General Interest

Carrying Eddie Van Halen’s last name comes with a weight few could imagine. For Wolfgang Van Halen, that pressure is magnified every time he’s asked to perform one of his father’s songs – a request he almost always declines.

Since Eddie’s death in 2020, Wolfgang has only broken that rule twice. The first was in 2022 at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, where he ripped through On Fire and Hot For Teacher alongside Dave Grohl, Justin Hawkins and Josh Freese. The second one came at the 2024 Welcome to Rockville festival, where he stunned the crowd with a searing rendition of Eruption.

• READ MORE: “I know we’d be screaming together in the stands watching him on stage”: Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife says he’d be “so proud” of his son Wolfgang in touching tribute

But behind the bravado was a very real fear. Speaking to Metal Hammer, Wolfgang recalls how he wrestled with Grohl’s invitation to perform at the Hawkins tribute: “I was like, ‘This is either going to be a nice coda to Van Halen or it’s going to ruin my life.’”

He explains, “I don’t think I would have ever been able to live it down – with how many people who hate me and say, ‘You’ll never be good enough and you have to play Van Halen to be relevant’ – if the one time I played Van Halen on my own, I ruined it and messed up. In my mind, it would have ruined my life had I messed up. I took it very seriously.”

That anxiety helps explain why Wolfgang now keeps his distance from his father’s legacy. In a June interview with Drumeo, the Mammoth frontman revealed that he and his uncle, drummer Alex Van Halen, have a similarly cautious relationship with the band’s catalogue.

“I’m really just not interested in playing it anymore without dad,” he said. “And I know [Alex] feels the exact same way.”

“I’ll play it for fun every now and then. If Dave Grohl comes to me and goes like, ‘Hey, you wanna do this?’ Like, ‘Yes, Dave Grohl, I would like to do that with you.’ But, overall, it’s really a tough thing for me.”

The post “I don’t think I would have ever been able to live it down”: Wolfgang Van Halen on why he was worried playing his father’s songs could have “ruined my life” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty is no stranger to legal battles.

From fighting record label boss Saul Zaentz to courtroom clashes with his own bandmates, Fogerty’s career has been as defined by legal strife as it has by the songs that made CCR legendary. In 2023, after more than half a century of wrangling, he finally secured the US and worldwide rights to the band’s catalogue.

Now, at 80, Fogerty says he’s grown more at ease with his past. Asked what he sees when he looks at photos of his younger self, the guitarist tells CBS Sunday Morning: “Well, I’ve gotten more comfortable with that person in those pictures from long ago, and so I think that allows me to feel better about it, I suppose.”

• READ MORE: John Fogerty says this thing is more important to musical success than being a good guitar player: “Even if your playing is kind of average, you can go far”

“How can I say it? I was confused about the tension and the grumbling that was going on within the band, and certainly, we ended up having a really troubled relationship with Saul, who was the owner of the label. And because it was not a big label, it became personal, because we knew that individual person and he was screwing us.”

Fogerty adds that his later victories in the music business have allowed him to look back with some relief: “The reason I’m more comfortable is because it has turned out okay now, right? But for many years, I would look at those pictures and be sad, because it was sort of a tragic thing. I think the kid doing it at the time just thought, ‘Oh, whoa. I tried really hard, and I was hoping to grow up and be [American sports icon] Babe Ruth.’”

“I mean, who knew that it would actually come true, in a sense,” he says. “But man, it was working. I thought everybody around me could see that and understood that it was working and that this was great. And I have a feeling that they didn’t see it that way.”

Asked if he’s now “at peace with Creedence”, Fogerty admits: “Yeah, I think so. It depends on what you may mean by that. The way I accept it as inevitable – I’m laughing at myself now – I have been sued innumerable times by my former bandmates, let me put it that way. Sometimes it was actually my brother Tom, but after he passed, even his widow joined with Doug [Clifford] and Stu [Cook] and sued me.”

“It’s ironic that 80-year-old people are still suing each other,” Fogerty continues. “So if you mean at peace that way, I just accept all those things as kind of inevitable. That’s all. It’s not surprising anymore.”

On a more positive note, Fogerty recently released a new album featuring re-recorded versions of Creedence classics titled Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years.

The post “It’s ironic that 80-year-old people are still suing each other”: John Fogerty reflects on decades of lawsuits with Creedence Clearwater Revival appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Nikki Sixx has once again hit back at former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars’ claim that the band doesn’t actually play live.

Mars, who retired from touring in 2022 due to his battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), sued the band the following year, accusing them of cutting him off from profits and kicking him out against his will. In his lawsuit, he went so far as to allege that he was the only member performing 100 percent live during the band’s Stadium Tour and that Sixx “did not play a single note on bass”.

• READ MORE: “We had to make a choice. And we made the right choice”: Nikki Sixx defends Mötley Crüe replacing Mick Mars with John 5

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Sixx dismisses the claims and explains that Mars’s departure was simply down to health issues.

“[Mick] came to us and said, health-wise, he couldn’t fulfill his contract, and we let him out of the deal,” the bassist recalls. “Then he sued us because he just said that he can’t tour. We were like, ‘Well, if you can’t tour, you can’t tour.’ I will probably come to that too someday.”

On the subject of backing tracks, Sixx insists the band has never faked a performance: “Anything we enhance the shows with, we actually played,” he says. “If there are background vocals with my background vocals, and we have background singers to make it sound more like the record. That does not mean we’re not singing.”

Mötley Crüe’s attorney, Sasha Frid, also writes in a statement to the LA Times: “The fact of the matter is that Mötley always plays live. Even Mars’ expert witness in the litigation, who Mars hired and who reviewed hours of footage, agreed and said that the band played live while performing. He disputed Mars’ own claims.”

Meanwhile, Sixx didn’t hide his frustration at Mars’s accusations, calling them a “crazy betrayal”.

“Saying he played in a band that didn’t play, it’s a betrayal to the band who saved his life,” he says. “People say things like, ‘Well, if you guys are really playing, then I need isolated tracks from band rehearsal.’ … It’s ludicrous.”

For now, the Crüe continue with guitarist John 5, who has handled live duties since late 2022. Their Las Vegas residency runs through October, and their latest release – a reimagined version of Home Sweet Home with Dolly Parton – recently topped the charts.

The post “It’s a betrayal to the band who saved his life”: Nikki Sixx responds to Mick Mars’ claim that Mötley Crüe doesn’t play live appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$899/£899, martinguitar.com

Billy Strings is one of the most electrifying guitar talents on the scene right now, and so it should come as no surprise that Martin has honoured the 32-year-old bluegrass phenomenon with not one but two new signature models based on the dreadnought guitars that he loves so much.

• READ MORE: Martin D-X2E review – is this the new must-have budget dreadnought acoustic?

Now the first of these guitars, launched back at NAMM in January 2025, is a near as dammit $4,000 D-28 Billy Strings is a love letter to Billy’s beloved 1940 D-28, and features such interesting appointments as a unique 25-inch scale length to give a little less tension and make bends easier, while a unique 1 23/32-inch nut width allows him to blaze up and down the fretboard – it’s a little narrower than standard.

Most of us don’t have $4,000 burning a hole in our pockets to spend on a new guitar however, and so it was a relief to see that revealed alongside the D-28 at the NAMM Show back in January was a much more affordable guitar from Martin’s Mexico-made X series.

Image: Press

Martin D-X2E Billy Strings – what is it?

The X series version of Strings’ signature model is based on the D-X2E from Martin’s recently overhauled Remastered X-series. As I discovered in my review last year, that was a pretty impressive guitar in its own right, and the Strings version carries over much of the fundamentals from that.

That means you get a spruce top with Martin’s laminate HPL material on the back and sides – including the same Brazilian rosewood pattern printed on it in handsome fashion. You also don’t get any binding on this one, with a bevelled edge adding a smoother transition between the two.

It’s not just a name on the label that differentiates this from a standard D-X2E however – as some of the most important bits of the US-made version are carried over in the shape of that unique 25-inch scale length and custom nut width.

You also get a custom hemp (very apt for the ‘California sober’ Strings) embroidered gigbag with the artist’s name on it as opposed to the regular X series gigbag, and the usual Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner and volume, tone, and phase controls.

Image: Press

Martin D-X2E Billy Strings – playability and sound

Having played the vanilla D-X2E a fair bit, the change in scale length and string spacing is instantly apparent – and it’s a very good change in my opinion. Strings is well known for his ability to blaze up and down the fretboard with otherworldly grace, and while I’m nowhere near that sort of level, I instantly find that I’m more easily able to solo and chord up and down the neck with that slightly more compact string spacing and looser string tension.

Sonically, the scale length hasn’t had too much of an impact on the overall tonality of the guitar, and it’s pretty similar to the vanilla X-series guitar in that regard. That’s no bad thing of course, as the original sounded very good, with a clear and ringing tonality. The HPL back and sides deliver more mid to high end frequencies than traditional Martin guitars, but the Spruce top helped level it out.

