Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
General Interest
Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jazzmaster review: Mexican-made vintage-style offset bliss
$1,349/£1,149, fender.com
It’s strange to think that a few years back, what classed as a bad PR situation for Fender was them shipping the American Vintage II Jazzmaster with a not wholly vintage-correct headstock shape. Simpler times.
Here in 2026, you’d probably forgive Fender taking its eye off the ball a little given everything else that’s going on, but it’s worth remembering that the people actually making and designing these instruments are primarily focused on what they always have been: building the best-sounding, feeling and playing instruments they can at price points that suit pretty much every budget.
The aforementioned AVII headstock snafu was just the latest in a series of incidents where Fender was accused of not quite getting the offset thing by its invariably exacting devotees.
The first Player Jazzmasters, for instance, could have been the best-made guitars on the planet – they were never fully embraced by fans because they had slightly naff-looking open-coil humbuckers in them, and no rhythm circuit. And look, the guy in the demo video didn’t even touch the vibrato, nor did he put the thing through two reverse-reverbs and six fuzzes – do you think he’s even heard Loveless?
A lot has changed since then however, and Fender has done much to make up to the Jazzmaster faithful in the years since – things are undoubtedly better now across the board, but especially in Fender’s Mexico-made Vintera range.
In fact, so good has Ensenada got at making Jazzmasters now, that my colleague Josh felt emboldened to declare that the Road Worn Vintera II guitar he reviewed back in January was “the best all-round Jazzmaster proposition in the Fender range.”
What is it?
The Vintera III range is Fender’s latest attempt to do something that a huge cohort of players want and need the brand to do more than anything else – creating guitars with vintage specs, looks and sounds that don’t require you to take out a small business loan to afford.
It’s been just three short years since the Vintera II launched, however, and there was very little wrong with the old guard, so what’s changed? Well, Vintera III promises to give us an even more accurate take on the vintage JM thing – eschewing the loose decade-spanning scope of the old guitars and focusing on a specific inflection point in a guitar’s development, in this case the mid-1960s – aka the moment that Jazzmasters really started to get fun with custom colours, painted headstocks and the like.
The core sell of the Vintera range remains unchanged – this is a guitar with most of the ‘right’ vintage appointments that’s not so cheap you might as well just get a Squier, and not so expensive that it’s totally beyond the scope of many musicians.
That doesn’t mean it’s cheap, however – sticker shock has come for guitars in a big way over the last few years, and ‘mid-priced’ in Fender terms now stands for $1,349. That is no small number for anyone really, but it’s broadly in line with the guitar it replaced at least – there’s no wince-inducing global inflationary crisis gut-punch that saw hundreds of dollars added to the base price between Vinteras I and II.
While the improvement is clearly iterative with Vintera III, the offsets have changed more than most. Crucially, while the Vintera II Jazzmaster recreated a late-1950s instrument, for III we return to the mid-1960s style of guitar – similar to the first 2019 Vintera run.
As mentioned, that means we have more fun finish options than previous editions – Sonic Blue and Candy Apple Red for those who want matching headstocks, and an Olympic White option – our guitar for today – that comes with a plain headstock.
Image: Adam Gasson
The latter is a bit of a shame in my opinion as most real Olympic White Jazzmasters from the mid-60s also sported a painted peghead… at least it’s the right shape? Mid 60s also means that we don’t get the bound board with block inlays that came later in the decade – maybe Fender will save that for Vintera IV?
The company’s product page notes a few differences as to how it’s going about the whole “vintage” thing this time around – no real revolutionary changes, but just an overall upping of the focus and detail – the headstock decals are now being applied over the finish, and we’ve got a period-accurate round-laminated rosewood fretboard rather than a slab board, clay-coloured fretboard dots rather than modern white ones, and a real bone nut instead of a synthetic one.
Hardware, electronics and the neck profile are all now “era-based” rather than “decade-based”, which makes sense, given that a “mid-’60s Jazzmaster” can mean a hell of a lot of different things. Fender doesn’t go as far as to put a year on it, but the specs and finish options add up to something approximating, at the latest, a ‘64 Jazzmaster, as bound necks would be introduced in 1965, and the big block inlays/big headstock combo would follow in 1966.
There’s still one major concession to price, in that the finish is poly rather than nitro – no authentic ageing experience for you here. Maybe, like with Vintera II, Fender will wait a year or so and then roll out a road-worn variant with a lightly-aged nitro finish for a little more cash, but until then, we’re strictly in polyurethane town.
Not that the poly finish looks bad, by any means – the Olympic White example I’ve got here is a lovely deep off-white – the white Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster next to it in my guitar rack looks as rich and inviting as a sheet of printer paper in comparison.
As a whole the guitar presents very well, and small as they are, those vintage-correct details do have a cumulative effect. The clay dots, for example, really bring the look of the neck together, especially given the rosewood ‘board. On our review example, this rosewood is a chocolate colour so rich and deep I am more than a little tempted to take a bite out of it. Even the three-dimensional nature of the headstock decal being placed over the finish – a detail that seems comically minor on paper – adds a bit of vintage panache to proceedings.
Image: Adam Gasson
Build quality and playability
I spend a lot of my time playing fairly modern-feeling necks – not quite multi-scale Strandbergs, but at the very least 9.5” boards and jumbo frets. And so getting my mitts around this mid-60s C-profile neck, with its 7.25” radius and vintage-tall frets, is a surprisingly refreshing affair. It is, of course, no slim shredder, but no less comfortable because of this. There’s enough heft to reassure me that I’m actually holding something, but it still allows for some relatively fast movement.
And while it may not be the perfect playground for sweep arpeggios, leads of a less flashy breed are still a hell of a lot of fun – the vintage tall frets are, well, tall, and are therefore great for digging into the side of a string when bending. Down by the headstock, the more curved surface is a lovely affair when fretting big whole-neck chords.
The setup and fretwork in general are great, with no dead spots to speak of and a nice low action. Fender has also continued its trend of gently rolling its fretboard edges, which makes for a supremely comfortable feel, especially when you launch into a big bend that requires hanging onto the neck for dear life, or land on a big open G with less than perfect positioning – the fretboard edges just melt out of your way.
That’s the left hand – at the right hand, the vibrato is the star of the show, as you’d hope from a classic-spec’d Jazzmaster. I find its factory setup pretty dead-on, with a smooth action for some nice woozy pitch-wobbling and just the right amount of tension on things to make it feel responsive and tactile rather than stiff and unwieldy. The rocking bridge also does its job of keeping things in pretty good tune, even after veering into some over-egged wanging on the bar. The push-in arm also stays where I want it, and if I want to move it out of the way, I can do so silently – it does not, as some bars do, creak like the gates of a gothic castle as you move it about.
Image: Adam Gasson
The one big caveat is this: even sticklers for vintage accuracy would be happy to ignore the anachronism if Fender just admitted defeat, and put a Jaguar bridge on this thing. The threaded saddle bridge has its adherents, but let’s be honest, quite a substantial chunk of offset players will replace theirs by default. There’s a reason the aftermarket Jazzmaster bridge world is absolutely chock-full of options. Fender even makes its own relatively decent mid-priced barrel-saddled option.
We’ve already made one concession to modern player comfort over vintage accuracy, in that these guitars come with 0.010s rather than the heavier strings that work best with the Jazzmaster’s rocking bridge/vibrato combo – so why not just take that extra step, save everyone a few quid, and avoid dooming the stock bridge to rot in a drawer somewhere?
Luckily it’s not a total write-off – the threaded sample example found here does at least function with the factory setup… mostly, as I still occasionally push the low E out of its slot. I’ll put it like this – if I was aiming to make this my main gigging guitar, I’d still seek to replace the bridge as soon as I could, but I wouldn’t shy away from playing the guitar live while said replacement was in the post.
One final gripe – the knobs are still set wrong. When I look down, and the guitar’s on full, I see 4, 5, and 6 – seemingly to let the “volume” and “tone” labels be parallel to the neck. I’ve no idea why they ship like this, because unless you’re playing it like a lap steel you’re not going to see those labels. Everyone else seems to agree that when you look down at a guitar, you should see the number 10 to indicate that you’re on 10. Is this splitting hairs? Yes, but it’s hair-splitting that does actually affect your out-of-box playing experience – if we’re caring about headstock decals being under or over the finish, we’re caring about this, too, Fender!
Image: Adam Gasson
Sounds
The pickups and electronics are fairly straightforward – no noiseless pickups or fancy switching here, unless you count the near-70-year-old rhythm circuit as a fancy addition. The lead circuit provides all of the spank and the punch you’d want from a Jazzmaster, with a bridge pickup that’s nice and bright but by no means an aural ice-pick, and a rounded, warmer neck pickup that’s got quite a present upper midrange.
The output here is relatively low – perhaps not as low as you might expect from some true vintage examples, but far from any sort of modern, hot pickup output. This does mean that there’s a good amount of dynamic range to be had on clean to lightly-overdriven sounds, even if you’ll want to up the preamp gain somewhere along the chain to compensate – and, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s a surprising amount of breadth and clarity when throwing stacked fuzzes, reverbs and delays at both lead positions.
