Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
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Factory Tour: Keeley Electronics
John Bohlinger gets an in-depth tour from founding mod scientist Robert Keeley who peels back the curtain to show how his Oklahoma City facility can turn an idea into a pedal within a week. As you'll discover during the video, Keeley handles the majority of all manufacturing inside their OKC headquarters, including production of enclosures, procuring onsite prototype tests, populating circuit boards, component testing, painting cases and adding custom graphics, overseeing quality control, and conducting repairs. Check out how they shape your guitar tone!
MXR Textures Granular Synth Engine Review
Experience your guitar in the fifth dimension.
Every so often a pedal shows up that doesn’t just add a new flavor to your rig, it quietly rewires your understanding of what a stompbox is for. The MXR Textures Granular Synth Engine is one of these. On paper, it’s a humble delay pedal—record the signal, play it back, repeat. In practice though, Textures takes that lineage and does to it what a jazz musician does to a standard: keeps the bones but discards the obligation to play it straight.
Grains, Not Repeats
Granular synthesis has been kicking around since the mid-20th century—originally achieved with tape loops sliced into fragments by composers patient (or masochistic) enough to do it by hand—and it’s taken guitar pedals an embarrassingly long time to catch up to what modular synth heads have known for decades. MXR’s approach chops your incoming signal into tiny audio “grains,” then hands the controls over to you to stretch, reverse, pitch-shift, and reassemble those grains into something your original note never asked to become. Think less in terms of “digital delay” and more like “your guitar tone, run through a very articulate blender, with the blender’s speed and blade angle fully in your control.”
Three modes anchor the experience—delay (green), auto-freeze (orange), and layers (red)—and each one reframes what the same core engine does. Delay mode is the pedal’s most familiar face: granular rhythmic repeats that can range from clean and delay-like to smeared and shimmering, depending on how aggressively you mangle the size, overlap, and regen controls. Auto-freeze is where things get genuinely magical. The pedal listens for what you play, grabs it, and sustains it into a lush, evolving wash. Put another way, you can hold one chord and let Textures turn it into an ambient soundtrack, leaving your hands free to do something else. Layers, meanwhile, samples up to four notes or chords, and each takes on its own fade characteristics. It essentially lets you build a tiny orchestra out of whatever you just played.
The Controls, Demystified
Time, size, and overlap set the length, density, and stacking behavior of your grains. Pitch and reverse handle playback speed and direction. Dial the pitch through the pedal’s +/- 2 octaves and you can cover everything from subtle chorus-like shimmer to full-on alien transmission. Delay and regen govern how those grains move and feed back through time, and mix (the great equalizer of any effect pedal) moves between bone-dry signal and granular soup. Built-in reverb, filter, and vibrato round things out, along with randomization options for players who’d rather let the pedal surprise them than try to manage every parameter by hand. (Certainly, there’s something almost meditative about hitting the randomize function and just seeing what Textures decides to do.)
Eight factory presets across two banks get you playing immediately, which matters: A pedal this deep can easily intimidate a player who just wants a cool sound now, and MXR clearly understood that. Full stereo I/O, expression pedal compatibility, and MXR’s split + tap ecosystem round out a spec sheet built for players who take their signal chain seriously.
“Think less “digital delay” and more “your guitar tone, run through a very articulate blender, with the blender’s speed and blade angle fully in your control.”
Who’s This For?
Ambient and post-rock players are the obvious audience, anyone chasing the cavernous, cascading textures of Michael Brook, David Torn, or Christopher Willits at their most exploratory, or the wall-of-sound shimmer that shoegaze and dream-pop guitarists have been building toward since Kevin Shields decided a whammy bar could be a compositional tool.
But Textures isn’t limited to reverb-drenched noodling. Layers mode alone opens doors for composers and sound designers scoring film cues, and the granular-glitch textures achievable in delay mode will appeal to anyone building the kind of unsettling, fragmented soundscapes that modular synth players will feel comfortable with. Even a straight-ahead rock player looking for one genuinely weird moment in a set—a solo breakdown that sounds like it’s dissolving into static and light—will find real utility here.
Incidentally, I ran Textures through both a clean Vox/Marshall-style amp and a Line 6 Helix modeler, and the difference in character was substantial. Through the clean amp, the grains retained more organic edge and pick-attack definition, while the modeler smoothed things into denser, more synth-like pads. Either way, this is not a pedal that requires distortion or effects loops of other units to sound complete. It’s a remarkably self-contained universe all its own.
The Verdict
At a street price of $269 Textures won’t be an impulse buy for most. But it’s genuinely deep, playable, and unique compared to other granular-synthesis pedals. Where a lot of weird pedals trade usability for strangeness, MXR found a smart middle path: three clearly defined modes, sensible presets for instant gratification, and a control set deep enough to reward the players willing to actually dig in.
Is this a pedal for everyone? No. If your board is built entirely around tight, traditional tones, Textures will sit there mostly unused, a strange and expensive houseguest. But for the ambient explorer, the film composer, the noise-curious rock player, or anyone who’s ever wondered what their guitar might sound like if it forgot what a guitar was supposed to sound like, this is a genuinely rare device: a pedal that expands your musical vocabulary rather than just adding another voice to your existing diatonic dialect.
MXR Textures Granular Synth Pedal
Slipknot Announce Worldwide (sic)est Stadium Tour
Slipknot have announced their (sic)est Stadium Tour, crossing the globe Summer 2027. The tour, produced by Live Nation, launches July 3 at London’s historic Wembley Stadium connected by EE, in a UK and Europe exclusive. On July 16, Slipknot touch down in D.C.’s Nationals Park to kick off their North American jaunt, which includes performances at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Chicago’s Soldier Field, Boston’s Fenway Park, Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and more. The tour wraps with five South American performances in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Tour Launch Events Tonight in London and Los Angeles
Featuring earliest access to tickets, exclusive merch, free giveaways, and a flaming 30 foot high Slipknot Tribal S symbol!
Artist Presale Starts Tuesday, September 29 at 10AM Local Knotfest Presale Starts Tuesday, September 29 at 12PM Local Here Public On Sale Friday, October 2 at 10 AM Local Here
New Single / Video “Arsenal” Out Now
Featuring a brand new set, new staging and a setlist spanning across their career, these shows will be the ultimate Slipknot experience to date. The band are joined by Bring Me The Horizon as direct support on all North American dates with a rotation of special guests along the way including: Acid Bath, Lamb of God, Motionless In White, Lorna Shore, Kublai Khan TX, Polyphia, Loathe, and Vended. Marilyn Manson, Lorna Shore and Hatebreed support Slipknot in London for the tour kick off. Manson and Hatebreed rejoin them in South America in September along with local support to warm up the crowd.
In case you missed it, Slipknot have uncovered massive projections and snipes across the world hinting at tonight’s epic (sic)est Stadium Tour Launch experience. Fans are encouraged to meetup at London’s Wembley Stadium (5-9PM) and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (5-9PM) to grab whichever tickets they’d like for each respective show before the rest of the world, ahead of all presales and general onsale to the public. Each event will feature a pop-up shop with exclusive, very limited merch items, and the first 500 ticket purchasers will receive a free event poster with exclusive art. Each event is first come, first served. At sunset, fans are encouraged to gather around a 30 foot high, iconic flaming Slipknot Tribal S symbol. See details for each location below:
(sic)est Stadium Tour Launch experience London, U.K. at Wembley Stadium:
Address: Wembley HA9 0WS, United Kingdom. For help planning your trip to Wembley please check out - wembleystadium.com/plan-your-visit/getting-to-wembley
Box Office: Open from 5-9PM BST. Tickets will be available for sale at the Wembley Stadium West Ticket Office located at the top of the Olympic Steps.
How To Buy Tickets On Site: You can only purchase tickets at the box office window. Cash sales are not accepted, all tickets must be purchased on a mobile device via the Ticketmaster website / app. Tickets will not be printed, they will be emailed digitally. 8 tickets maximum per person. Ticket Options + Seating Map: VIP Packages and all ticket price levels will be available. VIP perks include early entry, access to private Slipknot-themed lounges, exclusive items signed by the band, and more. Packages will be available for purchase with each ticket. For more information on VIP packages, visit slipknot1.com/VIP
For more info and the most up to date London launch event, go HERE.
