and time into promotion to get on playlists, play gigs, and, if you’re talented and lucky enough to stand out amongst the crowd of wannabes, a label will message you on Insta and maybe roll the dice on your project.

Will the major label disappear? Please. Labels survived Napster, survived the CD crash, survived having to pretend they like mumble rap, shoegaze, and Hillbilly Vanilli. They’ll just keep evolving into something that looks less like a record company and more like a private-equity firm. The next decade will be about superfans and algorithms. Exclusive fan clubs, direct-to-consumer box sets, virtual meet-and-greets where you pay 50 bucks to watch an artist unmute himself on Zoom—labels will own that if the indies don’t get there first. And AI? It’s already picking singles, buying ads, and probably writing half the choruses you hate but can’t stop humming.

Meanwhile the indies will keep carving out the weird corners—hyper-specific genres, local scenes, anything too prickly for the algorithmic blender. The pie is bigger, the slices are thinner, and nobody’s starving unless they’re lazy.

So yeah, the era of walking into Tower Records with a crumpled 20-dollar bill and walking out with physical proof you love something is deader than disco. But the labels? They just changed their wardrobe and learned to live on micro-transactions and attention.

For artists wanting to be stars, the music industry, like the rest of the world, has the mega rich, the struggling poor, and not a lot in the middle. But if you have talent and an instrument, you can always find a way to monetize it. You might survive by busking or living from a tip jar in a bar, but you will survive. Personally, if I have music and my basic needs met, I’m cool.

Prior to the release of 2001’s Toxicity, System Of A Down were scrambling to make their mark on heavy metal. When Metallica offered them a support slot on their 2000 Summer Sanitarium tour, it was the perfect opportunity to reach new audiences – and it would even see Daron Malakian temporarily joining the world’s biggest metal band – onstage at least.

When the Summer Sanitarium tour kicked off in June, all was well. However, on 7 July, Metallica’s James Hetfield was injured in a jet ski accident right before a show, leaving him unable to perform. “They didn’t know what to do, because James wasn’t there,” Malakian tells Rick Rubin on his Tetragrammaton podcast.

Rather than cancelling the tour, Metallica enlisted the help of their support acts. “Jason Newsted was singing, and then they brought the guys from Korn on and they [covered a] Cheech & Chong song,” he recalls.

• READ MORE: Trivium’s Matt Heafy names the five up-and-coming metal bands everyone needs to watch in 2026

Seeing fellow openers Korn up onstage, Malakian thought he’d try his luck. He knew “a lot of [Metallica’s] shit”, and he was adamant that his guitar tech should communicate this detail to Metallica’s team. “My tech goes and talks to their guitar tech,” he explains. “Then my tech comes back like, ‘All right, come with me.’”

“Next thing you know… I get handed a Les Paul,” he continues. “I think it was one of Kirk Hammett’s Les Pauls. And [Metallica’s guitar tech] is like, ‘All right. Go.’”

Up until that point, Malakian hadn’t properly met Metallica. System Of A Down were the first openers of the evening, and there had been no opportunity to meet the stars of the tour. “I met Metallica on stage playing with them,” he reveals. “I’d never met them before – we were the first band. Nobody knows us.”

“You gotta understand – our band’s not big yet,” he emphasises. “I’m still a kid – I’m 22 years old! I can’t even believe that we’re even allowed to open up for Metallica. So this is all new to me.”

Suddenly, Malakian finds himself out on stage with his metal heroes. “I turn and I’m, like, ‘Hey – it’s Lars, it’s Kirk, it’s Jason Newsted,’” he says. “They’re, like, ‘What do you know?’ I go, ‘I don’t know… Master Of Puppets?’”

And, just like that, the band are counting in to perform one of Metallica’s biggest hits – but, without frontman Hetfield around, Malakian had a burning question on his mind. “I’m up there with Metallica playing Master Of Puppets in front of 60,000 people… and I’m, like, ‘Who’s gonna sing?’” the guitarist recalls.