And speaking of such an activity, the rhythm circuit does its thing, which you will find either unusably muddy or an excellent combination with the aforementioned wall of fuzz and delay, depending on your Jazzmaster preferences. Divisive it may be, it’s still a Jazzmaster, and for many it wouldn’t be complete without it – even for those who dislike it, masking off the switch can be part of the ritual. At this point, a couple of inches of electrical tape should come in the case alongside the vibrato arm…
Personally I find the rounded character of the neck pickup makes the rhythm circuit a pretty usable proposition for both smooth leads and messy Kevin Shields impressions, but for pretty much everything else the brighter, clearer sounds of the lead circuit are more likely to do the trick.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy one?
If you own a Vintera II Jazzmaster and you like it – I wouldn’t be in a rush to add an extra ‘I’ to the proceedings, unless you’re desperate for a switch to the 60s spec. However, it’d be wrong to expect Vintera III to totally reinvent the Jazzmaster wheel – that’s not really the point of a new range of Vintera guitars. There are only so many ways to skin the particular cat of an 1964-ish Jazzmaster for this price, and with this in mind it’s very nice to see the focus being placed on sharpening the vintage details. These details are packaged up in an extraordinarily well-constructed instrument, one that successfully builds on the successful points of the Vintera II JM.
Even with that upwards shift of the definition of a “mid-priced guitar”, the Vintera range remains a very good bang-for-buck proposition within Fender’s lineup. If you can get over the poly finish, this is as accurate and as playable as you’re going to get if you want a vintage-spec’d Jazzmaster for anywhere this side of £2,000. Or quite a bit more for the real deal. Of course, that accuracy is both better and for worse, perhaps, in the case of the bridge, but hey, what would a Jazzmaster be without a little obtrusiveness?
Vintera III Jazzmaster Alternatives
If you want a similar experience but fancy that nitro finish, some Road Worn Vintera II 50s Jazzmaster models ($1,699/£1,399) are still available in a few places. If you are an offset fan of a slightly different stripe, Vintera III has also arrived with a Jaguar offering ($1,34.99/£1,129). If you want to save a bit of cash, the Player II Jazzmaster offers a relatively authentic but no less enjoyable Jazzmaster experience for very decent price ($879.99/£759), and if you want to go the whole hog and nearabouts double the price tag, you can look at the American Vintage II 1966 Jazzmaster ($2,799/£2,379) now with the right headstock.
The post Fender Vintera III Mid ’60s Jazzmaster review: Mexican-made vintage-style offset bliss appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
TONEX Ecosystem Evolves
Win a Taylor Guitars Gold Label 517e Acoustic!
Experience aged-in warmth and deep dreadnought projection. PG has partnered with Taylor Guitars to give one lucky winner a Gold Label 517e! Enter now. (US residents, 18+ Only)
Taylor Guitars Gold Label 517e Giveaway
Gold Label 517e
The Gold Label 517e delivers deep, powerful tone with old-school character. Torrefied Sitka spruce, solid mahogany, fanned V-Class bracing, and Action Control Neck™ provide exceptional projection, sustain, and playability.
Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Terry Bozzio Announce Tour of the U.S.
King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN, alongside STEVE VAI and TERRY BOZZIO approach the next chapter of BEAT. The quartet has announced a tour of the U.S. that will stage 40 appearances. The general on-sale is set for Friday, August 7 at 10AM local time. Tickets and VIP experiences will be available here: https://beat-official.com/tour. The artist pre-sale goes live on Tuesday, August 4 at Noon Eastern time with the password BEATTOUR. Fans can access the ticketing page and simply enter the code at checkout. All pre-sales will end at 10am local time Thursday, August 6.
Adrian Belew shares, “For those of you who’ve seen BEAT live, it’s important to note we’ll be adding some material from ‘90s Crim to our U.S. tour. Along with the addition of superman drummer Terry Bozzio, we feel this will result in a new experience for our audience. We’re very excited to play for you again. Don’t miss it!”
The global audience has celebrated the existence of BEAT, responding to the music, chemistry, spirit and respect this collective of esteemed musicians has brought to one of the most remarkable catalogs in progressive rock. BEAT continues to evolve whole remaining true to the music and the spirit that inspired it.
As Adrian, Tony and Steve approach the band’s upcoming activity, Terry Bozzio enters the fold behind the kit. Danny Carey remains an important part of the BEAT family, and simply his Tool commitments prevent him from being available for this upcoming run in the Fall. Steve Vai offers, “Terry is one of the truly legendary drummers of our time, whose remarkable career and unique musical voice make him the perfect artist to join us for this tour. He brings his own extraordinary artistry to BEAT, and that's something worth celebrating.” Adrian Belew shares, “Our deepest appreciation goes to our brother Danny Carey—a true BEAT-Poet. His extraordinary musicianship, generosity, humor, and explosive creativity helped establish BEAT as something far beyond a tribute. He helped create its identity. While Tool commitments keep him from joining us this fall, he remains an essential part of our family.
When the ensemble’s existence was first made public on April 2, 2024, the vision was simply to present a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums - Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Just over forty appearances were announced across the U.S., triggering a majority of those planned appearances reaching sold-out status in days. Additional performances were added, creating an inaugural run which staged 65 concerts across the U.S. Appearances in Mexico, South America and Tokyo’s legendary Budokan followed, most recently staging an extensive run of the U.K. and Europe performing in 31 cities this year.
When the band heads back out in the Fall, fans should anticipate some exciting additions to the repertoire being performed, with several songs rotating out while other classic King Crimson pieces emerging in to the set. Those details will come to light once the tour begins.
The itinerary kicks off on October 9 at the Quarry Amphitheater in Santa Cruz, CA, with a final appearance planned in at Riverside, CA’s Municipal Auditorium on December 3.
In front of the 2024 tour, guitarist Adrian Belew reflected, “The 1981 through 1984 King Crimson created a music all its own. Timeless. Beautiful. Complex. Fierce. For the fans who lived through it then, and the ones who never got to witness it, our aim is to bring it to life again. A monumental task but we're going for it! There are not enough exclamation points to express my excitement!”
Guitarist Steve Vai stated, “Being a part of this ensemble is an extraordinary privilege and opportunity to perform some of the most beloved, timeless, and monumental music of the 80’s (and beyond) with truly inspired musicians. This music resonates deeply with me. Father Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses. His highly specific and exceptionally brilliant guitar technique is studied and revered. His contribution to the quality of my musical life, and so many others is supreme.”
Bassist Tony Levin offered, “Revisiting some of my favorite music is a treat in itself. It’s also great that we’re not just playing a few shows, we’re hitting it hard. So, Road Dogs are coming to your area soon.”
Drummer Terry Bozzio shares, “All of these guys are my friends and excellent musicians who l’ve played with before! When l was asked to join this tour, l was honored & very grateful to do it!”
An exclusive meet & greet with Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Terry Bozzio will be staged at each appearance planned. There are three tiers available with limited availability. First, the “BEAT On-stage Experience” features one premium reserved ticket, the rare opportunity to watch the show from an exclusive on-stage VIP viewing area, early entry in to the venue, a pre-show meet & greet and a group photo opportunity with all four members of the band, access to a pre-show soundcheck, a limited edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and an official side-stage laminate and lanyard. This top tier has very limited availability. The second tier is the “BEAT Meet & Greet / Soundcheck Experience.” It features one premium reserved ticket located in the first five rows, early entry in to the venue, a pre-show meet & greet and group photo opportunity with all four members of the band, access to a pre-show soundcheck, a limited-edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and a Meet & Greet laminate and lanyard. The final tier is the “BEAT VIP Tour Package.” It features one premium reserved ticket located in the first 15 rows, a limited-edition autographed BEAT tour poster, commemorative BEAT ticket magnet, a specially designed BEAT record bag, an exclusive VIP merchandise item, and a commemorative laminate and lanyard. There is limited availability for each of these packages, which are available for purchase at https://beat-official.com/tour.
Flattley Pedals Introduces Centurion 10 AE Overdrive
Flattley Pedals has introduced the “Centurion 10 AE”, the company’s special 10th Anniversary Edition of the Centurion transparent overdrive.
As it’s our 10th anniversary in 2026 at Flattley Guitar Pedals, we wanted to continue with the celebrations and add some special features to our existing Centurion transparent overdrive product by adding some extra mojo.
The Centurion 10 AE comes with purple laser etched control knobs, metallic black paint with the stunning eye-catching silver paisley skulls hydro graphics along with a purple halo LED light ring to light it all up.
The Centurion 10 AE version also got an internal make over and comes with special vintage germanium tube diodes giving the Centurion 10 AE version a whole different feel and sound than the standard version Centurion pedal. These vintage germanium tube diodes just sound so warm and soft which really suits the Centurion circuit.