Compared with the Nazareth-made Strings model, you can definitely notice the bass frequencies aren’t as forward, but that’s probably to be expected when we’re comparing two guitars of such wildly different price tags.

Plugging in, and the E1 electronics are easy to use and sound good – they’re unlikely to change anyone’s life in terms of the way they reproduce your acoustic tone, but for a sub-$1,000 guitar, it’s certainly nothing worth complaining about.

Martin D-X2E Billy Strings – should I buy one?

Sticking an artist’s name on a signature model is always going to correlate with an upcharge on the ticket, and the $200 increase on this guitar over the base model shouldn’t be discounted.

But there’s an argument that what you’re getting here is a different enough ride from the vanilla D-X2E that it more than justifies that pricetag and its status as an instrument in its own right. The neck, with its unique scale length, string spacing and slimmer profile, make this feel like such a distinct instrument from any other Martin in the X series. It feels like someone has done the work and broken this thing in for you, with an easy and addictive playability that keeps you coming back for more – you certainly don’t need to be a bluegrass phenom to appreciate its charms.

Martin D-X2E Billy Strings – alternatives

I’d play them both before you pull the trigger, but if you’re not bothered by the scale length and string spacing differences on the Strings model, the vanilla D-X2E ($699) is a fine guitar for a considerable wedge less. Another fine mid-priced dreadnought made in Mexico is Taylor’s 110ce ($799) and offers the benefits of the brand’s electric-like playability and a cutaway. If you want an alternative big-bodied acoustic with more old-school charm then Epiphone’s J-45 ($799) is a very fine instrument.

The post Martin D-X2E Billy Strings review – “you certainly don’t need to be a bluegrass phenom to appreciate its charms” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you ask me what my favorite pedal is after fuzz, the answer is definitely wah. Bands like Fu Manchu and Dinosaur Jr. are great examples of just how powerful wah, fuzz, and a wall of amps can sound together. Sorry, I’m not into SRV voodoo or those “whacka-whacka” kinds of wah sounds.

Let’s dig a little deeper. My very first wah pedal was actually a gift from my ex-girlfriend. She told me it sounded “sexy.” She knew absolutely nothing about guitars. Maybe the sound reminded her of some sleazy ’70s B-movie soundtrack. That pedal was a Dunlop GCB95 with a red Fasel inductor. I absolutely loved it … at first. I even took it out on tour. But I grew to hate it. It was heavy, hard to click on, had no on/off LED, and it sucked tone like crazy. But still, it was the pedal that made me fall in love with wah and start digging deep into its history.

Wah is one of the most iconic effects pedals—so iconic that even non-guitarists recognize it instantly by sound alone. Hence the name—wah. The effect was first developed around 1964 by the Thomas Organ Company, an American distributor of Vox products from the U.K. Their goal? Originally, it was intended for use with Vox organs, to mimic a trumpet-like tone. Bradley J. Plunkett, a junior engineer at Thomas, modified a midrange booster circuit and eventually decided to use a potentiometer as a frequency control. The result was essentially a variable band-pass filter, initially released as the Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah. McCoy was a trumpet player, and that product was intended to achieve a muted-trumpet effect with guitar. In 1967, to better appeal to guitarists, the name was changed to the Cry Baby, although in Italy Vox branded the device as the V846 Wah-Wah—and the rest is history.

As the music industry evolved, so did the wah pedal. Both the sound and the mechanism used to operate wah pedals went through significant changes. The original Vox V846 used a variable band-pass filter housed in an organ volume pedal enclosure, where the potentiometer was turned via a gear. This allowed players to control the frequency range with a rocking foot motion. This design is still used today by many manufacturers.

However, that system has its drawbacks. Over time, the gears wear out due to friction. Then, there’s the issue of limited sweep range: most rotary pots have about 270 degrees of rotation, but gear mechanisms often only utilize about a third of that, making them far from optimal. In 1977, Ernie Ball replaced the gear mechanism with a string-loop-and-spring design, allowing for a full and smooth sweep. Roland and Boss also introduced unique approaches, including automotive-like axle designs and pedal mechanisms inspired by bicycle cranks—equally effective and efficient. Morley, meanwhile, took a more futuristic approach by employing optical sensors to control the sweep, with no moving interior parts at all.

“Perhaps due to their legacy tones, many players enjoy the limitations of the original design.”

Despite these innovations, no single mechanism has rendered the others obsolete. In the end, it’s up to the musician—the user—to decide which design works best for their playing style and live performance needs. I find myself more comfortable with devices like the one from Ernie Ball, simply because they include an LED indicator. I also really love the Dunlop Bass Wah—essentially a manual envelope filter—which I think is genius.

That said, the classic gear-style wah pedals still have their loyal fans. Perhaps due to their legacy tones, many players enjoy the limitations of the original design. I still believe the lack of an on/off LED indicator is the biggest flaw in traditional wahs like the Cry Baby or Vox models.

Maybe I’m just one of those people with unorthodox tastes and needs. I don’t claim to be special or different, but wah pedals are tools for making music, and music-making is by nature a subjective process. And that’s totally okay, right?

In fact, I’m sure many of the innovations we’ve seen in wah pedal design come from the designers’ own subjectivity—trying to solve real problems they perceive in real contexts. As long as people are passionate about making music, new ideas will keep emerging. Weird, wonderful, and always evolving—that’s wah.

Re-live classic Rig Rundowns from Tool’s Justin Chancellor, Pantera’s Rex Brown, Tim Commerford (RATM/Prophets of Rage), MonoNeon (Prince), and other road-tested pros as they reveal the routing, wah/whammy tricks, delay math, and looping workflows that truly hold up onstage.

Watch the FULL Rig Rundowns:
Tool’s Justin Chancellor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlbvMpq4C64
Pantera’s Rex Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYPG6SQlupQ
Donny Benet: https://youtu.be/WHR5aPTYs4E
MonoNeon: https://youtu.be/fjHgrc06Ov8
Blu DeTiger: https://youtu.be/gVLSMnVID4Q
Tim Commerford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgUqLdgQ1U
El Ten Eleven: https://youtu.be/3wpkBijUkok

Brought to you by D’Addario: https://ddar.io/wykyk-rr

Join D’Addario’s Players Circle for free today to start earning points toward free gear: https://ddar.io/pc-rr

In this lesson Lisa takes a basic progression in C major and shows just how colorful and expressive chord substitutions can be.

When California-based effects company Noise Engineering released their Desmodus Versio in 2020, it represented the first reverb effect in their product line, but they coined a new term for the DSP-based effect: a synthetic-tail generator. The name reflects the reality that it is, by definition, the Desmodus Versio doesn’t create literal reverberation, as in reflections in a room, but instead builds “tails” onto an audio signal. Taxonomy aside, it was a powerful, well-received, and positively jam-packed digital unit.

The Batverb, launched earlier this year, is an evolution of Noise’s tail-generating efforts. However, it uses brand-new code programmed for Electrosmith’s Daisy Seed DSP platform. A stereo effect box that spans delightful and demented flavors of delay and reverb, the Batverb is generously featured and full of unique takes on space-making effects.

Heads or Tails

The Batverb’s main panel includes six knobs, three 3-way switches, two footswitches, and one “bat” button, which you press and hold to access alternate parameters assigned to the knobs. On the crown are input jacks for either mono or stereo performance as well as MIDI in/out and expression pedal jacks. Up to 16 different presets can be saved and recalled via MIDI.

In normal operation, the knobs govern, from bottom left to bottom right, input volume, time, a suboctave chorus, an octave-up shimmer, “regen” or feedback, and a blend of dry and wet signals. When holding the bat button, those same knobs, in order, control output volume, MIDI channel selection, high-pass filter, low-pass filter, duck amount, and expression pedal parameter assignment. The focus switch changes the diffusion of the delay lines. In the left position it behaves more like a delay, while the other two settings sound and feel more like reverbs. Grit adds, in the middle and right positions, a discrete soft-clipping distortion, and duck determines the responsiveness of the feedback. In the switch’s center position, there’s no ducking. At left, feedback monetarily increases when input volume is received, then tapers off as the signal does. At right, the opposite happens, and feedback increases as the signal gets quieter.

Enter the Bat Cave

To my ears, the Batverb’s more reverb-y patches are in hall or room territory—albeit very cavernous halls or rooms. But reverb sounds created by the Batverb’s algorithms sound more authentic to me than many sought-after reverbs I’ve played. Rather than an indistinct wash of sound, the tails here give the convincing impression of your amp’s signal ricocheting around a high-ceilinged cathedral, at first coming back in clearer, sharper bursts, then melting into smeary ambience. And the handy hold feature can be engaged for infinite regeneration by tapping the footswitch, or for a specific window by pressing and holding. That double utility goes a long way toward determining whether the Batverb sounds organic or unhinged.

