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
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Kiss Legend Ace Frehley Passes Away at Age 74
Ace Frehley, the Kiss guitar legend whose fiery playing and pyro-laden guitar tricks influenced and enraptured generations of players, died Thursday in Morristown, New Jersey, following complications from a fall in his home studio last month. He was 74.
“We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” Frehley’s family said in a statement. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!”
Frehley's former Kiss bandmates, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, released a joint statement, writing: “We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss’s legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world.”
Over the course of five decades, Frehley's Les Paul-fueled riffs and solos helped to define not just Kiss’ music, but the very sound of arena rock guitar. His influence stretched far beyond the makeup, from Tom Morello calling him his “first guitar hero” to Dimebag Darrell having Frehley's face tattooed on his chest.
Born April 7, 1951, in the Bronx, Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley got his first electric guitar as a Christmas gift in 1964. A self-taught player, he drew early inspiration from Hendrix, Beck, and the Stones—and in particular the Who’s Pete Townshend. As he told Premier Guitar in 2010, “I used to sit next to the record player and figure out every Who song. Playing a lot of Who music really helped develop my right hand, which helped with not only my rhythm technique but my leads, too.”
In 1973, Frehley auditioned for a band seeking a “hard rock guitarist with balls and flash.” After hauling his 50-watt Marshall up a flight of stairs and jamming on “Deuce,” he landed the gig, forging Kiss alongside Simmons, Stanley and Peter Criss.
As Kiss’ lead guitarist from 1973 to 1982, Frehley’s smoking, rocket-shooting, levitating Les Pauls became as iconic as the music itself. These stunts also carried genuine risks. As he told me in 2014, “One night [my flying guitar] hit something and slipped off, just grazing my shoulder. Imagine [a Les Paul] with a battery pack and a box to protect it from the heat of a smoke bomb.”
Frehley's unique picking technique, where his loosely-held pick and thumb simultaneously struck the string, created what he described on Shred with Shifty as “a sound just shy of a pinched squeal, but more spunky.” This approach, combined with the fact that he ripped his solos through a “dimed Marshall stack,” powered the licks in Frehley-composed songs like “Cold Gin” and “Shock Me,” as well as “Rock and Roll All Nite,” Love Gun” and other Kiss classics.
Frehley's 1978 self-titled solo album went platinum, with his cover of “New York Groove” reaching No. 13 on Billboard's Hot 100—the highest-charting single from any Kiss member's solo effort. His recording philosophy, as he explained to Premier Guitar, involved tracking basics with Les Pauls, then “doubl[ing] stuff up with Fenders because they have a different sound.” He'd layer acoustics underneath electrics, he said, because it “adds a fullness that you don't really hear until you take it away.”
After forming Frehley's Comet in the mid-'80s, Ace returned to Kiss for their massively successful 1996 reunion tour, remaining until 2002. His late-career solo work demonstrated continued vitality. From 2009's Anomaly through 2024’s 10,000 Volts, Frehley’s output was well-received by fans, and he toured steadily behind the records. His 2016 effort, Origins, Vol. 1, and 2018’s Spaceman, featured collaborations, respectively, with former bandmates Stanley and Simmons. Despite public animosity over the years (Frehley was not involved in the band’s 2019-2023 End of the Road farewell tour) he recounted to me that working together again, at least at that time, was simple: “We all have the other's cell phone numbers and we just call each other!”
As a player, Frehley opted for feel over technical dexterity. But never stopped learning. When I asked him in that same interview if he was still discovering things at 67, he laughed: “All the time. Half the stuff I do, I don't know what it's called. But you know, if it sounds good, I do it.”
This intuitive approach defined his career. As he told Premier Guitar in 2010, “I pride myself on thinking outside the box, and I'm probably like that because I'm not a schooled musician. To me, there are no rules, and there never were.”
Reserving judgement
I HAVE to get back to regular posts on my little blog, said Gene to himself. Lots has happened since the last post, perhaps of interest, perhaps not. But if nothing else, putting down some thoughts and ideas about guitar playing, the music biz and suggestions to help us all weather the societal storm that is raging all around us with music can't hurt, right?
So I'll dive right in. I know my site is primarily about acoustic guitar but here's a suggestion for something that may brighten your day. Bad habit of mine: being "late to the parade" when I discover a group or artist that I instantly love but who's been around for a long time. I try to keep an open mind and do a good amount of research but I often depend upon friends and relatives to turn me on to people making great music. Often, it's my son Matt who I'm proud to say has very eclectic tastes in music but often steers me in a direction I would not have considered. While we will never agree on certain things (his occasional recommendations of some hip-hop "artist") and my love of bluegrass/newgrass but a few months ago he strongly recommended singer/songwriter MJ Lenderman and as it happened, I was teaching a recent song by the alt/country group Waxahatchee called "Right Back To It" that featured him as a guest artist singing harmony. Love the song, excellent lyrics and a catchy chord sequence over a solid melody (check it out!).
Anyway, I did my due diligence and checked out MJ. He's a bit too much of the "shoe gazer" variety of younger musicians but some of his songs caught my attention and I'll be spending more time getting to know his stuff.
I am proud to say that way, way back I used to play a mix tape (remember them?) on our long-distance camping trips when Matt and his sister Joanna were kids. Matt credits that old tape with helping him discover some music from his dad's misspent youth that he really liked. It included songs by Santana, Traffic, Beatles (of course!) and the long, live version of the Stones "Midnight Rambler" recorded at Madison Square Garden in 1969. If you haven't listened to that one in a while I strongly endorse giving it another go. Whew, barely controlled chaos by the Stones at the height of their pure power.
But back to my recent discoveries of music and artists I should have paid attention to a long time ago. The group Los Straightjackets just released their first album of totally original material in over eight years, called Somos. They are unabashed carriers of the spirit of pure electric guitar twang ala Dick Dale and Duanne Eddy, sometimes called surf music back in the day. BUT.....thanks to modern recording technology and the fact that they are all virtuoso players they surpass anything done in the 1960s. All the 15 songs on the album are instrumentals and only one clocks out at barely over three minutes in length but wow, wow, wow. Some of the songs feature strong melodies at moderate speeds and one reviewer said: this is what the Beatles would have sounded like at the Cavern in 1962 if the Beatles were much better players with much better equipment. And I agree 100%. However, the majority are straight-ahead rockers and if your foot isn't taping after the first few licks you'd better check your pulse! You can buy the album to download or download-plus-CD from Yep Roc records where you'll find MANY other great artists. This album has become my go-to when I want to forget the latest news from Washington, at least for a few minutes and have my soul rubbed clean. Oh, and all the band members wear Mexican pro wrestler masks when they perform. Why? Why not!
