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How many guitarists get to say they’ve been personally gifted an instrument by one of the world’s most renowned artists? British singer-songwriter Myles Smith can count himself among this probably-very-tiny group, as one of his most treasured guitars, a Lowden S34C+ made its way into his collection as a gift from none other than Ed Sheeran.

Smith received the gift after attending a football match with Sheeran to watch their respective clubs, Arsenal and Ipswich Town, go head to head. “He invited me down to the game, and we won, of course,” he tells Guitar.com in the latest episode of My Guitars & Me.

“We became friends really quickly. “We had a lot in common, and so not long after meeting him, I went to his house, gave him a pair of custom trainers, and in return he gave me a guitar worth far more than a pair of custom trainers!”

• READ MORE: Outlowd by Ed Sheeran: Orange officially partners with Ed Sheeran on the megastar’s first-ever line of signature amps

Describing the guitar as the “first reason I fell in love with Lowden”, Smith goes on to explain why it’s such an important part of his studio and stage arsenal (no pun intended).

“For me this guitar plays a big part of both my recording and live,” he says. “Mainly live, because the guitar is lightweight, it’s got the resonance and the body that makes running around on stage a lot of fun. It just suits how I play.”

He goes on: “I think, for me, the reason why this guitar stood out [compared] to other guitars is just the way that it reacts to your playing. It could be really intimate and really loud all at the sound time. And you don’t often find that with guitars… It’s the perfect fun instrument. You can’t go wrong with it. You can’t overplay it and you can’t underplay it. And it just carries itself so well.

“For me, with the low action of the guitar and its playability, it’s just really fun, and it makes the guitar something that you don’t have to think about when you’re trying to play to thousands of people.”

Keep up with all the latest episodes of My Guitars & Me.

The post Ed Sheeran once gave Myles Smith a guitar – here’s the bizarre item he got in return appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

He might be a generation or two younger, but super producer Andrew Watt isn’t afraid to keep some of the legendary artists he works with in line…

Recently, Keith Richards lauded Watt’s no-nonsense approach when it came to the Rolling Stones two most recent albums, Hackney Diamonds (2023) and Foreign Tongues (2026). “[He’s] a breath of fresh air and a kick up the ass,” the guitarist said. “He knows his stuff musically and technically, and he doesn’t put up with any bullshit – he just gets on with it.”

And even Paul McCartney discovered Watt could be a bit “pushy” during the making of his latest solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

“I came away from the first session thinking, ‘Well, I like him, but he’s a bit pushy,” McCartney said. “But pushy’s not a bad thing in a producer. It’s just enthusiasm from someone who wants to keep making this record. It’s infectious.”

• READ MORE: “Don’t lecture them”: Why Mick Jagger leaves politics out of his concerts

And according to Canadian producer and songwriter Henry Walter – known professionally as Cirkut, and with whom Watt has worked on numerous occasions, including on hits for Lady Gaga – Watt isn’t afraid of being the “bad guy” when it comes to songwriting and production.

“He’s not afraid to speak up in the uncomfortable situation where you don’t want to tell Lady Gaga, ‘Hey, you should try this way instead of that way,’” Walter tells the Washington Post in a new interview. “He’s not afraid of being the bad guy.”

At just 35 years old, Andrew Watt’s CV is about as stacked as they come, having worked with rock legends including Ozzy Obsourne, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam, as well as some of the world’s leading popular artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato and Post Malone.

And even as the Rolling Stones released their 25th studio album Foreign Tongues just days ago, Keith Richards says Andrew Watt might already be eyeing up his third Stones collaboration.

“I’m very glad that we met Andrew when we did because he knows so much about The Stones that I’ve forgotten,” says the 82-year-old musician of Watt’s professional energy. “And his enthusiasm for it, you can’t beat it, it’s great fun to work with.”

The post Rolling Stones producer Andrew Watt’s ability to coax the best out of legends explained: “He’s not afraid of being the bad guy” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Peter Frampton’s 1976 live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, remains one of the best-selling live albums of all time. Recorded at several venues across San Francisco, San Rafael and New York between June and November 1975, the album has reportedly sold over 11 million copies worldwide since its release.

But Frampton may have never enjoyed that astounding success had he never left Humble Pie in 1971. 

The circumstances surrounding his exit essentially boiled down to growing musical differences with his bandmates, notably frontman Steve Marriott. And in a new interview with Record Collector, the guitarist recalls the fracturing professional relationship that led to his decision to depart.

• READ MORE: “Don’t lecture them”: Why Mick Jagger leaves politics out of his concerts

He explains that his decision came after the release of Humble Pie’s 1971 live album, Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore.

“It wasn’t just the direction, it was personality-wise, as well,” Frampton says. “Steve and I were not on the same planet anymore, unfortunately. I loved him dearly, but he was a handful. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore.”

Frampton explains how concerns over the band’s sound being “chosen” for them based on the material that appeared on the 1971 live album made him preemptively exit the band.

“We started out doing acoustic without drums, acoustic with drums, electric guitar, pianos, keyboards, and then heavy… we did it all,” he goes on. “That’s what I loved about Humble Pie, to start with. But our direction was kind of chosen for us by what we put on the live record, and I knew that everyone was going to expect that, and only that, from then on, on record.

“So that was why I decided to leave before the record came out. I believed it was going to be a small hit, not knowing it was going to be a much bigger hit than I thought, and then it would be much more difficult for me to leave.”

Last month, Peter Frampton reflected on his affliction with inclusion body myositis (IBM), a progressive degenerative muscle disease which has affected his ability to play guitar. Ever the optimist, the guitarist says he enjoys the “challenge”.

“I can’t complain about my life at all,” he said. “Yes, it’s not the most pleasant thing to have. It changes your life. It’s not going to end it, but yeah, it’s a little difficult. But really I’ve gotten used to it, and I like the challenge of being able to do what I do as it progresses.”

Peter Frampton released his latest solo album Carry the Light in May this year. Listen below:

The post “He was a handful. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore”: How musical differences with Steve Marriott led Peter Frampton to leave Humble Pie and go solo appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Remember that mysterious baby blue Marshall stack Billie Joe Armstrong wheeled out at this year’s Super Bowl? As many suspected, it wasn’t a one-off custom build.

After months of speculation, Marshall has officially unveiled the 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature, its first artist signature amplifier since the white snakeskin-clad 1959HW Bernie Marsden in 2019. Built in collaboration with the Green Day frontman, the handwired 100W head promises to bottle the snarling, high-gain plexi tone that helped define Dookie and an entire generation of punk rock guitar.