The sub- and up-octave content injected by the doom and shimmer knobs is more chaotic and spacious than garden-variety iterations of those effects you’ll find on many octave-based reverbs, and that’s a good thing. Like most effects generated by the Batverb it feels like the product of thoughtful, well-considered programming.

The delay algorithm, engaged with the focus toggle at left, is pleasant and plenty usable, and it’s nice to have alongside the less predictable reverb settings. But the Batverb’s deep tweakability means you can still dial in a broad range of both standard and more marginal delay sounds. The chunky transistor-ish dirt summoned by the grit switch widens the palette further. Add in the touch-sensitive ducking (and its customizable parameters), and you’ve got a ton of ground to play with.

The Verdict

Noise Engineering created an outstanding reverb and tail generator here. Considering its steep asking price, the Batverb will be out of the question for many players, but it’s obviously geared to adventurous players and discerning producers, especially those looking for authentic, parallel universe-conjuring ambience and noise in their studio or live rigs. For these musicians, the Batverb will be more than worth the bite it takes from the bank balance.

Nuno Bettencourt may have been the only guitarist to turn down an offer of playing for Ozzy Osbourne, but the Extreme guitar icon remembers their final conversation together fondly.

Bettencourt was offered a job with the Prince Of Darkness in the 1990s, but turned it down as he was busy with his own band. He’d also previously auditioned to play for Osbourne as a teenager, but didn’t get selected.

• READ MORE: “I was very bummed”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the real reason he had to drop out of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s farewell concert

In an interview with Page Six on the red carpet at the VMAs, Bettencourt says (via Guitarist), “When I was 15 and his guitar player [Randy Rhoads] passed in a bad plane accident, I believed that I was gonna replace him, and there was an ad to send a cassette in.

“So I did. I put a cassette together at 15, sent it in, [I thought], ‘This is my gig. I’m going to get it.’ Of course, I didn’t,” he continues. “Nobody ever called. Cut to 12 years later, I’m opening for Aerosmith with Extreme in London and my booker comes in and says, ‘Sharon [Osbourne] just called. Ozzy wants you and wants you to be in the band.’ This is like 1995, ’96. I said no.”

Though he admits it’s a regret, Bettencourt caught up with Osbourne at the Back To The Beginning final Black Sabbath gig: “The last words we said to each other when we took the big group photo, I grabbed his hand, saying, ‘Thank you for everything, and thank you, Ozzy, for what you mean to me.’

He goes on to add, “He pulls me in by the hand. He goes, ‘You were the only guitar player who said no to me.’ But he laughed! He goes, ‘I love you and thank you for being here.’”

Bettencourt also joined a supergroup consisting of Yungblud and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry at the VMAs to perform a tribute medley in honour of Osbourne. You can watch the performance below:

The post Nuno Bettencourt recalls his final conversation with Ozzy Osbourne – as “the only guitar player who said no” to playing for him appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has spoken out on his brother’s negative comments regarding the Ozzy Osbourne tribute performance at the MTV VMAs.

A band consisting of Yungblud, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performed a medley of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne hits at the awards ceremony, including Crazy Train, Mama, I’m Coming Home, and Changes – the latter of which was performed by Yungblud at the final Sabbath gig, Back To The Beginning, and received praise online.

• READ MORE: “I was very bummed”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the real reason he had to drop out of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s farewell concert

Though many loved the tribute, including a very animated Ariana Grande who was in attendance at the event, others were not so keen. Hawkins’ brother, Dan Hawkins, took to Instagram to refer to the supergroup as a “bunch of bellends”, and criticised the performance as “nauseating”.

In a new video posted to the Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel, The Darkness vocalist has reflected on the comments made by his brother, and has tried to explain why he thinks the set didn’t go down so well with him.

“I feel like what irks musicians of a certain age is the fact that Yungblud seems to have positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy, having nothing to do with the really important stuff,” he says (via Classic Rock). “All of this posturing is Jim Morrison meets the bloke from Stone Temple Pilots meets everybody else who’s ever owned a pair of leather trousers. It’s 101 School of Rock stuff, you know?”

Though praising Nuno Bettencourt, he goes on to add: “It’s actually like watching David Hasselhoff, who I think is one of the greats… So when I say that, it’s not actually an insult. I just mean that it’s like rock ‘n’ roll done by somebody who, perhaps, was famous for driving a talking car and felt reassured by wearing little red shorts and looking after you at the beach. It’s like a television personality doing rock ‘n’ roll.”

Though the Hawkins brothers don’t see the appeal, other artists have formerly praised Yungblud including Matt Sorum and Geezer Butler. There’s also no denying that the young rock artist did in fact have a close bond with Osbourne before he passed.

Back in 2022, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne featured in the video for Yungblud track The Funeral. Last year, Yungblud also featured on The Osbourne’s YouTube channel for an interview with Sharon and daughter Kelly Osbourne. Throughout, the pair continually shared their surprise at the similarities between him and Ozzy.

You can watch Justin Hawkins’ video below:

The Darkness are currently on tour in Canada, while Yungblud is touring in the US in support of his recent album, Idols.

The post “Was it really necessary to refer to anyone as a bell**d? Let me try to explain”: Justin Hawkins jumps to his brother’s defence after criticism of Yungblud’s VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

We can all fall prey to impulse from time to time, especially when under the influence. But for American blues songwriter and guitar legend Marcus King, a drunk spending spree happened to land him a Fender 1966 Esquire.

As the story goes, King picks up the phone to guitar shop Carter Vintage on the other end of the line. “Are you going to come and get this guitar?” He recalls them asking, in a new interview with Guitar World. 

• READ MORE: “Exploring the guitar more fully than ever before”: Jacob Collier’s forthcoming album is all about the acoustic guitar
  

King – who has worked with the likes of Rick Rubin and has played Rory Gallagher’s very own white Fender Tele – says he was completely drunk when he placed the order. And because of that, he had no recollection of buying it at the time. He confesses, though, that “It’s probably the only good thing that came of my drinking.”

Despite his purchase, King’s drunkenly purchases guitar probably doesn’t get much play time considering his sizeable instrument collection, which also includes piano, pedal steel, fiddle, banjo, ukulele. “When I’m at home, I don’t like to touch the guitar,” he says.

As for why he often chooses to play other instruments instead of the guitar, he says his skills with the six-string aren’t likely to diminish if he plays less.

“The guitar is something that I’m so familiar with,” he says. “It’s like riding a bike or speaking the English language. If I moved abroad and only spoke Spanish for six months, it’s not like I will forget how to speak English.

“Guitar is so deeply rooted in me. I like to play different instruments, and it helps my playing when I go back to the guitar. I read Victor Wooten’s book [The Music Lesson], and he harped on the importance of being a musician, not a bass player, and I have always been influenced by that idea. It’s a holy experience to be able to sit at a guitar and say exactly what I have on my mind.”

The post “Are you going to come and get this guitar?”: Blues legend Marcus King drunkenly purchased a rare guitar (and forgot he had done so) appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch—one of the creative avatars of downtown New York cool since the mid ’80s—was asked a while back what he thought were some of the key innovations of the 20th century. “My answer was the mapping of the human genome, the Hubble Space Telescope, the French bikini, and the electric guitar,” recalls the director of such arthouse wonders as Mystery Train, Dead Man, and Only Lovers Left Alive. “My favorite of those might be the electric guitar. I just love guitars and musical noise.”

YouTube

Jarmusch isn’t just a fan of music ranging from the Stooges and Crazy Horse to heavy drone bands like Earth and Nadja. He generates guitar noise himself, most notably with his band Sqürl and his frequent duo partner, the Dutch lutenist Jozef van Wissem. Jarmusch has been making records and performing live with both for years now; his output with a guitar in hand has even lately outpaced his productivity behind a camera. Last year, he and his prime Sqürl mate, Carter Logan (drums/electronics), released Music for Man Ray, an album of their scores to Surrealist short films made by the titular artist in the 1920s, the whorls of sound captured live at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. That disc followed a 2023 Sqürl studio album, Silver Haze, with guest stars guitarist Marc Ribot, actress/vocalist Charlotte Gainsbourg, and the singer-songwriter Anika. Jarmusch and van Wissem toured this summer to herald a new record, The Day the Angels Cried, their fifth non-soundtrack release. Jarmusch has also been working on some longform solo guitar music, asking the recording engineer to “edit out all the riffs” as he follows a dream-logic muse.

“You have to be listening and use your whole body along with your instrument, your amps, your effects. But what you’re going to produce isn’t certain, and there’s tension in that.”—Jim Jarmusch

Although he had played in bands during the early ’80s, mostly on keyboards, Jarmusch took up the guitar as a passion in the early 2000s. He had planned for his pensive noir The Limits of Control (2009) to feature preexisting music rather than a purpose-written score, including viscous art-metal by Boris, Sunn O))), and Earth, the tolling psychedelic rock of the Black Angels’ “You on the Run,” and a handful of flamenco pieces to suit the Spanish setting. But when he couldn’t find the right tracks to match some elemental sounds he heard in his head for a few remaining scenes, Jarmusch decided to make that music himself, alongside Logan and engineer-organist Shane Stoneback. Credited as Bad Rabbit on the soundtrack, the name morphed into Sqürl as Jarmusch and Logan released further recordings, such as the luminous, affecting Some Music for Robby Müller (a sonic tribute to the late, great cinematographer).