(sic)est Stadium Tour Launch experience Los Angeles, CA at SoFi Stadium:
Address: 3919 Pincay Dr, Inglewood, CA 90305 Parking: Opens at 3PM, Free parking is located right by the tribal S in Lot C. Located on Pincay Drive, please use the above address to be routed directly to the lot.
Box Office: Open from 5-9PM PST – Tickets will be available for sale at the Entry 5 Box Office
How To Buy Tickets On Site: You can only purchase tickets at the box office window. Cash sales are not accepted, all tickets must be purchased via a debit or credit card. Tickets will not be printed, they will be emailed digitally. 8 tickets maximum per person.
Ticket Options + Seating Map: VIP Packages and all ticket price levels will be available. VIP perks include early entry, access to private Slipknot-themed lounges, exclusive items signed by the band, and more. Packages will be available for purchase with each ticket. For more information on VIP packages, visit slipknot1.com/VIP
For more info and the most up to date Los Angeles launch event, go HERE.
TICKETS: Slipknot’s Artist Presale kicks off on Tuesday, September 29 at 10AM Local. Knotfest Presale starts at 12PM Local Tuesday, September 29 at 12PM Local HERE and is followed by additional presales throughout the week. The general on sale begins Friday, October 2 at 10AM Local HERE. For more information and tickets, visit slipknot1.com. Please check local listings for full presale and onsale details, as ticketing timelines vary by market.
Earlier this month, Slipknot surprised fans with their anthemic offering “Arsenal” – the band’s first new track in over three years. The single arrived alongside its eerie and imaginative music video directed by M Shawn Crahan - (clown) and starring Jackson White. On “Arsenal”, Slipknot sound sharper than ever, the direct result of their commitment to the music, first and foremost. The track is an undeniable statement of strength in the face of diversity, and a new marker for the world to deal with and wonder how Slipknot was always - and still remains - so dynamic and modern.
The culture of Slipknot has spread much farther than anyone could have predicted when nine guys from Iowa put on masks and uniforms, and began challenging the globe to keep up. The band’s influence can now be seen and felt in the underground, in those artists headlining rock and metal festivals across the world, and virtually everywhere in between. Across genres and subgenres, artists the world over are following in footsteps that have led out of the Midwest and onto stages around the world. And all without an ounce of compromise, to anyone. That authenticity has lauded them billions of streams, a Grammy award and several nominations, multiple RIAA certifications, and most recently prior to now, a completely sold-out global anniversary tour across some of the largest stages around the world (London’s O2 Arena, Madison Square Garden, LA’s Intuit Dome, etc). And they’re not letting up.
Nearly three decades in, it's evident that Slipknot still summon the drive, creativity, and band camaraderie required to make music like this. Their rise to becoming one of the greatest and most influential rock bands of the 21st century is marked by hardship, having weathered enormous personal tragedies and facing them head on, a drive that has earned them respect from their fans and naysayers alike. Through it all, they’ve kept a fighting spirit that’s allowed them to keep innovating, and keep testing the ragged edges of their sound to see how much further they can push it.
Slipknot (sic)est Stadium Tour Dates:
- JUL 03 | London, UK | Wembley Stadium connected by EE #!
- JUL 16 | Washington, DC | Nationals Park ~%
- JUL 18 | Queens, NY | Citi Field ~%
- JUL 21 | Montréal, QC | Parc Jean Drapeau ~^@
- JUL 23 | Toronto, ON | Rogers Stadium ~^
- JUL 25 | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field ~$
- JUL 28 | Hershey, PA | Hersheypark Stadium ~!
- JUL 31 | Boston, MA | Fenway Park ~!
- AUG 03 | Nashville, TN | FirstBank Stadium ~^
- AUG 06 | Houston, TX | Daikin Park ~+
- AUG 09 | Commerce City, CO | Dick's Sporting Goods Park ~=
- AUG 13 | Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium ~=
- AUG 15 | San Francisco, CA | Golden Gate Park ~&=
- AUG 18 | Phoenix, AZ | Chase Field ~& SEP 04 | São Paulo, Brazil | The Town
- SEP 08 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Estadio Huracán #
- SEP 12 | Santiago, Chile | Estadio Nacional #
- SEP 14 | Lima, Peru | Estadio Nacional #
- SEP 16 | Bogotá, Colombia | Vive Claro #
- Welcoming support from:
- # w/ Marilyn Manson, Hatebreed ~ w/ Bring Me The Horizon % w/ Acid Bath ! w/ Lorna Shore ^ w/ Kublai Khan TX @ w/ Vended $ w/ Lamb of God + w/ Polyphia = w/ Loathe & w/ Motionless in White
- Non-Live Nation Date
U2 Announces New Studio Album Carnaval De Luz, Out November 13; New Track “Silencio” Out Now
Interscope Records today announces the release of Carnaval De Luz - the 16th studio album from U2 and the first album of new material from the band in nine years - out on November 13th, 2026. The news comes with a brand-new track titled “Silencio,” available now, accompanied by a music video.
In the week that marks 50 years since Larry Mullen Jr. pinned a handwritten note to the noticeboard of Mount Temple Comprehensive School on the Northside of Dublin in September 1976, “Drummer Seeks Musicians To Form Band,” comes a body of work that sees Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. still finding new dimensions and possibilities within their creative process.
Recorded all over the place and produced by Jacknife Lee, Carnaval De Luz is a collection of 12 songs exploring themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance in the face of dark, encroaching forces. Sonically, there are echoes of the band’s most experimental work combined with some strict songwriting in the shape of “The Greatest Show On Earth,” “Glorify,” and “Midnight Sunshine,” as well as the 2mins 35second homage to early surf-punk insolence that is “Silencio.”
The roots of Carnaval De Luz can be traced directly to U2’s two surprise-released and critically acclaimed six-track EPs of early 2026, recorded during the same creative period as the new album. Those releases, Days of Ash and Easter Lily, followed the liturgical calendar, and so Carnaval De Luz sits, stands, and dances before them in timeline. Carnival, a celebration of the flesh, “carne,” before the denial that is Lent, a period of reflection, and the rebirth of Easter. The song connecting the album and two EPs is the final track on the new album, “Torn,” a duet between Bono and the late, great Dolly Parton, in what has sadly turned out to be her last recorded vocal performance. Co-written by U2, Parton, and Johnny McDaid, it’s a tender country song detailing broken family ties that holds wider resonances.
Carnaval De Luz is released in the band’s 50th year, 2026, one in which U2 will have released 24 new songs. The album also sees collaborations from Brian Eno (co-writing and synthesizers on “Go (Carnaval De Luz),” “The Greatest Show on Earth,” and “Can’t Stop Us Now”), Martin Garrix (co-writing on “Glorify”), and Daniel Lanois (playing pedal steel on “Torn”); with additional production from Ryan Tedder on “Silencio.”
The Edge said - “It’s a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs — and features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording. Just saying.”
Bono said - “Roll up, roll up, roll up! Bring your purple socks, your broken hearts, your rose-tinted naivety… oh be amazed in the hall of mirrors. There will be loud guitars, deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms and, yes, some silver tears will make an appearance!
'Cause in the near distance just outside our carnival of light there are all kinds of creatures… the same imagination that brings us our creativity can also bring us monsters. So we make the drums louder. We build a bigger fire. We make our stories wilder and funnier. We make the melodies sweeter and the songs, they better shine, because if the world is in darkness we better not be.”
The music video for “Silencio” was shot in Mexico City earlier this year and is directed by Cliqua, the Mexican-American directing duo Pasqual Gutiérrez and Raúl "RJ" Sanchez.
“Street of Dreams,” the first song to be taken from the new album, was released in July. Listen to “Street of Dreams” HERE, watch HERE .