• READ MORE: Marshall has unveiled its new mascot – and we’re a little scared

Developed with Armstrong, the 1959BJA builds on Marshall’s handwired 1959HW platform, but incorporates a custom “Dookie Mod” inspired by the tone shaped alongside producer Rob Cavallo during the recording of Green Day’s landmark 1994 album.

The result, says Marshall, is a classic plexi with modern performance flexibility, delivering increased gain, tighter lows and the saturated punch that brings Armstrong’s signature sound into a modern stage-ready format.

Handwired in the UK, the 1959BJA runs on three ECC83 preamp valves and four EL34 power tubes, delivering 100 watts through a single channel with controls for Presence, Gain, Master Volume and a three-band EQ. Around the back are dual speaker outputs with switchable 4, 8 and 16-ohm impedance options.

Visually, it’s every bit as eye-catching as it looked on the Super Bowl stage. The head sports a distinctive baby-blue finish inspired by Blue, Armstrong’s legendary first guitar (a Fernandes Stratocaster copy), complete with brass and silver panels, custom branding and the guitarist’s signature on both the front and rear panels. The unit is sold as a head only, allowing players to pair it with the cabinet of their choice.

“I’m so overjoyed to have my own signature Marshall amp,” says Billie Joe. “These amps have been a part of my musical life, from my heroes down to little old me. Turn it the fuck up!”

“Billie Joe’s guitar sound is instantly recognisable,” says Steph Carter, Culture Marketing Director at Marshall. “From the moment you hear those opening chords on Dookie, you know exactly who it is. Working with Billie to create an amp that captures that punch, aggression and clarity was an incredible project for our team.”

The 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature is available from 21 July via authorised Marshall retailers and Marshall’s website for $3,999.99/£3,099.99. Availability will vary by region.

Learn more at Marshall.

The post That mystery Marshall stack from Green Day’s Super Bowl set is officially here – meet the 1959BJA Billie Joe Armstrong Artist Signature appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has spent more than six decades mastering the art of working a crowd. But despite playing to stadiums around the world, there’s one thing he deliberately avoids bringing on stage: politics.

Speaking on the New York Times’ podcast, The Interview, Jagger explains that as a live performer, his role onstage is to help fans escape the outside world rather than “lecture” them.

• READ MORE: Keith Richards says Andrew Watt may already be planning another Rolling Stones album: “He knows so much about The Stones that I’ve forgotten”

Asked what his relationship to the audience means to him, Jagger says that every crowd is different depending on the setting.

“Well, first of all, it depends on where you are and what kind of event it is,” he says, pointing to appearances at festivals like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park, where not everyone in attendance is necessarily a die-hard Rolling Stones fan.

“So, they’re not necessarily coming to see – they’re not your biggest fans necessarily. I’m not saying they hate you, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be there,” Jagger says. “But there’s different levels of these kinds of people, and you have to treat them in a slightly different way.”

That philosophy also informs his approach to politics on stage.

“The bottom line… is that my job in the live music world is to [make sure] those people that come have the best time they possibly can and for two hours forget all their problems and the problems of the world. Their mortgages and whatever. Just so they can have the best time.”

Drawing a comparison to live sports, Jagger adds, “It’s similar to going to a sports event, really. Everything else is shut out. You’re just watching to see who’s going to win. You’re not worried about everything else. You know? Those things are out of your mind.”

He also says performers should read the room rather than force a reaction from the crowd.

“Some audiences want to go completely nuts and so then you encourage them to go more nuts… You don’t want to be trying to churn them up into [getting] frustrated that they’re not being demonstrative. Or, you don’t think they’re having a good time.”

“Your job is to make them go more apeshit [about the festival]. . . . You don’t want to lecture them.”

That said, that doesn’t mean Jagger steers clear of politics altogether. The singer says he’s become more comfortable weaving political observations into his songwriting over the years, albeit sparingly.

Reflecting on the band’s latest album Foreign Tongues, in particular, Jagger says, “You could say that I wouldn’t have written any of these songs when I was 30 maybe.”

“I’ve also gotten into this habit of doing songs that are about personal relationships and then I throw a verse about politics in there. I think that’s a trick that I’ve learned from other songwriters because nobody wants to hear a whole song about politics… or social comment of any kind.”

“Like a blues song like Rough and Twisted is really just stream-of-consciousness, honestly. You talk about women and everything, and then you throw in stuff that’s obviously political. The only club was called Conspiracy . . . / All they wanted was tyranny So, you find yourself using these tricks.

Watch the full interview below.

The post “Don’t lecture them”: Why Mick Jagger leaves politics out of his concerts appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite being one of rock’s most celebrated shred icons, Joe Satriani believes aspiring players should spend less time chasing impossible metronome tempos and more time learning the musical “tools” that actually make people want to listen.

Speaking with Andy Guitar, Satriani stresses the importance of music theory, arguing that mastering the craft’s musical “tools” will ultimately take players much further than obsessing over technical feats for their own sake.

• READ MORE: Mick Jagger’s advice to Joe Satriani: “Don’t get hung up on playing all these notes… Person number 91,000 up there cannot hear it”

“Musicians make music for people and music is supposed to accompany their life. It is the soundtrack to the trials and tribulations and all the wonderful times of life. And that’s our job,” Satriani says. “And so if you don’t know the tools, it would be like a carpenter who goes into his shop and has no idea what any of the tools do. How are you going to make anything worthwhile?”

The guitarist says one of the first lessons aspiring players need to learn is that raw speed isn’t a measure of musical ability.

“Right away, musicians have to be told some real realities, which is, you might be fast, you might be slow, that doesn’t really matter,” he explains. “It’s going to come if you practice, or it’s not going to come if you don’t practice. So, that’s settled right away.”

Instead, players should devote that time to understanding why certain notes, scales and modes create particular emotional responses.

“Don’t waste hours, weeks, and years trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome. No one’s ever going to want to come see you do that, so who cares?” Satriani says. “But if you don’t know the psychological impact of a Lydian mode or Lydian dominant mode, and why they’re different, and how they’re going to affect the audience differently, then you can’t really call yourself a composer.”

“When is this note the right note, and when is it a wrong note?” the musician continues. “You know it’s not really right or wrong; it’s cause and effect. It’s a hard thing to teach people. We’re in control, but only if you know the cause and effect of each note and each chord, how they go together, how they work with tempos and texture.”

Satriani’s comments echo a wider conversation about what skills actually matter most for guitarists, though some players like Cory Wong have taken a far firmer stance. Last year, the jazz-funk guitarist divided the internet after arguing that anyone who considers themselves an “advanced guitarist” should be able to locate every note on the fretboard.

