Norse Guitar Feeds

May 29, 2026 Since last week’s Update was mostly a personal journal of the recent weeks I thought today I would answer some recent questions from students and the TG Community. The topic of the day was intervals, starting with fourths and how the guitar strings can help you remember the major chords in a […]

The post Totally Guitars Weekly Update May 29, 2026 appeared first on On The Beat with Totally Guitars.



This week’s podcast guest is Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Darryl Rahn.

Rahn recounts a fateful day in the 5th grade that convinced him to take up guitar, his tips for using a pickup on an acoustic, the gear he used on his new album (Darryl, out now), and more.

https://www.instagram.com/darrylrahnmusic/?hl=en

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

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

The post Podcast 552: Darryl Rahn first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Musician Brad Barr joins us this week to share the story of the Barr Brothers’ 2025 album, Let It Hiss, and talk guitar.

Brad’s guitar playing is uniquely shaped by world music sounds. For years now, Brad has been using a simple but effective trick to make drone/violin sounds on his guitar: Tie a piece of sewing thread on a guitar string near the bridge. The effect, inspired by the playing of Romanian violinist Nicolae Neascu of Taraf de Haidouks, is hauntingly beautiful.

He explains how he came about with the technique and where he wants to take it. We also chat about his 1951 Gibson J-45, the musicians from Mali who inspired him, and so much more.

https://thebarrbrothers.com
https://www.instagram.com/thebarrbrothers

Join us at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago for three days of guitar demos, concerts, workshops and podcast tapings with some of our favorite artists: https://fretboardsummit.org

This year’s Summit has over 80 luthiers and brands showcasing their new and prototype gear!

Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal’s quarterly print magazine: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com
(Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

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

The post Podcast 551: Brad Barr first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Fender’s legal campaign over the copyright of the Stratocaster body shape shows no sign of reaching a resolution, though the brand is revealing more about their perspective on the situation.

• READ MORE: Gibson denied opportunity to appeal court ruling that its ES body shape is generic

Today, Fender has released to Guitar.com legal correspondence between itself and another guitar brand that references the social media storm caused by these legal threats becoming public, and claims that this has led to “misunderstandings” that it seeks to clear up.

Fender releasing the correspondence comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article yesterday that – in addition to reporting much of what Guitar.com has already revealed about the situation – broke the news that PRS has also been sent a cease and desist letter.

PRS, of course, is the maker of the Silver Sky – the John Mayer signature model that is heavily inspired by the Strat, and has the distinction of even outselling Fender’s original on Reverb in recent years.

PRS wouldn’t comment in detail about the letter, only telling the WSJ that, “The company said it disagrees with Fender’s assessment and declined to comment further.”

PRS joins LsL as the only two brands to confirm publicly that they have been sent these cease and desist letters – but Guitar.com can reveal that at least one other global major guitar brand has been sent one. We cannot name the brand for confidentiality reasons, but we can share that the brand in question has rebuffed Fender’s demands via its own lawyers.

Is it all a big misunderstanding? 

In the correspondence that Fender released to us, which closely mirrors the document we reported on earlier this week, the brand makes it clear that they are aware of the huge social media backlash that has accompanied this story.

“These letters have triggered a substantial echo, not only from its addressees and their lawyers, but also from the media and on social media,” it reads. “From these reactions, we took that apparently there have been a lot of misunderstandings about the nature and the scope of the matter.”

The letter goes on to say that they hope the rest of the text “will clarify many aspects and will help to avoid further or continued misconceptions.”

While the letter goes on to challenge various aspects of Fender history and legal precedent raised in the original letter sent to them, the brand’s lawyers speak more generally about the perception of their actions in the wider guitar community.

“In particular, we would like to make it clear to everyone that Fender does not object to double cutaway or two horned electric guitar bodies,” it reads. “But only to such electric guitar bodies which are close copies of the design of the iconic “Fender Stratocaster.” Everybody is welcome and will be able to continue making and selling double cutaway and/or two horned electric guitars, as long as they are designed sufficiently different from the “Fender Stratocaster”.

LsL speak out 

While Fender is trying to get its side of the story across to the guitar community, the first brand who spoke out about the cease and desists, LsL Instruments, have also released a statement to Guitar.com relating to the outpouring of support they’ve received in the week or so since they launched a GoFundMe to help cover legal costs.

“We want to thank everyone in the guitar community for their support and help as we navigate such a massive situation with such massive implications,” said LsL’s Johny Miller.

“We’re not champions here. We’re just a small shop full of good people that build the best guitar we possibly can for the great people that will own and play them for a lifetime (we hope). Please continue to support us by sharing our Go Fund Me and please do know that every build counts. We are sincerely grateful for every order. Every build helps us stay afloat.

“The story of boutique guitars needs to be told. It has been presented and well received over the last few decades, but we intend to tell the whole story in the true positive light it deserves.

Most of us know each other. This community is tighter knit than most realise and there is a kindness that flows from one of us to the next. A boutique bond if you will. We plan to come together, in a most respectful and responsible manner, to help you all understand why this niche corner of the guitar world is so very special and worth protecting.”

Miller confirmed that he has begun working with other boutique builders to better tell the story of the community, and will be publishing it on his blog in the coming months, because, as he puts it, “unity always prevails”.

Fender’s own communication implies that a significant number of brands have been sent these cease and desist letters. According to Fender’s lawyers, some are opting to enter into “reasonable settlement discussions” rather than push back – it remains to be seen if the unity Miller speaks of will have any substance on this particular situation.

The post Fender claims social media has led to “a lot of misunderstandings about the nature and the scope” of their cease and desist blitz… as PRS confirms they were one of the brands affected appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Sometimes, experimental music demands an experimental instrument – and that’s exactly why Tosin Abasi founded his own guitar brand, Abasi Concepts, in 2017. Nearly a decade on, the Animals As Leaders’ frontman is continuing to reimagine the guitar in bold, innovative new ways.