The pedal’s purple halo light ring installed diffuses the light when playing live, so you can avoid being blinded by standard LEDs, and a purple laser etched aluminium foot topper gives you more real estate for contact when switching the pedal on and off during quick changes when playing live.
All Flattley "Platinum Range" pedals are hand processed in our Flattley paint shop, with a strikingly unique finish.
The Centurion 10 AE includes this control set:
Centurion 10 AE Controls
- Volume: Controls the overall output level.
- Gain: Controls the amount of gain/overdrive
- Tone: Controls the amount of treble/bass
Other features include:
- 9-volt external power operation (no internal battery option)
- 20mm purple anodised aluminium custom etched control knobs
- Purple halo light rings installed
- The Centurion 10 AE comes with a purple custom etched aluminium foot topper
All Flattley pedals are handmade and hand wired in the UK using high quality components.
The Flattley Centurion 10 AE carries a street price of $319/£259/€319. For more information visit flattleyguitarpedals.com.
Marcus King partners with Epiphone to revive the El Dorado acoustic: “This guitar means the world to me”
Everyone remembers their first guitar – it’s by your side through thick and thin, no matter how ear-splitting your chord progressions may sound to your peers. For some, that first axe can be a gateway to a beloved hobby… or, in the case of Marcus King, learning the ropes on a 1963 Epiphone El Dorado Acoustic essentially kickstarted a Grammy-winning blues career.
Now, King has partnered with Epiphone to reimagine his legendary first guitar. The result is the limited edition Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado, which serves as yet another way King has honoured the most important, formative guitar in his musical history.
Originally, King’s father gifted him the 1963 Epiphone acoustic when he was just four. King was instantly keen to master the instrument, and he’s always speaking about the importance of the El Dorado throughout his journey. Even his 2020 debut, El Dorado, is named in honour of his all-important guitar.
“This guitar means the world to me,” he says in a press release. “My first El Dorado was a gift from my father, and it carried me through some of the earliest and most important moments of my musical journey. It has always represented family, home, and the songs that shaped me.”
While the guitar has shaped King, this comes as his chance to shape the guitar in return, as well as sharing its vintage charms with the next generation of guitarists. While the guitar’s design captures that feel of ‘60s and ‘70s era El Dorado acoustics, King’s signature sits proudly on the headstock. “Partnering with Epiphone to share that feeling with players around the world is an incredible honour, and I hope this guitar inspires people to write their own stories for years to come,” he adds.
Available in Antique Natural, the Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado sits at 25.5” in scale and is built with all-solid tonewoods. The woods in question consist of a square-shoulder dreadnought body, rosewood back and sides, a spruce top and a C-profile mahogany neck, There’s also a custom pickguard modelled after the one on King’s vintage El Dorado guitars.
Credit: Epiphone
In terms of the headstock, alongside King’s autograph, the design draws inspiration from 70s MIJ-era and include a bone nut, Epiphone Deluxe tuners, and a mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo. Further down, the fingerboard is rosewood, with 20 frets and rounded-corner mother-of-pearl block inlays. The acoustic is also kitted out with L.R. Baggs Element Bronze under-saddle pickup and preamp.
King recently released Darling Blue / No Room For Blue back in May, and the blues rocker is also set to embark on a tour across North America this August.
The limited edition Marcus King El Dorado is available now for £949. For more information, head to Epiphone.
The post Marcus King partners with Epiphone to revive the El Dorado acoustic: “This guitar means the world to me” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI Review
Do you know that feeling when a well-restored vintage car slowly passes you on the street? You stop, you stare, you gasp, and for a fleeting moment, you dream. That is how I felt when I opened the case for the Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI. It was a peek into a time portal, and I felt an audible, focused exhale leave my lungs. But unlike all those vintage cars I see, I got to take this one for a drive. It was a pleasure that pointed the way to a lot of creative possibilities.
The Middle Way
The concept of a 6-string bass was around for several years before Fender introduced the Bass VI in 1961. Bu though it had formidable rivals—the more straightforward Danelectro 6-string bass, for one—the Bass VI had its own vibe. There’s a hint of chime, a hint of bass, and a trace of the dark arts. The Bass VI became a useful tool for players straddling the fence between octaves, and its 30" scale made it a useful compromise for guitar players wanting to play bass and bass players looking for more chances to get fired. But regardless of how it fits into an individual musician’s life, it remains a valuable tool for finding unusual sounds.
Our Focused Era
As part of the Vintera III line, the Bass VI features many enticing 1960s-vintage details, including a real bone nut, clay dots, and a headstock decal applied over the finish. Fender also claims that the pickups and neck profile are more aligned with early ’60s specs. Given how much those elements could vary from guitar to guitar back then, it’s hard to pinpoint a definitive example. Still, this Vintera III version is outwardly inspired by the most desirable version of the Bass VI, which was discontinued in 1975.
“With almost any approach, the Bass VI is great. No, more than great. It’s inspiring. And plugging in and exploring the possibilities is pure joy.”
Let’s say it now: This bass looks like a million bucks. The gloss polyester candy apple red finish (olympic white and 3-tone sunburst are also available), mint green 3-ply pickguard, and matching headstock are a dazzling combination. The offset alder body and round-laminated rosewood fretboard combination (with clay dot markers) are equally complementary. The guitar is also well put together, with a tight neck joint, no fret issues, and a great setup.
Does it Bass? Does it Guitar?
Before I plug into any amp, I like to hear the resonance of an instrument on its own, and with the Bass VI, this process, in a way, involves listening to two instruments at once. You also have to account for how the different scale, strings, and body size change the way you play. For example, I often found myself strumming the top four strings and taking a more conventional bass approach for the traditional four strings of a bass. Your instincts might differ. But with almost any approach, the Bass VI is great. No, more than great. It’s inspiring. And plugging in and exploring the possibilities is pure joy.
The Bass VI has three single-coil pickups that can be switched on individually or in combination, with dedicated on/off switches. The fourth switch is the bass-strangle switch, which filters the low end. Making my way through various pickup configurations, I found rich, useful tones across the board, but very different uses for different ones. The neck pickup solo is probably my favorite for bass-side picking. But the middle and bridge pickup combination is my favorite for more guitar-style playing.
As a dedicated bass, the Fender is interesting, unusual, and effective. It shares a certain sense of feel with a short-scale 4-string bass, and encourages certain short-scale bass techniques. But the subtle differences in the pickups take the Bass VI from a deep 4-string bass voice to something more pointed, and players looking for more focused tones outside of typical bass range will love what they find here.
In terms of feel, the only rub for me is the string spacing, which is much tighter than my Precision Bass-trained hands are accustomed to. Most players new to the Bass VI will have to adapt in some way. It feels truly unique. But it doesn’t take much practice before you sense that you can make it work creatively.
On the guitar(-ish) side of the equation, the Bass VI can sing as well as it can rumble. In more guitar-like applications, the pickups give me tones that range from dark and brooding (neck and middle) to downright twangy (bridge only). The strangle switch helps the pickups shine a little brighter, too. Splash a little chorus on the signal and nudge the floating tremolo, and the Bass VI becomes an instrument well outside conventional guitar or bass categories.
An Old Idea Made New
Though it was sometimes derided—and more often removed— in its time, the 1960s-era string mute that Fender has re-introduced in this Vintera III version is, for me, a secret weapon. Located between the bridge pickup and the bridge, this very simple device can be rocked into place to mute the strings. At least for me, it was an instant game changer. I think a muted bass line speaks volumes, so I love this option.
The Verdict
The Fender Vintera III Early ’60s Bass VI is a beautiful creation. It sits in a sweet spot between tonally interesting and extremely useful, making it an essential studio staple in my book. Guitar players that play bass on their tracks will love it, and bass players will appreciate its 1960s tone vibes. I went for years without any experience with a Bass VI. Now? I am smitten.
Vintera III Early '60s Bass VI 6-string
6-string Electric Bass with Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, 3 Single-coil Pickups, and Tremolo - Candy Apple Red
“It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster”: This is one of Joe Bonamassa’s favourite vintage guitars – and why hybrids can be “the best”
Joe Bonamassa is one of the most prolific collectors of vintage guitars. But he doesn’t possess the purism you might expect from a vintage collector. In fact, one of his favourite guitars is a heavily modified 1968 Fender Telecaster loaded with Gibson PAF humbuckers…
Blues ace and owner of one of the world’s greatest collections of vintage instruments – housed at Nerdville East and West in Nashville and LA, respectively – Joe Bonamassa has hundreds of guitars. But this guitar remains one of his favourites, and it’s precisely because it’s a hybrid, he explains in a new interview with Guitar Center.
“These are PAF humbucking pickups from Gibson,” he says. “I bought this guitar from a guy in Daytona Beach, Florida about 15 years ago. It wasn’t a lot of money. And I plugged it in and it was magic. Sometimes a hybrid can turn out to be the best.”