Quickly, Malakian decides who is going to sing: him. “I said, ‘Fuck it, I’ll go sing!’” he explains. “And I sang. You would think we’d rehearsed it, but we didn’t rehearse it. And I didn’t even know it was gonna happen! And it happened.”

The fateful day was even captured on film, and you can see the band deliberating on-stage. Someone else even gets picked out of the crowd to perform with the band first, before Metallica decide to boot him off and invite Malakian out instead. Then, the System Of A Down guitarist and vocalist absolutely smashes it.

As he puts it, it was a true ‘pinch me’ moment. “I’m up there, and I’m playing Metallica with Metallica, in front of an audience where I would’ve been in the fucking cheap seats just three years ago,” he says.

The impromptu performance was so good that Metallica even asked Malakian to keep performing with them until Hetfield was well again. “I got off stage, and next thing you know, [Metallica’s team] are coming to me like, ‘Hey, James isn’t gonna be able to play for a few nights, [the band] want you to play with them,’” he explains.

Suddenly, Malakian was moving his suitcase out of a shoddy tour bus and into Metallica’s private jet. “They were, like, ‘Hey, get your shit from your bus, because you’re flying on the private jet with us now,” he recalls. “Oh, man. I’ll never forget it.”

Malakian went on to perform with the band for the following few dates. On 8 July, Malakian was even joined by bandmate Serj Tankian to help Metallica perform Mastertarium, as well as Korn’s Jonathan Davis emerging to perform One.

“Even though my band is where we’re at right now, it still brings goosebumps that I had a chance to experience that at that point of my career,” he concludes.

This year, System Of A Down are set to embark on a European arena tour, which will see them playing two nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July. For more information, head to the band’s website.

The post “Next thing you know, I get handed one of Kirk Hammett’s Les Pauls!”: System Of A Down‘s Daron Malakian reflects on filling in for James Hetfield during Metallica‘s Summer Sanitarium tour appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Brazilian guitar virtuoso Mateus Asato has announced he’s ending his decade-long professional relationship with Suhr.

The quintessential social media guitar star, Asato has been with Suhr since 2013, launching a number of signature models with the brand since.

• READ MORE: “I know now that it’s not about competition”: Mateus Asato is ready to be an artist

“After 12 years of a very successful partnership, I’ve decided to part ways [with] my professional relationship with Suhr Guitars,” Asato writes in a new Instagram post. “My deepest gratitude to Mr. John, Kevin, Aura and Katelyn Suhr for everything you’ve done to me as a musician and person…

“Thank you so much Felipe Raposo [Brazilian Suhr Guitars representative] for being the bridge that started all of this,” he goes on (translated from Portuguese).

“And the biggest thanks to all Suhr employees who made this company so special and one of the greatest brands [in the] history of this instrument I passionately love. History was made. I will never forget this journey we built.”

View this post on Instagram

At the time of writing, it’s unclear where the 31-year-old will go next, but the move coincides with the imminent release of his debut album, which is expected some time in early 2026. So might we see a new partnership announcement with another guitar maker some time in the coming days or weeks?

Despite cultivating a million-strong following on Instagram – and a vibrant, decade-plus career working with A-list musicians including Bruno Mars, Jessie J, John Petrucci and Joe Satriani – Asato is still yet to release an album. But one is on the way, and soon.

Asato – the guitarist’s debut full-length outing – features singles Cryin’ and The Breakup Song, which can be heard below:

 

The road hasn’t always been plain sailing for Mateus Asato, who famously announced a hiatus from social media back in 2021 citing burnout, saying he had felt like a “rat in a maze”.

“It’s been 10 years of a lot of doubts and questions… and some identity crises about who I am in terms of music,” Asato told Guitar.com last year. 

“The album is definitely a journey through all the sides of Mateus. The Mateus who’s a sideman, Mateus as the Instagram boy, and then the Mateus that got more mature over the years. Who developed a different vision regarding music, regarding how I see guitar.”