My own performing over the last couple of months has been more frequent than I thought it would be. After my 13-year tenure at the Daily Brew ended I did beat the streets a bit in hopes of finding a similar gig but nothing came of that. Finding gigs has never been my strong suit anyway; I very much admire musicians who brush off rejection almost immediately and continue their efforts. I have never been that guy, nor will I ever be. I don't deal well with rejection and that is pretty much what it comes down to. But thankfully and for reasons no one really understands, when people are looking for a guitarist to play a wedding ceremony or for a private event here on Cape Cod my site seems to come up frequently. Thanks, Google, I guess.... (!) So over the past three months I've played four wedding ceremonies, a couple of them included the cocktail hour, two private parties and two more of the wonderful Music at the Table events that I wrote about earlier this year. I'll be doing another one of those next week. For the second year in a row, back in August I played the North Falmouth Porchfest accompanied by my friend and sometime-student Tom Austin. It was great fun, the weather was picture-perfect and the crowds were estimated at twice what they were last year and they were very enthusiastic. In spite of a couple glitches in PA system at our location Tom and I were very pleased with our performance and some people we know said it was the best they'd ever heard us. I absolutely LOVE playing with Tom. His pure joy in making music is infectious even to this old musician. The best part for me is that I can totally depend on Tom to be there on the chord changes and better yet, he adjusts when I go a bit off the tracks.
I also had the opportunity to meet some very good local musicians who played Porchfest at our location and I'm hoping to get together with a couple of them in the coming weeks to try some tunes in a slightly different setting than I'm used to.
Which brings me back to what I said at the beginning of this blog entry. We are in the middle of an existential moment in history. Every day it seems there is a new crisis that seems to challenge the very existence of our democracy. No matter which side of the political fence you inhabit, try hard to not make instant judgements (and for me personally, that is very hard to do sometimes). Gather as much information as you can, from as many sources as possible. Don't fall for easy answers to complex problems. And for me anyway, the best way to channel emotions is via that wood and steel contraption sitting on my leg. It doesn't pass judgement although at times it will challenge my honesty - my honesty with myself. More than anything, it offers an escape where you can rebuild your strength.
Peace & good music,
Gene
Stompboxtober 2025: Kernom
Drive into a new tonal frontier today! Enter to WIN the Kernom RIDGE — the pedal that morphs from clean boost to full‑on high gain, with MIDI control, dual EQ sections, and a responsive “MOOD” knob that blends multiple overdrive voices in one. Don’t miss today’s chance — come back tomorrow for your next shot at pedal gold!
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Kernom Ridge
Every Overdrive You’ll Ever Need, One PedalStruggling to find the perfect overdrive? Whether you need a clean boost, a transparent overdrive, or high-gain distortion, RIDGE gives you a seamless spectrum of tones—all in one pedal.
From Klon-like transparency to Tube Screamer warmth, from bluesy edge-of-breakup tones to modern high-gain saturation, RIDGE eliminates the need for multiple pedals. Dial in your perfect drive with the MOOD knob.
- The Only Overdrive You Need: From Clean Boost to High Gain
- Seamless Morphing: Effortlessly transition between legendary overdrive styles
- Advanced EQ Section– Sculpt your tone before and after the clipping stage
- MIDI & Preset Control – Save up to 128 presets and integrate seamlessly into your rig.
- Expression Pedal Input – Morph between two drive settings in real time.
Kernom Ridge Overdrive Effects Pedal
All About Guide Tones
Do you feel like your solos lack focus or that there isn’t any underlying structure to your lines? Does it seem that you are wandering around the neck, hoping that what you are playing “looks like it sounds cool”? Would pushing peas around a dinner plate with a knife be more riveting than the last lick you played? If any of these statements are true, then you need some guide tones, my friend.
Guide tones, also known as target notes, are commonly used in jazz improvisation and usually refer to only the 3rd and 7th of a chord. But, for our purposes, we’re going to apply a more generous definition where all notes of a chord can be used. There are two benefits to using guide tones: They create a predetermined melodic structure that serves as a framework for your solo, and they provide an inner melody to your lines that carry the sound of the chord changes.
The first two examples show a couple of possibilities when building a guide tone melody over a ii-V-I chord progression in the key of C major. The only requirement is that the guide tones should be played on the strong beats of the measure (beats 1 and 3). Next, spell each chord to see what notes you have to work with. For our progression, our choices will come from Dm7 (D-F-A-C), G7 (G-B-D-F), and Cmaj7 (C-E-G-B). Since these examples have one chord per measure, I have chosen to use only one guide tone in each measure. But, I could have used two guide tones in a measure, one on beat 1 and the other on the beat 3. Other than what has already been discussed, there is no right or wrong way to do this. Basically, pick some chord tones, put them on the strong beat(s), and see how it sounds. Change or edit as you see fit!
Take a listen to Ex. 1. The guide tones create a descending melody that leaps up at the end. Using one note per measure, the line starts with C (the 7th of Dm7), then to B (the 3rd of G7), to G (the 5th of Cmaj7) and finally E (the 3rd of Cmaj7). Ex. 2 has a guide tone line similar to the first example, descending for the first three measures and a leap up at the end. It begins with F (the 3rd of Dm7), to D (the 5th of G7), to B (the 7th of Cmaj7), and then to E (the 7th of Cmaj7).
Ex. 3 is an eight measure progression, similar in structure to a popular jazz standard. Harmonically, the first half is a ii-V-I-IV in C major and the second half is a ii-V-i in the key of A minor. In the first six bars, there is one guide tone per measure, and then concludes with two guide tones in each of the last two bars.
Once you have decided on a framework for your solo, use scales and arpeggios to add notes before each guide tone. By doing so, you create motion in your line that sounds musical, and not like you’re choosing notes at random. Listen to Ex. 4 where each guide tone is approached from above by a scale step. Since all the chords are in the key of C, my approach notes are from the C major scale. I can also think in modal terms, where I would use D Dorian in bar 1 to approach the G7 in bar 2. Then, I can use G Mixolydian in bar 2 to approach the Cmaj7 in bar 3, and C Ionian to approach the next Cmaj7 in bar 4. Ex. 5 is the same scalar concept, this time approaching the guide tones from below.
Ex. 6 and Ex. 7 use arpeggios to approach the guide tones from above and below, respectively. I prefer to do this by using the arpeggio of the chord I am going to, not the one I am playing over. So, when I am playing over the Dm7 in the first measure, I will use the G7 arpeggio to approach the guide tone in bar 2. Then, when playing over G7 in the second measure, use the Cmaj7 arpeggio to approach the guide tone in bar 3. This concept is a little easier to see in Ex.7. Dm7 is the chord in bar 1. You approach the guide tone in bar 2 with a G, which is not in a Dm7 chord, but it is in G7.