“I’m not a trained guitar player—never even had a real lesson,” explains Jarmusch, 72. “I play my own way. I don’t practice scales, but something I have practiced for many years is controlled feedback. If I can say anything, it’s that I’ve become pretty good at that kind of musical feedback on electric guitar, something I do a lot in the duo with Jozef. I have had some pointers in this area, particularly from Stephen O’Malley from Sunn O))) and Stewart Hurwood, one of Lou Reed’s guitar techs. But the thing about feedback is that you’re not always totally in control of it. You don’t know exactly how the guitar and pickups are going to react vis-à-vis what distance you are from the amplifiers and how their levels are set. So, you have to be listening and use your whole body along with your instrument, your amps, your effects. But what you’re going to produce isn’t certain, and there’s tension in that. I’m always interested in the challenge of being a little off-balance—it inspires me. I’m not so good at repeating a formula, as I’m not mathematical in that way. When playing more rock ’n’ roll guitar with Sqürl, I can even sort of frustrate Carter at times, because he’s a precise drummer and my approach is on the loose side.

Primal Sounds, Old Wood

When it comes to his ethos of guitar, clues come from the two documentaries Jarmusch has made: the exciting, insightful Stooges history Gimme Danger (2016) and the lo-fi road document Year of the Horse, which Neil Young called “a nature film” of his 1996 tour with Crazy Horse. “I’m definitely not into shredding, even if you can admire the technical mastery of someone like Eddie Van Halen,” Jarmusch says. “I’m a Ron Asheton guy—in the more primal camp. I really like Neil’s raw style. I’m drawn to players who approach the instrument from an odd slant.” He points to Ribot, Link Wray, Robert Quine, and Rowland S. Howard of the Birthday Party as other individualists he finds inspiring, along with Earth’s Dylan Carlson for “his beautiful sound and incredible control” at glacial tempos, and Pat Place of the Contortions and Bush Tetras, “who brought such a funky vibe to the post-punk and No Wave scene in New York.”

Jarmusch lights up at memories of witnessing Television live, calling the interplay of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd “a beautiful revelation—this weaving of guitars that wasn’t necessarily blues-based. Their shows would just elevate me to the sky.” He also digs the live-wire, sui generis guitar weave of Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and his mates in the nomadic Saharan band Tinariwen, as well as the drone-metal pairing of O’Malley and Greg Anderson in Sunn O))) and the intrepid avant-rock of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo.

Jim Jarmusch’s Gear

Guitars

Fender Stratocaster modified by Rick Kelly with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups, Callaham bridge, and leather pickguard by Cindy Guitars

Rick Kelly T-style

Guild Starfire I Jet 90 with three P-90 pickups

Fender Ed O’Brien Stratocaster

Epiphone Casino

Epiphone ES-335

Fender Jaguar

Blueridge Dreadnought

Gibson L-1

Guild mahogany dreadnought 12-string acoustic

Gretsch Bobtail Roundneck Resonator G9220

1960 Silvertone Jupiter

Amplifiers

Vox AC15

Fender Pro Junior

Roland Jazz Chorus

Silvertone 1482

Vox Pathfinder 15R

Effects

EarthQuakerDevices Dispatch Master

EarthQuakerDevices Avalanche Run

EarthQuakerDevices Transmisser

EarthQuakerDevices Astral Destiny

EarthQuakerDevices Hizumitas

EarthQuakerDevices Spires

EarthQuakerDevices Special Cranker

EarthQuakerDevices Aqueduct

EarthQuakerDevices Rainbow Machine

EarthQuakerDevices Warden

EarthQuakerDevices Acapulco Gold

Death by Audio Echo Master

Gamechanger Audio Plus Sustain

Gamechanger Audio Plasma

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (vintage)

Electro-Harmonix Pitchfork

Electro-Harmonix 720 Looper

Electro-Harmonix Voodoo Lab Overdrive

Boss Super Overdrive SD-1

Boss Compression Sustainer CS-3

Boss Loop Station RC-3

Boss Space Echo RE-20

Boss Catalinbread Echorec

MXR Carbon Copy

Chase Bliss Mood

Chase Bliss Generation Loss

Kernom Moho Fuzz

Dunlop TS-1 Stereo Tremolo

TrueTone CS12

Death By Audio Raw Power

Strings

D’Addario .010s

Like some of his favorite players, Jarmusch’s go-to shop is Carmine Street Guitars in New York’s West Village, whose customers have also included Quine, Ribot, Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and Lenny Kaye. The proprietor, Rick Kelly, is a luthier whose specialty is creating guitars made out of rare, especially resonant 19th-century wood sourced from New York City buildings, including McSorley’s Ale House (established in 1854) and the roof of Jarmusch’s Bowery loft. He calls Kelly “my main guy—a real artisan and just fascinating to talk with about guitars, tonewoods, everything.” Kelly built Jarmusch a custom T-style (with a wide-range humbucker at the neck), along with modifying his longtime road guitar for Sqürl: a black Stratocaster, with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups and other touches. Jarmusch appreciates the store’s old-school, workshop vibe so much that he encouraged a documentarian friend of his, Ron Mann, to make a charmer of a film called Carmine Street Guitars, which features Jarmusch and many of the aforementioned players stopping in to talk about the shop’s instruments and try them out.

“Making a film is a complex process with a lot of equal talents all pulling together, yet I’m necessarily the captain of the ship, navigating an idea from my imagination onto the screen. But when I’m making music with other people, I’m in a conversation.”

Jarmusch’s other favored guitars include a Blueridge dreadnought and an Ed O’Brien signature model Stratocaster. “The Ed O’Brien Strat with that Fernandes Sustainer unit is an amazing guitar, kind of trippy,” he says. “Whenever I pull that thing out in my little studio, the instrument almost starts playing itself, like it just wants you to experiment with it.” For the squalling counterpoint he provides to van Wissem’s circular arpeggios, Jarmusch switches to a semi-hollow guitar. “I have a cool 335-style Epiphone from the 1990s that feeds back beautifully, sounding like a cello. I played it for almost all the past recordings where I used feedback a lot. But for my latest tour with Jozef, I have been using a Guild Starfire Jet that has three P-90 pickups. It’s kind of a beast, but I’m loving it, because it’s very good for controlled feedback.”

Analog Spirit, Drone Power

About Jarmusch’s romance with guitars, van Wissem says, “I guess it was sort of an accident that the guitar and music became a bigger and bigger focus for Jim, but I always had the idea that he really wanted to be a musician, in a way. He has definitely become a good guitarist now, having developed his own sound and approach over the years. He loves his pedals and playing wild electric stuff and feedback, but he likes playing acoustic, too. We can go from darkly beautiful, even elegant things to some pretty metal sounds, especially at the climax of these recent shows when I trade the amplified lute for a 12-string guitar, my Gretsch Electromatic.”

Jarmusch and van Wissem hit it off after meeting on the street in SoHo about 20 years ago. “We immediately discovered that we shared an enthusiasm for many of the same films and books, and music from Morton Feldman to Joy Division,” van Wissem recalls. “Jim is a cultural sponge—he takes everything in.” The two developed a synergistic association, performing around New York with their unique combination of instruments and making records often colored by van Wissem’s arcane, neo-gothic mythos. The lutenist, playing models made for him by Canadian luthier Michael Schreiner after Renaissance and Baroque examples, had already been recording his own minimalist, contemplative compositions solo, having eschewed a traditional route of playing the complex classical repertoire (despite a love for such Baroque lutenist-composers as Sylvius Leopold Weiss). The aim, van Wissem says, was to “dust off” the lute by putting its intimate tones in a new context, “to make it live in the now.” It was a path more in keeping with his punk-rock spirit, something the indie-minded Jarmusch could appreciate.

About Jarmusch’s romance with guitars, van Wissem says, “I guess it was sort of an accident that the guitar and music became a bigger and bigger focus for Jim, but I always had the idea that he really wanted to be a musician, in a way. He has definitely become a good guitarist now, having developed his own sound and approach over the years. He loves his pedals and playing wild electric stuff and feedback, but he likes playing acoustic, too. We can go from darkly beautiful, even elegant things to some pretty metal sounds, especially at the climax of these recent shows when I trade the amplified lute for a 12-string guitar, my Gretsch Electromatic.”

“David Lynch said that movies are the closest thing that humans make to dreams, and it’s true. A film is like a dream that you’re pulled into. But music is more like a kind of magic, even just listening to it. You supply your own imagination, your own feelings and associations.”