The post Mateus Asato ends decade-long partnership with Suhr: “I will never forget this journey we built” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Edward “Bud” Cole as Chief Executive Officer and member of the FMIC Board of Directors. Cole will serve as CEO-Designate effective January 19, 2026, and will officially assume the CEO role on February 16, 2026. He succeeds Andy Mooney, who will retire from the company following a decade of transformative growth and innovation.

Cole currently serves as President of Fender Asia Pacific (APAC) and brings a multi-decade global career across consumer, lifestyle, luxury, and FMCG brands to the role. During his decade-long tenure at FMIC, Cole has shaped some of the company’s most significant growth initiatives, leading the expansion of Fender’s business across 14 countries in the APAC region.

A bilingual English/Japanese speaker and seasoned global operator, Cole has played a pivotal role in strengthening Fender’s presence worldwide, including launching Fender’s APAC headquarters in Tokyo and establishing full regional commercial and operational capabilities; building robust direct-to-dealer operations in Australia, resulting in a significant increase in efficiency, brand control, and distribution performance; and expanding Fender into mainland China and Korea, including developing direct-to-consumer (DTC) capability through e-commerce and driving long-term growth strategies across the region.

He also spearheaded the creation of the world’s first Fender Flagship retail experience in Harajuku, Tokyo, redefining Fender’s brick-and-mortar retail presence and consumer immersion, and developed a robust artist ecosystem across the APAC region, driving successful product innovation, including multiple Made-in-Japan launches that became standout global performers and strengthened Fender’s cultural influence and credibility throughout the region.

Before joining FMIC, Cole held senior leadership roles across several global lifestyle, luxury, and consumer brands — including Pernod Ricard, LVMH, QVC, and Ralph Lauren — where he led commercial expansion, brand development, and regional strategy across international markets. A visionary, who has conducted business in more than 60 countries, Cole’s global perspective has been shaped by a multi-decade career building and managing world-class brands at scale.

“Bud has been one of the most impactful leaders within our organization,” Mark Fukunaga, Executive Chairman of the FMIC Board. “He has a deep understanding of the Fender brand, our global players, and the commercial and operational foundation required to propel us into the future. His track record of building teams, expanding markets, and elevating Fender’s presence around the world makes him uniquely qualified to lead the next chapter of growth. On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Andy Mooney for his leadership over the past decade and for the significant contributions he has made to the company.”

Since joining Fender in 2015, CEO Andy Mooney has more than doubled the size of the company and extended Fender’s worldwide leadership in the Musical Instruments category. Mooney championed product and marketing innovation at Fender and led the company's successful entry into subscription based digital software.

“Leading Fender has been a highlight of my career,” said Andy Mooney. “I'm deeply grateful for the creativity and commitment of the Fender teams around the world and proud of what we’ve accomplished. I’m excited to pass the baton on to Bud and confident that under his leadership, Fender will continue to inspire players for generations to come.”

A lifelong musician, Cole bought his first electric guitar — a Fender Made-in-Japan 1969 Thinline® Telecaster® reissue — as a teenager and still plays it today. His personal connection to Fender’s legacy and to the player community continues to shape his approach to leadership.

“To lead Fender is the honor of a lifetime,” said Edward “Bud” Cole. “This brand has been a part of my life since childhood, and I’m committed to ensuring Fender continues to empower players everywhere, from beginners picking up their first guitar to the artists shaping the sound of today and tomorrow. Together with our global teams, partners, and loyal community of players, we will write the next era of Fender’s history.”

Cole’s appointment marks the beginning of a new chapter for Fender as the company continues to expand its global footprint, deepen its commitment to players, and shape the future of music worldwide.

BzzzzKill has announced the launch of the Players Series, a new streamlined version of its innovative hum-reduction device engineered for Stratocaster-style guitars. Built around the same Smart Noise Reduction Coil™ architecture introduced in the company's debut product, the Players Series brings buzz-free single-coil performance to a wider audience with a modern, cost-efficient construction.