To get longer lines, use two, three, or more notes from the scale or arpeggio when approaching the guide tones. Ex. 8 approaches the guide tone from above and below, using two and three notes from the scale. Ex. 9 shows the same approach methods, but with notes from the arpeggio.
After you get a handle on the guide tone concepts, experiment with rhythms, rests, and an ever-increasing number of approach notes. Check out Ex. 10 as an example of what is possible. It’s the guide tone line from Ex. 2 fleshed out with a mixture of scale and arpeggio approach notes of various lengths. Ex. 11 is an expansion of the guide tone line from Ex. 3. I used an increasing number of approach notes in the first half of the line. The second half is more rhythmically complex, ending with the triplet figures in the last two measures.
Applying these concepts to something more familiar, Ex. 12 is one possible guide tone melody over an A minor blues. Give it a listen to hear how the first two phrases are relatively scalar, but the last phrase has more of a “sawtooth” vibe. Ex. 13 is the completed solo, using the ideas discussed previously. Throwing everything into the guide-tone blender yielded different types of approaches combined with a variety of rhythms and rests.
Once you get a foothold, substitute different modes, scales, arpeggios, chords, and time signatures to achieve some different sonic flavors. Remember that you are restricting yourself to these few concepts in order to get a more melodic and meaningful solo. If you practice it enough, your brain will start working this way on its own!
Universal Audio Introduces Volt 876 USB Recording Studio
Universal Audio Inc. (UA), a worldwide leader in audio production tools, is proud to announce Volt 876 USB Recording Studio, a 24‑in / 28-out rackmount USB audio interface for Mac and Windows with eight Vintage preamps and classic 1176‑style compressors on every channel.
Delivering next‑generation 32-bit / 192 kHz audio quality, Volt 876 is designed for serious music producers and bands who want legendary UA analog sound, a curated suite of UAD plug‑ins, and powerful integration with UA's groundbreaking LUNA Digital Audio Workstation.
“Volt 876 is all about giving musicians and producers a classic UA analog studio sound, with more power to create together,” says Bill Putnam Jr., CEO of Universal Audio. "Beyond its fast, push-button tone shaping, it offers a level of digital integration with UAD plug‑ins and LUNA that we believe is the fastest path to creating great‑sounding music."
Volt 876 USB Recording Studio - $999 MAP USD
Built by the same team behind the award-winning Apollo interfaces, Volt 876 is a complete recording system with powerful hardware‑software integration, including instant session recall, AI‑powered tools in UA’s LUNA DAW, software remote control, and the premium UAD Producer Suite plug‑in bundle — giving musicians and creators everything they need to capture and shape music with authentic analog tone.
Key Features:
- 24‑in / 28‑out rackmount USB audio interface with eight onboard Vintage preamps and classic compressors — inspired by UA’s iconic 610 console and 1176 limiter
- Next‑generation 32‑bit / 192 kHz audio conversion on Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone
- Includes LUNA Digital Audio Workstation with unlimited track count and smart AI-powered tools like Voice Control, Instrument Detection, and Tempo Listen
- Features UAD Producer Suite plug‑in bundle with Teletronix LA‑2A and UA 1176 compressors, Pultec EQs, PolyMAX Synth, Showtime ’64 Guitar Amp, and more
- Assistive Auto‑Gain, full session recall of front‑panel settings, and two low‑latency cue mixes with talkback using UAD Console app
- ADAT connection allows aggregation of up to 3 Volt 876 interfaces, as well as integration with Apollo and other digital audio equipment
Volt 876 USB Recording Studio is now available for purchase from retailers worldwide.
Judge Dredd comic book-inspired ThorpyFX pedals? Yes, please
ThorpyFX has teamed up with multimedia studios Rebellion on a line of comic book-themed pedals inspired by 2000 AD characters.
Three pedals have been launched through the partnership – which are each respectively based on the characters Judge Dredd, Judge Death, and Rogue Trooper – and a range of funky picks are also available as part of the launch.
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2000 AD was first published in 1977, and has been in the care of Rebellion since the year 2000. Rebellion is one of the world’s most successful independent video games studios, and it also produces books, TV, film, board games, and more alongside its comics too.
Not only do these pedals look cool, they’re also made to “survive the rigours of the road and deliver consistent superior sound in all working environments.” Built around existing ThorpyFX pedals, each one aligns with the character it’s named after, and features exclusive 2000 AD collab artwork.
Judge Dredd has been honoured with The Lawbringer, based on the award winning British-style Gunshot overdrive, which “aims to place Law above all else in line with Judge Dredd’s singular uncompromising attitude”. At the heart of this pedal is a proprietary cascading ‘gain engine’, tuned to deliver maximum tonality for a wide range of amps.
Judge Death’s Deathbringer is built around the distortion Warthog pedal that ThorpyFX designed to be “the distortion to beat all others”. This one has an American voice, and can cover all kinds of tones from boost to fuzz.
The final pedal in the collection is the Rogue Trooper Fallout Cloud. It’s described as embodying “the dark vengeful theme of the dystopian Nu-Earth world, but with a soundscape that is as massive as the wastelands found on Nu-Earth.” It’s a special edition version of the original Fallout Cloud designed by ThorpyFX in 2016 and is branded as a Triangle era-inspired fuzz.
Each pedal is available to pre-order now via ThorpyFX and each is priced at £229. You can also find out more about 2000 AD via Rebellion.
The post Judge Dredd comic book-inspired ThorpyFX pedals? Yes, please appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Guild takes aim at singer-songwriters and fingerstylists with two smaller concert-sized acoustics
Guild has lifted the lid on two new USA-made concert-sized acoustics, the M-50 Standard and M-40 Standard, with smaller bodies and wider nut widths aimed at singer-songwriters and fingerstyle guitarists.
A concert-sized body is essentially smaller and less deep than that of a standard acoustic guitar, and so is ideal for smaller players, or perhaps those seeking a travel guitar.
Both the M-50 Standard and M-40 Standard are available in acoustic and electro-acoustic configurations, with the latter featuring an L.R. Baggs Element VLC Pickup System, designed to “faithfully reproduce the guitar’s acoustic sound when amplified or recorded”.
Though similar, each guitar sports a slightly different build; both feature a solid Sitka spruce top, while the M-50 Standard features an Indian rosewood back and sides, and the M-40 Standard features a back and sides built using African mahogany.
Both guitars have two finish options; the M-50 comes in either Natural or Antique Burst, while the M-40 comes in Natural and Pacific Sunset Burst.