Just last year, Abasi collaborated with Ernie Ball Music Man to create the quirky Kaizen guitar. It came as his latest stand against the tired, conventional guitar blueprint many brands continue to follow. “The guitar space is really interesting, because the most iconic instruments have been kind of crystallised since the ’60s,” Abasi says in a new interview with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto.

• READ MORE: Fender celebrates 75 years of the P-Bass with the 75th Anniversary Precision Bass Collection

With Fender celebrating 75 years of the Telecaster and 70 years of the Strat, it’s wild to consider just how much the guitar world has advanced since the dawn of those now-iconic axes. However, Abasi notes that artists often seem to bind themselves to traditional guitars, rather than pushing for newer designs. “It’s a strange argument because a lot of guitar players get in their mind, like, ‘Oh, well, Jimmy Page was fine with that,’” the prog-metal frontman notes.

In Abasi’s mind, sticking to a Jimmy Page-approved axe is like telling yourself “I guess I don’t need more fret access” or “I don’t need better balance”. But Abasi believes there’s always room for improvement.

In contrast to those sticking to traditions, the frontman has taken on the duty of pushing the guitar forward. With the help of Ernie Ball CEO Brian Ball, Abasi allowed to let his imagination run wild. “We thought it would be cool to try something novel as opposed to the traditional sort of signature thing,” he says. “It was an opportunity for me to make a Music Man that I felt didn’t exist.”

“It’s this very interesting balance of designing the guitar further to feel like you’re benefiting from the design without leaving behind the bones of what makes a guitar feel gratifying,” he goes on to explain.

The multi-scale Kaizen benefits from a slew of unique tweaks on a traditional axe. Firstly, the bass comes in at a standard 25.5” scale, while there’s a shorter 24.75” scale in terms of treble. Another perk is the super thin body, designed to mean it never “gets in your way”, as well as an Infinity Radius fretboard.

The improvements should show that the classic guitar formula certainly has the potential to be enhanced.“The Infinity Radius prevents the need to tilt the guitar [to get a full view of your fretboard],” Abasi says. “The strings fall a little bit more effortlessly where you want them.”

You can check out the Kaizen collection at Ernie Ball.

The post “The most iconic instruments have been kind of crystallised since the ’60s”: Animals As Leaders’ Tosin Abasi on why the traditional guitar blueprint deserves a revamp appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When you’re invited to support Metallica on tour, it’s a true cause for celebration – and even the band themselves seem to realise that. When Architects had the honour of opening for the iconic metallers on the 2023 and 2024 leg of the M72 World Tour, frontman Sam Carter reveals that Metallica gifted the band a celebratory cake to welcome them on tour.

Speaking on the The Jesea Lee Show, Carter reflects on how kind and welcoming Metallica were from the get-go. “Metallica really know how to treat bands… on the first day we got flowers, and we got a cake delivered by James Hetfield,” Carter recalls [via Blabbermouth].

• READ MORE: “It was just like my security blanket” Lamb Of God’s Mark Morton on his love affair with the Les Paul

However,  the bandmembers were also incredibly keen to bond with Architects across the tour. While touring with Metallica is a dream in and of itself, their kindness only made the experience more special. “Lars Ulrich was hanging out with us most days,” the singer says. “Hetfield would [also] come in and hang out with us… [it made us] feel like a million bucks.”

“After the shows, Metallica invited us for dinner every night and we would go to a closed off restaurant with them and eat in insane places,” he later explains. “They don’t need to do that! And they’re doing this [with] no cameras [around]. There’s nothing there. There’s no one following them around with a video camera…. It’s just their TM [tour manager] and them being like ‘Welcome to the tour. You need anything, we’ve got you.’”

The humility and eagerness to bond with support acts is something that Architects have really taken on board, and influenced how they treat their own support acts. “They really taught us to be on it with your supports – and we always are,” he explains. “We always try and make an effort and make sure everyone’s okay.”

Carter goes on to explain that Linkin Park are equally as welcoming to their support acts. Architects have supported the legendary nu-metal act throughout the From Zero tour across 2025 and 2026, and every day was a treat. “The first day, Linkin Park invited us into their dressing room, and Mike Shinoda’s texting me asking me to go and sing with them!” Carter says, smiling at the kindness. “And [Linkin Park and Metallica] are two of the biggest bands in the world!”

Metallica are set to hit the UK across June and July, and they have teamed up with blood services to promote donations. The initiative marks the first time the band have collaborated with UK blood services, working with the Welsh Blood Service alongside NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.

A spokesperson for the band says: “Wherever we go on tour, we want to give something meaningful back to the communities that welcome us. We’ve seen in the United States and Australia how working with blood services can help raise awareness of blood donation and support patients, and we’re excited to bring that same approach to the UK.”

“As we close out the European leg of the ‘M72 World Tour’ in the UK, we’re asking fans to step up and be part of something bigger than the show. Looking out for one another and supporting those who rely on donated blood every day is a simple act that can make a powerful difference.”

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The post “We got a cake delivered by James Hetfield”: Architects’ Sam Carter explains why Metallica are one of the kindest bands he’s toured with appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$3,399 / £3,399, martinguitar.com

In the guitar world we’re pretty used to seeing brands throw around all sorts of impressive-sounding adjectives to give their products added kudos – ultra, professional, max, deluxe and perhaps most commonly of all, ‘super’.

• READ MORE: Taylor Next Generation 324ce review: “this could easily be your forever acoustic”

Typically, those words are mainly there to catch our attention and signal that the thing in question is likely to cost a fair bit more than the original version, but now and then these modifiers are well-earned.

Take for example, the new for 2026 addition to Martin’s USA-made Standard series, the Super Dreadnought. This isn’t some sort of way of upselling you on some fancy new technology or a bunch of extra pearl – it’s a way of telling you that this is, quite literally, the biggest single-necked guitar Martin currently makes.

The Super D has been around for a few years now as part of the Custom Shop line-up, and has found a few famous fans along the way – notably Jason Isbell. But is bigger necessarily better? Well, there’s only one way to find out…

Martin Super D-18 – what is it?