The track listing for Carnaval De Luz is:
- 1. Go (Carnaval De Luz) 2. La Reina 3. Street Of Dreams 4. The Mirror Maker (Rosalía) 5. Superficiality 6. If The World Is At War We Better Not Be 7. Silencio 8. The Greatest Show On Earth 9. Glorify 10. Midnight Sunshine 11. Can’t Stop Us Now 12. Torn (Feat. Dolly Parton)
Carnaval De Luz will be available in formats including: Limited Edition Deluxe Vinyl & CD Boxsets, Various Limited Edition Coloured & Bespoke Vinyl variants, Standard CD, Standard Vinyl, Digital Download. Pre-order, pre-save HERE .
“Silencio” is available now as a digital download, as well as on DSPs.
Charlie Worsham: From Nashville Sideman to Solo Star
The Nashville fixture shares his long journey from a bluegrasser in Mississippi to Music City fixture that's included studio time alongside Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, and Carrie Underwood, touring in bands fronted by Vince Gill & Dierks Bentley. He tells John Bohlinger about his struggle from band member to band leader and details the ultimate honor when Vince Gill invited him to join the Grand Ole Opry in August 2026. Twenty years into his stay in Nashville, Charlie Worsham isn't going anywhere but up.
Sponsored by Stewmac: https://stewmac.sjv.io/APO2ED
Mr. Black Introduces the CAT Distortion Pedal
Renowned pedal firebrand Mr. Black has introduced the CAT distortion pedal, a unique take on one of the world’s most beloved – and bruising – circuits.
One look at the CAT and you will see the inspiration; one look inside the CAT reveals an entirely new circuit, with some clever tricks slipped in to reduce noise, strengthen tone and push high-gain: hard.
The CAT Distortion doles out heaps of saturated harmonic-laden gain, while maintaining low noise, cleaning up via the guitar’s volume knob and pumping out powerful low-z output, very well equipped to drive long cables and large effects chains with authority.
Hand built one-at-a-time in Portland, Oregon U.S.A. the CAT Distortion doesn’t just growl, it hunts.
Key features:
- 100% pure-analog high-gain distortion
- Classic vintage tone with fully re-engineered circuitry
- Loads of volume on tap with tuned low-z output
- Powered by “Industry Standard” 9VDC or internal 9V
- Gentle 9mA current draw
Mr. Black’s CAT Distortion carries a street price of $149.95. For more information visit www.mrblackpedals.com.
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai: Full Circle
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have been in each other’s orbit for half a century—as teacher and student, tourmates, and friends. With The Sea of Emotion, they've finally made an album together.
The last song on Joe Satriani and Steve Vai’s first album together begins with the oldest thing on it, a recording made in a teenage Satriani’s bedroom in Carle Place, Long Island, sometime in 1973. More than 50 years later, neither of them can tell you who’s playing what on it.
“The recording is pretty flat,” Satriani says. “There’s no low end, there’s no high end. And there’s a lot of personality in those areas. You can tell the way people play. But it’s just this sort of midrange thing going on.”
The 1973 recording is called “Reflections on a Year and a Half,” the year and a half in question being how long Vai had been playing guitar at the time it was made. He was still turning up weekly for lessons from Satriani, a few grades ahead of him at Carle Place High and also his guitar teacher, in a bedroom that he describes five decades later with the reverence of a 13-year-old.
“It was a glorious teenage bedroom,” Vai says. “It had all the greatest posters and albums stacked up all over the place.” In one corner was a two-track, reel-to-reel tape machine. “I would just ogle at it.”
“I think it was a Sony,” Satriani says.
“It was a Sony,” Vai continues. “And then one day Joe said, ‘Hey, let’s record.’ So Joe showed me this riff, and he was playing with some chords…”
“…every time I hear it, I still can’t figure out who’s who,” Satriani says with a laugh.
Fifteen years or so after the fact, Satriani mailed the reel to Vai, who transferred it and then did nothing further with it for a very long time. What brought it back out was this new album, and specifically an email from Satriani containing two pieces of music, which eventually became two new Satriani-Vai songs, “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” and “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 2.” Vai had an idea for a third. “I just got the idea, oh, I’m gonna take this little snippet of us both playing when we were kids, basically, and start the song and embellish the riff,” Vai says. “Try to make a song out of it.”
The song that resulted is “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 3: Reflections on a Year and a Half,” and it closes the new record, which is also called The Sea of Emotion, and is officially credited to SatchVai. All of which means that an album made better than half a century into one of the most thoroughly documented friendships in the history of the instrument starts its final track with two Long Island kids and a tape machine that neither of them can identify himself on—and then builds the rest of the song out of what they were playing.
The Sea of Emotion is the first album Satriani and Vai have made together, which is a strange thing to consider given these two players’ careers have been entangled since one of them was 12 years old (the other was a ripe old 16). They’ve toured together, on and off, for three decades under the G3 banner, turned up on each other’s records, and shared magazine covers going back to the 1980s, but until the formation of the SatchVai Band—the two of them plus guitarist Pete Thorn, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Kenny Aronoff—they had never actually been in a group together. And until now, they had never written an officially-released song together as adults.
While the SatchVai Band is a touring proposition, the record itself was cut with a rotating cast of musicians drawn from both players’ inner circles, with Gregg Bissonette, Jeremy Colson, Aronoff, Matt Chamberlain, and Mike Mangini trading off behind the kit and Billy Sheehan, Bryan Beller, Philip Bynoe, Matt Bissonette, Mendoza, and Henrik Linder handling the bass. The album takes its title from a field on the Carle Place school grounds where Joe and Steve used to go after dark to talk, memorialized in the suite that takes up the final three tracks. By the time The Sea of Emotion hits streaming services and store shelves, Satriani and Vai will have spent a spring playing a good deal of it live, on a 40-date North American run that also featured openers Animals as Leaders. (We’re talking backstage at one of the stops, in Durham, North Carolina, a few hours before doors open.)
Arguably, none of this would have happened without Satriani’s filmmaker son, ZZ, who called him a few years back about documenting what was then the 25th anniversary of the G3 tour, an idea that turned into a reunion tour with Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson—the same three who had headlined the inaugural G3 run in 1996. Afterward, Joe and Steve decided to keep going, with nothing more ambitious in mind at that point than maybe cutting a track together and playing some shows.
“We were so busy,” Satriani says. “We had finished the G3 reunion, and then we realized we weren’t going to be able to continue with G3, and we decided, well, Steve and I’ll go out. And the idea was to also do a track. But we still had work that was booked immediately, so we were either on the road with somebody else, or we were at home in our studios going, ‘I’ve got eight hours to come up with something and send it to the other guy.’”
Despite the time crunch, the ideas started flowing. To the point, eventually, where they found themselves working on an album. “We had probably 17 relatively roughed-out ideas,” Vai says. “And then it comes that time where you’ve gotta cut off one of your toes, you know? And you just start hacking at the songs. But it went very seamlessly. We kind of resonate similarly like that—’How does this record feel? What is it missing?’”
Before they could answer those questions, they hit the road together as SatchVai—first in America and then across Europe. These runs were, as far as the album was concerned, a hiatus. “I like a bit of solitude to get away from influences,” Satriani says. “And when you’re on tour, it’s just nothing but influences—especially our tour, because we’re improvising onstage every night. You can’t be locked into your own writing mode.”
“It’s remarkable to me how Joe has just been a profound figure in my life through my whole life.”—Steve Vai
Once they were home, they approached the material with fresh ears, and with the experience of having played together night after night. “We’re slowly going, ‘Oh, that song’s not gonna work. It’s the wrong character.’ That kind of thing,” Satriani says. “And then there were other songs that started to get written and sort of snowball, and you go, ‘Wow, that song that we didn’t think was a winner is just turning into this huge thing.’ So that was a nice surprise.”
Co-writing isn’t something Vai does much of, and he says so himself. “I usually don’t do that. I like being the master and commander of my own ship. But Joe has such a great ship.”