Guild says the Indian rosewood of the M-50 Standard contributes to a “full and rich tone with excellent articulation”, while the M-40’s African mahogany means “warmth and an earthy richness”.
Further specs present on both models include a mahogany C-shaped neck, Indian rosewood bridge, compensated bone saddle and bone nut, tortoiseshell pickguard, white binding, Guild Peak headstock inlay and Guild Deluxe Vintage open-gear tuners.
Of the L.R. Baggs electronics featured on the M-50E and M-40E, Guild explains: “By detecting soundboard movement rather than picking pressure, the pickup captures the full and balanced tone of the guitar while eliminating the high-frequency ‘quack’ typical of undersaddle pickups.”
Learn more at Guild.
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Is Music Telepathy Real? | Last Call with John Bohlinger
When playing, try to bring the resistance down to zero.
Ronnie Wood reveals his marathon initiation when joining The Rolling Stones: “Keith kept me going… we hardly slept”
Ronnie Wood has looked back on his early induction into The Rolling Stones, and how he was given 300 songs to learn rapidly with a little help from Keith Richards.
Wood began working with the Stones during the recording of their Black And Blue album, just after the departure of Mick Taylor. Though Richards recorded the vast majority of guitar work on the record, the band also used it as a window of opportunity to trial Taylor’s replacement.
Wood became a touring member of the band in 1975 for their Tour Of The Americas, and became a permanent member in 1976. Speaking to Uncut surrounding the upcoming November reissue of Black And Blue, Wood looks back on the chaos of joining the band and having to catch up to the others.
Recalling his contributions to Black And Blue, he shares: “One of my favourites was Hey Negrita, the first song that I wrapped in the studio and said, ‘Right, we’re going to play this.’ And Charlie [Watts] said, ‘We’ve only known him five minutes and he’s bossing us around already.’ That was my classic introduction to the boys in the studio. I think I got an ‘inspiration by’ [credit] or something.”
He adds, “Joining the band, I had to take a deep breath and say, ‘Here we go.’ You’d either got it or you hadn’t. From Beggars Banquet onwards, I loved all those albums of theirs. When I actually joined, I thought, ‘I’m finally home now.’ I think I had about 300 songs that I had to learn rapidly. Keith kept me going. We were playing and playing, we hardly slept, and it was certainly a crash course.”
Speaking of the difference between being in The Stones’ inner circle and actually being a member of the band, he says, “[This was the beginning] of being a part of the outfit, the circus. And I remember Keith’s, ‘I’ve got a great idea – let’s not tell anyone you’re in the band.’ Great, thanks, Keith! I came in by osmosis. There was never actually an announcement, so I was still the new boy 20 years later.”
The new, Super Deluxe Box Set reissue of Black And Blue will be released on 14 November via Universal. Arriving as a 5LP vinyl box set and a 4CD box set, both editions come alongside a Blu-ray disc, a 100-page hardback book, and a replica tour poster. In other Stones news, producer Andrew Watt recently teased that another album is on the way from the band.
You can pre-order the Black And Blue Super Deluxe Box Set now, or check out more from the band via their official website.
The post Ronnie Wood reveals his marathon initiation when joining The Rolling Stones: “Keith kept me going… we hardly slept” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher”: Eddie Van Halen once asked Paul Gilbert to give his son Wolfgang a guitar lesson
![[L-R] Wolfgang Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen, with a photo of Paul Gilbert inset](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/EVH-WVH-Gilbert-hero@2000x1500.jpg)
Though rarely omitted from any conversation surrounding the world’s most legendary guitar players, Eddie Van Halen wasn’t the best teacher, or so says his son Wolfgang.
It’s certainly true that just because someone is proficient or highly skilled in something, doesn’t mean they share the same skill in imparting that knowledge. And as Wolfgang Van Halen explains in a new interview with Guitar.com, for Eddie, that skill didn’t come so naturally.
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“My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher – he’d tell you that himself,” Wolfgang recalls, adding that his father once tapped Mr Big and Racer X virtuoso Paul Gilbert to give him a lesson instead.
“He even called Paul Gilbert one time and asked him if he would give me a lesson, and he laughed his ass off,” he continues. “That just shows you how he felt about being a teacher.
“And, yeah, he was right. He’d be like, ‘Just do it like this.’ ‘Well, how?!’ You’re at such a different level, you’re just not even thinking in the same way.”
While Eddie Van Halen was, in large part, known for being technically gifted, what Wolfgang took from him the most was his sense of melody and musicality.
“When it comes to Dad, people always talk about the tapping and the shredding and stuff, but I think very much what he instilled in me is that melody is song,” he goes on.
“If you can hum it, if you can think of it and sing it, that’s the best kind of solo – which is another reason why I love Aaron [Marshall, Intervals] so much!
“But, yeah, I think his ability to not only be an amazing rhythm guitar player, but just to merge melody with the shreddiness, and never letting melody fall, is a very important thing as a musician. While shredding scales is technically impressive, it’s almost artistically stale.”
Read the full interview – in which Wolfgang Van Halen names his five favourite guitar players – at Guitar.com.
The post “My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher”: Eddie Van Halen once asked Paul Gilbert to give his son Wolfgang a guitar lesson appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Wolfgang Van Halen names his five favourite guitar players
When it comes to titles, Wolfgang Van Halen usually keeps things simple. He named his hard rock outfit Mammoth (formerly Mammoth WVH due to trademark issues), after one of the bands his legendary dad Eddie played in before forming Van Halen. The project’s first album was self-titled. Then, its second was given the logical moniker Mammoth II. Now, though, album three is breaking tradition, brandishing the somewhat ominous title of The End.
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“The evolution from the second album to this one warranted this being the first album to actually be titled,” Wolfgang tells me. “This just didn’t feel like Mammoth III to me. There’s a lot of songwriting evolution and maturity and confidence that I don’t think were there on the last two. It just felt like the right time to actually break out.”
In contrast to his dad’s famously exuberant work as the guitarist for Van Halen, Wolfgang started his career playing less showy rock’n’roll music, inspired by the likes of Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails to focus on the song rather than the shred. However, on The End, things feel less conscious, more fun. The title track opens with some invigorating guitar tapping that may seem like an homage to Eruption, but it’s actually a sequence that Wolfgang’s had in his back pocket for more than 10 years. Plus, throughout the rest of the album, there’s more soloing and theatricality, without compromising the simplicity and directness of Mammoth’s trademark hooks.