Well, as the name suggests, it’s a dreadnought, but bigger! The dreadnought, famously, is about as big as most of us are used to seeing an acoustic guitar – but the Super doesn’t make it a little bit bigger.

The whole thing is roughly 13 per cent bigger overall, and has a monster 20 per cent more internal air volume (the ‘lungs’ of an acoustic instrument) than a regular Martin dread’. It does this by being around an inch wider than one (16.375 inches instead of 15.625 inches) and having a deeper body to boot.

The nut width, interestingly, is also a little bit wider than on a traditional acoustic too – it’s around 1.75 inches compared to the 1.68 inches you’d usually find on a Martin dreadnought. Otherwise, it’s every inch the classic Nazareth-made Martin guitar – spruce top, mahogany back, sides and neck, and an ebony bridge and fingerboard.

The idea that you’d ever need to plug this beast in seems rather fanciful, and so perhaps it’s unsurprising that Martin would spec this without any onboard electronics – just dig in and let this thing shout!

Martin Super D-18 – build quality and playability

You expect a certain level of fit and finish with Martin’s Standard series, and upon removing this guitar from its oversized hard case, it looks every bit the classic Nazareth 14-fret dread, just a bit bigger.

In truth, the extra body width serves to make the guitar look more balanced in the flesh. When you hear the specs, you half wonder if you’re going to end up playing something that’s more like a Mexican guitarrón than a traditional flat-top, but from a distance on a stand, it’s only the neck and headstock that hint that this is a bigger guitar than you might be used to.

Up close, there is an element of the minivan to it – this is a large guitar even by dreadnought standards, and that certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste. Happily, when you play it you don’t notice the difference too much – it’s there of course, but not so much that you feel like a little kid playing his dad’s guitar.

Combined with that wider nut-width, the neck is a little bigger than I’m used to feeling with modern Martins – it feels more like the pre-1960s necks the company used to make, and probably confirms my suspicions that it intends this primarily as a big, booming strummer first and foremost.

Despite the extra size, it’s comfortable playing for long periods both seated and standing, and I didn’t notice anything digging into me more than usual after a long playing session.

Martin Super D-18 – sounds

I’ve played an awful lot of acoustic guitars in my time – and a lot of Martin dreadnoughts with it – but even so, strumming the Super D-18 for the first time was an experience. Such is the power and projection on tap, it almost overwhelms you with how much bass response is available – and this isn’t boomy or baritone-like, it has all the same low-end frequencies you’d expect from a regular dreadnought, but much louder and fuller than I’m used to.

It also gives chords better definition than I was expecting – and I really noticed that the high B and E strings cut through much louder. There is a bit of a trade-off to this, as when you’re really strumming and digging in the D and G strings can get a little lost, but if you back off a touch it’s all much more balanced, but with that same definition.

I realised that while the temptation is to play this thing as loud as you can, part of the reason for this extra power is to enable you to play a little softer and more evenly, and still get all the volume, punch and power you’d expect.

It’s also a guitar that responds very well to fingerstyle picking, and plucking the bass notes with your thumb truly makes this guitar sing. I can honestly say that I’ve never heard or played another acoustic guitar that sounds like this, offering such force and power without dominating every frequency.

That being said, good gracious it’s loud – it might look like something a soccer mom would use to ferry the kids around, but inside roars the motor of a big block Corvette. If you take the Super D-18 to a party, jam session or open-mic night, make sure you bring a soundhole plug or you might be asked to leave – that’s how strident and domineering this thing can be if you’re not careful.

Martin Super D-18 – should I buy one?

There are plenty of people who will take one look at the Super D-18 and wonder why Martin even bothered – after all, the Martin dreadnought is about as close to sonic perfection as it gets for an acoustic guitar.

And you’re not wrong, but what’s the harm in adding another fun club into the bag? If you’re a player who gravitates toward bigger, fuller, unique and alternative stringed instruments, like me, then this is a wonderfully interesting and enjoyable experience.

Purists might not appreciate this model as it is taking a proven historical shape guitar and altering the size, bracing and neck size, but if we’re going to keep moving the acoustic guitar forward, we have to try these things!

It’s hard to fully explain how much fun this guitar is, the physical experience of this thing rattling your ribs and bouncing off the walls is something that you really have to be in the room to experience. And once you have, you might never want to go back to that teeny ol’ dreadnought again.

Martin Super D-18 – alternatives

Martin’s D-18 Standard ($2,999 / £3,149) is plenty of power and projection for most people. If you want an alternative big body that isn’t quite as big, the Gibson SJ-200 Standard ($5,699 / £5,499) is a whole lot of spruce and maple, while Taylor’s Gold Label 517e ($2,799 / £2,549) is a bigger than average flat-top from the brand’s more retro-focused range.

The post Martin Super D-18 review: it’s hard to fully explain how much fun this guitar is appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.



Working out of his solo shop in Quebec, Thierry André is a builder of truly one-of-a-kind instruments.

For episode 114 of the podcast, Thierry dives into his design process and explains why he believes every instrument should include an element of danger and surprise. We also talk about his formative time apprenticing with Fred Carlson and much more.

GoFundMe to help Thierry Andre beat cancer: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thierry-andre-beat-cancer

Links: https://www.thierryandre.com

https://www.instagram.com/thierryandre.studio/

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Thierry Andre first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Heritage Guitars has expanded its American-crafted Standard II Collection with a new, straight-talking, single-pickup solidbody electric guitar, the H-137.

Crafted at the iconic 225 Parsons Street factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the new Standard II Collection H-137 sports a mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard, plus a single-pickup configuration which maximises wood mass for enhanced resonance.

The pickup in that bridge position is a Heritage Custom Shop 225 Standard Humbucker, built with a 2.5” rough-cast Alnico 5 magnet with no cover, offering up “articulate cleans and a more open, punchy, and dynamically responsive overdrive”, the brand says.