For 50 years he had been listening to Satriani’s playing as a fan, but what changed here is that there were now stakes attached. “Okay, we gotta get down to business,” Vai recalls. “We have to impress each other. And we have to raise our bar the best we can. And for us, that means better, more effective melodies. And of course you want to try to up the technique game. But the real fun for me was when the emails would come in…”
One song, “The Feeling I Know,” started as a voice memo on Vai’s phone of some chord changes he liked, which he sent over and got back with what he calls “this beautiful samba-esque Lydian thing” on top of it. “And then we went, ‘Oh, chop this up here.’ ‘What about a melody there?’ ‘Okay, you do that melody there, I’ll put the harmony and then I’ll do this here.’ And it was very seamless. I’ve never had an experience like that,” Vai says.
“And what I also noticed was, yes, we are different musically. We reach for different [sorts] of notes at times. But there was almost an intrinsic understanding—yes, this will work. No, this won’t work. It got to the point where I would go to think about doing something and I would have an instinct whether he was going to like it or not. And my only fear was that he would say yes to something that he actually didn’t like. But then, I know Joe better than that. He’s not that—”
“—nice,” Satriani cuts in.
“No,” Vai says with a laugh. “He’s not that guy.”
Which tracks, given that this is the same teacher who once sent a 13-year-old Vai home early from a lesson for not memorizing the notes on the fretboard—and still made Steve pay for the session.
At one point Vai sent Satriani a video of the Italian singer-songwriter Paolo Conte performing “Dancing,” a song the two of them went on to cut for the record. “That [song] is something I would never do,” Satriani says. “I’d probably hear it walking down the hallway somewhere and never stop to say, ‘Who is that?’ But knowing Steve, I thought, well, he wouldn’t be attracted to it unless he heard something really outrageous. And sure enough, when the session arrives and I hear 15, 20 guitars playing all those horn parts, that’s when I know—ah, he did have a vision. He’s not crazy.” Satriani laughs. “He’s not totally crazy.”
Vai also sent over “Bronco Freight Train,” but was unsure of where it was heading. Satriani had no such doubts. “As soon as I heard it, I thought, well, this has to be on the record,” he says. “And he sent it like, ‘I don’t know about this thing, this isn’t really a song yet.’ And I’m like, are you crazy? Don’t call me, ’cause I’m working on it right now.”
“I liked the core, I liked the guitar effect, and I liked the bridge,” Vai says. “And Joe just whacked the whole rest of the song and rebuilt the parts. I finally had somebody that I could really co-create with. And I’m sure there’s other people out there, but I never bothered to find them.”
The other key voice on the record belonged to producer and keyboardist Eric Caudieux, whose suggestions could be unusual, but tended to make the songs better. “He could just do the craziest things with these demos that we would send him,” Satriani says. “Changing whole passages that were in minor keys to major keys, and just assaulting our brains.” He was also the one who cut those guitar-generated horn parts out of “Dancing,” telling Vai they weren’t authentically him. Vai pushed back, but ultimately wound up agreeing it was better that way.
“Knowing Steve, I thought, well, he wouldn’t be attracted to it unless he heard something really outrageous.”—Joe Satriani
The rest of the record covers a lot of ground. Opener “Mayhem” came from Satriani, built on a riff he wrote in his home studio and sent over half-apologizing for how adolescent it was, and which Vai answered by doubling his own lines alongside Satriani’s solo. “Zoot Suit Riot,” with Mike Keneally on keys, was something of Vai’s that he thought had an “odd groove,” and had been sitting around for a while until Satriani helped finish it. The riff on “Old Sins Have Long Shadows” was Satch’s as well, with a groove inspired by Buddy Miles’ drumming on Hendrix’s “Machine Gun.”
Guitar-wise, Satriani primarily stuck to his signature Ibanez JS models on most of the record, while Vai’s workhorses were two signature Ibanez Jems: FLO, which is slightly scalloped and equipped with a Fernandes Sustainer unit, and REVO, which he says is wired similar to a standard Jem. Both are loaded with DiMarzio Evolutions in the neck and treble positions. Interestingly, Satriani cut all his guitars direct, via TONEX, SansAmp, and Brainworx SE100 plugins, and Vai used plugins for most of his parts, too—a variety of Neural DSP Archetypes, a prototype Neural DSP Vai plugin, and a SansAmp. The one exception in the amp department is “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 3,” where Vai used his live touring rig.
On paper, what Satriani and Vai have in common is technique—fast, difficult, incredibly complex playing. But go back to the two kids in Carle Place and the thing they actually shared was composition. Both of them were writing music, and thinking seriously about writing music, at an age when most kids just want to play riffs and solos—and look cool doing it.
Both credit the same man for it: Bill Westcott, their music theory teacher at Carle Place High who, as Satriani puts it, could “make anything sound like Bach or Chopin or Gil Evans.”
“I have great memories of him just sitting down at the piano with me and saying, ‘Now, Joseph, listen to this,’” Satriani says. “And he put one hand here and he goes, ‘You hear those two chords? They can go together. And when they go together, you add up the notes, and then those are the notes you can use to play on top of the chords.’”
“Jazz was born,” Vai says.
Westcott also told them each something they still go back to. “He specifically said it to me one day, ‘Your brain will keep developing as a musician after all these points where you figure out that maybe your hands don’t do this, and your fingers won’t do that, and you’re not hitting these technical milestones that you thought you were gonna hit. Don’t worry about it. It’s all what happens up here [in your head]. So learn to write away from your instrument,’” Satriani recalls. “And we both got that. Whenever he told us separately, we both agreed and said, ‘He’s right, we’re gonna follow that.’”
There wasn’t much precedent for what the two of them would go on to do with any of it. Instrumental rock songs existed, but instrumental rock artists—players whose catalogs were instrumental and categorized as rock rather than, say, fusion—weren’t really a thing. The closest thing was Jeff Beck, and Beck had made his name in bands, playing three-minute songs. Vai dates the start of it precisely, and not to himself.
“It wasn’t until Surfing with the Alien,” he says. “And I wasn’t surprised when I heard it, because I knew that Joe had a pull toward pop, simple pop. I would listen to the Squares [Satriani’s late ‘70s/early ‘80s power-pop trio] tape that he sent me when he was in the band, and it was this intense, raging guitar being played in a pop format. There wasn’t anything to stack it against. And then when I heard [Satriani’s 1986 full-length solo debut] Not of This Earth, I said, ‘Okay, something is really forming here.’”
He continues. “And once Surfing came out, it felt like the perfect amalgamation between Joe’s polished, classical musical ear, the culmination of an evolution of guitar technique in the fingers, and a sense of the absurd coupled with pop sensibility. It was a perfect storm. And that was really, to me, the first instrumental rock guitar record.”
Vai also thinks some younger guitarists draw the wrong lesson from it. “A lot of young players feel that there was a time when instrumental rock guitar was popular and you could get signed, but it’s not now. ‘You were lucky, I’m not.’ But they’re missing the point. He created it. It’s not because it sits under the moniker of instrumental rock guitar. It sits under the moniker of inspired melodic energy.”
For Vai, all of it goes back to the field behind the school and the bedroom with the Sony in the corner. “It’s remarkable to me how Joe has just been a profound figure in my life through my whole life,” he says. “Joe always represented excellence. Just excellence. Like, this melody is written by an inspired person. Everything I hear, everything I see. Now, it could be from my perspective as a kid that was ogling at his teacher. But now it goes beyond that. I had many teachers. I’ve seen many guitar players, I’ve played with a lot.”
What’s most striking about The Sea of Emotion, in the end, are those inspired melodies. It isn’t the speed, it isn’t the near-impossible feats of agility, it isn’t the technical dazzle—it’s that the record is musical.
“It has to be,” Vai says. “If it isn't, you’re a novelty.”