“This pre-production process was a bit different in comparison to the last few,” says Wolfgang. “Instead of doing it on my laptop, we had the studio all ready to go. I would just try something [on guitar], run out to the drums, play it, run back and play bass to it, and it was this really creative, electric, quick-reaction environment. You could tell if something was working or not right away, rather than wasting three hours on a computer trying to figure it out.”
Given the greater focus on the guitar on this new album, we went on to ask Wolfgang to name his five favourite guitar players. His answers ranged from the very obvious to the totally unexpected.
Image: Travis Shinn
Aaron Marshall, Intervals
“Aaron is a close personal friend of mine, so it’s a bit tough to separate that, but, man, he’s probably my most favourite guitar player out there right now. What’s so fantastic about him is that he has this melodic sensibility that’s unrivalled by a lot of other guitar players. Rather than being shreddy, he’s almost the singer of his band, as well as the solo guitar player. The first song off of his album [2020] album Circadian, 5-HTP, is probably one of my favourite songs ever. I know the guys get sick of it: every time I have a guitar in drop D at soundcheck, I end up playing that song.
“Growing up, you hit these phases of, like, ‘I wanna hear more of this type of music.’ When I heard Meshuggah for the first time, I started exploring and found Periphery and Tesseract, and then I came upon Intervals. I was like, ‘This is exactly my shit.’ I really fell in love with Aaron’s playing on their [2012] EP In Time, the songs Epiphany and Tapestry.
“I was already a huge, huge fan of his, and then Mammoth came out. He messaged me and said he liked my albums, which blew my mind. I couldn’t believe that! Through the magic of social media, we met and hung out a handful of times, and we were actually able to tour together last year, which was really cool.”
Adam Jones, Tool
“I think, in terms of every instrument I play – bass, guitar, drums and singing – each member of Tool is on the respective Mount Rushmore for their instrument. The first song I heard from them was Third Eye [from 1996’s Ænima], which is funny, because it wasn’t a single or anything. It kind of opened my mind – opened my third eye, so to speak – regarding what music can be. I was like, ‘This is a 13-minute song! Not just a four-minute thing!’ It blew my mind when I was in seventh grade. There’s power in its simplicity: when Adam just holds down the rhythms and almost lets Justin [Chancellor, bass] take the lead, they have such a great connection.
“When it comes to rhythm playing, Adam is almost like the Malcolm Young of metal. He is such a fucking awesome rhythm guy, and he’s a great lead guy, too. Things like the talkbox solo on Jambi are just the best.
“In Mammoth, the influence of bands like Tool and Meshuggah will come out in places you don’t expect. If you listen to [the song] The End, the very end of it, there’s this double-kick, half-time, metal-ey thing. They just pop up! Even on the last album [2023’s Mammoth II], on Right?, there’s that Meshuggah-ey breakdown in the middle after the solo. It’s never intentional: I try not to stifle the creative process by overthinking and just do what feels right.”
Eddie Van Halen
“There was a benefit I played in fourth grade where I played drums and my dad played guitar. I remember, we went out to the car afterwards and some guy came up and asked him to sign something. He left, then he put on a different shirt and came back. I think – in moments like that, seeing that sort of desperation – I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, my dad’s probably a big deal, huh?’
“When it comes to Dad, people always talk about the tapping and the shredding and stuff, but I think very much what he instilled in me is that melody is song. If you can hum it, if you can think of it and sing it, that’s the best kind of solo – which is another reason why I love Aaron so much! But, yeah, I think his ability to not only be an amazing rhythm guitar player, but just to merge melody with the shreddiness, and never letting melody fall, is a very important thing as a musician. While shredding scales is technically impressive, it’s almost artistically stale.
“My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher – he’d tell you that himself. He even called [Mr Big and Racer X guitarist] Paul Gilbert one time and asked him if he would give me a lesson, and he laughed his ass off. That just shows you how he felt about being a teacher. And, yeah, he was right. He’d be like, ‘Just do it like this.’ ‘Well, how?!’ You’re at such a different level, you’re just not even thinking in the same way.”
Angus Young and Malcolm Young, AC/DC
“I couldn’t keep going without talking about AC/DC and how important those brothers are. I’m usually not the most bluesy guy – I respect it, but it’s just not my vibe – but what I love about Angus is how he manages to take the relaxing, sort of scaly stuff of blues and add this anarchistic punkiness to it, just by being so fucking crazy. It’s attitude: it almost doesn’t matter what he’s playing, it’s how he’s playing it. Look at songs like Down Payment Blues from [1978 album] Powerage. The solo is one note, and it’s also one of my dad’s favourite solos ever.
“Angus is still an incredible showman in his 70s. I know some people try to poke and make fun of him [for still wearing his schoolboy stage outfit aged 70], but I’d love to see you fucking do that. Personally, I try to avoid that sort of 80s-esque performance stuff. I get a lot of criticism from 80s music fans who love Van Halen, see me and go, ‘Why aren’t you jumping around?’ My idea is somebody like Tool or Meshuggah: they just stand on the stage and fucking destroy.
“Malcolm, to me, is the greatest rhythm guitar player to have ever lived. There’s nothing more perfect than his rhythm, his metre, his timing, and his tone was out of this world. If you listen to something like If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It), there’s nothing like it. And he did some of the best background vocals ever, like on TNT and Thunderstruck.”
Mark Tremonti, Alter Bridge/Creed
“Mark is another guitarist where he’s got the shred but he knows what makes a song good. The shred never overtakes that. I think people are so surprised that the dude from Creed can shred like that. I don’t think enough people recognise how important Alter Bridge are and the versatility they have: you have [acoustic ballad] Watch Over You, but then you have [heavy metal track] Cry of Achilles.
“I was in Mark’s solo band from 2012 to 2016. I’m on [the albums] Cauterized and Dust, which is pretty funny, because I only played one or two shows of that material. I toured the whole first album [2012’s All I Was], and that was the first time I came to the UK and Europe to tour. He became a personal friend. He’s such a silly, fun dude. He doesn’t take anything too seriously.”
The End is out on 24th October via BMG.
The post Wolfgang Van Halen names his five favourite guitar players appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Reverend Introduces New Kyle Shutt Mark 2 Signature Electric
Reverend Guitars has launched a new generation of the company’s Kyle Shutt Signature solid body electric: the Reverend Kyle Shutt Mark 2 covers an extraordinarily broad range of sonic ground…just like its namesake artist.
As a founding member of The Sword – a band that has toured worldwide with acts such as Metallica, Lamb of God, Clutch, and Opeth – Shutt’s playing deftly shifts between heavy fuzz, classic crunch, and open cleans. Since the band’s 2003 inception in Austin, TX, The Sword has blown away audiences with their unique brand of stoner rock-meets-doom metal-meets-70s riff rock.