The Tele, he explains, is fitted with 500k potentiometers – which let less high frequency content bleed resulting in a brighter tone.
“It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster,” says Bonamassa. ‘But the difference is you have a maple neck and an ash body. And they sound great. And that’s the beauty of a Fender Telecaster: you can pretty much do anything to it.
“Now, do I suggest going out there and buying a very expensive vintage Telecaster, taking a pin router to it and jamming a whole bunch of pickups in there? No. If they’re already modified, then that’s the beauty of it. And you can save yourself some money and have literally just a utility plank that can play anything.”
Of course, one of JoBo’s favourite guitars has obviously seen its share of stage use…
“I’ve used this guitar for jazz fusion gigs, I’ve used it for rock gigs. I’ve used it for everything, because it has so much flexibility.”
He might be a vintage guitar collector, but his love of hybrid guitars isn’t the first opinion that might poke at the gear purists. Increasingly so lately, he’s been touting his love of digital amp modellers.
Recently admitting that he “wanted to hate” amp modellers, he explained: “I was wrong about the fact that no modeller will replace a tube version, I think they’re gonna get there and surpass.”
The post “It’s basically a Gibson Les Paul jammed into a Fender Telecaster”: This is one of Joe Bonamassa’s favourite vintage guitars – and why hybrids can be “the best” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
This is why your guitar’s scale length actually matters
Scale length is one of those items on the spec sheet that I always saw, for many of my early years before I ever knew what it actually was or what it meant. I would hear terms like “Fender scale” or “Gibson scale” and politely smile and nod.
There were so many differences between a Les Paul and a Telecaster that I never thought much of the scale, but it does have quite an effect on the playability of the models. In this article, we’ll explain what scale is and why it matters – and how you can use that to choose a guitar with the right scale for you.
What the number actually means
Scale length is the working length of the string, measured from the nut to the saddle. The simplest way to find it is to simply measure it. A 25.5-inch scale length has 25.5 inches of string free to vibrate on every course, and that’s all the number tells you on its own. Everything worth knowing comes from what it forces the rest of the instrument to do.
A lot of electric guitars you’ll pick up will sit in one of two camps. Leo Fender built the Telecaster and Stratocaster around 25.5 inches, and that became the standard for Fender and for the mountain of guitars built to copy them. Gibson went with 24.75 inches on the Les Paul, SG and ES-335. If you’re wondering why it is measured in inches instead of metric, its simply because Fender and Gibson were based in the US and the specs fell into that unit of measurement.
Three-quarters of an inch sounds like a rounding error, and as a measurement, it nearly is. A few builders split the difference on purpose. PRS landed on 25 inches, reaching for a bit of Fender’s tightness and a bit of Gibson’s give in the same neck. Other guitars exist outside the 25.5-24.75 thresholds. We’ll get to them later in the article.
Why a longer scale length guitar fights back
Bringing a string up to pitch takes a set amount of tension, and a longer string needs more of it to reach the same note at the same gauge. The relationship isn’t gentle, either. Tension climbs with the square of the scale length, so swapping a 24.75-inch guitar for a 25.5 with identical strings and tuning piles on roughly six per cent more tension across every string.
Six per cent doesn’t read like much, but your fretting hand will feel it. The longer Fender scale pushes back against your bends and snaps to pitch faster. It stays firm when you dig in. It’s a big part of why players coming off a Les Paul onto a Strat so often drop string gauge from 10s to 9s, just to get the old slack back. A shorter scale does the reverse. It’s looser and more forgiving, and bends come without a fight. Plenty of blues and rock players build their whole feel around that softer response.
What scale length does to your tone
Tension shapes the sound as much as the feel. A tighter string speaks with more clarity and top end. There’s more harmonic content sitting under the note, and the low end holds firmer, which is a chunk of that bright, almost piano-like attack baked into the classic Fender voice. A looser string leans harder on its fundamental and comes back warmer and rounder, with the highs pulled off the top. So crediting Gibson warmth entirely to mahogany and humbuckers leaves something out. The short scale is in there doing its share.
Fret spacing is the most visible effect. You cant just move a Fender neck .75 inches further into the body and have it work as a Gibson scale – the fret spacing is different. A longer scale stretches the frets apart, which keeps notes separated but asks more of your hand down near the nut. A shorter scale brings them in tighter, friendlier for small hands and fast chord work, though it can feel cramped once you’re past the body/neck joint.
Non-traditional scale-lengths
Step outside the Fender-versus-Gibson norms and builders start reaching for scale length on purpose. Short-scale guitars like the 24-inch Mustang and Jaguar, or the old Danelectros, play slinky and run a little dark, which is half of why indie and garage players love them. Basses follow the same logic. A 34-inch scale keeps a low E from going to mush, while 30-inch short-scale basses trade some of that tightness for warmth and an easier reach.
Baritones are usually defined as having a scale length of 27 inches or more. The whole point is to tune well below standard without the strings turning to wet noodles, since the extra length holds the tension together down in low drop tunings.
Fanned-fret guitars chase the same fix from another angle. Ralph Novak’s Novax designs run a longer scale under the bass strings and a shorter one under the trebles, with the frets angled so the geometry lines up. The low strings hold their tension and the high strings stay easy to bend. That was the idea behind fanned frets.
So, which scale is right for you? That’s not for me to say. My advice is always to get your hands on as many guitars as possible and see which ones feel and sound best to you. That’s why I love guitar stores where you can pick a guitar up and test it out. It allows you to know what you’re looking for when buying a guitar.
You might prefer the look of Fender guitar but the more compact dimensions of a Gibson – that’s what I realised, and it’s why I build Fender-style necks with 24.75-inch scales for my guitars. Warmoth and other aftermarket companies make these sorts of conversion necks as well if you’re set on the look of one body shape but prefer a different scale length.
Few players can tell the difference by looking at it, but the feel is undeniable. That’s why scale length is such an important part of any guitar equation.
The post This is why your guitar’s scale length actually matters appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Epiphone Introduces Marcus King El Dorado Acoustic
Epiphone has announced the Marcus King El Dorado, a limited-edition signature acoustic guitar based on a 1970s-era Epiphone model. King, a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and GRAMMY®-nominated artist, has cited a personal connection to the El Dorado, which was his first guitar and a gift from his father. He named his 2020 solo debut album El Dorado after the instrument. The Marcus King El Dorado Limited Edition is available in Antique Natural at authorized Epiphone dealers, Gibson Garage locations in Nashville and London, and at Epiphone.com.
The Marcus King El Dorado is built with a square-shoulder dreadnought body, solid rosewood back and sides, and a solid spruce top.
“This guitar means the world to me. My first El Dorado was a gift from my father, and it carried me through some of the earliest and most important moments of my musical journey,” says Marcus King. “It has always represented family, home, and the songs that shaped me. Partnering with Epiphone to share that feeling with players around the world is an incredible honor, and I hope this guitar inspires people to write their own stories for years to come.”
Highlights include:
- Solid rosewood back and sides, solid spruce top
- Neck: 25.5″ scale mahogany neck with a C profile, headstock volute, and dovetail neck joint
- Body: Four-ply top binding, single-ply back binding
- Headstock: 70s MIJ-style design, bone nut, Epiphone Deluxe tuners with metal buttons, mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo
- Fingerboard: Three-ply bound rosewood, 20 frets, rounded-corner mother-of-pearl block inlays
- Bridge: Belly-down rosewood bridge with compensated bone saddle and black pins; inlays depict South Carolina's outline and Tennessee's Tri-Star emblem
- Pickguard: Custom design based on King's original vintage El Dorado
- Electronics: L.R. Baggs™ Element Bronze under-saddle pickup and preamp, with volume and tone controls mounted at the edge of the soundhole (requires one 9-volt battery, not included)
- Case: Hardshell case with Marcus King signature graphic
Available in Antique Natural finish for a limited time, the Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado carries a street price of $999. For more information visit Epiphone.com.
The release coincides with the Marcus King Band's Darling Blue / No Room For Blue, released May 1, the second half of the Darling Blue project first issued as a Record Store Day exclusive. The 12-track collection is available on all streaming platforms and covers themes including clarity, growth, heartbreak, addiction, and renewal, spanning rock, bluegrass, country, blues, and Americana.
King and his band are touring in support of the release on the Waltz Across Texas Tour and Darling Blue Pt. 2 Tour, with dates in July, August, and September 2026, including markets such as New York City, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta, festival dates, and select shows with Mumford & Sons.
For tour updates, see King's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts, or marcuskingofficial.com.