Jarmusch and van Wissem hit it off after meeting on the street in SoHo about 20 years ago. “We immediately discovered that we shared an enthusiasm for many of the same films and books, and music from Morton Feldman to Joy Division,” van Wissem recalls. “Jim is a cultural sponge—he takes everything in.” The two developed a synergistic association, performing around New York with their unique combination of instruments and making records often colored by van Wissem’s arcane, neo-gothic mythos. The lutenist, playing models made for him by Canadian luthier Michael Schreiner after Renaissance and Baroque examples, had already been recording his own minimalist, contemplative compositions solo, having eschewed a traditional route of playing the complex classical repertoire (despite a love for such Baroque lutenist-composers as Sylvius Leopold Weiss). The aim, van Wissem says, was to “dust off” the lute by putting its intimate tones in a new context, “to make it live in the now.” It was a path more in keeping with his punk-rock spirit, something the indie-minded Jarmusch could appreciate.

A milestone for the Jarmusch/van Wissem partnership came with the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), the director’s most potent latter-day film. Although ostensibly a vampire movie, on a deeper level it’s about valuing the gifts of the past while also appreciating new possibilities ahead, despite the melancholy evanescence of this world. The score is a mosaic of Sqürl and van Wissem, with the lutenist composing the main themes—which earned him the soundtrack award at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s also the duo’s “hit,” the one crowds cheer from the first notes.

Reflecting on his various collaborations, Jarmusch says: “Making a film is a complex process with a lot of equal talents all pulling together, yet I’m necessarily the captain of the ship, navigating an idea from my imagination onto the screen. But when I’m making music with other people, I’m in a conversation. With Sqürl, I can lead things, or not. But in the duo with Jozef, he generally makes the decisions on structure, etc., which I’m then free to react to. I like that. Giving up control is good for me, and he has experience making his own records. He has always encouraged my musicality, and I trust him. Our interest in history and our sense of aesthetics align in many ways, even if our philosophies differ in some areas. I see Jozef as this Swedenborgian mystic in a way, whereas I’m a natural-phenomenological psychedelic atheist, I guess.”

Jarmusch and Van Wissem certainly share an appreciation for the timeless power of the drone. The pick of their albums, American Landscapes, comprises three droning tone poems created in 2022 to reflect the embattled state of the nation, like an alarm-cum-lament, with the lute tolling as the guitar growls at the moon. But all of the duo’s music-making taps into a hypnotic essence. “I’ll be playing one chord, arpeggiated, for a long time, circling around, and that repetition can put a listener into something like a trance,” Van Wissem explains. “On the lute, I’m playing Renaissance drones, essentially, alternating the bass line on two strings and improvising a melody on top, the drone staying the same with some variation in the melody. It’s basic, but that trance effect at a show means you go more inward. You let things go in the process, your daily disturbances, and when it’s over, you’re different somehow. I have the same experience when I go to a Sunn O))) concert.”

Due out this fall is Jarmusch’s first movie since 2019, Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, starring Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, and Tom Waits. Jarmusch tells a story involving Waits that helps illustrate a difference for him between directing movies and making music: “Once, I was with Tom at his house, and he’s sitting at this old piano and writes a song as I’m sitting there. It just comes and then goes into the ether, like perfume. At the time, I had been working on a film for two fucking years, with longer to go, and he conjured up this wonderful piece of art in the moment. Making films doesn’t have that immediacy. David Lynch said that movies are the closest thing that humans make to dreams, and it’s true. A film is like a dream that you’re pulled into. But music is more like a kind of magic, even just listening to it. You supply your own imagination, your own feelings and associations. Filmmaking is something that I love to do and hope to keep doing. But music is in another realm. I think it’s the most beautiful thing that humans do.”

YouTube It

Here’s a flashback to Jarmusch and van Wissem earlier in their union, creating droning magic in Barcelona in 2013.

Last year, seven-time Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier wrapped up his sprawling Djesse album series, which spanned four records across seven years and saw collaborations with hundreds of artists.

The English music whizz would be forgiven for having a lengthy break from songwriting, but creativity seems to be the very lifeblood that courses through his veins, so we’re not all that surprised he’s already announced another record.

• READ MORE: Boss PX-1 Plugout FX review – “This is a pedal that could find a home in a lot of rigs”

Things will be a little different this time around though, in that the album – The Light For Days – will centre around just one instrument: the acoustic guitar.

Arriving 10 October, the LP is composed of six new original songs, as well as five handpicked covers of his longtime idols, including James Taylor, John Martyn, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

While his Djesse series exerted a pressure for him to “outdo himself” every time and “continue exceeding the infinite possibilities, limitless capabilities and boundless expectations”, The Light For Days sees Collier “freeing himself to be himself in his rawest, purest form”.

The inspiration to begin writing the album came during a brief visit to his home city of London. While there, he explored his 5- and 10-string Taylor guitars “more fully than he ever had before”, including through alternate tunings like DAEAD.

But when it came time to record the album, the entire process was completed in just four days. Again, not that surprising for a musician of Collier’s calibre.

“Since completing the Djesse album series, my imagination has been brimming with all sorts of ideas of things I’d like to do and create,” Colliers says. 

“One of the things I’ve wanted to really focus on, and zone into, is the limitation of a single instrument. The acoustic-guitar sound world has been a foundational aspect of my music universe for as long as I can remember, and so I set myself the challenge of making a full-length album, using almost entirely the five-stringed guitar, in just four days. 

“As a result I had to work so fast that I couldn’t second-guess anything – I just had to roll with and trust the process. The results are warm, scrappy, imperfect, but very close to my heart.”

Jacob Collier is about to release the latest preview from the album, an original track named I know (A Little). You can watch that below when it drops at 5PM BST.

Check out the full tracklist for The Light For Days below:

1. You Can Close Your Eyes
2. Heaven (Butterflies)
3. Thom Thumb
4. Fairytale Lullaby
5. Norwegian Wood
6. Keep An Eye On Summer
7. I Know (A Little)
8. Where Did My Apple Fall?
9. Sweet Melody
10. Icarus
11. Something Heavy 

Jacob Collier is set to play a series of shows this autumn across South America, India, China, Australia and the US. Head to his website for a full list of dates, and to preorder The Light For Days.

The post “Exploring the guitar more fully than ever before”: Jacob Collier’s forthcoming album is all about the acoustic guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Interest in small-bodied parlor guitars—precursors to the bulky modern dreadnought—is skyrocketing. Learn all about these guitars, why players love them, and which model could be right for you.

PRS Guitars has revived its Mira model, which has returned to its Maryland factory line with new appointments, as a regular offering in its S2 Series.

This new S2 Mira 594 offers a 24.594” scale length and comes in both gloss and satin finishes. The model has evolved through many different variations across the years since its 2007 launch, but PRS now says it’s finally found its “true voice”.

• READ MORE: PRS SE NF 53 review: “it might look like PRS’s Telecaster, but this is its own guitar”

The original 2007 model was an all-mahogany pickguard guitar with moon inlays, 24 frets, a 25” scale length, a stoptail bridge, and a single mini-toggle. It has appeared across all of the Series from PRS and in various configurations, including the popular Mira X.

In 2013, the Mira was moved from its Core line and was one of three models to launch the S2 Series, which stands for “Stevensville 2” – a nod to the second manufacturing line it started up at its Stevensville, Maryland factory. It was last offered as an S2 in 2018, becoming part of the SE Series from 2020-2023.

Digging into its history, PRS explains: “The flat-top, all-mahogany Mira was designed for the player looking for a simple rock ‘n’ roll guitar with all the quality and intonation PRS is known for.

“The model went from design to production in a record six weeks, with a body shape adapted from the Santana [signature model], though with some notable changes to the horns and roundness of the lower bout. Overall, the Mira aimed to appeal to the modern guitarist while still honouring a retro vibe.”

The 22-fret S2 Mira 594 pairs all-mahogany construction with PRS 58/15 LT vintage-voiced pickups for a warm and focused midrange. The humbuckers are paired with two mini-toggle switches so you can individually tap the pickups for both authentic humbucking and “chimey” single-coil sounds.

The S2 Mira 594 is available in Antique White, Black, Dark Cherry Sunburst, Platinum Metallic, Vintage Cherry, and debut colour Black Rainbow Holoflake. The Satin version (offering the PRS “sinky” satin nitro finish), is available in Matcha Green, Mavis Mint Metallic, Metallic Midnight, Dark Cherry Sunburst, Red Apple Metallic, and debut colour Cloud Burst.

“The Mira has had an interesting history over the course of the last 17 years, but I don’t think it found its true voice until now,” comments PRS Guitars Director of Sales, Jim Cullen. “The S2 Mira 594 combines our 24.594” scale length with a Pattern Thin neck shape and a very simple and straight forward feature set that provides an incredibly lively, simple-to-use tool to create music. I hope you are as inspired as we are with the newest evolution of this classic model.”

The PRS S2 Mira 594 is available now for £1,699. Find out more via PRS Guitars.

The post PRS Guitars says the Mira has finally found its “true voice” as it’s relaunched as an S2 model appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Les Claypool has looked back on his high school years with Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, and how he even joined his band as a singer.