Joe Satriani Gear
Guitars on The Sea of Emotion:
Ibanez signature JS Series models (JS1CR, GD, Paisley, MCR)
1958 Fender Esquire
Taylor 714ce-N nylon-string acoustic
Guild F-512 acoustic
Jerry Jones Electric Sitar
1972 Fender Precision Bass
Amps on The Sea of Emotion:
All guitars recorded DI with plugins:
IK Multimedia TONEX
Tech 21 SansAmp
Brainworx Suhr SE100
Effects on The Sea of Emotion:
Vox Joe Satriani JSWH Big Bad Wah
Roger Mayer Voodoo-Vibe
Live Amps and Effects:
3rd Power DRGN 100 Custom Shop heads
3rd Power DRGN 412 cabinets
Fender Tone Master Pro
Vox Joe Satriani JSWH Big Bad Wah
MXR EVH117 Flanger
Voodoo Labs Proctavia
TC Electronic Sub ’N’ Up
Strings:
D’Addario EXL110 and EXL120
Picks:
D’Addario Joe Satriani Satch Grip, Extra Heavy
Steve Vai Gear
Guitars on The Sea of Emotion:
Ibanez Jem “FLO” (slightly scalloped, older Fernandes Sustainer)
Ibanez Jem “REVO” (standard Jem spec, DiMarzio Evolutions in neck and treble positions)
Ibanez Jem “EVO”
PRS Dave Navarro signature (for rhythm tones)
Fender Custom Shop ‘57 Stratocaster reissue
Ibanez custom doubleneck “Glorious” (lower fretless neck with Sustainer; used for fretless part on “Old Sins Have Long Shadows”)
Amps on The Sea of Emotion:
All guitars recorded with plugins, except “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 3: Reflections on a Year and a Half,” which was cut using live touring rig.
Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly X
Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira X
Neural DSP Archetype: Plini X
Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi
Neural DSP Vai (prototype)
Tech 21 SansAmp
Live Guitars:
Ibanez Jem “REVO”
Ibanez Jem “FLO”
Ibanez Universe UV7BK “J.R.” (drop A, .009–.056; for “Zeus in Chains”)
Ibanez Universe “Bruno” (drop A, .009–.056; for “Zeus in Chains”)
Ibanez JSM100, refinished and dipped by David Bonvillain
Ibanez PIA77BON2 Gold Filigree (black and gold baroque-style gold leafing)
Ibanez LACS (Los Angeles Custom Shop) PIA, Olympic White (slightly scalloped, Sustainiac)
Live Amps and Effects:
Synergy SYN2 preamps with Steve Vai VAI and BMAN modules
Fractal Axe-Fx III Mark II Turbo
Fryette LXII power amps
3rd Power 4x12 cabinets
Celestion Vintage 30 speakers
MIDI Solutions T8
Furman power conditioners
Dunlop 95Q Cry Baby Auto Wah
Ibanez Jemini Distortion
DigiTech Whammy DT
MXR Phase 90 (script logo)
Xotic EP Booster
Strings:
Ernie Ball Paradigm Slinky (.009-.042 and .010-.046)
Straps, Pickups, Pots, & Cables:
DiMarzio
Picks:
InTune GrippX (1.14mm and 1.5mm)
Guitar Center Honors PRS Guitars Founder Paul Reed Smith with Rockwalk Induction
Guitar Center honored Paul Reed Smith, founder and managing general partner of PRS Guitars, with an induction into the famed Guitar Center Rockwalk on Saturday, September 26, during Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2026 in Austin, Texas. The honor recognizes Smith’s five decades of craftsmanship and innovation as a guitar maker, from his early work building instruments for artists including Carlos Santana and Peter Frampton to founding PRS Guitars in 1985 and building it into one of the world’s leading guitar manufacturers.
Founded in 1985, PRS Guitars has grown from Smith’s one-man pursuit into the third-largest electric guitar manufacturer in the United States, establishing a modern guitar company with its own unmistakable identity, design philosophy and following. Along the way, PRS instruments have become part of the musical identities of influential players across generations and genres, including Carlos Santana, John Mayer and Mark Tremonti. Smith remains actively involved in designing and developing instruments today, continuing to experiment and challenge assumptions about what a guitar can be.
Smith’s journey embodies what Guitar Center’s Rockwalk was created to celebrate: musicians, innovators and industry pioneers whose talent, ingenuity and contributions have changed the trajectory of music and made a lasting impact on music culture.
“Paul is obsessive about building the perfect guitar—and I mean that as the highest compliment. He has spent his life questioning every assumption about how a guitar should sound, feel and perform, and then doing the hard work to make it better. That obsession has materially moved the electric guitar forward and raised the bar for the entire industry,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center. “Paul is a living legend whose influence spans generations of musicians and instrument makers, and we’re proud to honor him with a place in Guitar Center’s Rockwalk.”
The induction took place at the Dell West Plaza on the Rockwalk Stage during Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2026, beginning with a live performance by Isaac Holmes. Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto opened the ceremony before John Mayer introduced Smith for his induction. Smith then addressed the audience and commemorated the honor by placing his hands in cement as part of Guitar Center’s traditional Rockwalk ceremony. Smith’s handprints will travel back to Hollywood, where they will be permanently installed in Guitar Center’s Rockwalk outside its flagship store on Sunset Boulevard.
Holding the induction during Crossroads celebrated the full ecosystem of guitar culture, bringing together builders, players and fans around a shared appreciation for the guitar and the people shaping its future. Smith’s career has been deeply connected to working musicians, from Carlos Santana’s early support of PRS to his longstanding collaboration with John Mayer and other influential players. Mayer’s role in the induction reflected that relationship and Smith’s approach to guitar making: listening closely to musicians and working with them to rethink what an instrument can be.
“This is a truly special day. I am thankful to Gabe and the entire team at Guitar Center for presenting this. The Rockwalk is an iconic part of our industry, and to be part of that history is an honor,” said Paul Reed Smith. “There are many hands that have been involved in the journey. I’d like to thank everyone at PRS Guitars, past and present, along with the extraordinary musicians that continue to inspire and drive us every day. To have our longtime collaborator John (Mayer) give such a moving speech just made it all the more exceptional."
Smith’s induction continues Rockwalk’s tradition of honoring not only performers, but pioneering builders and innovators including Les Paul, Jim Marshall and Robert Moog, whose innovations gave musicians new ways to create, alongside legendary artists such as Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash.
Founded in 1985, Guitar Center’s Rockwalk is dedicated to honoring the musicians and industry pioneers whose exceptional talent, innovation and creative ingenuity have shaped the evolution of music. Located at Guitar Center’s flagship Hollywood store, Rockwalk has recognized more than 150 legendary artists and innovators.
The Edge's Sound Without the Edge's Rig: Amps, Delay, Drive & Pick Tricks
You don't need a stadium rack to sound like the Edge. PG Contributor @TomButwin breaks U2's guitarist down to the pillars of his sound: a cranked Vox, dual delays running into the amp's front end, a transparent overdrive, a Gibson Explorer, and a right hand that doesn't miss.
Instead of trying to clone The Edge's rig, which changes constantly and is far bigger than most of us will ever run, he builds the foundation.
The Vox AC15 Hand-Wired does most of the work, set to the top boost channel. The Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 handles both delays and runs into the amp's front end, the way the Edge does it. A Mr. Black Deuce Coupe drives the amp without coloring the tone, and it cleans up off the guitar's volume knob. Then Tom gets to the '70s Explorer, (thanks @sweetwater !) the accuracy the Edge's parts demand from your picking hand, and a pick trick you'll want to steal.
AC15HWR1X
Few amplifiers have shaped music history like the VOX AC15. With the AC15 Hand-Wired, that legacy lives on – reborn with painstaking attention to vintage accuracy and updated with modern refinements that make it stage- and studio-ready.
This is more than a reissue. It's a complete reconstruction of a vintage legend – hand-wired and fine-tuned to bring the '60s sound back to life. Featuring hand-wired circuitry, custom transformers, and vintage-accurate cabinet construction, this amplifier aligns classic British tone with modern necessities including bypass-able master volume, a transparent effects loop, and custom-voiced spring reverb.
Now, the unmistakable sound of a vintage VOX is finally within reach. Built for vintage enthusiasts, aficionados, and modern players alike. The AC15 Hand-Wired delivers the unmistakable voice of VOX!