Shutt’s new Reverend model includes a pair of Railhammer Kyle Shutt Signature pickups that deliver a plethora of tones with ease. Outfitted with custom Diver Flag fret marker inlays and gold hardware, this guitar looks as good as it sounds.
It also includes a special Reverend feature for shaping your tone: the guitar’s Bass Contour control knob is a passive bass roll-off that’s perfect for tightening up the low end, or re-voicing the pickups. It can make a humbucker sound like a single-coil, or give a P-90 that classic twang. With this Bass Contour control you’ve got variable pickup voicing at your fingertips.
Other features include:
- Solid Korina body available in Ice White or Midnight Black finish
- Railhammer Kyle Shutt Signature bridge and neck pickups
- Electronic controls for bridge pickup volume, neck pickup volume, tone, bass contour control, and 3-way pickup selector
- Three-piece Korina neck with 22 frets, 24 3/4" scale length, medium oval neck profile and rosewood fingerboard with 12” radius
- Hardware includes Reverend Pin-Lock tuners and a tune-o-matic style bridge with stop tail piece
The Reverend Kyle Shutt Mark 2 electric carries a street price of $1499 and is available through any Reverend authorized dealer. For more information visit reverendguitars.com.
MXR Honors MC5’s Wayne Kramer with Jail Guitar Doors Drive
You’d be hard-pressed to find a punk or garage rocker who was not influenced by the raw tones that Wayne Kramer pitched into the guitar universe through MC5’s iconic recordings in the early 1970s. MXR teamed up with lifelong MC5 fan Johnny Wator of Daredevil Pedals to capture that gritty, groundbreaking sound in a compact, straightforward stompbox. The result is a pedal that delivers a huge rock ’n’ roll kick in the pants—just like Wayne’s music.
The MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive cranks out powerfully rich tones reminiscent of two dimed-out 100-watt amp stacks. Johnny combined his Drive-Bi Dual Gain Distortion with the MXR Micro Amp to create two separate gain stages, one cascading into the other. A single knob controls the outputs of both circuits, and as the volume is raised, more gain is fed from the first stage into the second. The EQ range is wide and balanced with all the definition you need to cut through a loud live mix with an unrestrained roar thick with harmonics. And it’s all passed the ultimate test—an early prototype of this pedal, delivered to an MC5 recording session, made it onto the album.
We figured this pedal should look as great as it sounds, so we enlisted street art pioneer Shepard Fairey to create a visual representation of the pedal’s rebellious tones.
A limited run, a majority of the proceeds from the sale of each pedal will be donated to Jail Guitar Doors USA, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Mr. Kramer, his wife Margaret, and Billy Bragg. For over fifteen years, JGD's efforts have included programs to help incarcerated individuals heal and grow through music in over two hundred facilities nationwide. In 2021, JGD opened the doors to their youth-driven C.A.P.O Center (Community, Arts, Programming & Outreach) in the heart of Los Angeles to aidsystem-impacted young men and women in the exploration of personal healing through the art of self-expression. To make a further donation, please visit jailguitardoors.org.
MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive highlights:
- Special limited edition
- Includes numbered certificate of authenticity
- Recreates the raw tones that Wayne Kramer used in MC5
- Reminiscent of two dimed-out 100-watt stacks
- Two cascading gain stages—Daredevil Drive-Bi Dual Gain and MXR Micro Amp
- Single knob increases both gain and volume for a thick, unrestrained roar
- Custom artwork from Shepard Fairey
- Co-designed with Daredevil Pedals proprietor Johnny Wator
- Majority of proceeds go to nonprofit Jail Guitar Doors USA
Availability
The MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive is available now at $199.99 street/$285.70 MSRP from your favorite retailer.
Gigahearts FX Launches Mashed Voltaire Deluxe and Hyper Soup Fuzz Pedals
Adding to the company’s line of boutique effects, Gigahearts FX has introduced two new fuzz pedals: the Hyper Soup and Mashed Voltaire Deluxe bring unique tonal variations, circuit refinements and performance-driven controls to guitarists seeking to expand their distortion and fuzz palate.
Designed to appeal to musicians who want to push their tone into new directions, and value genuinely hand-soldered and wired construction, both pedals build upon classic and well-loved circuits by bringing the feature-set into the 21st century.
- Wildly expanded take on the “Violet Rams Head” circuit
- Eleven external controls to fully sculpt and fine-tune your sound
- Three band EQ (HP/BP/LP) feeding a dual-mode synthesizer-style resonant filter offering unlimited tonal variation from lo-fi to cocked-wah and full-on fat fuzzed out bliss
- Footswitch-activated “starve” circuit limits voltage to the second transistor stage, bringing control over gating, dying-amp sounds, octave-glitches and textural artifacts
- Comprehensive adaptation of the popular “Super Fuzz /Hyper Fuzz” circuit
- Four-way rotary control, offering three fuzz modes and a boost mode
- Footswitchable upper-octave, essentially doubling the number of fuzz tone options
- Powerful Two-band High and Low active EQ controls
Both pedals feature Gigahearts’ signature hand-made construction, with high quality dual-layer PCBs, all through hole parts and hand soldering/wiring throughout. The pedals utilize 9-volt DC from an external power supply using standard 2.1mm tip negative (no battery compartment) and feature true bypass mechanical switching.
Mashed Voltaire Deluxe fuzz is priced at $239 USD / £175 GBP and Hyper Soup is $213 USD / £155 GBP available directly from www.gigaheartsfx.com, shipping worldwide, with free UK shipping and DDP duties paid to the USA.
Jared James Nichols Releases New Single "Ghost"
Today, guitar powerhouse JARED JAMES NICHOLS is proud to release his new single, "Ghost," marking his first new music since recently signing with Frontiers Music Srl. The new track arrives accompanied by an official lyric video, available to view below.
In addition, JARED JAMES NICHOLS will be embarking on his European and UK headline tour starting November 5th in Valencia, Spain, at Loco Club and concluding December 6th in London, UK at The Underworld.
On the new single, JARED JAMES NICHOLS comments:
"‘Ghost’ was written with a very good friend of mine, Grammy-winning producer and epic guitarist Tyler Bryant. We have a synergy whenever we get together; it’s infectious, and things happen quickly. Tyler jumped behind the drums, and I started jamming the verse groove with the guitar. Within minutes, we had carved out the entire bones of the song in an old-school way of a jam.
"Lyrically speaking. ‘Ghost’ is something we can all relate to. It’s all about trying to live up to the voices inside your head, staying away from the insecurities and fear we all have running in our minds. It is about facing your fears, accepting the mind wars, and ultimately conquering them."