“Gentle call out to the folks that consider themselves advanced guitarists,” Wong said in an Instagram Reel. “You should know where all the notes are on a guitar!”

“Can you play me a C on every string? If you can’t do this exercise, I wouldn’t consider you an advanced guitarist,” Wong concluded.

The post “No one wants to see you do that”: Joe Satriani says guitarists shouldn’t waste years “trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

£275, horrothia.com

Pedals like this are a tough sell. The Horrothia Effects XYXO doesn’t create any sounds of its own, and it’s not doing anything that’s obviously essential… but if it enables you to do things with your existing effects pedals that you couldn’t do before, hasn’t that got to be worth investigating?

• READ MORE: ADDAC System Mixology review: “it really can breathe new life and modern utility into old pedals”

What you’re being offered here is a way to expand your mind without the use of illicit substances, by moving beyond the standard linear routing of guitar > pedals > amp. You’re going to need more cables, but the reward is a whole new level of control over how different effects interact – not to mention the potential for some radical stereo soundscaping.

Horrothia Effects XYXO – what is it?

At the heart of the XYXO are two effects loops, which can be run in parallel or one into the other. Each has its own controls for send and return levels, plus adjustable high-pass and low-pass filters, and a phase switch.

So, for example, you could put a fuzz pedal in one loop and an overdrive in the other, balance up their relative levels, then maybe cut a little bass from the fuzz to stop it getting flubby, or trim off both highs and lows on the drive for more of a midrange focus. Then you might dial in some dry signal for extra clarity, turn up the master treble to zing things up, and even crank the output to give the whole concoction a boost on the way out.

Now imagine doing all of the above with a delay pedal in one loop and a phaser in the other… or plugging straight into two amps instead of using the return sockets, thus creating an ultra-tweakable stereo rig. You could even take another cable from the XYXO’s output to a third amp for a wet/dry/wet setup of such hugeness that icebergs would flee from its path.

Horrothia Effects XYXO – how is it in use?

The XYXO is both easy and difficult to use – which is to say, easy for the brain to navigate but difficult for the fingers. It might look intimidating – 11 knobs, three switches, six jack sockets – but the layout is clear and logical, with no surprises or head-scratching moments where you’re left wondering where all the sound went. Set up one loop at a time, and it’s simply a matter of exploring where different pedal combinations can take you.

This is, however, about the most closely packed stompbox control array I’ve ever seen. The big black footswitch is a work of art in itself but it is perilously close to the knobs, while I found the phase-flipping toggle switches literally impossible to reach with my fingers – which are, for the record, the boniest digits this side of a Halloween decoration.

In practical terms, what this probably means is that the XYXO is going to be more at home in the studio than on the stage – but that’s no great shame, because it feels more like a recording tool anyway. How it actually sounds is, of course, dependent on the other pedals you plug into it, but it’s worth noting that there’s plenty of clean boosting on tap – and the ‘high’ control, while presumably included to let you compensate for the dulling effect of cable capacitance, can also be used as a potent treble booster.

Horrothia Effects XYXO – should I buy it?

This feels like the kind of device that every pro recording studio should have in a cupboard, ready to be deployed as soon as someone wants to put down some guitar tracks with an extra dimension of tone-shaping freedom. And as every musician’s spare room is practically a pro recording studio these days, its appeal could be surprisingly broad.

The only question is whether Horrothia can persuade you to drop a fair chunk of cash on something you might regard as a bit of an indulgence. Anyway, it’s a smartly designed piece of kit, robustly built, and way more fun than those dreaded words ‘utility pedal’ suggest.

Horrothia Effects XYXO alternatives

The Great Eastern FX Co XO Variable Crossover (£229) is a strong alternative, packing at least some of the XYXO’s tone-blending functionality into a smaller and simpler enclosure. The ADDAC System Mixology (€220) adds more complications, including controllable feedback loops, while the Electro-Harmonix Switchblade Pro ($143/£120) keeps it strictly utilitarian with just three knobs.

The post Horrothia Effects XYXO review – “way more fun than the words ‘utility pedal’ suggest” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

July 10, 2026 This week I revisited a bunch of Paul Simon’s songs, partly because a couple students were working on his songs. That inspired today’s opening improv, and a couple others later. You should hear parts of The Boxer, Duncan, America, and a little Jackson Browne along the way. Our latest challenge: Learn To […]

The post Totally Guitars Weekly Update July 10, 2026 appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.

Eddie Van Halen may have been the principal songwriter in Van Halen, but that doesn’t mean other members didn’t contribute heavily to the band’s now-iconic discography.

In fact, there are some songs which never made it to the VH discography, only for the band to regret the decision later when they were released outside of the Van Halen brand.

• READ MORE: “I probably spent $10,000 trying to get it to work”: Joe Satriani recalls his biggest musical mistake

Eagles Fly – which ultimately appeared on Sammy Hagar’s 1987 album I Never Said Goodbye – was one such track.

“When I sing Eagles Fly, it’s about being born,” Hagar tells Total Rock in a new interview discussing his massive body of solo work [via Guitar World].

“And once again, I had a vision. It wasn’t a dream. I was wide awake, and I had a feeling in a special place. I was in a special place.”

He continues, “I showed him [Alex Van Halen] that song, and Eddie’s going, ‘Wow, wow, wow.’ And Alex goes, ‘Yeah, yeah. It sounds like John Denver; it’s cool.’”

The singer says that Alex Van Halen wasn’t too keen on Hagar writing songs for Van Halen, and preferred to let guitarist Eddie Van Halen do most of the legwork when it came to the music.

Eddie Van Halen ultimately ended up playing the solo on Eagles Fly – in addition to co-producing the entire album – and when Alex heard the track for the first time in all its glory, he wondered why he never approved it as a Van Halen song.

“When it came out, and we finished my solo record, Alex heard it, and he goes, ‘Hey, why the fuck didn’t we put that on a Van Halen record!’” Hagar says.

“I went, ‘Well, Al, if you don’t remember, I can remember you said it sounded like John Denver,’ because I was playing it on acoustic guitar!”

Listen to Eagles Fly below.

The post The Sammy Hagar song that could have been on a Van Halen record appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Martin has partnered with Canadian singer-songwriter and pop sensation Shawn Mendes on two new signature acoustic guitars, both inspired by a vintage 1920s small-bodied Martin that’s become an integral part of Mendes’s writing and recording process.