H9 Harmonizer® Gen 2
The H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 brings Eventide’s iconic multi-effects pedal into a new era, delivering studio-quality sound and creative flexibility in a compact, performance-ready format. Building on everything players loved about H9 Max, it expands the platform with the full H90 algorithm lineup, modern ARM processing, and a faster, more intuitive workflow for stage and studio rigs. It includes the full 74 algorithm lineup found in the H90, including all 5 2 original H9 Max algorithms, spanning delay, modulation, reverb, pitch shifting, granular, Harmonizer+ vocal FX, looping, and much more.
Deuce Coupe
From its initial release in late-2011, the Deuce Coupe shattered what was to be expected in an overdrive pedal, fully delivering on the promises of “amp-like response”, “incredible dynamic content”, “detailed articulation”, “high head-room”, and “uncolored tone.”
Unique and novel topology, meticulous tuning and calculated, deliberate electronic design practices granted Jack Deville the ability to create and deliver what became a true cult-classic. While many overdrive pedals sound good, and some even great, very few offer the astonishing clarity, natural feel, and dynamic response that the Deuce Coupe so effortlessly delivers.
70s Explorer
Armed with an iconic angular body and eye-grabbing hockey-stick headstock, this Gibson ’70s Explorer re-creates the trail-blazing axe that rocked a million stadiums. The Explorer’s resonant mahogany body and comfortable rosewood-topped SlimTaper mahogany neck offer a memorable playing experience night after night. Under the hood, twin ’70s Tribute Burstbucker pickups deliver a tight low end, complex midrange, and sweet highs to cater to rock and well beyond. To top it off, small touches like black speed knobs and chrome hardware give this solidbody electric guitar an arena-ready look. Add in the beautiful Classic White finish, and this Gibson '70s Explorer will be a great addition to any guitar collection!
Nexadyne 5
The Shure NXN5 guitar amp microphone is poised to change not only how engineeers mic guitar amps onstage, but how performers hear themselves in the mix. The secret? Shure's patented Revonic dual-engine transducer technology. This inventive technology utilizes two precisely matched transducers that provide an enormous range of acoustic optimization, maximizing specific frequencies and minimizing handling noise and mechanical vibration. This is how your amp was always meant to sound onstage! To boot, the integrated signal processing of the NXN5 produces a stronger output than traditional single transducer designs, thus eliminating the need for a traditional shockmount and corrective audio editing. It all equates to an ingeniously designed guitar amp mic that puts the playing characteristics of the performer first — a strategy that guitarists here at Sweetwater fully appreciate.
Graph Tech Introduces Two New 7-String Un-Lock Nuts
Graph Tech Guitar Labs has expanded its innovative Un-Lock Nut line with two new models designed specifically for 7-string electric guitars. The new Un-Lock Nuts replace traditional metal locking nuts with a pre-slotted, triple-lubricated Black TUSQ XL nut, eliminating the clamps, hex keys, added weight and everyday hassles associated with a conventional locking nut.
Designed for guitars equipped with double-locking tremolo systems, the 7-string Un-Lock Nut gives players excellent tuning stability while keeping the machine heads fully accessible. Players can tune normally, make quick tuning tweaks, and change a broken string quickly without unlocking clamps or reaching for an Allen key.
“Seven-string players often use different tunings and string gauges, so being able to tune at the machine heads and change strings quickly is a real advantage if they are using a tremolo stabilizer,” said Dave Dunwoodie, founder of Graph Tech Guitar Labs. “The Un-Lock Nut removes the unnecessary hardware and hassle at the headstock while giving players the tuning performance, tone and playability they expect from Graph Tech.”
The weight reduction is substantial: a traditional metal locking nut weighs roughly the same as four AAA batteries, while the Un-Lock Nut weighs about the same as one AAA battery.
Made from Graph Tech’s triple-lubricated Black TUSQ XL, the Un-Lock Nut features advanced slot geometry that helps the strings move smoothly through the nut. Its extended ramps distribute string stress more evenly, while the accurately matched radius and individually adjustable string heights allow for a precise setup. Players also benefit from smoother, easier string bending in the lower fret positions.
Both models are pre-slotted, accommodate most common string gauges and install without permanent modification to the guitar. As with any replacement nut, minor fitting and height adjustment may be required for the individual instrument.
The new Graph Tech 7-string Un-Lock Nuts are available now for $24.95 USD each through Graph Tech and authorized Graph Tech dealers.
King Buffalo Releases "Doomsayer" On December 4
King Buffalo releases Doomsayer, the Rochester-based band’s seventh album, on Dec. 4. via King Buffalo (North America)/Stickman Records (UK/EU).
A preview of the seven-song album arrives with today’s release of “The Slick and The Dead”
“Doomsayer originated in early 2026 out of many hours of jam sessions in our new studio space, playing around and seeing where it took us,” explains guitarist/vocalist Sean Roa, who also produced and mixed the album. “We didn’t really have an end goal in mind of what we were going for. We were simply exploring ideas and seeing what ended up speaking to us the most. So much has happened, both as a band and in our personal lives since our last record, that ended up becoming the inspiration to many of the lyrics on Doomsayer. I think as a result, this is some of our most upfront, direct and riff-driven work to date. We are incredibly proud of it and can’t wait for it to get out into the world.”
Four years on from Regenerator, King Buffalo returns with a record shaped by years of international touring and a deepening confidence in their own sound. Recorded in the new studio the band built themselves, Doomsayer finds the trio continuing to reach into the unknown, while bringing a greater sense of focus and intention to their sound. The experience they have gained on the road is evident throughout the album, both in the poise of the material and the confidence of their delivery. Like the pandemic trilogy that preceded it, Doomsayer was made at home, but the band’s new surroundings have given them the freedom to continue exploring and finding new ground, with a maturity they have earned one stage at a time.
Album pre-orders begin Friday, Sept. 25 at 12 noon eastern via Kingbuffalo.com. 50 test pressings of the 43-plus minute collection will be available, as well as a Deluxe Edition, limited to 750 copies on translucent emerald vinyl and including a hand-numbered insert, download code and polybag. The standard edition, limited to 1750 copies, arrives on purple opaque vinyl and includes a download code and polybag.
The band had previously announced a North American tour, kicking off on Oct. 29 in Boulder with support from L.A. Witch (Oct. 29 to Nov. 21, except Los Angeles), Doom Gong (Dec. 3 to 5 and Dec. 18), and Handsome Jack (Dec. 8 to 12). A European trek was announced this morning with Spirit Mother opening on all dates. The EU/UK leg is on-sale this Friday at 10 a.m. local time. Ticket links are available at Kingbuffalo.com/tour.
October 29 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
October 30 Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
October 31 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
November 2 Portland, OR Aladdin Theatre
November 3 Vancouver, BC The Pearl
November 4 Seattle, WA Neumo’s
November 6 San Francisco, CA The Independent
November 7 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room
November 9 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
November 10 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
November 11 Albuquerque, NM Sister
November 13 Dallas, TX AM/FM
November 14 Austin, TX Mohawk
November 17 Houston, TX Bad Astronaut
November 19 Nashville, TN Basement East
November 20 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
November 21 Cincinnati, OH Woodward Theatre
December 3 Detroit, MI El Club
December 4 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
December 5 Cleveland, OH The Roxy
December 8 Toronto, ON The Mod Club
December 9 Montreal, QC Theatre Fairmount
December 10 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
December 11 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge
December 12 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
December 15 Richmond, VA The Broadberry
December 16 Durham, NC Motorco
December 17 Washington, DC Black Cat
December 18 Columbus, OH Skully’s
Doomsayer cover featuring artwork by See Machine
1.Battling The Mystagogues
3.Vagabond
4.Hell or High Water
5.Into the Foundry
6.Ether on the Dark Side
7.Doomsayer
PRS Guitars Introduces Silver Sky Defender Color Collection Limited Editions
PRS Guitars today announced the Silver Sky Defender Color Collection, a series of eight limited-edition guitars designed in collaboration between PRS Signature Artist John Mayer and the British 4x4 brand. The lineup includes four classic Land Rover Defender colorways on the US-made Silver Sky and four contemporary Defender colorways on the SE Silver Sky. The US-made guitars will be limited to 500 of each color. The SE guitars will only be available during a limited order window, ending midyear 2027. These guitars can be preordered now through Authorized PRS Dealers.