At $99 USD, the Players Series sells for approximately half the cost of the original BzzzzKill model. The Players Series virtually eliminates 60-cycle hum (50Hz in UK/EU) across all pickup positions while preserving the natural dynamics and clarity that define Strat-style tone. Like the original model released in 2025, installation is non-invasive, requires no power source, and leaves the guitar’s value intact. Installation remains fully reversible – no routing, active electronics, or pickup replacement needed.

Alongside the new Players Series, BzzzzKill is officially naming its original model the Custom Series. Built with hand-assembled vulcanized fibre flatwork, steel rods, and vintage-consistent cloth pullback wiring, the Custom Series remains the preferred choice for performing musicians, recording artists, and

custom builders, including Fender Custom Shop co-founder John Page, who is now integrating Custom Series BzzzzKills into his latest Artist Series Stratocasters.

BzzzzKill’s Players Series offers the same noise-reducing purpose in a modern, streamlined build featuring a precision-formed PETG structure and durable rubber-jacket wiring. Both series maintain compatibility with existing effects chains and operate passively in all pickup positions.

“We designed the Players Series to broaden access without compromising what makes BzzzzKill so special,” says inventor and co-founder Richard Moreton. “My greatest hope when I developed the original BzzzzKill was to bring it to every Strat player,” says Moreton. “I'm happy to see the Players Series taking us closer to that goal.”

With strong demand from guitarists worldwide, BzzzzKill is now preparing Players Series versions for Telecaster and other popular single-coil formats. As with current models, installation will remain fully reversible and will not require rerouting, active electronics, or pickup replacement.

The BzzzzKill Player Series carries a street price of $99. For more information visit www.bzzzzkill.com.

Singer-songwriter Jason Sinay, maybe best known for his work alongside Mike Campbell in Dirty Knobs, joins us to talk about the most foundational rock ’n’ roll guitarist of them all, the man who started the ball rolling, Chuck Berry. When it comes to his guitar playing, his influence can be heard across all styles. Without his licks, his songs, his vocal phrasing, who knows what path the electric guitar would have taken!

While we’re at it, we get some cool Keith Richards and Neil Young stories from Jason, and we dream about what it would be like to have those guys step onto our own stage.

Thanks to our sponsor!

This Episode Brought to You By: www.premierguitar.com

gibson.com

Fender has appointed Edward “Bud” Cole as its new CEO, with outgoing CEO Andy Mooney retiring after a decade in the top job.

Cole is set to serve as CEO-Designate from 19 January, and will officially assume the role of CEO when Mooney steps down on 16 February 2026.

A bilingual English/Japanese speaker, Edward “Bud” Cole has served as President of Fender Asia Pacific (APAC) for over 10 years, and overseen some of the company’s most significant growth initiatives, leading the expansion of the Fender business into 14 countries across the APAC region.

• READ MORE: Fender unveils its first consumer headphones and speakers – including wireless cans with up to 100 hours of battery life

During his tenure at FMIC (Fender Musical Instruments Corporation), Cole – who has previously worked in commercial expansion, brand development and strategy at luxury brands including Ralph Lauren and Pernod Ricard – was the brains behind the opening of Fender’s APAC headquarters and flagship store in Tokyo, Japan.

With the flagship store – still, at the time of writing, Fender’s only dedicated retail space in the world – Cole sought to redefine the brand’s approach to “brick-and-mortar retail presence and consumer immersion”.

Outgoing CEO Andy Mooney hinted when the store opened in 2023 that it could herald the opening of more Fender brick-and-mortar stores, saying, “The Tokyo store perhaps will be used as a model to create franchise retail throughout Southeast Asia.”