Martin’s professional relationship with Shawn Mendes dates back to 2022, when the superstar launched his 000JR-10E custom signature model. We gave the strummer a strong 9/10 in our review…

Now, Mendes’s lineup of signature Martins expands, with two full-sized acoustics, a 000-28 and 000-10E.

The inspiration for both began with the vintage Martin 0-42 Mendes found in a Brooklyn guitar shop, which boasted a compact body, pyramid bridge, distinctive pickguard and slotted headstock design. Martin later built a stage guitar for Shawn based on that instrument, which serves as the inspiration for the two new acoustics.

• READ MORE: Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar review: “this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years”

“Martin guitars are my first go-to guitar to pick up when I’m making a song,” Mendes says. “They feel like they have a story in them. They feel like they have songs in them.”

“It’s super important to me to have more than one option – a more accessible guitar for people and one that is closer to the thing that I play onstage.”

The 000-28 is the more limited of the two, limited to just 88 guitars worldwide, and sporting solid East Indian rosewood back and sides with a solid spruce top, herringbone trim, and Golden Era scalloped X-bracing. Further appointments include a pyramid-style ebony bridge, unique faux tortoise pickguard and slotted headstock with gold Waverly side-mount tuners. A sweet visual touch comes with Shawn’s custom mother-of-pearl eagle inlay on the ebony fingerboard.

Each of these guitars comes with a molded hardshell case plus a signed, individually numbered interior label.

Meanwhile, the 000-10E Shawn Mendes is the more accessible of the two, made entirely using FSC-certified tonewoods, including solid sapele back and sides with a solid spruce top, scalloped X-bracing, the same custom eagle inlay, and the first straightline pyramid bridge offered in Martin’s Road Series.

Meanwhile, the guitar features a Performing Artist neck with a high-performance taper, plus Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner. This one comes with a softshell case.

“It’s the more accessible version of the two guitars, but it plays so beautifully, so luxuriously, and it sounds really, really nice,” Mendes says.

“Martin guitars are great for a singer-songwriter because you can take them to ten, or they can sit with you at two,” he goes on. “They’re really a companion for a singer-songwriter.”

The 000-28 Shawn Mendes and 000-10E Shawn Mendes are available now, priced at $4,999.99 and $1,099.99, respectively.

Learn more at Martin.

The post Martin unveils two stunning new Shawn Mendes signature acoustic guitars appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As far as guitar virtuosos go, Joe Satriani is right at the top of the tree. But even a player of his stature isn’t immune to making ill-advised songwriting decisions from time to time.

In a newly resurfaced 2010 interview with Classic Rock [via MusicRadar], Satch recalled trying to make a song work during the recording of 1989’s Flying in a Blue Dream, before realising the task was impossible.

“There was a song I wrote for the Flying In A Blue Dream record,” he said. “I spent hours in the studio, went through three bass players, pummelled it to death! I just couldn’t make this song work until finally I realised it was the worst piece of crap ever. 

Satch even revealed he spent “probably $10,000” trying to get the song to work: “That’s a lot of money,” he said.

• READ MORE: Yungblud shares an emotional response to accusations that he is an “industry plant”

Elsewhere in the interview, Satriani remembered the worst review he’d ever had, and it was for his landmark 1987 album, Surfing with the Alien, of all things.

“Every morning I’d go for a cappuccino at this little café, and I read a review of my album in a magazine,” he said.

“This guy did not like me, did not like my guitar playing, and did not like the music. He said it was the worst record he’d ever heard, and finished by saying that if you’re one of those people that likes to fill up the back of a pickup truck with a case of cheap beer, drive into a parking lot alone, turn up the music and get drunk, then this is the record for you. When I read that I peered over the top of the magazine to see if anyone knew that I was the culprit!”

Back in May, Joe Satriani recalled tapping into YouTube and the online guitar community when it came to learning Eddie Van Halen’s parts for Sammy Hagar’s Best Of All Worlds project.

“After I learned the song, I’d go and I’d spend an hour or two on YouTube just watching how other people address this immense problem of trying to emulate Ed’s playing,” he explained. “You can’t capture the magic, but you can get pretty close to the fingering, and some players are better than others.”

The post “I probably spent $10,000 trying to get it to work”: Joe Satriani recalls his biggest musical mistake appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$1,349/£1,149, fender.com

It feels like only a few months ago that I was reviewing a Fender Vintera II guitar, and that’s because, well, it was. But the arrival of the limited edition Road Worn guitars at the tail end of last year was perhaps always destined to be a final hurrah for Fender’s second iteration of its vintage-inclined Mexican – a fun and inspiring way to clear the decks of the last of the previous generation before the new hotness that is Vintera III.

• READ MORE: Fender Studio Pro 8 and Quantum LT 16 interface review: a guitar-recording match made in heaven?

Fender has been on the Vintera train since 2019, with the stated aim of offering a slice of vintage-vibed Fender goodness for a fraction of the price you’d have to drop to get yourself one of the brand’s US models attempting the same trick (in 2026 parlance, that would be the American Vintage II).

It’s barely three years since Fender launched the Vintera II range, which headlined things by reintroducing proper rosewood boards to the mixture after a few years of CITES-induced pau ferro misery.

There’s nothing quite so headline-grabbing about the Vintera III range, but there was very little wrong with the Vintera II, though, cosmetically at least, the Jaguar was the weak link in a strong lineup. Suffice to say, that isn’t going to be a problem with the 2026 model.

Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – what is it?

Fender has a real blind spot when it comes to giving the morally correct amount of love to its offset guitars – especially its short-scale models. I’ve grumbled on more than one occasion on this website about the 50s sunburst cul-de-sac that Fender seems determined to leave the Jazzmaster to rot in, and the poor Mustang and Jaguar have received even shorter shrift.

With Vintera II, for example, the only Jaguar offered was a 70s model that was as baffling as it was unappealing. I know that aesthetic is coming back in a big way in guitar circles, but I’ll be amazed if anyone actually bought a vintage white Jaguar with a maple neck, big headstock and black block fretboard inlays on purpose. It was, as we’d say in South Wales, honking.

For 2026, then, Fender has sensibly not gone anywhere near the 1970s with any of its guitar entries, and instead has opted to zero in on specific periods rather than generalisations of decades. It’s even more sensible of them to pick the mid-1960s as the option for the Jaguar.

Straight off the bat, this means that in every way imaginable this is a more beautiful guitar than its predecessor by many, many degrees. Because in addition to the unavoidable sunburst, we get to choose between an upsettingly lovely Shell Pink with matching headstock, or this magnificently attired Sherwood Green Metallic option. There are no wrong answers here, friends.