• READ MORE: “A compelling entry into the world of American-crafted archtops”: Heritage updates its Standard II Collection with new H-575 model

This pickup boasts a wide tonal palette, with versatile wiring providing series/parallel switching via a push/pull tone pot.

Elsewhere, the guitar features a slim, comfortable ‘60s neck profile inspired by the feel of vintage guitars, plus a headstock veneer featuring the Heritage logo for an elevated experience.

“We’ve been incredibly inspired and encouraged by the response to the new Standard II Collection,” says Gerald Hooper, AVP of Channel Sales at Heritage.

“The Custom Shop Core Collection is really the best of what we build at 225 Parsons Street, guitars that reflect the craftsmanship and character Heritage is known for.

“With the Standard II Collection, we wanted to make a few thoughtful updates for modern players while staying true to our American-made craftsmanship. The new H-137 is a great example of that approach. It is stripped back, resonant, full of attitude, and built to let the work we do at 225 Parsons Street speak for itself.”

Price-wise, the Standard II Collection H-137 clocks in at $1,899, and is available in Ebony and 3-Tone Sunburst via Heritage Guitars and from select authorised Heritage dealers.

Learn more at Heritage Guitars.

The post “Stripped-back, resonant and full of attitude”: Heritage expands its Standard II Collection with the single-pickup H-137 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Last week, shockwaves were sent through the guitar industry when it was claimed that a German law firm working on behalf of Fender had sent cease and desist letters to other builders demanding they stop making Stratocaster-style guitars.

At the forefront of the discussion has been US boutique maker LsL Instruments, the only brand to have currently gone public to confirm it has allegedly received the letter from Fender’s lawyers.

LsL publicly pledged to resist Fender’s alleged attempt to make them stop producing Strat-bodied guitars, and now Guitar.com has seen what is claimed to be the brand’s formal response to Fender’s lawyers, and also a letter that appears to be a response from them.

The letters – which have been widely reported online – appear to firmly lay out both sides of this alleged argument, and offer some wider context for what might happen next.

What kicked all this off? 

If the original Fender cease and desist letter is legitimate, this chain of events was started when Fender won a default ruling against Chinese-based company Yiwu Philharmonic Musical Instruments Co in the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany.

The win was significant because it defined under EU law that the Stratocaster body shape was not simply a trademark, but a “copyrighted work of applied art”, that could be policed like any other copyright.

The default judgement – which came after Yiwu failed to turn up to court – only covers guitars made or sold in the EU, but given that LsL is a US-based brand, the alleged C&D would imply that Fender is attempting to enforce the ruling on any maker that sells instruments inside the European Union.

The letter, which Guitar.com has been unable to independently verify as legitimate, demanded that LsL stopped producing Strat-bodied guitars, to hand over sales data regarding these instruments, to recall and destroy any infringing instruments, and pay damages. The letter also offered concessions on some of these points if the recipient agreed to stop making the guitars.

What’s happened now?

LsL was the only company to publicly claim they’d received the letter, and in a statement to Guitar.com as well as posts on a blog, they vowed to fight back against Fender’s alleged attempt to enforce this ruling, and set up a GoFundMe to help with legal costs.

On Tuesday, (26 May) LsL Instruments issued a scathing and in-depth riposte to Fender’s alleged letter – refuting both the substance of Fender’s claims, as well as the legitimacy of their actions.

Notably, the letter was authored by Ron Bienstock – the US lawyer who has been involved in numerous guitar industry trademark cases over the years, most notably representing the consortium of brands that successfully lobbied against Fender’s attempt to trademark the Strat, Tele and P-Bass body shapes in 2009.

Furthermore, Guitar.com has now also seen a copy of a letter allegedly from Fender’s lawyers – now reported extensively online – that pushes back on much of what Bienstock wrote in his 16-page response.

What does LsL’s letter claim?

Bienstock’s response on behalf of LsL is as detailed as you’d expect from someone who has huge experience litigating trademark cases in the music industry – and especially his experience of successfully arguing for the generic nature of the Strat, Tele and P-Bass body shapes 17 years ago.

A core plank of Bienstock’s argument is that the default ruling against Yiwu Philharmonic in the Düsseldorf Regional Court does not bind LsL, which is based in California and as such is not directly subject to German law.

The letter also claims that in order to secure the default judgement, Fender “misrepresented” the history of the Stratocaster’s design to the court, and the role that Leo Fender played in the creation of the instrument.

The letter alleges that Fender “invented” the story that Leo Fender was the “sole author” of the Stratocaster design, and that “there were at least four additional collaborators in the design”. Furthermore, the letter alleges that Leo Fender’s famously utilitarian and practical approach to functional design means that the guitar can’t be considered a work of applied art.

“This collaboration is well-documented, as is Leo Fender’s infamous attention to function, manufacturability, and repairability, but not aesthetic design,” the letter goes on. “FMIC’s own Justin Norvell, President, Americas, has even acknowledged Leo Fender’s now infamous quote, ‘If I have $100 to make a product, I’ll spend $99 making it work and $1 making it pretty.’”

As such, LsL asserts that Leo Fender was “a technician who admired function and ease of manufacturing; he was not an artist.” Because of this, plus the fact the Stratocaster had meaningful design contributions from “Fred Tavares, Bill Carson, Rex Gallion and George Fullerton, among others”, LsL says “the facts do not fit the necessary narrative to achieve [Fender’s] goal of obtaining a copyright for a portion of a guitar in any jurisdiction”.

Bienstock also alleges that Fender was negligent in policing its own trademarks for decades, leading to many other brands to utilise and evolve the design.

“Regardless of whether [Fender] ever gained intellectual property rights to the Strat body shape,” Bienstock asserts. “It certainly cannot now claim after the reproduction, distribution and communication to the public by hundreds of guitar companies by their use of that same body shape for over 70 years that any exclusivity can be had as to the alleged “applied art” of the Strat body shape,” it says.