And now that the Tokyo store’s mastermind Edward “Bud” Cole is in charge of the company’s global operations, might we even see physical Fender stores opening up outside of the Asia Pacific region? Only time will tell…

Credit: Fender Japan

Elsewhere during Cole’s time as President of Fender Asia Pacific, he has helped establish full regional commercial and operational capabilities, built “robust” direct-to-dealer operations in Australia, overseen the expansion of Fender into mainland China and Korea, and helped develop the brand’s direct-to-consumer capability through e-commerce.

Cole has also played a pivotal role in numerous Made-in-Japan launches, which have helped strengthen Fender’s cultural influence and credibility throughout the Asia Pacific region.

“Bud has been one of the most impactful leaders within our organisation,” says Mark Fukunaga, Executive Chairman of the FMIC Board.

“He has a deep understanding of the Fender brand, our global players, and the commercial and operational foundation required to propel us into the future. His track record of building teams, expanding markets, and elevating Fender’s presence around the world makes him uniquely qualified to lead the next chapter of growth.

“On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Andy Mooney for his leadership over the past decade and for the significant contributions he has made to the company.”

“Leading Fender has been a highlight of my career,” says outgoing CEO Andy Mooney. “I’m deeply grateful for the creativity and commitment of the Fender teams around the world and proud of what we’ve accomplished. I’m excited to pass the baton on to Bud and confident that under his leadership, Fender will continue to inspire players for generations to come.”

Aside from being a deeply accomplished businessman with decades of experience, Edward “Bud” Cole is also a lifelong musician, having bought his first electric guitar – a Made-in-Japan 1969 Thinline Telecaster reissue – as a teenager, and still owning it today.

Credit: Naoki Tsuruta

As Cole tells Guitar World in a new interview, he actually tried – and failed – to get a job as a PR assistant at Fender straight out of college. “My very first real job interview out of college was with Fender as a PR assistant,” he says. “I didn’t get the job!” He says that now he’s about to step into the role of CEO of the whole company, “everything really has come full circle for me”.

“To lead Fender is the honour of a lifetime,” he says. “This brand has been a part of my life since childhood, and I’m committed to ensuring Fender continues to empower players everywhere, from beginners picking up their first guitar to the artists shaping the sound of today and tomorrow. Together with our global teams, partners, and loyal community of players, we will write the next era of Fender’s history.”

Learn more at Fender.

The post “The honour of a lifetime”: Fender appoints Edward “Bud” Cole as new CEO, as Andy Mooney announces retirement appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones is auctioning off a trove of studio-used equipment, saying he no longer needs it and he’d rather it fall into the hands of musicians who will put it to good use.

Heading up the collection is a Guild Thunderbass amplifier, which Jones used with Them Crooked Vultures, and ended up leaving to sit at Foo Fighters frontman/former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl’s house.

John Paul Jones was a member of Them Crooked Vultures alongside Grohl and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.

• READ MORE: “You wake up, lay on the floor and roll around laughing for a couple of minutes”: Sammy Hagar on what it was like selling his tequila company for $80M

According to Soundgas – the auctioneer in charge of the sale – the amp currently has blown speakers after “someone borrowed it”. It says it will “check and report back”. Otherwise, the amp is said to be in “good overall condition” aside from some road wear and other visible marks. The amp is estimated to sell for between £1,200 and £1,400.

Credit: Soundgas

The collection spans well beyond guitar and bass gear though; other items include a pair of Yamaha NS-10M speakers, a Simmons SDS V electronic drum kit, a rare ‘60s Arbiter Soundimension echo unit, and a pair of Akai digital samplers, among a bunch of other rack-mount effects units.

Soundgas points out that none of the items in the auction have a connection to JPJ’s time in Led Zeppelin, and are instead taken from his own private studio.

“John is still very active musically – writing, recording, and performing – but no longer requires so much studio equipment – most of which he has owned from new,” Soundgas writes.

“He feels it should be in the hands of people who will put it to good use, so it is offered here without formal provenance, with the intention that it continues to be used as intended.”

You can take a look at all the items available over at Soundgas.

The post Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones is auctioning off a bunch of studio gear – including a blown amp he left at Dave Grohl’s house appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.