Tour Dates
- Aug 20: Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena (with Zach Top)
- Aug 21: Allentown, PA — PPL Center (with Zach Top)
- Aug 22: Bangor, ME — Maine Savings Amphitheater (with Zach Top)
- Aug 26: East Hampton, NY — The Clubhouse Hamptons
- Aug 28: Gilford, NH — BankNH Pavilion
- Sep 11: Raleigh, NC — Red Hat Amphitheater
- Sep 12: New York, NY — Summerstage in Central Park
- Sep 13: Ithaca, NY — State Theatre of Ithaca
- Sep 15: Burlington, VT — Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
- Sep 18–20: Telluride, CO — Telluride Blues and Brews Festival
- Sep 20: Charlottesville, VA — John Paul Jones Arena (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 22: Grand Rapids, MI — Acrisure Amphitheater (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 23: Madison, WI — Kohl Center (with Mumford & Sons)
- Sep 29: Birmingham, AL — Coca-Cola Amphitheater (with Mumford & Sons)
- Oct 1: The Woodlands, TX — Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (with Mumford & Sons)
- Oct 2: Bossier City, LA — Margaritaville Resort Casino
Spector’s Low-End Lineage
In the world of boutique bass building, lineage matters. Knowledge is passed from mentor to apprentice, from workshop to workshop, and from one generation of builders to the next. Few contemporary builders embody that tradition more clearly than Wil DeYoung.
Today, DeYoung serves as general manager and oversees the custom shop for Spector, one of the most recognizable bass companies in modern music. And though his path to becoming a builder was buoyed by family tradition, his rise to his current positions was more circuitous. In fact, DeYoung didn’t even start out wanting to build instruments. Long before he found himself guiding Spector’s future, he was a college jazz student searching for a place in music. And before he worked with some of the most respected builders in the industry, he was tinkering with inexpensive instruments on his own to better understand how they worked. “My dad dropped out of college to open a record store,” DeYoung says with a laugh. “I was probably doomed from the start to be obsessed with music.”
Growing up in Michigan, music was a constant presence in the DeYoung household. Records by Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Larry Carlton, and other artists from the golden era of sophisticated studio musicianship formed the soundtrack of his childhood. Like many aspiring musicians, DeYoung’s first instrument arrived in the form of an inexpensive beginner guitar package that quickly found its way to a corner of the basement, which is surprising considering curiosity and generosity would become the hallmarks of his career.
DeYoung’s formal musical journey began in middle school, not on guitar or bass, but on trombone. Around the same time he joined his school’s band, the church his family attended featured a praise band that needed a bass player. Recognizing their son’s passion for music, DeYoung’s parents bought him a Mexican-made Fender Precision bass. He’d already been plucking his way around a double bass on the side in orchestra and jazz band, but this time, rather than gathering dust, the new instrument became a gamechanger. “I learned a lot on that bass,” he recalls. “It started in church, but then it expanded into every musical opportunity I could find.”
Upon graduating high school, DeYoung enrolled as a music education major at Adrian College before shifting his focus to performance and jazz studies. While saxophone remained his primary instrument academically, bass and guitar steadily became larger parts of his musical identity. He started taking guitar lessons with Professor Dick Lange, and before long, he discovered a well-known truth: Bass players tend to stay busy. “My professors used to tell me, ‘We know you want to be a guitar player, but don’t stop playing bass—every guitar player needs a bass player,’” DeYoung recalls. “That turned out to be absolutely true.”
“The more instruments I worked on, the less it became about my playing and the more it became about what’s possible.”
Yet even as his playing developed, another fascination began to emerge. He wanted to know why instruments felt the way they did. What began as simple curiosity evolved into a hands-on education in repair and modification. DeYoung bought inexpensive instruments, disassembled them, experimented with setups, reshaped necks, and gradually taught himself the fundamentals of guitar construction. “The more instruments I worked on, the less it became about my playing and the more it became about what’s possible,” he says. “I wanted to know how far I could push things.” That curiosity eventually led him into repair work at Guitar Center in Toledo, Ohio, where he spent years developing practical skills—setups, re-frets, acoustic neck resets, bridge repairs, and countless other jobs provided daily education in what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to instrument design.
Perhaps the most important lessons came from the builders who welcomed him into their shops. One of the earliest was Michigan bass builder Matt Kiefer of Better Mousetrap Guitars. At a time when boutique basses were becoming increasingly sophisticated, Kiefer’s instruments represented the modern aesthetic that appealed to DeYoung: multi-laminate necks, exotic woods, extended-range designs, and meticulous craftsmanship.
Equally influential was archtop builder Denny Kopp of Kopp String Instruments in Ohio. Though DeYoung would go on to a career centered around bass-building, his deepest passion remains the archtop jazz guitar. “I’m still obsessed with archtops,” he says. “D’Angelico and D’Aquisto are the pinnacle for me.” Kopp became both mentor and inspiration. During the construction of DeYoung’s own custom archtop, a 17" Betty Swing Archtop, Kopp documented nearly every step of the process, sharing photographs, explanations, and detailed notes. The experience provided a masterclass in craftsmanship and generosity.
“It was incredible,” DeYoung recalls. “He didn’t have to do any of that. He just loved building guitars and loved sharing what he knew.” Watching a single builder transform raw materials into a finished instrument left a profound impression: “I couldn’t help but be hooked at that point.”
While pursuing graduate studies in jazz guitar, DeYoung knew repair work alone would never satisfy him. He had learned how instruments functioned, how to diagnose problems, and how to improve existing designs. He knew after watching Kopp build him a guitar that what he wanted was to start from scratch. “I’d done enough repair work to understand both the possibilities and the limitations,” he says. “I wanted to see what could happen when you build an instrument from the ground up.” An opportunity to do just that arrived when his future wife, Mia, relocated to New York City. “I figured I’d follow her and see what happened,” DeYoung recalls. “Worst case, I could keep doing repair work, but I knew I wanted to build.”
For a young bassist immersed in jazz, there was one destination that stood above all others: Fodera. Like many players of his generation, DeYoung had spent years listening to artists associated with the company. Victor Wooten, Matt Garrison, Janek Gwizdala, James Genus, Lincoln Goines, Lincoln Schleifer, and Anthony Jackson represented the pinnacle of modern bass playing. Their sounds—and the instruments behind it—had become part of his musical DNA. “That sound was always in my head,” he says. “Why wouldn’t I want to work there?”
The problem was that he had never built a bass professionally. Undeterred, he began calling the company—repeatedly. Over the course of several months, he continued reaching out until persistence finally paid off. “I basically annoyed Laura Fodera into giving me an interview,” he says with a laugh. The interview itself was not what he expected. “I showed up wearing a button-down shirt and khakis, ready for a normal interview.” Instead, he was led directly into the woodshop. “They handed me a bass body and said, ‘You’re going to carve this.’” The practical test functioned more like an audition. Fortunately, it was exactly the kind of challenge DeYoung had spent years preparing for through repair work, experimentation, and self-directed learning.
“I wanted to see what could happen when you build an instrument from the ground up.”
In 2015, he moved to New York City and joined Fodera. Once there, he approached the position with a singular goal: learn everything. “I wanted to understand every part of the build,” he says. “Whether it was my department or not, I wanted to know how it worked.” He stayed late, went in on weekends, and sought opportunities to work in every area of production. Alongside founders Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella, builders Aaron Younce and James Michelson became important early mentors. Over time, DeYoung carved necks, routed bodies, installed electronics, fabricated wooden pickup covers and control knobs, performed fretwork, and eventually assumed responsibility for final assembly and setup. For much of his tenure, every bass leaving the shop passed through his hands before reaching its owner.
The role also exposed him to one of the company’s most ambitious technical initiatives: adapting Plek technology to meet the demands of modern electric basses. While Plek systems had originally been developed around acoustic guitars, Fodera’s instruments presented entirely different challenges. Long-scale neck-through basses behaved differently under tension, requiring extensive experimentation and collaboration with the German manufacturer. “We spent a lot of time helping refine what the machine was doing for basses,” DeYoung says. “It taught me a tremendous amount about precision and consistency.”
Years later, when the opportunity emerged to join Spector, DeYoung found himself unexpectedly connected to a much deeper story. The history of Spector and Fodera intersected decades earlier through a woodworking co-op in Brooklyn—Vinny Fodera was Stuart Spector’s first employee. What initially appeared to be a simple career move soon felt more like a continuation of a lineage.
At Spector, DeYoung inherited a legacy unlike any other in the bass world. Stuart Spector and Ned Steinberger created one of the most influential bass designs of the 20th century. The elegant and now-iconic NS body shape transformed the way players thought about ergonomics, comfort, and performance. A generation of bassists, including Sting, Doug Wimbish, Eddie Jackson (Queensrÿche), Rachel Bolan (Skid Row), Guy Pratt (Madonna), and Graham Maby (Joe Jackson), embraced the design. Yet honoring a legacy requires more than preserving the past. For DeYoung, the challenge has been balancing heritage with innovation.
“Anything that’s built for 45 or 50 years is going to be built differently and look differently than it did in the beginning,” he asserts. “It’s going to have all these different benchmarks along the way, indicative of different eras. I spent a lot of time with different instruments evaluating what worked and what didn’t. I wanted to build something that really delivered on the original intention of the design but also included the best of everything that Spector has done over 50 years.”
“Being an enabler of people to grow their own skills and think critically about the jobs that they’re doing, so they can improve the instrument, is such a rewarding thing.”