“[Fender] has forfeited its claims of ownership of any intellectual property rights via express abandonment, acquiescence, and passivity.”

He also claims that other brands have played a big part in making the Strat an iconic design – noting the use of the shape on non-Fender guitars being used by legendary artists. It also notes that after he sold Fender and its designs to CBS, Leo Fender himself continued to make instruments using the Strat body at Music Man and G&L.

“Competitive guitars were ubiquitously displayed on television, in movies, on the internet and were being played by some of the most influential musicians of all time, such as Eddie Van Halen, who played a Charvel Strat-style guitar and later a Kramer Strat-style guitar. Thus, the Strat shape grew in popularity among the general buying public,” Bienstock claims.

What has Fender said in response?

For the first time since this story broke a week ago, Fender has publicly acknowledged the situation. In a statement to Guitar World, the brand’s position and ultimate goal in this case has been clarified.

“Fender fully supports innovation and competition across the guitar industry, including such guitars with two horns and/or double cutaways,” the statement reads.

“Fender’s goal is simply to protect one of the company’s most iconic and recognisable designs while continuing to support a vibrant and innovative guitar industry.”

Separately, Guitar.com has also obtained a response letter that appears to be from Fender’s lawyers to LsL’s most recent communication.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the letter disagrees that Fender misled the Düsseldorf court regarding the history of the Strat, noting that they, “took great care in making sure that all our factual representations in our action were accurate”.

“The Court of Düsseldorf then formed its view on whether the Stratocaster qualifies as a ‘work of applied art’ under the circumstances put forward by us in our action. The panel which handed down this judgement is probably the most experienced panel in questions of ‘works of applied art’ in Germany at the moment, and arguably also in all of Europe.”

While defending the legitimacy and robustness of the ruling and their right to seek to enforce this on LsL and other brands, the letter appears to also lay out the detail of what Fender allegedly wants these builders to do in order to stave off further legal action.

“All that is required and expected from third-party manufacturers of Stratocaster clones is that they change the design of their electric guitars sufficiently so that they do not look like more or less exact copies of the Stratocaster anymore,” it reads.

“We think that this should be acceptable for everyone, as it should not impair the quality of their instruments, but would only require relatively minor design changes.”

Perhaps the most interesting and potentially impactful part of the alleged letter is a claim that while LsL have obviously taken the route of loudly and publicly pushing back against the apparent cease and desist letter, other brands have taken another route.

“Many of the addressees of that initial communication have reached out to us in the meantime, often via their German lawyers, and have entered into reasonable settlement discussions on the premise that they will discontinue making and/or selling the “Stratocaster” clones,” it reads. “This proves that there is not a unanimous refusal from all third parties, but indeed also a great deal of understanding for our client, which however of course is not covered in the media, on social media and in the discussions between the various makers.”

So what happens next? 

In the alleged response from Fender’s lawyers, it is claimed that the company has extended the deadline for brands to agree to its terms to 8 June 2026.

Judging by the content of their initial response, it doesn’t seem like LsL is inclined to settle any time soon:

“We hereby demand that you withdraw the entirety of your claims as stated in Your Letter,” Bienstock writes. “Our client has every right to continue to sell its guitars with Strat-style guitar bodies, whenever and wherever it so chooses, as does the entire MI industry on a worldwide basis.

“Efforts by Your Client to bully competitors based on misrepresentations and overstatements are anti-competitive. If Your Client continues to pursue these matters, Our Client will, of course, seek all available remedies, including all attorneys’ fees and costs.”

Fender declined to comment further on this case when Guitar.com reached out.

The post “Leo Fender was a technician who admired function and ease of manufacturing; he was not an artist”: LSL Instruments and Fender trade barbs in legal letters appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Mesa/Boogie has launched What Makes a Boogie, a new video series exploring the “story, spirit and craftsmanship” of the iconic guitar amp brand.

“For more than 40 years, every MESA/Boogie amplifier and cabinet has been handcrafted in Petaluma, California, where the company has operated since 1980,” the brand says. 

“This commitment to craft remains central to the brand’s identity and will be celebrated throughout the What Makes a Boogie series, which highlights MESA/Boogie’s most iconic products and its ongoing design leadership.”

• READ MORE: This Custom Amp Configurator from Sweetwater and Mesa Boogie lets you design the amp of your wildest dreams

The first episode in the series – available to watch now on YouTube – is titled History & Legacy, and features a rare and historical interview with Doug West, 43-year Mesa/Boogie veteran and Director of its Tone Lab.

“Drawing on decades of first-hand experience, West traces the company’s journey from its late-1960s experimental roots to the groundbreaking amplifier designs that helped define the modern electric guitar sound – all crafted in Petaluma, California,” the brand writes.

“This opening episode offers a compelling, insider perspective on the brand’s evolution and enduring influence.”

The first episode in the series also illuminates Mesa/Boogie’s “culture of experimentation, originality and tone-first thinking”.

You can watch the first episode of the What Makes a Boogie series, History & Legacy, below:

“More than a retrospective, What Makes a Boogie looks ahead – showing how the brand’s next chapter is being shaped by the team that has carried its standards forward for decades, many of whom have worked at the company for over 30+ years,” the company goes on. 

“The series celebrates the people and ideas behind Mesa/Boogie’s legacy while spotlighting the innovation and craftsmanship that continue to inspire musicians worldwide.”

Mesa/Boogie is the guitar brand behind some of the most iconic guitar amps in history, and has particularly found a home in the world of rock and metal. The Dual Rectifier, for example, introduced in the early ‘90s, quickly became one of the most defining high-gain amps of its era, and was adopted by legions of high-profile rock and metal players.

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Cort has expanded its Core Series acoustic guitar lineup with two new models that combine all-solid construction and stage-ready electronics in a streamlined, performance-focused platform.

Featuring semi-gloss, UV-cured finishes and a selection of exotic tonewoods, the expanded range introduces the new Core-GA Formosan koa and Core-OC Maple alongside the previously released Core-MC Ovangkol.