The new colours might be reformulated to be more vintage-accurate, but they are obviously not the sole reason for Fender to stick an extra roman numeral on the model name (which doesn’t appear anywhere on the guitar itself, natch).

If you remember reading any reviews of the Vintera II guitars, you will have probably seen some mention that in the venn diagram of price, quality and appointments, they were perhaps the best guitars Fender made. There really was not a whole lot wrong with them.

So for Vintera III then, the focus here is on details. Whenever Fender releases a vintage-inclined guitar, the internet comment sections soon fill up with a chorus of nays ready to tell the brand all the ways in which they are not quite right, actually.

These are never intended to be perfect vintage repros of course – that’s what the Custom Shop is for – but they do address a lot of the things that some people may have got hot under the collar about in the past.

So, for example, the headstock decals are now placed on top of the finish, rather than under it, making it feel a bit more authentically hand-made and accurate. More meaningfully, the nuts on these guitars are now bone instead of synthetic, as they would have been back in the day. The fingerboard inlays are now period-correct, whether that’s clay, black or in this case, pearloid, while the rosewood board itself is a round-laminated version, rather than a slab (as would have been the case with a 60s Jag).

The pickups across the range have been revamped and revoiced to better reflect the specific era they’re aiming for, while you also get various other period-correct features. In the Jag’s case that includes a vintage-style floating lockable tremolo, “period-correct” rhythm circuit and even a foam mute to lock into place should you be into that sort of thing.

As with the rest of the Vintera range, it comes with Fender’s ‘that’ll do’ soft gigbag, which is about as reassuring as a parasol in a hurricane, but at least it has something for you to bring it home from the guitar shop in.

Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – build quality and playability

Sliding the Jaguar out of its gigbag, it’s honestly quite hard not to just end this review and give the thing a 10 purely on looks alone. Your mileage may vary I suppose, but I happen to think that there are few things more downright beautiful in the guitar world than a Fender offset in a non-standard Dupont colour.

The Sherwood Green Metallic here is deep, rich and inviting – Fender says it’s reformulated the colours to look more ‘classic’ and this certainly looks the part. The polyester finish is also expertly applied to both the body and the peghead, without any overspray roughness around the edges, and yes, the decal sticker going on top of the finish might be a little thing, but it does help maintain the illusion that you’re playing something genuinely old.

The only issue with going headlong into the world of vintage accuracy is that the neck does have the full gloss treatment. Some players don’t mind this, of course, but the otherwise supremely comfortable Mid ’60s “C” profile neck is slightly hampered by occasional stickiness as you’re moving around.

It’s easily rectified with a bit of wire wool of course, but lots of people won’t want to do that sort of thing to their guitar out of the box, so you’d best be aware of what you’re getting into here before you pull the trigger.

That slight stickiness doesn’t prevent this guitar being a comfortable and fluid player, however, with the Mustang’s shorter scale length making string-bending a breeze – anyone who tells you you can’t bend on a 7.25” fretboard radius hasn’t spent enough time with a properly set-up instrument.

Speaking of set-ups, while the overall factory job is pretty decent, I did raise my eyebrow at the bone nut, and especially the cutting of the high E slot. It’s just about okay, but it really is right on the borderline of being too shallow.

While it didn’t happen in the course of my playtest, the string feels a bit too easy to knock out of its slot, and it doesn’t bode well for overall stability when combined with the thrice-damned (but vintage-correct) barrel saddles if you have a heavy right hand.

Sonically, the string sounded broadly as expected (Jaguars aren’t exactly known for their sustain after all), but I did notice an issue when I activated the mute – while the other strings offered a nicely dulled sound, the ‘plonk’ on the high E was pretty unusable – probably something that’s exacerbated by the shallow nut slot.

Again, this is the sort of issue that you can fix with a nut file in about 30 seconds, and is clearly an isolated incident (I’ve tried multiple other Vintera III guitars that have been fine), but this is a $1,300 guitar – you’d hope for the QC to be a bit better at this price point.

If you spend any time on offset forums and subreddits, you’ll hear a lot of chat about even new vintage-style guitars needing a neck shim. In the Jag’s case, I’d say it’s fine for most people’s everyday use – if you’re really going to give it the beans, maybe you’d want to increase the break angle with a shim, but it definitely doesn’t need it out of the box.

Given the amount of metal and hardware involved in a Jag, they’re not always the most svelte of guitars, and this one isn’t featherlight, but at 8.1lbs it’s certainly no dead weight either, and is lighter than some vintage examples I’ve played.

Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – sounds

I’ve had conversations with people inside Fender who will admit, off the record, that Johnny Marr’s interpretation of the Jaguar is a significantly better way to make this guitar usable and practical in the real world than Leo Fender’s crack at it… but that sort of tweaking is not what people are coming to Vintera for, and so this is about as stock and classic as you might expect, for good and for ill.

So that means you’re stuck with the legendarily counterintuitive Jaguar switching arrangement here, for good or for ill. In truth, once you spend a few minutes training your brain to remember that the middle switch activates the bridge pickup, and you need to hit two switches at once to cleanly transition between the bridge and neck pickups, it’s not exactly rocket science.

There is an element of this that is absolutely and correctly just part of the unique mojo of a vintage-style Jaguar – to mess with that would have meant this guitar failed at what it’s trying to do, and I’m not gonna damn it for that. If you’ve been charmed by the looks of this guitar without considering the practicalities of it – and look, no judgement here, I’m right there with you – then this is just a reminder to be forewarned and prepared.

In terms of sounds, again I feel like I should remind people that a Jaguar’s single-coil pickups are their own thing and tonally quite a departure from other Fender guitars. The term ‘ice pick’ perhaps doesn’t sound particularly flattering in the metaphor-laden world of describing guitar tones, but with the Jag it’s kinda bang on.

There’s an immediacy and punch to the treble on the bridge pickups that is very classically Jaguar but also unapologetic – it requires careful marshalling of the rest of your rig to not sound shrill, but the punchy, jangly quality it affords when you do is wonderful.

Add a bit of dirt to proceedings and you instantly start to understand why Jaguars found common cause with various members of the grunge community – it snarls and cuts through with power and venom, though deployment of the much-maligned strangle switch can take some of the mids down and make it a more conventional rocker.

The neck pickup is a woodier and plummier affair. It doesn’t have the warmth and roundness of a Strat’s, and you feel that sharp attack and lack of sustain more here, especially with gain involved, but it can be an exhilarating place to get fuzzy and unchained in.