What he noticed right away about the NS-2 was that some important design elements had changed over the years, whether intentionally or not, including the shape of the body, the neck thickness, and overstand of the fretboard to the top of the body. DeYoung took all of that into consideration when he developed a plan centered on having one definitive, idealized 3D model of the 4-string NS-2. He now refers to that bass as the brand’s “North Star.” Everything else—5-string, short scale, and so on—would be based off one standardized design. “I wasn’t designing from the ground up, but the ethos of every tiny detail mattered,” he attests. “Everything had to be reconsidered.”
The other goal for embarking upon what he now dubs his “revision process” was the import business of Spector, which had historically been separate from instruments coming out of the Custom Shop in upstate New York. “Over the years, there were various Spectors—whether they were made in Korea, China, Indonesia, or Europe—that all had their own identity.” Having elements of the Custom Shop’s craftsmanship flow downstream into the international product line and to a wider audience became part of his grand plan. “If you buy a $179 Squier Strat or buy a $20,000 Masterbuilt Strat, and you put those side by side, you see the same design language. It’s still identifiably a Strat. The pickguard is the same shape; the neck carve is essentially the same—all the stuff that makes it a Strat is still there. And that wasn’t necessarily the case with Spector.”
DeYoung’s persistence with Korg USA, Spector’s parent company, about disseminating the design language to their international partners, ultimately led to his appointment as general manager, and recently came to fruition with the introduction of the Icon series, based out of Indonesia. “The Icon was designed in the Custom Shop with the same neck profile, the same body curves, it has crown inlays, and the same headstock shape,” he explains. “I made sure that all the 3D drawings that we’re using were the same, just adapted for a bolt-on neck for the [Indonesian] factory in the format that they needed. When you put it side-by-side with a custom-shop build, we want people to recognize the design language but also know what it’s going to feel and sound like. It’s a known thing. The NS-2 is iconic.”
Another one of DeYoung’s first initiatives at Spector was to import the holistic approach to bass building he learned at Fodera. “It felt like such an opportunity to open doors for people," he says. It’s a perspective that harkens back to his time with Denny Kopp. Yes, DeYoung got hooked on building, but it’s also abundantly clear that he adopted the concept of generosity Kopp embodied so thoughtfully throughout that process. “Being an enabler of people to grow their own skills and think critically about the jobs that they’re doing, so they can improve the instrument, is such a rewarding thing."
Though he’s been handed the keys to the proverbial castle, DeYoung clearly understands his role as caretaker of an iconic brand, and remains focused on the same qualities that first drew him into the craft: curiosity, continuous improvement, and a deep respect for the musicians who bring these instruments to life. “My role is to bring in a new perspective and a different way to think about things,” he says. “When it comes to guitar building, there’s no one right way to build a guitar.”
“My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow”: Fender CEO responds to his previous comments on AI
Back in May, Edward “Bud” Cole likened AI to “cover music” in an interview with T3, noting that the act of learning and adapting another artist’s songs and techniques is like a form of “analogue AI”. Now, the Fender CEO is keen to clarify his comments.
In a new statement shared with Fast Company, Cole explains that he hadn’t “fully conveyed” his perspective on AI during his T3 interview. “My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow,” he explains.
He goes on to explain that, while AI can help a player grow, that will never take away the human spirit that keeps the guitar community thriving. “Music is an inherently human experience, and great songs are born out of people’s lives, their creative energy and the countless hours spent learning their instruments – something no machine can ever replicate,” he writes.
“Many of the concerns people have about AI are real,” the CEO continues. “Conversations need to happen about how to advance AI while protecting artists and upholding respect for their work.”
To round off, Cole asserts that he still believes that AI is a supportive tool for guitarists of all levels. In his mind, it serves as a way of opening new doors to “explore, refine and experiment with their own creative ideas”. But “music starts and ends with people, and it always will”.
The post “My intent was to talk about how technology can help artists and players learn and grow”: Fender CEO responds to his previous comments on AI appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele likens AI music tools to a “really smart guitar pedal”
Recently, backers of the pro-AI movement are taking a new approach when defending its use in the studio. Instead of addressing on the plagiaristic realities of AI training, musicians are focusing on how it improves musical productivity.
The latest artist to proclaim AI as a useful “tool” in the studio is Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele. In an interview with iHeartRadio Canada, the singer said that AI technology is the same as using a “really smart guitar pedal” that can “empower artists that know how to use it” [via Consequence Of Sound].
Steele is aware of the fact that AI’s steadily increasing influence in the music industry could result in artists falling to the wayside. “I think you’ve got to be careful, you know?” he notes. “‘Cause [AI] is so powerful… it’s going to empower artists that know how to use it, and they’re going to become unstoppable… [if you don’t keep up], it’s going to come and swallow you like a boogie monster at night.”
This isn’t the first time the singer has spoken out in support of AI. In fact, back in April, Steele told Clash Magazine that AI was an “amazing breakthrough in the world”, and explained what AI tools Empire Of The Sun were actively using in the studio.
“I think it’s a breakthrough for artists, too because it’s such a powerful tool…” he said. “We’ve been building out of Base44… [we are using] this thing we called Song Mountain, [which is] like a lyric maker that has all the different tongues of different kinds of words from scriptures to ancient American-Indian Quotes, to different flavours of taxi conversation, it can all be used to kind of help craft different ways lines and verses are written.”
It’s a vastly different approach to the artists standing against AI. Recently, both Sophie Burrell and Sophie Lloyd have spoken out about AI plagiarising their music and likeness, while Rhett Shull has also spoken out about AI ripping off his content.
In terms of artists in the opposing camp, Boy George comes as one of the latest to wave the AI flag. Last week, he proudly asserted that he used AI to write a pro-Israel track, We Will Dance Again. Earlier in the year, George also sunk AI’s praises on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, explaining that it AI technology has “really helped [him] as a lyricist”.
In the days following We Will Dance Again’s release, Bandcamp quickly took it down, with a spokesperson telling NME: “The track was removed based on violation of our Acceptable Use & Moderation Policy, which in specific regard to this case, prohibits music and audio that is wholly or in substantial part created, composed, or generated by artificial intelligence”.
The post Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele likens AI music tools to a “really smart guitar pedal” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Rig Rundown: The Last Dinner Party
Touring behind their 2025 record From the Pyre, English art-rockers the Last Dinner Party stopped at Nashville’s Pinnacle on June 10. PG’s John Bohlinger met up with the band ahead of the show, where guitarists Emily Roberts and Lizzie Mayland walked him through the key pieces of their road kits. Bassist Georgia Davies suffered an injury before the tour, so her tech Max Lilley was filling in on bass. Brought to you by D’Addario.
When the Saints Come Marching In
This Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent signature has been Roberts’ primary guitar for the last four or five years. It features custom goldfoil pickups that are actually built using a Firebird profile for a brighter, aggressive sound.
Fly Away
Roberts borrowed this Gibson Flying V from a relative, and it’s used for heavier rock songs in the setlist.
British V Power
Roberts runs this Victory Copper and a Vox AC30 in stereo.
Emily Roberts’ Pedalboard
After a JHS Mini A/B, Roberts runs a Lehle Mono Volume pedal, TC Electronic PolyTune 3, Fulltone OCD, Warm Audio Warm Chorus Vibrato, Supro Tremolo, Warm Audio Pedal76, Centura Klone, Boss EQ-9, Xotic Effects RC Booster, Boss Space Echo RE-202, Strymon BigSky, and Source Audio EQ.
An RJM Music Technology Mastermind PBC helps navigate the stomps.
Sneaky Greek
This Greco semi-hollow electric has replaced Mayland’s Nashville Tele as her main squeeze these days.
Heavy Hitter
This Fender Jazzmaster comes out for heavier, drop-tuned numbers.
Hot-Rodded Ox
Mayland uses two Fender Hot Rod DeVille IV amps (one clean, one dirty) paired with Universal Audio OX boxes to drive the amps while keeping stage volume reasonable.
Lizzie Mayland’s Pedalboard
Mayland runs two boards. The larger includes a Boss TU-3, EQD Arrows, MXR Dyna Comp, EQD Hummingbird, EQD Hoof Reaper, Strymon Timeline, and Strymon BigSky. Utility boxes include a Strymon Multi Switch Plus, Lehle Little Dual, GigRig QuarterMaster, and JHS Mini A/B.
A small second board holds a Strymon Mobius, Hologram Infinite Jets, and GigRig Latchmo X2.
Bass Camp
This Fender American Vintage II Precision bass is used for most of the set.
Baby Blue
This flashy Epiphone Jack Casady, strung with flatwound strings, provides a warm, round sound in the show.
Super(bass)man
Lily runs Fender Super Bassman 800 heads with 6x10 cabinets.