• READ MORE: “He goes, ‘Well, I didn’t realise you were gonna sweat on my guitar’”: Jared James Nichols thinks people have “lost the plot” over vintage guitars

At the heart of the Core Series is an all-solid construction paired with hand-scalloped X-bracing and a dovetail neck joint at the 14th fret.

The new Core-GA Formosan koa pairs a solid spruce top with solid Formosan koa (Acacia Confusa) back and sides, delivering warm response and harmonic depth along with the resonance of a fully solid body. The guitar also features a mahogany neck with a Comfort C profile, paired with a 15.75” radius rosewood fingerboard and a 25.5” scale length.

The Core-OC Maple, meanwhile, pairs a solid spruce top with solid sycamore maple back and sides, delivering a bright, articulate voice with strong projection and dynamic response. Other key features include a hard maple neck with a Comfort C profile, a matching rosewood fingerboard, along with a 25.5” scale length.

Both models feature 20 frets and genuine bone nuts, with widths of 1 3/4” (45mm) on the GA and 1 11/16” (43mm) on the OM. Shared appointments include rosewood bridges, vintage open-gear tuning machines for smooth and precise operation, plus aged white ABS binding and black-and-aged white ABS rosettes. Venetian cutaways also enhance upper fret access on applicable models.

Designed for both studio and stage use, all Core Series models come equipped with Fishman Presys VT electronics that give a “clean acoustic signal”, alongside discreet side-mounted controls for volume and tone.

Each guitar is also finished with an ultra-thin “sonically enhanced UV finish” designed to preserve resonance while adding a vintage-inspired burst aesthetic.

Cort says the specifications are designed to “balance comfort and precision across different playing styles”, with neck construction and playability tailored to each model while maintaining a consistent overall feel.

Each guitar ships strung with Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Light strings (12–53) and includes a Cort gig bag.

The Cort Core Series acoustic guitars are available now, with the Core-GA Formosan koa priced at €739, the Core-OC Maple at €729, and the original Core-MC Ovangkol at €759.

For more information, visit Cort.

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Effects manufacturers DOD and Morley have teamed up on the Wah-ocTo-Fuzz, a new 3-in-1 pedal that combines wah, octave and fuzz into one gloriously unhinged box.

The device blends DOD’s classic 1986 FX35 Octoplus circuit with Morley’s famed wah and 70’s fuzz circuits. The result, says the team, is a pedal that “simply leaves players saying, ‘WTF!’”

• READ MORE: Sick of competitions that reward speed and chops? This one is all about playing in the pocket, and there’s $10,000 worth of prizes up for grabs

Designed for guitarists, bassists and keyboard players alike, the Wah-ocTo-Fuzz allows users to run each effect individually or stack all three together for maximum sonic destruction.

The octave section pulls directly from the DOD FX35 Octoplus, a classic analogue octave circuit that channels the “captivating, glitchy essence of the 80’s”. Players can tweak their sound using the Direct Level dial to control the dry signal output, the Tone Control to adjust the overall brightness, and the Octave Level to dictate the lower octave signal.

The wah section, meanwhile, features Morley’s classic Electro-Optical design and switchless operation, with the effect kicking in automatically the moment your foot hits the glow-in-the-dark treadle.

Finally, the fuzz circuit takes inspiration from Morley’s fuzz units of the 1970s, complete with an Intensity Level knob for the gain and a Fuzz Level dial for managing your overall signal.

Physically, the WTF pedal is housed inside a rugged and lightweight Cold-Rolled Steel chassis designed to survive life on a crowded pedalboard, while Morley’s onboard buffer circuit aims to “protect your tone from any mischief in your signal chain”.

Connectivity is straightforward, with standard ¼-inch input and output jacks, plus support for either a 9V power supply or battery operation via an easy-access battery compartment. Each pedal also ships with a 1-year warranty.

The Wah-ocTo-Fuzz is priced at $249.99

Learn more at DigiTech.

The post DOD and Morley’s new Wah-ocTo-Fuzz pedal combines wah, fuzz and glitchy octave chaos into one giant “WTF” box appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Jared James Nichols reckons people have “lost the plot” when it comes to vintage guitars.

Well acquainted with vintage Les Pauls himself, the blues-rock ace recalls a moment with a fan who handed him a prized ’59 Les Paul to play onstage – only to panic when the realities of live performance, and a little sweat, set in.

Speaking to MusicRadar, Nichols says his relationship with vintage instruments is rooted in sound and feel rather than rarity or resale value, a mindset he feels is increasingly at odds with modern collector culture.

• READ MORE: Alex Lifeson is taking a Kirk Hammett Greeny on the road with Rush: “The relic’ing is just spectacular”

“This is almost clickbaity but it’s like a lot of people lost the plot with the vintage guitar thing,” he says. “It went [away] from being a tribute to the music, and an honour to the music, and the sounds that you love, and the sounds that are timeless in your life. Like, literally, when I pick up Ol’ Red, or Dorothy, or any of these guitars, and I plug them in, I go, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s the sound’… It fills my heart but it is also inspiring.”

“But I think a lot of people started to say to themselves, ‘Well, do you know how much this one’s worth? Do you know how rare this is?’ Then it almost got like trading cards, or coins, where it didn’t really matter about the sound. It was, ‘Oh, that one, someone broke the headstock…’ To me, ‘Okay! Awesome, they broke the headstock? Let me play it. What does it sound like?’”

“Everything I own is a beater, and I know that sounds funny,” Nichols adds. “Right now, I’m in an old Suburban. I have an old [Chevrolet] Chevelle, and all of these things that I own, the guitars – everything – they have a story way before me. And you can see that, and they’re weathered, and they’re honest… I just think all my stuff, it has a story. And Dorothy? Forget about it, that’s the vibiest guitar I’ve ever come across.”

That mindset, however, doesn’t always line up with the way some collectors approach vintage gear – something Nichols learned the hard way after one fan brought a late-’50s Les Paul for him to play live.