The rhythm circuit is a subtle beast here compared to some I’ve played – adding a soupçon of muddiness to the neck pickup, making the bass frequencies that little bit more flappy. It’s not something that many of us will use very often, but it certainly has utility for jazzier sounds and if you want to really make your distorted sound have that 70s bloat to it.

Another feature that’s not going to be getting a huge amount of attention from most users is the string mute. When activated, the foam hugs the strings to give a dulled, decay-free sound to proceedings. You might look at it and expect a rubber bridge-esque tone, but it’s definitely not that, with the foam giving even less chance for the strings to ring.

One unfortunate side-effect of that narrowly cut E-string was that engaging the mute made the string sound like it had very much popped out of the slot – I don’t imagine that was intentional, but it sure isn’t pleasant.

One useful benefit of the mute being in place is that it stops the bridge from moving around so much, which is good news for tuning stability.

Image: Adam Gasson

Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – should I buy one?

In many ways, this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years – a Mexico-made, vintage-appointed Jaguar in a selection of achingly cool colours. For that reason alone, I imagine that Fender will have sold plenty of these guitars without so much as a play-test.

And if what you really want is a vintage Jaguar experience – eccentricities and all – this is a very good and very faithful take on the concept. There’s definitely a question to be asked about whether you really DO want that, however, and hopefully the various foibles I’ve pointed out in this review can help you get to that point.

What’s less acceptable is the QC issue. I’ve played enough of these guitars to know that it’s an isolated case, and it’s the sort of thing that likely wouldn’t cause any issues with a Telecaster… but the Jaguar is a more temperamental feline, and so the need to ensure things are fettled properly is even more important.

That aside, this Jag is a useful example of what Fender is trying to do with Vintera III as a whole. It’s not looking to reinvent the wheel, but in a variety of small ways, it’s nudging the Mexico-made experience ever closer to what the brand is doing in the USA, and that’s pretty exciting, no matter what kind of Fender fan you might be.

Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar – alternatives

If you want much of the same sonic mojo but without the various electronic and constructional eccentricities, then Fender’s Player II Jaguar ($879/£819) is a well-sorted option – no weird switching, no wonky bridge, all fun. If you want a similarly ‘fixed’ Jag but with a US build, the American Professional Classic Jaguar ($1,599/£1,529) is not a whole lot more money than this, remarkably. If you want a unique offset with less fiddly switching but some fun and individual sounds, Harmony’s mini-humbucker-loaded Standard Series Silhouette ($1,499/£1,499) is a US-made steal.

The post Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jaguar review: “this is the guitar Jaguar fans have been asking Fender to make for years” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Yungblud’s rise through the music industry has been voracious and undeniable, but even as he’s helming his own festivals and reaching Billboard #1s, he is still struggling with mental health.

On June 27, during his headlining set of BLUDFEST, his personally curated festival in Czechia, he shared some words about what he’s been going through: “Lately I have felt so disconnected from everything. I have been trying my best to wake up every day. I have felt in pain a lot, and I don’t know why, for a long time. But every time I find your faces, every time I find your eyes, every time I look at you, I know I belong somewhere.”

Yungblud, real name Dominic Richard Harrison, posted a video saying this at the festival along with some writings that went into the accusations that he is an “industry plant,” or rather, an artist who purports independent success while having considerable industry support from major labels, marketing agencies, and the like.

• READ MORE: Judge dismisses Behringer’s patent lawsuit against Boss over tuning pedals
  

“The amount of hate and disbelief around me from strangers on the internet or bitter musicians really weighs on my heart,” Harrison writes. “All I’ve been trying to do for the past 10 years is spread love, build something I believe in and unify people in a safe space.”

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Blunt Magazine examined the accusations that Harrison is an industry plant, concluding they were not true:

“Yungblud is not an industry plant. He has had real industry backing, including label support and experienced management, but having a team is not the same thing as hidden manufacture,” article author Joel King writes. “The public record shows years of releases, touring, fan-building, alternative scenes and visible development before the Ozzy, Grammy and BLUDFEST moments made him unavoidable.”

“In the past 10 years I’ve been on a million different journeys, tried a million different sounds trying to figure out who I am or what I can mean to the world every day whilst the world shouts back,” Harrison writes in another portion of his post.

In the wake of his confession, many big artists have come to Harrison’s defence. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian specifically praised Harrison’s performance at Back to the Beginning, Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. Many haters used that booking as an example of Harrison being an industry plant.

“I stood side stage at BTTB and watched you breathe rarified air the way you elevated ‘Changes,’” Ian says. “You’ve earned it all, Dom. Cheers, brother.”

Titanic hip-hop/R&B vocalist SZA chimed in as well with a brief comment on the post: “Rooting for you.”

The post Yungblud shares an emotional response to accusations that he is an “industry plant” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Boutique acoustic builder Bourgeois Guitars is growing its more affordable Downeast Series with two new additions: the Hogtop 0014 and Soloist OMCE.

Designed to offer a taste of the company’s signature tone and craftsmanship at a lower price tag, the new models join a growing lineup aimed at making the Bourgeois name more accessible to working musicians.

• READ MORE: This nylon electro-acoustic guitar is designed for “crossover musicians” seeking classical tone with “modern playability”

The two newcomers both centre around the Orchestra Model body shape, but each takes a different tonal approach.

The Hogtop 0014 is an all-mahogany OM designed for players who favour fingerstyle and light strumming. Bourgeois says its “unique voicing method” helps draw out the wood’s naturally warm tonal character, producing singing trebles, balanced bass and a surprisingly full voice from its compact body.

The Soloist OMCE, meanwhile, is a modern take on one of the company’s most influential designs. It pairs Indian rosewood back and sides with an Aged Tone torrefied Sitka spruce top, adding Bourgeois’ soft cutaway for easier upper-fret access. The result, according to the company, is an acoustic with plenty of “clarity, balance and projection” that’s equally at home in the studio or on stage.

Both models feature long-scale 14-fret necks, ebony fingerboards and bridges, as well as Der Jung tuners. The Soloist OMCE is finished with Abalone Slotted Squares & Diamond inlays, while the Hogtop 0014 sports Mother of Pearl Vintage Style Dot inlays.

“The Downeast Series enables us to introduce our signature high-fidelity sound to a new set of players, some of whom may be familiar with our name though not with our guitars,” says Bourgeois Guitars founder Dana Bourgeois. “We’re greatly encouraged by players’ initial reception to the series and look forward to expanding these offerings.”