Georgia Davies’/Max Lilley’s Pedalboard
The board runs a Dunlop Volume X Mini, Boss TU-3, Boss NS-2, EQD Blumes, Boss SY-1, Origin Effects Cali76, Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B3K, EHX Bass Clone, Boss DD-200, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, and a GigRig QuarterMaster to help with changes.
Slash says his decades-long feud with Axl Rose wasn’t personal: “It really had to do with other people”
A full decade ago, Guns N’ Roses surprised the rock world by announcing they would be reuniting to perform at 2016’s Coachella Festival. Considering Slash and Axl Rose had previously been caught in a decades-long feud, it was a wonder that the pair could stand performing together again – and then, in another shock, they even decided to keep the band going for another ten years.
However, despite Slash and Axl being at one another’s throats in the past, Slash insists that it’s all water under the bridge now. In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, the guitarist even says it was “easy” to move on from any bitterness once the pair had a proper heart-to-heart about their issues.
- READ MORE: Slash admits that he was getting tired of the “very predictable Marshall sound” in his music
Before Coachella was even on the cards, Slash reveals that Axl reached out to him to mend old wounds. “I was on the road with The Conspirators in South America, and I got a call from my management saying that Axl’s management wanted to get in touch,” he recalls. “That wasn’t even about Guns N’ Roses getting back together… that was really about mending the fences, so to speak.”
“When I got off the road, he and I had dinner, and then everything just sort of blossomed from there…” he continues. “It was always a bummer to me that it went the way that it went… it was nice to get together with him and talk about it, and realise that all these issues were really on the surface and superficial and stupid.”
As Slash puts it, his issues were never with Axl directly. The problem was more to do with people interfering in their relationship. “The actual issues between Axl and I weren’t insurmountable,” the guitarist admits. “It really had to do with other people that had gotten involved – that sort of exacerbated the issues that we had. It caused a lot of issues. So without [those people], it was really easy for me and Axl to just get past it, you know.”
In fact, the Guns N’ Roses legend even explains that mending the relationship instantly left him with a “warm, fuzzy family feeling” in his gut. “And we haven’t had one fucking fight the whole 10 years that we’ve been together this this this time around!” he announces proudly.
Not only has their renewed bond allowed them to carry on rocking for another ten years, but it’s also allowed Slash to help Axl meet one of his heroes – namely the Prince of Darkness. “I got Axl back there to meet Ozzy Osbourne for the first time [when we played Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning show], because they’d never met each other,” Slash remembers.
“Axl obviously was always a fan of Ozzy, but what Axl didn’t know was Ozzy was a huge fan of his!” he adds. “It was nice to see them actually meet.”
Now, Guns N’ Roses are slowly working towards the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy. “There’s a lot of writing going on with Guns,” Slash reveals. “So after I get back from [touring with The Conspirators], we’ll see if [Guns N’ Roses] can start putting some stuff together and getting in the studio.”
In the mean time, a new record from the The Conspirators is set to drop in February next year after Guns wrap up their tour. It’s set to be the first record from the project since 2022. “It’s it’s good for me just to have all these musical outlets, so I can constantly be playing,” Slash says.
The post Slash says his decades-long feud with Axl Rose wasn’t personal: “It really had to do with other people” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
How Ben Garnett Turns the Acoustic Guitar into the Engine of a New Kind of String Band
“Almost nobody can afford a 1959 Les Paul”: Mark Agnesi on why Gibson wants to make the most vintage-accurate guitars possible
The price tag of a proper original 1959 Gibson Les Paul puts it firmly out of reach of the vast majority of guitar players. Only 643 Les Paul Standards were ever shipped in 1959, so their extreme scarcity – and legendary status in the rock world – means these guitars, when they hit the market, command six-figure price tags most budgets would wince at.
So how can guitar companies give players on more typical budgets the feeling of landing a vintage instrument without having to sell their house in order to do so?
The vintage guitar market remains strong, with many guitarists seeking instruments that look and feel like they’ve been extensively played in. But again, real vintage guitars are pricey, so many companies offer pre-aged models – guitars that are brand-new but made to look old.
Gibson, for example, has a dedicated division, the Murphy Lab, which specialises in artificially aging its electric and acoustic guitars.
“We don’t relic guitars; we age guitars and we try and age them to specific levels of wear with real examples that we see in the wild,” Gibson’s Director of Brand Experience Mark Agnesi tells Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto in a new podcast episode.
“Anything you can do to make a new guitar feel like – we call it the vintage guitar ownership experience. The feeling like I have a $700,000 ‘59 Les Paul in my hands, but when I open the case, I feel like this is the one. That’s the feeling.”
Agnesi says owning a real original ‘59 Les Paul is “unobtainium for almost everybody”, so the brand looks to create a similar experience for a fraction of the cost.
“Not everyone can afford it,” he continues. “Almost no one can afford an original 1959 Les Paul… So what you do [is] try and give the most amount of people the experience of when they open that case, they go, ‘Holy shit.’ That’s what the GIbson Custom Shop, and specifically the guitars coming out of the Murphy Lab, that’s what they’re trying to do. And I think they’re doing a phenomenal job.”
Agnesi says he himself has been fully converted to vintage-accurate guitars: “It’s all that I can own now. Once you get a couple of them, it’s like I need to get rid of all [of my old guitars] and replace them with the exact same thing [but aged].
“After playing vintage guitars for a decade, it’s hard to not have the feel of the neck [where] that binding has been rolled by somebody’s thumb going over it. Or that feel and texture of lacquer checking on the back of the neck.
“To me, it’s a lot more to do with the feel of the back of the neck than how cool it looks or how much paint got taken off the body. For me, it’s about the feel of the neck, and the binding roll – there’s no crisp edges anywhere. It just feels like putting on your old blue jeans. To me, that’s the most important part of an aged guitar.”
The post “Almost nobody can afford a 1959 Les Paul”: Mark Agnesi on why Gibson wants to make the most vintage-accurate guitars possible appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I don’t want to disappoint anybody”: Why Don Felder refuses to improvise when playing the Hotel California solo
Is there any guitar solo in existence more iconic than Hotel California?
Sure, there are certainly some strong contenders, but Don Felder’s outro solo on the title track from the Eagles’ landmark 1976 album of the same name will go down in history as one of the greatest lead guitar moments ever committed to record.
- READ MORE: Two of Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer guitars are up for auction – accompanied by his used cigarette butts
And as such, Don Felder makes sure to treat the solo with the utmost respect when performing the track live, in that he’ll never deviate from the notes on the record as an obligation to fans.
“I’ve played it so many times – like, every show I’ve played as a solo artist I have played Hotel California,” Felder tells Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview. He notes how he continuously practices Hotel California despite playing it hundreds of times over the last five decades.
“The one thing I do at every show, before I go on stage, is work on Hotel California because I don’t want to disappoint anybody,” he explains. “Everybody knows every note in that solo, and I’m afraid if I started jamming on it people would go, ‘What is he doing? That’s wrong! That’s not the solo! Is he having a moment? Or maybe he’s just too old to remember it?”
“I think people want to hear it as they remember it from 50 years ago. So I do my best to play that, and it really takes the most amount of intense concentration to execute that solo over and over and over and over. You never want to just go on autopilot with it.”
Of course, Hotel California remains the Eagles most defining song, and is a staple of the band’s live show to this day. For his big moment each set, Don Felder uses his trusty Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar, as he has for decades.
Eagles continue to perform, and have just announced a new run of dates for their massive residency at the Las Vegas Sphere.
In September last year, Don Felder spoke about Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride), his 1981 solo track he re-recorded for his album The Vault – Fifty Years of Music. While the track ultimately became one of his solo songs, he had initially envisioned it as the ultimate guitar showdown between him and bandmate Joe Walsh – one that would even eclipse their twin leads on Hotel California.
“It was going to be a follow-up on The Long Run,” he said. “It had a real kind of heavy hand to it and I wrote it so that Joe and I could play even harder than we did – or edgier than we did – on Hotel California, against each other. It had harmony parts, trading-off solos and a much harder rock edge.”
The post “I don’t want to disappoint anybody”: Why Don Felder refuses to improvise when playing the Hotel California solo appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source Audio Pathways review: “a pedal that sits comfortably between the worlds of modernity and tradition”
$349/£349, sourceaudio.com
Everybody loves a good reverb pedal, and right now it feels like we’re living through a golden age of ambient effects. Whether you’re after a subtle plate, a cavernous hall, or some otherworldly wash of galactic ambience, there has never been a shortage of options. If anything, today’s market is almost spoiled for choice.
That said, not every player is chasing increasingly expansive soundscapes. For many guitarists, the magic still lies in the tried and true sounds of vintage spring reverb and pulsing tube tremolo. It’s a classic combination that has shaped countless recordings for decades, and one that continues to inspire players today.
Enter the Source Audio Pathways. On paper, it promises to bring those timeless reverb and tremolo sounds into the modern era, combining both effects into a single compact enclosure. Of course, whenever two effects share the same pedal, there’s always the question of compromise. Does combining them result in the best of both worlds, or does convenience come at the expense of performance?