As a teen, Claypool used to jam with Hammett, but chickened out of his band when he felt his vocals were a little croaky. He then was coaxed by another student who needed a bass player, which was a role he fell into somewhat easily, partly in thanks to the lack of bassists around due to the mass obsession with Eddie Van Halen’s guitar wizardry at the time.

• READ MORE: Les Claypool says Kirk Hammett was like “Tommy Chong” in high school: “He’s like, ‘Man, I know the three key elements to success: sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll’”

In an interview with YouTube’s music mastermind, Rick Beato, the Primus frontman recalls: “[Hammett] actually tried to get me to sing for his band. We had algebra together, and he sat behind me in algebra, and he would always go, ‘Hey, Claypool. Hey, Claypool, check it out, man.’

“I still, to this day, remember this ad. It was the ad for a Stratocaster where the guy’s holding it, and he’s going, ‘It’s a rock machine,’ and the guy behind him is going, ‘No, it’s a country machine…’ [Hammett’s] like, ‘Here’s my guitar, Claypool, man. It’s the one I’m getting.’”

As Claypool would always be sitting around and singing along to bands like Led Zeppelin, Hammett decided he’d make a great singer for his band and gave him some cassettes so he could learn a few tracks for an audition, including Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love.

“But also on there was Hendrix. I’d never heard Hendrix before. I was 14 or whatever so he turned me on to Hendrix and all these different things. But I chickened out. Back then I was total Bobby Brady, you know, croaking and cracking. But I met this other guy that needed a bass player,” he says.

Claypool’s dad helped him pick out his first ever bass: “We got a brand new P Bass copy Memphis. I got this thing, and I had to pull weeds all summer to pay for it, but then I was instantly in a band because nobody wanted to play bass back then. Everybody wanted to be Eddie Van Halen, so bass players were a very rare commodity.”

Of his bond with Hammett, he later adds, “I didn’t find out till years later that he was kind of pissed at me for bailing on his thing to go play bass in this other band.”

You can watch the full interview below:

The post “Everybody wanted to be Eddie Van Halen, so bass players were a rare commodity”: Why Les Claypool chickened out of Kirk Hammett’s high school band – and found bass along the way appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

£199/$249, boss.info

Everyone loves Boss pedals, don’t they? But over the last 50 years, the Japanese pedal giant has produced an almost countless number of funny little boxes, and many of them are now discontinued, and either hard to find, prohibitively expensive, or both.

• READ MORE: Crazy Tube Circuits Venus review – ”Crazy Tube Circuits may well have created a masterpiece”

Enter then, the Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – a brand new and very Boss-y take on the concept of a multi-effects unit that promises to act as an archive of some of the most iconic, missed and hard to find compact pedals the brand has ever made.

It’s also a pedal that has provoked more online opprobrium than any other Boss product in the company’s long history… so what gives? Well…

Image: Adam Gasson

Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – what is it?

Well, the clue is very much in the name. For the last year or so, through its Roland Cloud service, Boss has been making plugin versions of its most iconic effects for use in the box with your preferred DAW or software guitar amp and effects platform. The Plugout takes a bunch of these plugins and quite literally lets them out of the box, and enables their use as part of any normal effects chain. Plugin > Plugout… geddit?

The plugins offered at launch run the gamut of the stone cold classics – such as the DS-1, SD-1 and CS-1 – and out-of-production gems like the CE-2, OD-1, OC-2, VB-2 and DD-2. Then there’s the ‘weird shit’ – hard to find curios from the Boss annals like the SG-1 Slow Gear and DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion and the SP-1 Spectrum Equalizer.

You get 16 plugins included at launch, but that won’t be the case for long. Boss is planning to add many more plugins to the selection, starting with the OD-2, DM-2 and DC-2 in January 2026. There is a catch, however – only those first 16 are ‘free’. While you can audition any of the new effects gratis (every 30 seconds the audio will drop briefly in this demo mode), they’ll cost $9.99 each to download and keep forever.

Now, this facet is by SOME DISTANCE the main thing that people – particularly the sort of guitar YouTubers who seem to be permanently outraged – have really zeroed in on. I think there’s some valid discussion to be had about all this, but I think it’s best covered at the end of this review.

One thing that should be made clear however is that you do NOT need to have a subscription to run this pedal – as some have erroneously suggested. After you’ve created the free Roland account, those 16 models are yours to load onto the pedal forever, and once they’re on there, they’re on there. Creating the account gives you a lifetime license to use the plugins on your PX-1, even if you don’t ‘own’ it in the most traditional sense – given that we all merrily click ‘accept’ on much more restrictive software licenses every day, I don’t know if it’s really worth getting that worked up about.

Image: Adam Gasson

Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – build quality and usability

If the two things most likely to survive a nuclear apocalypse are Keith Richards and cockroaches, then you can probably slot the venerable Boss Compact Pedal in as a respectable third. There’s a reason the design has barely changed in nearly 50 years – it’s simple, functional and absolutely bomb-proof. And the best compliment I can give the PX-1 is that despite its clearly very high-tech innards, in hand this feels just as reliable and reassuring and familiar as any other Boss pedal I’ve picked up in the last few decades.

There are differences of course – lord knows my DS-1 never had a USB-C port or a MIDI clock input – but they’re all discrete and don’t detract from the inherent functionality of the thing. Even the new screen above the footswitch feels suitably rugged – I reckon you could drop a fair few heavy things on this screen and it wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Pretty sure the good folks at Boss wouldn’t appreciate me testing this out with my review loaner, and I’d avoid trying it at home, too. Still, it feels reassuring!

If you’re anything like me, the words ‘companion app’ in relation to any guitar product is enough to send a chill down your spine. When they work, they can create a truly enhanced and seamless experience. When they don’t, it can ruin the whole damn thing – especially if some boffin has decided that huge amounts of functionality is hidden inside.

You can load 16 effects onto the PX-1 – eight permanently installed “1” models that come pre-loaded, but if you want to add the further eight effects that are available for free at launch, you’ll have to download the app and sign up for a Roland account. This is how they get you, friends.

Begrudgingly, then, I download Boss’s Effect Loader app onto my iPhone and begin the process of pairing it with the PX-1. My hackles were at half mast at this point, because the process is not exactly intuitive out the gate – reaching for the manual before you’ve even plugged in is often not a good sign. But there’s actually a quite sensible reason for this.

Image: Adam Gasson

Unlike most modern Bluetooth products, the PX-1 doesn’t have it on all the time, you have to navigate through the menu using the three clickable knobs on the pedal to turn it on, and then connect via the app.

Once you’ve done this, it takes a few seconds to connect and then you’re presented with a screen of your available pedals – tap on said pedal, and you get the option to send it to the PX-1. A progress bar appears on both the pedal and the app, and about 90 seconds later you’re good to go. You’ll stay connected to the app until you start fiddling with the pedal itself, at which point you’ll be prompted to disconnect.

This ‘not always on’ approach is a little unusual for sure, but it kinda makes sense – why would you want something emitting a wireless signal on your perfectly crafted and isolated pedalboard unless you needed it? And the good news is that after you’ve loaded on your effects of choice, you don’t. Unless you wish to upload a different pedal to one of the user slots, you need never think about the Effect Loader app again if you so wish – and that’s the sort of companion app I can get behind.

You can also use the app to download the latest firmware for the pedal, though you can’t do that via Bluetooth. Again, the process is a little unwieldy – but effective! First you have to connect your phone to the pedal via a suitable cable, and then you have to restart the pedal while holding down the footswitch to enter update mode. If this all is starting to sound a bit too much like the sort of thing that made me stop using PCs, I’m right there with you – but don’t fret. Yes, the update process is a bit fiddly and weird – but it works. Quickly, efficiently, and consistently – I will take that all day long over less Heath Robinson methods that don’t.

With the pedal set up and updated, we wave goodbye to the app and hook it up – you have stereo in and outs here, but handily it’s all powered by a standard 9V DC barrel jack. Boss forever insists that you should only use its PSU (which is included) but realistically, nobody’s paid any attention to that since about 2001.

That expression pedal control widens the usability too – either you can set it up with a footswitch and use it to swap between two effects on the fly, or you can hook it up to an expression pedal and use that to control the sweep of any of the controls on your selected effect. You couldn’t do that with my DS-1 either.

Image: Adam Gasson

Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – sounds

I shan’t waste your time talking too much about the DS-1 and SD-1 – anyone who has ever been in a guitar shop knows exactly what these two most ubiquitous Boss dirt pedals sound like, and the PX-1 does an exceptionally faithful job of recreating them. My question is why do they even need to be part of the preinstalled launch lineup in the first place? Nobody is spending $250 to get the authentic sound of a $70 pedal are they?