“Teaming up with Defender to offer the Silver Sky guitar in their legendary 4x4 colors is a dream come true. I’ve always chosen colorways based on objects and materials that inspire me in the world, and as a collector and lover of Defenders, this collaboration is the perfect crossover between two great passions of mine,” said John Mayer.
The idea began with Mayer’s own Defender in the heritage color Arles Blue, which he has owned for nearly two decades. His appreciation for the distinctive colors offered by the brand has grown over the years. That inspiration has now found its way onto the Silver Sky in some unexpected details. The guitars’ plastics were chosen to complement two Defender configurations, with contrasting black or white roofs. The result is a collection of Silver Skys with a distinctly Defender-inspired point of view, bringing together two designs in a way that feels natural to both.
The PRS Silver Sky and the Defender are made to inspire exploration, whether through music or through terrain. They are also meant to demonstrate that design and color can combine to be a powerful expression of identity, individuality and personal taste.
“Defender’s iconic color palette, spanning both heritage and contemporary finishes, translates beautifully to the PRS Silver Sky Defender Limited Edition guitars. I have no doubt that collectors, musicians and Defender fans alike will be eager to get their hands on one of these highly desirable instruments,” said Paula Gharizi, Brand Director for JLR North America.
The Silver Sky Defender Limited Edition is offered in Defender’s heritage colors (with white pickguards and control knobs), celebrating the brand's rich heritage and the optimism, individuality, and character that has defined generations of classic vehicles. This set comprises four classic Defender finishes, starting with Mayer’s own Arles Blue Land Rover Defender. These guitars will have exclusive hard cases boasting the Defender wordmark, neckplates with the brand logo and that instrument’s color name called out, and matching painted headstocks. Only 500 of each color will be available worldwide.
- Arles Blue is inspired by open skies, coastal roads, and the freedom to take the long way home. A color to match the horizon, it harkens back to when adventure in a Defender became a destination in its own right
- Willow Green is a nod to Defender's rural beginnings, where muddy lanes and stone walls were part of the daily landscape, reflecting the fields, hedgerows, and muddy lanes where Defender earned its reputation.
- Portofino Red is warm, confident, and full of character; a reminder that utility and personality have never been mutually exclusive. It is a statement color reflecting a generation of owners who chose Defender as much for its bold character as its capability
- Sandglow Yellow is the color of adventure, desert dust and distant horizons. It is inspired by iconic Trophy and Challenge events of the past and the spirit of expedition travel that helped define Defender for a generation.
The SE Silver Sky Defender Limited Edition is offered in four Defender contemporary colors (with black pickguards and control knobs – a first for any Silver Sky model) inspired by landscapes and destinations that embody the spirit of exploration. Like the US-made versions, this set of colorways will have neckplates with the Defender logo and the color called out on them. These guitars will also have an exclusive PRS/Defender gig bag. Although the number of the SE instruments made will not be capped, they will only be available for order until midyear of 2027.
- Petra Copper takes its name from the ancient Jordanian city carved into rose-colored rock, translating natural stone hues into a refined metallic finish.
- Sedona Red draws inspiration from Arizona's dramatic sandstone formations, combining rich earthy reds with warm copper undertones.
- Carpathian Grey references the Carpathian Mountains, conveying ruggedness, scale and sophistication through a deep, sparkling grey.
- Woolstone Green connects modern Defender to both place and heritage, named after the Oxfordshire village while reinterpreting Defender's iconic green color space through a contemporary metallic finish.
Introducing the guitars in the automotive world ahead of the official launch, Defender hosted a preview of the guitars for select owners of the 4x4 during their September 11- 13, 2026 Destination Defender event in Temecula, Calif., a weekend of curated outdoor activities, drive experiences, live music, and a vehicle museum.
In addition to these runs, PRS will produce a small run of Silver Sky Defender Limited Editions in classic British Racing Green. Not available for purchase, these will be used as part of fundraising efforts for both the Defender Service Awards and John Mayer’s charity focused on veterans’ health, The Heart and Armor Foundation.
For all of the latest news, visit www.prsguitars.com and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube.
BOSS XS-100 Poly Shifter Review
For over a decade, the DigiTech Whammy has, more or less, owned foot-controlled pitch-shifting outright. There have been challengers. There have been contenders for the crown. But when the dust settles, in the imaginations of most, what one hears are Tom Morello’s dive-bombs, Dimebag’s squeals, and Jack White reminding everyone that a guitar pedal can also be a weapon. Boss, a company that can similarly dominate a category, is now dancing at the Whammy’s party. And it’s not messing around.
The XS-100 splits its personality in two. There’s a treadle-operated pitch bender that handles the Floyd-Rose-style dives and impossible upward screams, and a footswitch-operated transposer for down-tuning and virtual-capo duty. That’s a smart division of labor. You get expressive, real-time pitch-mangling under your toe, and instant, glitch-free re-tuning in an immediately adjacent position, without needing to choose which personality and functionality make the grade on your board.
When you add up the possible tones the XS-100 can span, the numbers are impressive. You can shift up to four octaves up or down via the rocker treadle. That’s eight octaves of total range, which I’d venture is more pitch-shifting range than most players will ever need. But if you’re inclined to experiment with the outer limits of your guitar, you’ll love having it. There are so many unusual, unexpected sounds here, in addition to scads of very musical, practical harmonizing and re-tuning capabilities too.
The sounds you can keep in memory are a huge asset too. Thirty slots are available, and can be scanned via the compact but practical LCD screen. MIDI and USB-C capabilities, meanwhile, extend the pedal’s possibilities for studio rats and committed pitch-shifting nerds to take the XS-100 to its furthest reaches.
Pitch in Practice
Here’s the thing about pitch shifters—the spec sheet is basically theater until you ask the real question: Does it track cleanly on chords? Polyphonic pitch-shifting has almost always demanded some kind of tone sacrifice in the shape of digital artifacts, and sustained leads and complex voicings tend to expose every weakness in an algorithm. Boss does its bit to solve the problem with what it calls Adaptive Focus—a fast processing method that uses high-resolution 24-bit conversion. In practice the payoff is pretty clear. The XS-100 preserves attack and tonal characteristics, even on full chords, without the warbly, seasick artifacts that plague lesser shifters. Whether you’re layering a full-step-up harmony under a lead line or dropping an entire chord progression down an octave for that “did the room just get bigger?” effect, the tracking stays glassy-smooth.
“The XS-100 preserves attack and tonal characteristics, even on full chords, without the warbly, seasick artifacts that plague lesser shifters.”
Does it top the Whammy? That depends what you’re after. The XS-100’s shifting often sounds cleaner and its range is wider. But it trades away some of the Whammy’s beloved knack for chaos and unpredictability. After all, the Whammy’s slight wildness is for many players a feature, not a bug. The XS-100’s detailed menu system also demands a bit more patience than the Whammy’s dead-simple stomp-and-go approach. The Boss is definitely a deeper tool, but that depth can come at the cost of intuitiveness. How you relate to those tradeoffs probably makes a trial run at your local shop a good idea. But with 30 presets, a genuinely sculptable balance control for blending dry and shifted signals, and that eight-octave range, the XS-100 gives serious players a lot more to work with once they’ve climbed the learning curve. With so much to explore, diving in blind could be a lot of fun for a lot of folks.
The Verdict
At $349, the XS-100 isn’t inexpensive. But it’s certainly not a novelty. It’s a legitimate, well-engineered challenger in a category where the Whammy stubbornly remains the standard. If you long for expressive dive-bombs, on-the-fly drop tuning, or harmonized leads that need to survive contact with a full chord voicing, the XS-100 can earn its keep. The Whammy cult is nothing if not loyal; the throne hasn’t necessarily changed hands. But for the first time in a long while, there’s a pitch pedal that can put up a real fight for it.