He continues, "‘Ghost’ was recorded with super producer Jay Ruston at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios in Los Angeles, California. Working with Jay is like breathing air; things come out so naturally and fresh. We share a common vision that is always hard to find when working with a producer. We put a lot of trust in each other, which means we care about nothing less than what is best for the song. As a band, our adrenaline was pumping…! Recording this song at such a legendary studio really sparked the fire and energy that you hear in the track."
Stream / Listen HERE
Armed with nothing more than his signature Gibson Les Paul, a cranked amp, and a microphone burning hot, JARED JAMES NICHOLS lives the Blues the way it was meant to be lived - tough by design, raw in delivery, and authentic to the core. The Wisconsin-born, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist unleashes unapologetic rock ’n’ roll, his voice hitting with grit and soul while his fretwork roars with fire and fury.
Celebrated by American Songwriter, Guitar World, and Relix, NICHOLS has already tallied millions of streams and built a devoted following online. Gibson Guitars recognized his impact by naming him one of only four Global Brand Ambassadors worldwide - a rare honor that cements his standing as one of today’s most vital guitar slingers.
Now preparing his fourth - and most defining - album, NICHOLS calls this era “JJN Mach II.” Written and inspired by his post-pandemic touring experiences and new home base in Nashville, the record showcases his growth as a singer and songwriter, while taking his guitar playing to explosive new heights.
NICHOLS’ journey has not been without hardship: cancelled tours, collapsed labels, breakdowns on the road, even a freak accident that left him with 20 screws in his arm. Yet every challenge has only fueled his drive and deepened the legend of his self-proclaimed “Blues Power.”
With Frontiers Music Srl now by his side, JARED JAMES NICHOLS is ready to bring his uncompromising rock ’n’ roll to the world. The time has come for his name to be known in every household where true rock is alive.
JARED JAMES NICHOLS - Tour Dates 2025
Tickets Available HERE
European Headlining Tour:
Nov 5 - Valencia, Spain @ Loco Club
Nov 6 - Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Razzmatazz 3
Nov 7 - Madrid, Spain @ Teatro Magno
Nov 8 - Aiguaviva, Spain @ Ca La Dolo (La Torrentera)
Nov 9 - Villava, Spain @ Sala Totem Aretoa
Nov 11 - Barberaz, France @ Le Brin de Zinc
Nov 12 - Paris, France @ Cafe de la Danse
Nov 14 - Hamburg, Germany @ BETTY (ex-headCRASH)
Nov 15 - Joldelund, Germany @ Gerd’s Juke Joint
Nov 16 - Cologne, Germany @ Yard Club
Nov 18 - Ahrensburg, Germany @ Stromarnschule
Nov 19 - Milan, Italy @ Legend Club
Nov 21 - Meppen, Germany @ Rockpalast Meppen
Nov 22 - Hoofddorp, Netherlands @ Cpunt
Nov 23 - Dordrecht, Netherlands @ Bibelot
Nov 25 - Wattrelos, France @ La Boite à Musique
UK Headlining Tour:
Nov 26 - Southampton @ The 1865
Nov 27 - Southend-on-Sea @ Chinnerys
Nov 29 - Manchester @ Manchester Academy
Nov 30 - Wolverhampton @ KK’s Steel Mill
Dec 1 - Bristol @ Thekla
Dec 2 - Glasgow @ The Garage
Dec 3 — Bradford @ Nightrain
Dec 4 - Nottingham @ Rescue Rooms
Dec 5 - Brighton @ Volks
Dec 6 - London @ The Underworld
Devon Eisenbarger [Katy Perry] Rig Rundown
The in-demand gunslinger brings a load of silverware to arenas across the world.
Devon Eisenbarger, session ace and touring shredder for stars including Chappell Roan and One Direction’s Zayn Malik, met up with PG’s Chris Kies at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena before hitting the stage with Katy Perry to show off the sleek 6-string rig she’s using on Perry’s Lifetimes tour.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Splitting Up
Eisenbarger cut her teeth on a Stratocaster, and its sonic character still feels like home. She filmed a demo for Fender using this American Professional II Strat with a coil-splitting humbucker in the bridge—the best she’s heard so far. This one and all other electrics run D’Addario strings (.010–.046).
Fiery Fiore
Eisenbarger just scored this PRS Fiore before this tour. It has a beefier, slightly more midrange-y sound than the Strat.
Silver Surfer
This Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay II, designed in collaboration with Cory Wong, was made for Eisenbarger just before this run of shows.
Saintly Signature
Eisenbarger uses this Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent Signature for “I Kissed a Girl.”
Taped-Up Taylor
This Taylor 814ce, wrapped in silver tape, comes out for a mid-show acoustic set.
Devon Eisenbarger’s Rack Setup
Eisenbarger runs an all-digital rig, contained in this rack backstage. The key pieces are a Radial JX42, two Shure AD4Ds, a Kemper Profiling Amplifier, and a Fractal Axe-Fx. The Kemper runs a SELAH SOUNDS pack of profiles and impulse responses.
With no onstage monitors, Eisenbarger’s signal runs only to in-ear monitors and front of house.
Fender American Professional II Strat
Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent
Justin Hawkins thinks there’s one guitarist who could have rivalled Eddie Van Halen – if only he was born 10 years earlier
Justin Hawkins of The Darkness believes there’s one virtuoso that could have rivalled Eddie Van Halen back in the 1980s, if only he wasn’t “born 10 years too late”.
Talking to Rick Beato, Hawkins claims Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt would be “competing with Eddie Van Halen if he were a bit younger”, but that his talents went under the radar in the ’90s.
- READ MORE: Sean Long’s new Neon Pink Charvel signature model might secretly be the most metal guitar of 2025
According to Hawkins, Bettencourt may have become better known if Extreme were thrust into the bigger limelight that was 1980s glam metal, rather than being subject to the differing tastes of the ’90s.
“Extreme was successful with their couple of ballads… More Than Words was such a big hit, and it transcended like an Everly Brothers type song… But Nuno is one of the greatest guitar players of his generation.”
He’s also quick to add that he doesn’t think the rise of grunge had anything to do with what killed off glam rock. Instead, he thinks that glam metal bands like “Nitro… killed it because then nobody’s going to be able to sing higher than Jim Gillette. Nobody’s going to be able to play as fast or as ridiculous as Michael Angelo Batio.”
“So I think Nitro was the natural conclusion of that, and it meant the end for bands like Extreme unfortunately and other interesting glam rock stuff from that period.”
Hawkins’ own band The Darkness gained success in the 2000s after Extreme, and reminisces about what his own band might have missed out on: “Rivalries are what got people excited about music. It seemed like the ’80s were this wonderfully tumultuous decade”.