At the other end of the rareness scale, Boss pedal tragics will have noticed that among the stompboxes included in the PX-1 are the first three Boss compacts ever made 48-ish years ago – the OD-1, SP-1 and PH-1. That seems like as sensible a place as any to really kick things off, and what a lovely place to begin the OD-1 is. It’s thick, meaty and ragged in the best kind of way, and has real punch and bite when you add some swarthy humbuckers to the mix.

The SP-1 is er… well it’s a single-band parametric EQ, and while it does a nice job of cleaning up muddier sounds, I wouldn’t call its inclusion here a deal-maker despite it being one of the rarest early Boss pedals out there. The PH-1 is a much more enjoyable affair, offering a quite polite and classic phaser sound with plenty of low-end depth without ever getting too wiggy.

The CS-1 compressor really is a reminder of how punchy those early pedal compressors were – this isn’t a modern transparent effect but a powerful vice-like clamp on your signal that adds punch and panache but only in the right environment. It’s a sound that, ironically, would pair sublimely with the majesty of the CE-2 – it’s lush and deep and sumptuous in the way that classic 80s Boss chorus pedals always have been.

Image: Adam Gasson

The Slow Gear is one of those pedals that has become part of guitar folklore, because it’s both extremely rare and pretty unique. Unlike, say, the SP-1, having the chance to spend some time with it here makes you realise why it’s so sought after. The volume swell effect sounds great and is very unique – exactly the sort of thing the PX-1 should have more of.

The OC-2 remains a marvel of accurate octave tracking given its age, while the warm wobble of the VB-2 is as compelling now as it ever was.

The surprise favourite for me was the PS-2 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay – with eight-bit processing and a truly mad blend of delay and pitch shifting, it’s a very quick route to surprising Jack White wig-outs.

The DF-2 is another pedal that really rams home the fun part of the PX-1 – the tactile sense of actually experiencing these pedals in their original compact pedal form. Holding down on the footswitch to force your notes to bloom into wonderfully controlled feedback would be much less interesting in a pedal that wasn’t shaped exactly like a Boss compact.

Time and again, the prevailing sense is not just that these pedals sound really good – as good as the originals to my ears – but that the experience of using them is authentic, too, and that might be the true killer app of the PX-1.

Image: Adam Gasson

Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – should I buy one?

Okay, let’s get into it. If we’re comparing compact multi-effects units, the PX-1 is under-gunned compared to some of its competition. For $50 more, the Line 6 HX One unquestionably does a much more comprehensive job, with hundreds of onboard effects straight out of the box. And look, if that’s what you want, I cannot stress enough that you should buy the HX One.

The existence of the Plugout FX doesn’t stop anyone from doing that, and I would imagine the folks at Boss would similarly suggest that they already make plenty of multi-effects units – the purpose of the PX-1 is very different.

Because if all any of us wanted was the maximum amount of sounds in the smallest possible footprint, individual stompboxes would have gone the way of the buffalo about 30 years ago, and multi-effects would be the only flavour of floor-based soundscaping we could buy.

But guitarists are weird. Many of us don’t want all that – for some, option paralysis is the very enemy of creativity. For them, the stripped back simplicity and WYSIWYG usability of the PX-1 is the closest they’ll ever come to wanting a multi-effects on their board.

The thornier issue is one of the extra costs. Some will say that when you’ve spent $250 on a pedal, you shouldn’t then be asked to fork out all over again for added extras. I don’t think people are wrong for feeling that way, especially because of the precedent that it potentially sets – do we really want to live in a world where the microtransactional hellscape of modern gaming is transported over to our pedalboards?

But Boss is at pains to point out that these extra effects aren’t sitting on the PX-1 waiting to be unlocked – you’ll have to physically download the algorithm from the cloud to use it. In that regard it’s probably sensible to think of it less like a microtransaction and more like DLC – you’re paying to get something substantial, not the guitar equivalent of horse armour.

For some, this is still a step too far, and I get it – I do. But I would also remind people that Boss hasn’t pulled this idea out of nowhere. Who remembers the DigiTech iStomp? You probably don’t, because for all the ‘potential game-changer’ chat when it launched in 2012, it never really caught on, in no small part because guitarists did not want to pay for virtual pedals that they could load onto a stompbox one at a time.

There’s also more modern takes on the ‘plugins but in a pedal’ concept like the Chaos Audio Stratus or the MOD Dwarf – they’ve found their own dedicated communities without the guitar world slipping off its axis, and I imagine it’ll be a similar situation for the PX-1.

Because ultimately, without wishing to sound like a turbo-capitalist, the market will decide if this is a good idea or not. If people buy the pedal and keep buying plugins for it, Boss will likely keep adding new pedals, and expanding the PX family to support that. If they don’t, well at least you’ll always have those 16 launch pedals.

For those complaining that there are only 16 pedals included in this thing, however, I would point you to Reverb to have a look at how much say, an original Slow Gear or SP-1 will set you back. The PX-1 is a way to experience these pedals, even the weirdos, in a way that is much more accessible and affordable.

But this isn’t to say that the launch Plugout FX is without its shortcomings. I understand why Boss wanted to make the launch proposition of the initial 16 effects cover a broad gamut of classics, rarities and staples… but the lack of any reverb is very frustrating – my kingdom for an RV-3! There’s also the question of where it goes in your rig. This is the issue with a lot of these jack-of-all-trades stompboxes, but it feels even more so with the PX-1. Without hooking it up to an effects switcher, you’re forced into compromises in terms of signal chain. After all, you’re unlikely to want your OD-1 in the same place in the chain as your DD-2, are you?

That for me would be a bigger deal-breaker than any of the angry shouting online – and one that is ultimately exacerbated by the small selection of effects on offer at launch. But if you can accept that there will be compromises in that regard, the Plugout FX really does seem like a pedal that could find a home in a lot of rigs. Putting aside the online noise and taking it on its own merits, the PX-1 is a fun pedal with bags of potential to be a living repository of the rarest, weirdest and most interesting Boss pedals of the last five decades. Everyone should have at least one Boss pedal on their pedalboard, and this might be it.

Boss PX-1 Plugout FX – alternatives

The biggest direct competitor for the PX-1 probably comes in the shape of TC Electronic’s Plethora X1 ($151/£129). It offers 14 different effects types in one compact box, but unlike the PX-1 you can use two at the same time. The elephant in the room here is, of course, Line 6’s HX One ($299/£219) – which offers 250 Helix-level high-end sounds in one box. If you want lots of sounds in one pedal, that is very much the option du jour. The king of the high-end mini-multis is probably Eventide’s H9 Max ($599/£529) – it’s not cheap, but with over 50 of Eventide’s best and brightest on board, it’s hard to beat in terms of pure sound quality.

The post Boss PX-1 Plugout FX review – “This is a pedal that could find a home in a lot of rigs” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ever fancied getting a Gretsch White Falcon or Nashville G6120 for a fraction of the price? Well, you’re in luck. Gretsch has just unveiled a revival of its Synchromatic range, with two new hollowbody models – the Synchromatic Falcon and the Synchromatic Nashville.

While there are slight variations – namely the scale, with the Nashville being 24.6” as opposed to the Falcon’s 25.5”, and the headstocks – the pair of Synchromatic models are relatively similar. Both boast 2.5” deep laminated maple bodies, with a semi-arc bracing design. The pair also have a C-shaped maple neck, with a 12” radius ebony fingerboard with pearloid Neo-Classic thumbnail inlays.

• READ MORE: Five times the Hives were the best band in the world (according to the Hives)

Both guitars are kitted out with versatile volume and tone controls to tweak your treble bleed and master tone. There’s also individual pickup volume knobs for the bridge and neck, as well as a three-position toggle switch. There’s also a Bigsby B60V Vibrato tailpiece, Hi-Fidelity Filter’Tron pickups and a bone nut.

Each model is also very easy on the eye – the Synchromatic Falcon comes in Snowcrest White and Black, while the Synchromatic Nashville is available in 50’s Orange Stain and Cadillac Green. All the hardware is gold, too, which looks pretty classy.

Credit: Gretsch

The Synchromatic range hasn’t seen any updates in quite a while, with models like the Gretsch G100CE Synchromatic serving as a great example of how strong these affordable electro-acoustic models can be. It’s great to see Gretsch yet again shooting for that premium feel at a fraction of the price.

Credit: Gretsch

Of course, the Synchromatic range certainly looks up to scratch – but it also sounds pretty strong. A video showing the hollow bodies in action could be the final nudge you need to cop yourself a Synchromatic.

In terms of pricing, the Synchromatic Falcon is £1299, while the Nashville model is a slightly cheaper £1149. All models come with a hardshell case, too.

For more information, head to Gretsch.

The post Gretsch’s Synchromatic reimagines the White Falcon and Nashville G6120 at an affordable price appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

No matter how big they get, every rockstar has their own guitar heroes. Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell has recently shared his own selection legendary guitarists that continue to fill him with awe.

In a new interview on KLOS radio show Whiplash with Full Metal Jackie, the frontman was asked to list his greatest guitar influences – a question that instantly overwhelms him. “Oh, God – there’s just too many to to single out…” he says.