Like every guitar in the Downeast Series, both instruments are built to Dana Bourgeois’ exacting standards and hand-voiced under the guidance of Bourgeois and Master Luthier James Witkus to deliver the balance, clarity and responsiveness the brand is known for.

Prices for the Hogtop 0014 begin at $2,379, while the Soloist OMCE starts at $2,579. Both are available now through Bourgeois authorised dealers across North America, with Europe, Asia, and Australia set to follow later this summer and early fall.

Learn more at Bourgeois Guitars.

The post Bourgeois adds two new acoustics to its Downeast Series – meet the Hogtop 0014 and Soloist OMCE appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Mastodon have shared a new video reflecting on the loss of co-founding guitarist Brent Hinds, revealing they always believed the band would eventually reconcile before his death.

Hinds departed Mastodon in March 2025 after 25 years with the band. Five months later, he died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 51. Since then, the band has continued with touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who is also expected to appear on Mastodon’s upcoming studio album.

• READ MORE: Hear one of the “last guitar solos” Brent Hinds recorded on Marcus King’s new track: “He managed to do 278 takes before landing on the one he liked best”

Titled The Mastodon in the Room, the 35-minute video sees Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor address Hinds’ departure and death publicly for the first time.

“As we enter a new chapter of Mastodon we want to do this the right way and talk about Brent,” the video’s description reads. “We’ve all seen the clips, headlines and speculations, but we haven’t told our story in our own words about our 25 year relationship.”

“It isn’t easy to talk about Brent, he was our family, someone we all loved wholeheartedly. He was a wild man, our wild man and that came with some challenges. Both things are true and we aren’t interested in chasing one truth over the other. Losing him has meant sitting with a type of grief we never expected. No more hugs, no more high fives, no more disagreements, no more making up. That part has been hard, it’s real.”

Opening the discussion, drummer Brann Dailor admits he initially wasn’t ready to speak publicly after Hinds’ death.

“I wasn’t ready to address it. I wasn’t ready to talk about it, I didn’t even know what happened,” he says. “And to the fans, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be more for them when that happened because I couldn’t for myself. I’m still unpacking it.”

The band also revisits some of its defining moments with Hinds, including the guitarist’s 2007 head injury after a drunken altercation that left him in a coma.

“We thought the band was over,” recalls Bill Kelliher.

But despite fearing the worst, Kelliher says Hinds returned with a fresh burst of creativity: “He was really fucked up for a long time… But then there was the other side of the coin where we got back home and actually went to go see him and he was playing acoustic guitar a lot. He was like, ‘I wrote all these songs’… Then Crack the Skye happened.”

The conversation then turns to Hinds’ final years in Mastodon, with the trio describing increasing struggles with alcohol, declining morale and increasingly inconsistent live performances.

“I could see the disconnect happening and the enthusiasm getting less and less, overall camaraderie as a four-piece dwindling,” Sanders says. “It became quite obvious at the time, the onstage energy would just be hit or miss.”

According to Sanders, those issues reached a breaking point during the Hushed and Grim era.

“It has always been ups and downs for the 25 years of our band, but I think it was at its peak unfortunately during these past five years.”

He says the band repeatedly tried to address the situation through sober, face-to-face conversations before ultimately concluding nothing was changing.

“We knew in our hearts that this was never going to change. I cannot tell you how many heart-to-hearts that the three of us had, daytime, sober, as a four-piece, pleading to someone that you’ve been with for the bulk of your life to listen to us. It got to the point where the shows were declining in the live environment, and we were exhausted, exhausted at throwing all this love at something that straight up was not listening or not caring.”

Kelliher adds, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link. The three of us could be out there practicing all day and rehearsing and we’d go out there, and we would rely on him, and it was killing us, killing all of us.”

Sanders also recalls the last time the four founding members were together. During a band meeting, he read a letter outlining his concerns with the band’s future, but Hinds stood up and walked out before he had finished.

“And that’s the last time I ever saw him again,” Sanders says.

He adds that he’d believed at the time there would eventually be a chance to make things right.

“I thought there’d be that turnaround where we’d meet, apologise, hug and say, ‘I love you.’ I didn’t know when, but I knew it would happen. And I was fucking wrong.”

“We all thought that,” says Dailor.

Watch The Mastodon in the Room in full below.

The post Mastodon reflect on Brent Hinds’ death in candid new video: “I thought there’d be that turnaround where we’d meet, apologise, hug and say, ‘I love you’” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The humble guitar tremolo doesn’t get reinvented very often. But that’s exactly what hardware specialists Babicz and Gotoh are hoping to do with the new FCH510G.

The new tremolo system pairs Babicz’s patented Full Contact Hardware saddle design with Gotoh’s highly regarded 510 tremolo, promising what the companies describe as “exceptional tuning stability, tonal enhancement, and unmatched playability”.

Designed with precision engineering and premium materials, the FCH510G brings together two well-established pieces of guitar hardware into a single system, with each company contributing the technology it’s best known for.

• READ MORE: The best acoustic and electric guitar strings for folk, rock, pop and more

Gotoh contributes its acclaimed 510 tremolo, prized for its clean, ergonomic design, dependable stability and substantial tremolo block, which is designed to increase sustain and resonance for a fuller, more dynamic sound.

Babicz, meanwhile, brings its patented Full Contact Hardware saddles, which replace traditional two-point saddle height adjustment with a cam-based mechanism that maintains complete contact with the bridge plate.

According to the companies, that full-contact design maximises the transfer of string vibration into the guitar body, resulting in “longer sustain, fuller note bloom, and more consistent resonance across all strings”.

The stable saddle design is also said to eliminate unwanted movement, leading to a tighter low end, clearer note definition, and a balanced feel across the fretboard.

The redesign isn’t just about tone, either. Babicz’s eCAM system allows smooth, precise height adjustments without relying on traditional screws, simplifying setup while reducing wear over time.

Combined with the Gotoh 510, the result is a tremolo aimed at players looking for modern performance upgrades without sacrificing classic styling.

The FCH510G is available to pre-order now for $349.

Learn more at Full Contact Hardware.

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Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has shared a new health update, revealing that he now regularly uses a wheelchair for longer distances as he “can’t walk very far without needing to rest”.

In a heartfelt post shared on Instagram, the 78-year-old drummer explains that he has been using a wheelchair for around 18 months, particularly when travelling through airports or attending public events.

• READ MORE: The time Black Sabbath recorded in the same room as the Eagles and found one of the consoles faders “so clogged with cocaine it wouldn’t move”

“Dear friends, fans, families, and people I’ve not met yet, I’m announcing today somewhat sadly but nonetheless truthfully, that I’ve reached a place where publicly more and more I need to use a wheelchair, mostly in airports, or public events,” Ward begins.