Hawkins doesn’t believe that rock should return to the old days, though. As he told Kerrang! earlier this year: “It’s about getting to a certain age and realising that the world’s changing, and you’ve gotta change or that’s you fucked, you get left behind. And that’s rock.”
“It’s actually from the perspective of rock – rock is a middle-aged guy in a world full of people who are just generation… whatever the fuck it is now, and it has to wake up and be part of it.”
The post Justin Hawkins thinks there’s one guitarist who could have rivalled Eddie Van Halen – if only he was born 10 years earlier appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Sean Long’s new Neon Pink Charvel signature model might secretly be the most metal guitar of 2025
Charvel has once again partnered with While She Sleeps guitarist Sean Long on a new limited-edition version of his Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M signature model. It’s essentially an updated take on Long’s Charvel signature model, which arrived back in 2022.
Sporting a fresh lick of paint – Neon Pink, no less – the new version boasts a similar spec sheet to its predecessor, including a set of EMG 57 and 66 pickups. The 57, Charvel explains, evokes an “unmistakably PAF quality with plenty of headroom and punch”, while the 66 in the neck position offers a “warm, smooth mid-range and expansive lows”.
Notably, where the original Sean Long signature model features a neon yellow cover on the bridge pickup, the new Neon Pink version’s pickups do not. We don’t blame Charvel here; pink and yellow would have been bold, to say the least…
Elsewhere, the guitar features an HT6 string-through-body hardtail bridge, designed for “improved intonation and enhanced sustain and resonance”.
Credit: Charvel
The spec sheet is complete by an alder body – crafted into Charvel’s San Dimas Style 1 shape, of course – as well as a bolt-on maple neck with graphite reinforcement, with a Speed Neck profile and rolled fingerboard edges for enhanced playing comfort.
Further appointments include Luminlay side dots, 22 frets, a 12”-16” compound radius fingerboard, a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel and Charvel-branded die-cast locking tuners.
Sean Long is the primary songwriter of Sheffield metalcore heavyweights While She Sleeps, and his Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M signature model is designed to keep up with his “high-speed playing, scorching sound and sinister, yet eccentric style”.
“This is essentially the same as my original signature, the only difference is that it’s fucking pink, and this pickup [pointing to the bridge pickup], is black,” Long explains in the video above. Why? Because it’s awesome.”
He goes on: “I grew up listening to bands like Blink-182, Sum 41, Rage [Against the Machine], stuff like that. And then I discovered metalcore and metal. This kind of music completely captivated me – I’d never heard anything like it before…
“So the design – one of the fundamental aspects of my thinking was, I wanted it to be as simplistic as possible. I did not want it to be intimidating. I wanted it to seem aesthetically digestible. Because I remember when I was a kid going to music stores, it always felt like I wasn’t good enough to be there.
“If you looked at the guitars at the top, you would never have the balls to ask the guy to get it down. And that feeling has always sat with me. There was always this intimidating feeling with a lot of gear. So I wanted this to look appealing and approachable.”
The Limited Edition Sean Long Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M is available now, priced at $1,469.99.
Learn more at Charvel.
The post Sean Long’s new Neon Pink Charvel signature model might secretly be the most metal guitar of 2025 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Sound Semiconductor Intros New Generation Bucket Brigade Delay Chip
The SSI2100 is a 512-Stage BBD that offers a wide range of delay times using clock frequencies from 1kHz to over 2MHz. Special care was taken to faithfully reproduce the bucket brigade chain to preserve “mojo” of these quirky and beloved analog delay circuits.
Sound Semiconductor took advantage of a modern CMOS IC process that not only permits reduced chip die size but also allowed addition of new features. The SSI2100 includes an on-chip clock driver with anti-phase outputs that accepts a single TTL/CMOS 5V or 3.3V input that can be easily generated from a wide range of sources, negating the need for a traditional companion clock generator IC. In addition, the SSI2100 incorporates a clock tree to distribute the two anti-phase clocks throughout the chain for improved fidelity. The SSI2100 also internally provides the legacy “14/15 VGG“ supply voltage needing only an external capacitor.
A novel circuit (patent pending) provides noiseless gain allowing easy connection of multiple SSI2100’s for longer delay times without having to recalibrate inputs and outputs. An additional benefit to daisy-chaining is access to intermediate feedback taps for interesting reverb and other psychoacoustic effects.
The SSI2100 is available in a compact SOP-8 package, and believed to be the first BBD IC to be offered in a surface mount package. Pricing is $1.08 at 1k pieces, with samples available to qualified OEM’s. Production stock is available now.
"Before we could even start development in earnest of the SSI2100, we had to fully understand how these unusual devices work,” stated Neil Johnson, designer of the SSI2100. "From there it became a very fun project to complete.”
Sound Semiconductor is composed of musicians and technologists with the goal of developing affordable, high-performance integrated circuits for music creation. For more information, please visit www.soundsemiconductor.com.
MTD Introduces Kingston KNSJ5 Norm Stockton Signature Saratoga 5 String
Building on the success of MTD’s USA Norm Stockton Signature Saratoga, the new KNSJ5 brings high end appointments and renowned playability to a more affordable price range.
Built to Norm Stockton’s specs for a service life equally at in the studio and on the road, the KNSJ5 marries USA Bartolini pickups and a new USA Bartolini Preamp to MTD Kingston Saratoga’s signature neck profile, fretwork, iconic body shape and hardware. The new preamp designed in conjunction with Bartolini gives players an unparalleled playing experience.
Features include:
- 35” Scale Maple neck with Maple fingerboard for a more focused B string
- MTD Asymmetrical neck profile for less fatigue and a more comfortable grip
- Custom NSJ Preamp from Bartolini with Shiftable 450/850hz Mid band and Active/Passive switch
- Custom MTD Split Coil USA Bartolini Pickups
- Alder body with Quilted Maple top
- Quick Release Bridge
- Hipshot Licensed Ultra Lite tuning machines
- Dunlop Super Bright Stainless Steel Roundwound Strings w/ tapered B: 45-130
“I had high expectations for the Kingston NS,” says Norm Stockton, “and it absolutely blew them away! Gorgeous looks, spectacular playability, and TONE for days. Everyone who’s played it has been floored.”
This new model represents a shift in how MTD Kingston basses are assembled. While every single Kingston model received a full setup – including a fret level/dress, intonation, and action adjustments – moving forward all Kingston series instruments equipped with Bartolini electronics will have those electronics installed in company’s Kingston, NY facility by the MTD team.
The KNSJ5 is available in Satin Blue Burst and has a street price of $2099. For more information visit mtdbass.com.
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