“I was in Florida, and a guy had one, and he wanted me to play it for a song, and he was emailing us, emailing us, and he wanted me to play it,” he recalls. “Totally cool! They go to hand me the guitar, and he looks at me and goes. ‘No rings!’ I’m wearing a ring.”

“He’s like, ‘Don’t wear a ring when you play my guitar.’ And I’m literally about to take it onstage, and I look at him, and go like this [shakes head], ‘Oh no, I can’t. We’re not having this conversation right now.’ [Laughs]”

Although the performance itself went smoothly, things took a turn afterwards.

“I play the guitar, and man, like you know, when I’m onstage, I’m kind of a sweaty beast,” says Nichols. “I’m doing my thing. I don’t ever, ever beat up guitars. I respect them, and I love them – and especially a guitar like that. I play it, and I just have a little bit of sweat. I finish the song, and the guy is losing it! Because there’s now sweat on the top of his ’59 Les Paul.”

“Afterwards, he’s over there and he’s wiping it down and everything, and I went, ‘Are you all good?’ And he goes, ‘Well, I didn’t realise you were gonna sweat on my guitar.’ And I just said to him straight up, ‘Man, what do you think this is? You want to get pictures of me playing your guitar to tell your friends or whoever, and then I sweat on your guitar because I’m literally in a performance?’ So, all I’m saying, is just people lost the plot a little bit.”

The experience has since changed how he approaches similar requests.

“I don’t really feel comfortable playing people’s guitars, anymore, unless they’re friends, like Joe [Bonamassa] or whoever, because it’s a little bit… it just gets a little weird with me now,” he says.
Despite the frustration, Nichols is clear that his issue isn’t with the instruments themselves – vintage or otherwise – but how they’re treated.

“These things were meant to be used,” he says. “And I believe that no matter how expensive they get – I get it, it’s collecting – I just love to use them as intended, and that isn’t an abuse thing, or whatever, it’s just to hear those guitars and a loud amp going for it, it’s beautiful, and when I think about Dorothy, or Old Red, or any of these guitars, I go, ‘That’s what I’m into it for.’”

Jared Nichols’ new album Louder Than Fate arrives on 6 June. Check out his latest single below.

The post “He goes, ‘Well, I didn’t realise you were gonna sweat on my guitar’”: Jared James Nichols thinks people have “lost the plot” over vintage guitars appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Metallica are encouraging fans across the UK to roll up their sleeves for a different kind of heavy lifting this summer, having teamed up with blood services to promote donations ahead of their upcoming UK tour dates.

The initiative marks the first time the band have collaborated with UK blood services, working with the Welsh Blood Service alongside NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.

• READ MORE: Alex Lifeson is taking a Kirk Hammett Greeny on the road with Rush: “The relic’ing is just spectacular”

As part of the campaign, donation sessions will be scheduled around Metallica’s UK tour stops, including their show at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on 28 June, as well as dates in Glasgow and London.

In Wales, dedicated blood donation drives will run across the week before and after the Cardiff concert, making it easier for fans to contribute around the gig schedule.

A spokesperson for the band says the partnership builds on similar initiatives in other countries during the M72 World Tour: “Wherever we go on tour, we want to give something meaningful back to the communities that welcome us. We’ve seen in the United States and Australia how working with blood services can help raise awareness of blood donation and support patients, and we’re excited to bring that same approach to the UK.”

“As we close out the European leg of the ‘M72 World Tour’ in the UK, we’re asking fans to step up and be part of something bigger than the show. Looking out for one another and supporting those who rely on donated blood every day is a simple act that can make a powerful difference.”

UK blood services have highlighted the constant need for donations, noting that blood has a shelf life of just 35 days, making regular contributions essential to maintain supply. Donors play a crucial role in supporting patients undergoing cancer treatment, new mothers, people living with conditions such as sickle cell disease, and those affected by medical emergencies.

The band’s charity foundation, All Within My Hands, has already supported similar drives throughout the tour. A previous US campaign in Philadelphia reportedly collected 152 units of blood.

Alan Prosser, director of the Welsh Blood Service, describes the collaboration as a significant moment for donor awareness in the UK.

“This is a truly unique moment for blood donation across the UK,” he says. “Partnering with a band of Metallica’s global reach allows us to connect with new audiences and shine a spotlight on the ongoing need for blood.”

“Just as metal music runs strongly through Metallica fans’ veins, so does the blood which gives the power to save up to three lives with every donation.”

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View the full list of tour dates at the Metallica website.

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Every few months, somebody shows up on a guitar forum absolutely convinced that Peter Green’s mythical guitar tone on those early Fleetwood Mac records came from some sort of magical property imbued into the pickups of his Les Paul.

• READ MORE: This is how your guitar’s truss rod actually works – and here’s what you’re doing wrong with it

To hear them tell it, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the thing was wound by druids of blessed by a particularly divine roadie (shoutout to Fleetwood Mac tech Kevin Duggan – one of the best to ever do it!). All of this comes from the fact that, famously, Green’s Les Paul neck pickup was ‘out of phase’ – but what does that really mean?

In truth, out of phase is one of the most misunderstood terms in all of guitar, and it’s really not complicated…

Phasing? What is it?

First thing: if your guitar has one pickup, you can stop reading. Phase doesn’t concern you. It only becomes relevant when two pickups are running simultaneously, because now you have two separate signals sensing the same string from two different physical locations – and those signals need to agree on which direction is “up”.

When they do, everything sounds normal and full. When they don’t, frequencies start canceling each other out, and you get that thin, nasal, hollow tone that sounds like your guitar is being played through a very indecisive wah pedal.

Now here’s where people consistently confuse themselves: polarity and phase are not the same thing. Polarity is magnetic – north or south. Phase, in practical wiring terms, is about the electrical relationship between two pickups when combined.

Both the magnet orientation and the coil wind direction factor into this. For two pickups to stay in phase, those two things need to match correctly – either both the same, or both opposite. Change only one of them, and you’ve got an out-of-phase situation.