“I can still walk, let there be no doubt, but I can’t walk very far without needing to rest, meaning I need to sit down. We started using the wheelchair about 18 months ago, mostly in airports. I became 78 years old on May 5th 2026. I was a long distance walker, I’ve walked in many different parts of the world, and I’m still a drummer.”

Ward says the decision to speak openly about it was motivated by a desire for transparency, while also addressing assumptions people often make when they see someone using a wheelchair.

“I’m just saying if you see me in a wheelchair, I’m just catching a ride, I’m not in retirement or ill or giving up, or any of those thoughts that ignite when we see people in wheelchairs.”

Despite the change, Ward stresses that little has changed where it matters most.

“I can still play pretty good for 78-year-old,” he says. “My talents and ambitions, and my unyielding need to be artful, and to play drums, is still as strong as it was so many years ago now.”

Ward also encourages fans not to hesitate if they happen to spot him while travelling.

“I’m making myself public and transparent about my new transport, and letting you know I’m OK,” says the musician. “If you see me in the airports or visiting friends in the music arenas or theatres say hi, I don’t bite, I’ll just look different, as pictured here. Much love to you all and I’ll keep rocking until I’m dead.”
Fans have since flooded the comments with messages of support.

“Forever my drumming hero,” wrote one, while another added, “No worries mate! Does not change how we look at you, one bit! Only love and respect!” A third summed up the sentiment shared by many: “You’ll always walk tall Bill. No need to explain. You’ve earned that ride.”

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If you thought Foreign Tongues might signal The Rolling Stones easing into retirement, Keith Richards has news for you.

Speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the guitarist reveals that producer Andrew Watt may already have his sights set on another Stones record, saying the band has found a renewed creative spark since teaming up with the Grammy-winning producer on Hackney Diamonds.

• READ MORE: “We worked very meticulously, with a little hit here and there”: How “working under the influence” was part of life for the Rolling Stones

After nearly two decades without a studio album, Richards credits Watt as a major reason the Stones have enjoyed such a prolific spell.

“I’m very glad that we met Andrew when we did because he knows so much about The Stones that I’ve forgotten,” says the 82-year-old musician. “And his enthusiasm for it, you can’t beat it, it’s great fun to work with.”

That enthusiasm, Richards explains, is also why Foreign Tongues exists in the first place.

“Really the only reason we have Foreign Tongues out is because we did so much work on Hackney Diamonds that Andrew and I both looked at it and somehow this is really a double album except, we’ll just give it a year or two of a break.”

“Before I think it was eighteen years between studio records, which was kind of stretching it a bit,” Richards adds. “But he’s probably got ideas for a third album already…”

The renewed momentum wasn’t lost on the rest of the band either. Ronnie Wood says the sessions were fuelled by spontaneity, with songs quickly taking shape once the members brought in a basic idea.

Asked what made the album’s making so “fun”, Wood replies: “I suppose the element of interaction and spontaneity. Spontaneity is the operative word here because we get the basic idea of a song. So Mick had an idea or something and said, come in the other room, let’s routine it, right? And so I get the basic structure. And then everyone else had their own idea of the basic structure. As long as it came back to that, it’s fine. You could do anything you wanted then.”

Richards sums up the atmosphere even more simply, saying, “The only thing you’re fighting is the room and the song, you’re okay as long as you’re not fighting each other. It was fun to make.”

Whether Foreign Tongues ends up being the Stones’ final album remains to be seen. Mick Jagger admits he thought Hackney Diamonds might have been the band’s last, before plans unexpectedly changed and another record came together.

Richards, however, sounds more than ready to keep going.

“I have no problem with that. Anytime the whistle blows, I’m there. I’m up for it. Always got a few songs in the bag and I’m sure Mick does, he never stops.”

Watch the full interview below.

The post Keith Richards says Andrew Watt may already be planning another Rolling Stones album: “He knows so much about The Stones that I’ve forgotten” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Behringer’s lawsuit against Boss, claiming that a polyphonic tuner found within Boss multi-effects is a “knock-off” of the TC Electronic Polytune, has been dismissed on the grounds of the ineligibility of the original patent, which was found to be too abstract.

• READ MORE: Behringer takes Boss to court over alleged patent infringement

Behringer and TC Electronic’s parent company Empower Tribe had brought the suit against Boss parent company Roland last year, alleging that the polyphonic tuning mode in Boss’ GT‑1000, GT‑1000CORE, GX‑100, and GX‑10 multi-effects pedals infringed on its patent for the system used in the TC Electronic PolyTune.

In response, Boss filed a motion to dismiss, mostly on the basis that Behringer’s patent does not actually demonstrate the required “inventive concept”. Under US patent law, you can’t patent abstract concepts or physical phenomena, nor can you simply apply existing hardware to a generic problem and patent the application. Behringer’s defence of the PolyTune’s patent stated that, although it used “generic computer components”, the “inventive concept” was found in the “non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces” – specifically in creating a mode-dependent display for a user-selectable two-mode monophonic/polyphonic tuner.

However, the court sided with Boss, and its  motion to dismiss has now been granted, and the case has been dismissed with prejudice. (This doesn’t bar Behringer from attempting to re-open the case, but it will have to find a different argument if it wants to do so). The court’s decision was that “nothing in the claim limitations, considered individually and together as a whole, is sufficient to transform the [Empower/Behringer’s] Asserted Claims into a patent-eligible invention”, and Boss was successful in arguing that these claims “only describe generic computer components”.

The judge also found that it would be “futile” to grant the plaintiffs leave to amend their arguments, as patent ineligibility is “a defect that cannot be cured by amendment” – meaning Behringer does not get the chance to immediately re-assert this case, as the patent underlying its suit is not enforceable. While Behringer may still technically hold the patent for now, it’s unlikely it will ever be able to use it in a similar case, given the precedent set here.

The dismissal marks a relatively major loss for Behringer, which had already courted controversy by filing the suit in the first place. Many in the wider gear community were quick to point to Behringer’s controversial approach to trade dress. Recently this includes a legal clash with Klon, LLC, over Behringer’s Klon Centaur copy that almost directly replicated the pedal’s artwork, and shared its name. Behringer subsequently changed the name of its pedal from “Centaur” to “Zentara”, along with a number of visual design elements. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.

This is also not the first time Boss and Behringer have clashed in the courts – Boss sued Behringer in 2005 over the appearance of many of its effects pedals. The suit was ultimately settled under confidential terms.

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