He goes on to namedrop a slew of guitarists he “grew up listening to”, including Davey Johnstone (known for his work with Elton John), Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, AC/DC’s Malcolm and Angus Young, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons… the list goes on.

• READ MORE: Five times the Hives were the best band in the world (according to the Hives)

“I can go down the list!” he insists. “Even Ted Nugent… or Boston’s Tom Scholz, for that matter! I’ve taken a little piece from anything that inspires me or makes me feel good. Any song that I keep coming back to, or album that I still love listening to.”

In Cantrell’s opinion, every guitarist has something unique to offer. Tonally, everyone will have their own inimitable flavour. “Tone’s a really unusual thing, because you can line up 50 guys with the same guitar on the same amp, plug them in, and they’re all gonna sound a little bit different,” he explains.

“It’s the relationship between the flesh, the wood and the metal, with the electricity running through it. It’s the soul of the individual flowing through it. So it’s unique, and it’s like a fingerprint. It’s unique to them.”

“So… it’s hard to really boil it down to who maybe influenced me the most,” he continues. “There’s standouts that are just like aliens to me. [Jimi] Hendrix was one. Eddie Van Halen is another. I think Randy Rhoads might qualify as an otherworldly being!”

Rather than trying to capture the exact sound of another artist, Cantrell hopes his own sonic “fingerprint” can inspire others. “I wanna make something that makes somebody else feel,” he says. “[I want] somebody to hear my music and feel how I felt when I was a kid. [Make them] want to become a musician and make music.”

The post “They’re just like aliens to me”: Jerry Cantrell on the legendary guitarists who have influenced him most appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Since its initial release in 2019, MOOER’s critically acclaimed GE150 has seen several significant improvements, including through the GE150 Pro and the more recently announced GE150 Plus. However, the latest addition to the series, the GE150 Max, includes some of the most impactful additions to the series so far, all while staying true to the device’s existing functionality.

For existing GE150 users, the first thing they will notice is that, rather than having just two multi-functioning footswitches as with the original, the GE150 Max includes 8. Four of these footswitches are dedicated to switching between the four presets of each bank, whereas a further two are used to switch between banks. This is in contrast to other MOOER multi-effects pedals, where pressing two preset switches would typically shift the banks, with the new system making bank changes more accessible during a performance.

The remaining two footswitches are used to activate the tuner function, the 80-second looper system, and to determine the universal tap tempo. Despite these control mechanism changes, the GE150 Max has retained its predecessor's range of preloaded tones and effects. 50 preset banks are provided, each with 4 presets, totalling 200 customizable slots.

Many different models of delay, reverb, and modulation effects can be applied to these slots, but most importantly, the device comes with 55 preamp models, each of which is based on nonlinear modeling technology, helping to produce realistic emulations of classic amplifier tones. However, users are not limited to these tones, as the GE150 Max also supports MOOER's MNRS amp sampling system, in addition to third-party IR files for cabinet emulations, allowing users to greatly expand the device's tones through uploading their own.

To visualize the tones and effects that are currently loaded, the device is fitted with a 3.5" LCD color display, providing real-time visual feedback on the effect chain and each module's parameters. To edit these, the "Select" and "Mode" dials can be used, enabling guitarists to quickly create their own effects chains and then save them. Interestingly, the effect chains also support MOOER's new CTRL function, which enables users to map single effect modules to footswitches, facilitating more granular real-time control over the chain.

As with the original GE150, the Max edition sports an integrated expression pedal that can be mapped to tone and effect parameters, as well as output volume, adding yet another control mechanism for live expression. Interestingly, though, the Max has been augmented by the new "SPILL-OVER" function. Essentially, this ensures that delay and reverb effect tails will fade out naturally when switching presets, making smoother and more natural transitions possible in a live setting.

In terms of the internal drum machine and looper, MOOER has stuck to the successful formula of the original GE150. 80 seconds of looping time allow for creative improvisations and loop-based compositions, and a 40-style drum machine is also provided, complete with 10 metronomes. The previously mentioned "Tap" footswitch can be used to accurately determine the BPM of these features in real-time.

Aside from the GE150 Max's internal features, it also boasts an impressive upgrade on its audio output options. Most notably, in addition to the expected 1/4" stereo outputs, it is also fitted with a stereo balanced XLR output. Guitarists can choose this output option to shield their output from signal degradation and distortion over long-distance cables, guaranteeing a cleaner, more stable, and generally more professional live output than was previously possible.

As if this weren't enough, an Aux In port is also provided for connecting to smartphones or external audio players, allowing guitarists to jam along to their favorite backing tracks or rehearse their band's material. The device's USB port can even be used for OTG recording into a mobile device, as well as for the management of presets, sample files, and firmware through a PC. Combining this versatile selection of audio routing options with the GE150 Max’s upgraded functionality, guitarists truly have everything they need for professional-grade live performance, all within a light-weight and compact package.

Product Features

• 8 multi-purpose footswitches
• 3.5" LCD color display
• 200 preset slots across 50 banks of 4 presets
• 55 preamp models, made possible through intelligent nonlinear sample technology
• Amplifier and cabinet modules support MNRS sampling files
• Cabinet simulations support third-party IRs
• Parameter-mappable expression pedal
• CTRL function, allowing footswitches to be mapped to toggle individual modules within an effect chain preset
• Tap-tempo footswitch
• “Spill-over” functionality for smooth reverb and delay transitions during preset switches
• Built-in 80-second stereo looper
• Integrated drum machine with 40 drum patterns and 10 metronome modes
• Mono ¼” inputs and outputs
• XLR balanced output, ideal for the prevention of signal degradation over long-distance live audio routing
• Aux input port for external audio playback
• USB-C port for tone editing, recording, firmware updates, and mobile device connectivity (via OTG)

The GE150 Max will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 10th September 2025.

Following the success of the original GE150 pedal, MOOER is excited to introduce the new GE150 Plus, a new multi-effects and amp-modelling pedal. The device has been upgraded to offer guitarists advanced functionality, greater performance flexibility, and enhanced sonic quality through the new GE series design language and user interface.

First and foremost, the GE150 Plus provides memory for up to 198 preset patches, giving users a comprehensive range of tonal possibilities for various musical styles. Presets can be crafted through effects such as reverb, modulation, and dynamic enhancements, and most importantly, 55 precise preamp models developed using MOOER’s intelligent nonlinear sample technology. This enables the pedal to accurately reproduce the unique tonal characteristics and dynamic response of classic amplifiers, further enhanced by the device’s amplifier and cabinet modules. Both amps and cabs allow for loading MOOER’s MNRS sampling files, while the cabinet simulations also support third-party impulse response (IR), further expanding the device’s flexibility.

Another particularly impressive new feature of the GE150 Plus is the “spill-over” function, which enables delay and reverb effects to fade naturally when switching between presets–a feature that was missing from the original GE150. Ultimately, this ensures smooth, uninterrupted performance when making sonic changes during live performances.

As with past editions of the GE150, the pedal includes a convenient and intuitively designed 80-second stereo looper. This can be used in combination with the GE150 Plus’ groove station, which includes 40 integrated drum patterns alongside 10 metronome modes. All of these features are controlled effortlessly through three multi-purpose footswitches, bringing all manner of creative purposes for both live looping and rhythmic practice. An expression pedal is also built into the device, giving guitarists further dynamic control over parameters in their effects chain.

Compared to the original GE150, the GE150 Plus has USB connectivity that is significantly enhanced. Through USB-C, the pedal can be easily integrated with MOOER’s PC software for preset editing, as well as for data management, firmware updates, and mobile device audio recording through an OTG cable. An aux input port further expands practice possibilities by enabling external audio sources like smartphones, software, or other hardware to be used as a backing track.

Following MOOER’s recent trend of producing fully portable products for musicians on the move, the GE150 Plus is available in two distinct editions, one of which is battery-powered. The standard model offers reliable mains-powered operation, while the GE150 Plus Li version also incorporates an integrated lithium battery, providing approximately 9 hours of continuous use. Additionally, the GE150 Plus Li comes with an exclusive black finish. Overall, the GE150 Plus continues MOOER’s commitment to delivering powerful, versatile, and travel-friendly solutions, making it an essential upgrade within the critically acclaimed GE series.

Product Features

• Up to 198 preset patches
• 55 preamp models, made possible through intelligent nonlinear sample technology
• Amplifier and cabinet modules support MNRS sampling files
• Cabinet simulations support third-party IRs
• Three multi-purpose footswitches
• Parameter-mappable expression pedal
• “Spill-over” functionality for smooth transitions between effect tails
• Built-in 80-second stereo looper
• Integrated drum machine with 40 drum patterns and 10 metronome modes
• USB-C port for tone editing, recording, firmware updates, and mobile device connectivity (via OTG)
• Aux input port for external audio playback
• Compact, lightweight, and travel-friendly design
• Available in standard (white) and lithium battery-powered Li version (black)