This is exactly why a Stratocaster’s middle pickup is reverse-wound and reverse-polarity. That’s not an accident or an anomaly – Fender did that deliberately so positions 2 and 4 stay in phase and cancel hum at the same time. Reverse-wound, reverse-polarity does not mean out of phase. It’s actually the opposite: it’s the elegant solution that keeps everything playing nicely together.

Out of phase sounds quieter, thinner, and scooped in the low end, with an almost filtered quality in the upper mids. Depending on your perspective, it sounds either broken or brilliant.

If you’re wondering if you have an out-of-phase issue, the best test is to check and see if both of your pickups function properly on their own, but when they are both played at the same time, the sound gets thin. If that’s the case, that’s most likely a phase issue.

How do you get an out-of-phase pickup?

That is also why simply rotating a humbucker in a Les Paul does not automatically cause the effect. Turning the pickup around changes its physical position, but it does not necessarily change the internal relationship that determines phase.

To actually throw a pickup out of phase, you usually have to change its wiring relationship to the other pickup or change its magnetic polarity relative to it. That is the real distinction: phase is not about what direction the pickup is facing in the body. It is about whether the two signals still agree when they are combined.

Which brings us back to Peter Green. Greeny’s famous middle-position tone is generally understood to come from the neck pickup’s reversed magnetic polarity (someone flipped the magnet), which puts the two humbuckers magnetically out of phase when combined- so when both pickups were selected together, the signal partially canceled and produced that distinctive hollow, vocal quality.

The individual pickups still sounded perfectly normal on their own. It was the combination that created the effect. That’s the whole trick. There is no magic. There is no secret winding. What likely happened, is that someone flipped a magnet, found out it sounded incredible, and the rest of us have been chasing it for fifty years.

The practical takeaway is simple: whenever you’re mixing pickups from different manufacturers, swapping a neck for a middle, or doing any kind of wiring experiment, phase is the first thing to check. It’s the difference between a great-sounding mod and a guitar that sounds like it’s arguing with itself – and losing. That being said, some like the sound of an out of phase pickup, so its all a matter of taste.

Fans of the out-of-phase sound often point to the “vocal” properties of that sound. Again, this isn’t any sort of divine phenomenon… it’s just physics. Two pickups do not hear the string from the same spot, so they are never producing perfectly identical information.

Some frequencies cancel more than others, which is why players hear that nasal, comb-filtered quality rather than total dropout. Some artists will use a circuit to filter out frequencies on the low end of the tonal spectrum. One good reason to do this is to allow the guitar to sit in its own lane better in a mix and not muddy up the bass and drum territory.

When is a pickup NOT out of phase?

The Fender Jaguar is a good example of how people misuse “out of phase” as a catch-all term for any guitar sound that gets thinner or sharper. The Jaguar’s so-called strangle switch is not a phase switch at all.

It engages a capacitor that cuts low end, which makes the guitar sound brighter, leaner, and more cutting. That can resemble some of the tonal traits people associate with out-of-phase wiring, but the mechanism is completely different. Nothing is being phase-canceled between pickups there – the circuit is just filtering bass out of the signal.

Remember, “out of phase” is not shorthand for “weird, thin, or old-school.” It describes a specific relationship between two combined pickup signals. I would never discourage anyone from experimenting with polarity, or any other properties with tonal implications, for that matter.

You never know, you might run across a sound that works for you or the music you want to make. Don’t let anyone trick you into thinking that you have to sound like Peter Green – you don’t. Just follow your own ears. Hopefully, understanding the term phase a bit better will help you to get the sounds that you want out of your instruments.

The post What does it mean when your guitar’s pickup is “out of phase”? It’s not magic, it’s science… appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Jackson has launched its first-ever signature model with Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland, the Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V KV.

Borland is best known for his unconventional and quirky playing styles (as well as some pretty unconventional stage outfits). This new model is crafted to his exact specifications, and is built for “uncompromising power and raw sonic intensity”.

• READ MORE: Deathcore guitarist explains why Wes Borland is the “greatest nu metal player” and is “pushing a genre forward”

At the heart of the guitar is a Seymour Duncan Invader bridge pickup, described as the “powerhouse” behind Borland’s tone. The model also offers neck-through construction with graphite reinforcement for stability, a compound radius ebony fingerboard crowned with 24 jumbo frets, and upside-down pearloid shark fin inlays.

Luminlay side dots glow in low-light conditions, and there’s also Jackson locking strap pins and a recessed Floyd Rose 1500 series bridge, helping the King V stay in tune through dive-bombs. Borland has opted to keep the model streamlined and “bulletproof”, so it has just a single volume control.

“It’s taken me a long time to figure out what I need as a guitar player. For me, you just need volume, pickups, locking tremolo system and 24 frets, that’s it,” says Borland. “Live, it just needs to be as bulletproof as possible. I’ve been very rough with guitars over the years. I’ve come to realise that the more streamlined our guitars are, the less problems we have on stage.”

Going on to address how the guitar matches up to his outrageous stage styles, he adds: “Jackson is fun; the over the top, shred-a-copter shapes and my outrageous stage costumes pushing the boundaries, this fits in more with that. The way people dress, it affects how you behave, and I think it also changes how I play guitar.”

Completing the guitar is a detail unique to Borland: the Jackson logo on the headstock is flipped upside down. Peter Wichers, Product Development Manager at Jackson Guitars, explains why.

“Wes Borland is unlike anyone else in nu-metal — nobody looks or sounds like him. When our artist rep Mike Tempesta introduced Wes to some Jackson Custom Shop guitars, he picked a left-handed King V and modded it for his right-hand playing, which left the headstock logo upside down.

“He loved it, so we kept it. That happy accident became one of the most iconic details of the whole build. Being involved in the development of his Signature King V has been an incredibly cool project, and I think that shows in every inch of this guitar,” Wichers shares.

The Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V KV is available now for $1,299.99 USD/£1,199 GBP. Head over to Jackson to learn more. 

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