What is it?
Source Audio’s description of the Pathways is pretty straightforward. At its core, it’s built around one of the most beloved effect pairings in guitar history: reverb and tremolo. Given Source Audio’s reputation for creating some wonderfully esoteric soundscaping machines, you might be expecting me to explain how this pedal takes these two classics and gets weird, but no – this is very much the peanut butter and jelly of guitar effects, presented without any gimmickry.
That’s not to say this is lacking in options sonically. The Pathways packs seven onboard reverb and echo algorithms: Slap, Echo, Spring, Tank, Room, Plate, and Hall. Those are paired with three tremolo voices: Harm, Opto, and Bias, along with three selectable note subdivision options. The result is a broad range of sounds that can cover everything from old school surf and vintage Americana to the kind of cavernous ambience that makes you immediately feel like a Slowdive record.
Image: Press
Build quality and usability
Physically, the Pathways is a noticeable departure from the larger enclosures used for pedals like the Collider and Dimensions. Instead, it shares a footprint much closer to the Source Audio Artifakt. In other words, it’s smaller than what many of us have come to expect from Source Audio. Good news for anyone whose pedalboard is already one new purchase away from violating local zoning regulations.
When it comes to controls, Source Audio has continued its recent trend of keeping things refreshingly simple. The pedal features six knobs, with the top row dedicated to reverb duties: Reverb Time, Tone, and Mix. The bottom row handles tremolo controls, including Speed and Depth, while the center knob in the second row serves as the mode selector and will likely be the control you’ll interact with most often.
Of course, this is still a Source Audio pedal, which means there’s considerably more happening beneath the surface than the control layout initially suggests. MIDI support, USB-C connectivity, and integration with the Neuro 3 app also potentially expand the pedal’s capabilities dramatically – offering deeper editing, preset management, and a level of customization that power users will undoubtedly appreciate. And speaking of preset management, you have four onboard presets to switch between sounds.
Image: Press
Sounds
To really see what the Pathways was capable of, I reached for what felt like the obvious choice, a Jazzmaster. After all, few guitars are better equipped to cover the sonic ground this pedal is aiming for, from drip-soaked surf rock to the kind of lush ambient soundscapes that make you want to spend an afternoon pretending you’re in Sigur Rós.
I wanted an amp that didn’t have any onboard reverb or tremolo to see how it enhanced the overall package, so I plugged into a Milkman Beekeeper combo – there was truly nowhere for the Pathways to hide. Every bit of ambience and modulation coming through the speaker was entirely its own doing.
It didn’t take long for the Tank setting to win me over. It’s wonderfully bouncy and absolutely dripping with character, delivering an immersive warmth that immediately felt familiar. More importantly, it captures that vintage spring reverb magic without feeling like a sterile recreation of the past. Each chord rang out with the kind of wet articulation that instantly transported me back to the classic outboard tanks and amp reverbs of the 1960s. There’s a depth and dimensionality here that reminds you exactly why guitarists fell in love with spring reverb in the first place.
The rest of the reverb offerings are equally impressive in their own right. In particular, I found myself repeatedly gravitating toward the Hall setting and its gloriously indulgent wall-of-sound ambience. It’s the kind of reverb that practically asks you to play slow chords and make questionable life decisions. Likewise, if your tastes lean more toward traditional Room or Plate reverbs, there’s a level of attention to detail here that makes each algorithm feel thoughtfully voiced rather than simply included to pad out a spec sheet. Then again, when it comes to reverb, did we really expect anything less from Source Audio?
Image: Press
Admittedly, I’m not the world’s biggest tremolo enthusiast, which meant that side of the Pathways had a tougher job winning me over than the reverb section did. That’s not to say the tremolo sounds aren’t good. Quite the opposite, actually. While all three voices are more than serviceable, I found myself spending most of my time with the Bias mode. There’s something about the way it adds movement and depth without overwhelming the front end of your signal. Each note carries a warm, pulsating warble that feels far more organic than I expected, making it both rewarding and surprisingly addictive to play through.
However, it’s the interaction between the reverb and tremolo engines that ultimately becomes the Pathways’ biggest selling point. Combined, they create some genuinely gorgeous textures that can move effortlessly between dream pop soundscapes worthy of Cocteau Twins and the subtle surf-inspired pulse of Dick Dale. A feat that I thought nearly impossible outside big-box offerings like Eventide’s H90.
Oddly, the only shortcoming I found with this pedal was the Neuro 3 app integration. While it’s one of the best apps I’ve encountered in terms of technological integration and implementation, with Pathways I never really gave it much thought and would posit that most people who purchase this pedal are still best served by what it’s immediately capable of. In some ways I can’t help but wonder if that will come as a detriment to the Neuro 3 app, or if people will completely forget that it’s there.
Should I buy one?
The Pathways feels like Source Audio has managed to thread a very difficult needle. It captures the tonal character that made vintage reverbs and tremolos so beloved in the first place while embracing the flexibility and convenience that modern players have come to expect.
Is it perfect? No. While the Neuro 3 app is genuinely powerful, I suspect a lot of players will spend most of their time enjoying the pedal straight out of the box rather than diving deep into its expanded functionality.
Likewise, if your primary goal is creating massive ambient soundscapes that could double as a film score, you’re probably better served by some of Source Audio’s more ambitious offerings, such as the Dimensions.
On the flip side, if you’re a diehard traditionalist looking for a near one-to-one recreation of the classic reverb and tremolo sounds of yesteryear, the Strymon Flint remains one of the category’s standard bearers thanks to its simplicity, feel, and remarkably authentic sounds.
The Pathways sits comfortably between the worlds of modernity and tradition. More importantly, it accomplishes all of this without feeling like a compromise. Whether you’re chasing surf rock drip, Americana warmth, dream pop textures, or ambient soundscapes, the Pathways feels equally at home. That’s not an easy balancing act to pull off, especially in a compact enclosure. But for anyone curious, it’s not only worth the financial investment, but it’s also worth the creative possibilities it begs you to explore.
Like this? Try these alternatives
Strymon’s Flint ($349/£329) is a wonderfully simple and great-sounding reverb/tremolo, and the V2 version adds MIDI control and the ability to store up to 300 presets. Robert Keeley’s Zoma ($229/£289) is the effects guru’s attempt to create a stripped-down and no-nonsense take on Fender amp-style trem and reverb, and it’s very good. Fender’s effects pedals don’t often get enough mention, but the Tre-Verb ($359/£219) is a very good stereo reverb and tremolo.
The post Source Audio Pathways review: “a pedal that sits comfortably between the worlds of modernity and tradition” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Malina Moye Debuts Kramer Pacer Deluxe Signature Guitar
As the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, Kramer has introduced the Malina Moye Pacer Deluxe signature model, developed in collaboration with one of guitar’s most distinctive modern players.
Finished in striking Splash Blue and designed to match Malina Moye’s explosive technique and genre-defying playing, the Pacer Deluxe blends stage-ready sophistication with the fast, responsive feel players expect from Kramer. Built for musicians who demand both versatility and precision, this guitar features a maple neck with skunk stripe, as well as DiMarzio® pickups, with a Virtual Vintage® Blues in the neck position, an Area 67™ in the middle, and a Super Distortion® in the bridge position. The pickups are selected using a five-way blade switch. A master volume and two tone controls (one for the middle pickup and one for the neck pickup) complete the controls, all of which are mounted in a tortoise shell-colored pickguard. It also rocks a Kramer modern two-point non-locking vibrato system, gold knurled knobs, and Kramer locking tuners. In an essential nod to Moye’s own distinctive playing approach, a left-handed version is available. A premium Kramer gig bag with a reproduction of Malina’s signature on the exterior to help keep it safe wherever you go.
Moye’s relationship with the guitar is as original as her sound. Known for playing upside down and left-handed, she has built a striking style that fuses rock, blues, soul, and funk into something instantly recognizable—technically fierce, emotionally charged, and unmistakably her own. Her musicianship places her in the same musical conversation as Eric Gales, Albert King, Elizabeth Cotten, and Jimi Hendrix, while her individuality sets her apart as a truly singular voice.
Whether headlining international tours, releasing boundary-pushing music or inspiring the next generation of players, Malina Moye continues to carve out her own lane in modern guitar culture—proving that true originality isn’t just heard, it’s felt. Her latest album, Dirty, captures that same intensity in recorded form. Blending gritty blues, high-voltage rock, and groove-heavy funk, the project showcases Moye at her most unapologetic and fully realized. The album reinforces what fans and fellow musicians already know: she is an artist who does not follow trends or expectations—she creates her own lane.
The launch of the Malina Moye Pacer Deluxe marks a meaningful milestone in Kramer history, with Moye becoming the brand’s first female signature artist—but its true significance is rooted in artistry, musicianship, and a career forged through talent, vision, and persistence.
Kramer’s Malina Moye Pacer Deluxe carries a street price of $1299. For more information visit kramerguitars.com.
Pages