XS-100
Polyphonic Pitch-shift Guitar Pedal with LCD Screen, 30 Memory Slots, MIDI I/O, Dry-through, Expression Pedal, and Effect and Tune Down Controls
Mad Professor Launches Milestone Germanium Fuzz
Mad Professor Amplification has released the Milestone, a new germanium fuzz pedal inspired by vintage mixing consoles, reimagining the earliest fuzz sounds for the modern player.
The Milestone pedal is designed to stack well with other effects, with a dynamic and touch sensitive fuzz circuit and two band EQ for fine tuning your guitar tone. With its versatile EQ, the Milestone is also designed to sound great on bass guitar.
Milestone features a transformer circuit allowing the pedal to be placed after buffers or other pedals without changing the character of the fuzz or losing the touch sensitivity of the effect. This makes the Milestone the perfect fuzz for stacking with other pedals and opens the door for experimentation with unconventional pedal order.
- Germanium transistor fuzz pedal
- Dynamic and touch sensitive effect
- Two band EQ with Bass and Treble controls
- Transformer circuit to allow use after buffers or other pedals
- True-bypass switching
- 9-volt operation by external power supply (no battery compartment)
- Handmade in Finland
Milestone is part of Mad Professor’s handwired series handmade in Finland. The Milestone carries a street price of $370. For more information visit www.mpamp.com.
Why Queens of the Stone Age Still Matter
The longtime QOTSA multi-instrumentalist details and demos his new signature Squier Paranormal Troy Telecaster XII that's modeled after a Paul Waller Masterbuilt 12 he's had for a decade. In addition to recounting how a prototype survived a delivery truck rollover and riffing some of the quintessential 12-string Queens' songs, TVL explores the band's evolution resulting in their 9th album, Perfecth, releasing 10/30. Troy even dishes on the quintet's mission to age gracefully like Iggy Pop and share his surpringsly pragmatic reason for dressing dapper.
Why Queens of the Stone Age Still Matter
The longtime QOTSA multi-instrumentalist details and demos his new signature Squier Paranormal Troy Telecaster XII that's modeled after a Paul Waller Masterbuilt 12 he's had for a decade. In addition to recounting how a prototype survived a delivery truck rollover and riffing some of the quintessential 12-string Queens' songs, TVL explores the band's evolution resulting in their 9th album, Perfecth, releasing 10/30. Troy even dishes on the quintet's mission to age gracefully like Iggy Pop and share his surpringsly pragmatic reason for dressing dapper.
Cort Guitars Announces the Retro 304 Short-Scale Bass
Cort Guitars has officially unveiled the Retro 304, a new short-scale bass guitar scheduled for June 2026 production. Developed for players seeking the specific feel and tonal character of a 30-inch scale instrument, the Retro 304 combines traditional material choices with streamlined controls. By focusing on reduced string tension and a deliberate vintage-voiced output, Cort aims to provide a serious tool for both long recording sessions and live performances where ease of playability is paramount.
The Retro 304 is built with a solid alder body, a choice intended to bring warmth and resonance to the instrument's fundamental character. The body is finished in a high-gloss coating available in two classic color options: Seafoam Green (SFG) and Candy Apple Red (CAR). This construction serves as the foundation for a bass designed to deliver a warm low-end and defined attack, ensuring the instrument holds up across a variety of playing situations.
The bolt-on neck is constructed from hard maple, featuring a comfortable "U" shape and a matte finish for a smooth feel. With a 30-inch (762mm) scale length, the instrument provides less string tension, helping reduce player fatigue during long practices or performances. The rosewood fingerboard has a 9.5-inch radius and houses 20 nickel silver frets, which are selected for their durability and wear resistance. Other neck specifications include a PPS nut with a width of 1 5/8” (41mm) and white dot position inlays.
At the heart of the Retro 304’s electronics is the Cort Voiced Tone VTB-TB pickup. This passive humbucker pickup is specifically voiced to avoid a generic sound, instead offering a deliberate vintage character that emphasizes a defined attack. To keep the player’s focus on performance rather than complex signal management, the control layout is intentionally minimal, featuring a single volume knob and a single tone knob.
Rounding out the specifications is a suite of chrome hardware, including the Cort Retro Bridge, which anchors the instruments sustain while keeping a consistent vintage aesthetic. Keeping with the retro vibe, the bass is equipped with open-gear tuners and features a 2-way adjustable truss rod with a spoke nut for easy maintenance. The Retro 304 comes factory-strung with D'Addario EXL170S strings.
For more information on the Retro 304 and to view more images, please visit www.CortGuitars.com
Vox Amplification Introduces the AC Mini Amplifier
Vox Amplification announces the release of the AC MINI, a compact and affordable 10-watt guitar amplifier designed to bring the feel, look, and tone of the iconic AC Series into smaller playing environments. Developed by the same engineering team behind the acclaimed Vox AC Hand-Wired Series, the AC MINI addresses the needs of home players, practicing musicians, and songwriters who require authentic amp response at manageable volumes without navigating complex digital menus.
At the heart of the AC MINI is an all-analog, 10-watt solid-state architecture powered by the newly developed Vox Dynamic Response Circuit. Pushing sound through a single 3-inch Vox original 8-ohm speaker, the amplifier is engineered to replicate the dynamic response, natural compression, and rich harmonic characteristics typically associated with classic tube amps. The all-analog design ensures that the amplifier delivers sound with real body and presence.
The tone-shaping section centers on an intuitive, two-channel control panel modeled after traditional Vox AC layouts. The analog circuit is designed to preserve the natural character of different pickups, from single coils to humbuckers, and responds dynamically to pick attack and guitar volume adjustments. For additional gain and sustain, an onboard BOOST switch pushes the preamp into expressive overdrive, introducing harmonic overtones while maintaining musicality across the full sweep of the controls.
For spatial effects, the AC MINI features an onboard digital reverb specifically developed and voiced by the Vox engineering team. Designed after extensive analysis and critical listening, the reverb emulates the warmth, subtle movement, and character of a classic spring reverb tank, adding natural depth and sustain to the signal.
The top control panel provides a direct 6.35 mm (1/4 Inch) instrument input jack alongside a 3.5 mm stereo mini-phone AUX input and a 3.5 mm stereo mini-phone headphone output. The AUX input allows players to connect to a smartphone, tablet, or external audio device to play along with backing tracks, while the dedicated headphone output enables quiet practice sessions. The unit operates via an included DC 12V AC adapter (1A current consumption, 12 Watts power consumption).
Housed in a wood cabinet with a bass-reflex porting design, the enclosure leverages the material’s balanced mass and natural resonance to optimize low-end response and overall frequency balance. Measuring 221 × 125 × 180 mm (8.70˝ × 4.92˝ × 7.09˝) and weighing 1.8 kg (3.97 lbs.), the amplifier sports classic Vox aesthetic hallmarks, including a traditional split-front cabinet design, diamond grille cloth, and a gold Vox logo.
Street Price: $99.99 USD
For more information, please visit www.voxamps.com
Sole Power Pedal Reviews
Electro-Harmonix EHX Percolator Review
The InterFax Harmonic Percolator HP-1 circuit revealed its magic to me over a long period of time. Like just about everyone, I’ve never played an original. And when I finally encountered a reproduction at a recording session, it was the wrong pedal at the wrong time. I walked away from it vaguely disappointed and moved onto other things. Luckily for me, though, I came to be a colleague of Premier Guitar editor Joe Gore. Joe’s simple guidance for navigating the Harmonic Percolator lit the way to loving the circuit.
Daredevil Double Cocked Review
A lot of players spin magic and craft signature tones from a cocked wah. (For those that don’t know, the cocked wah sound is that honking, mid-rangey, filtered tone that you get when you park a wah pedal at a specific angle and leave it there to do its dirty work.) Frank Zappa did it. Mick Ronson did it. So did Michael Schenker. And for the last decade, Matt Pike of High on Fire and Sleep—a man whose entire tone philosophy seems to be “louder, and also weirder”—used various versions of Daredevil’s Atomic Cocked circuit to do that job.
Beetronics Seabee Lite Review
If you’ve never played a Beetronics pedal, the company’s extroverted design ethos might seem like a style-before-substance exercise. Nothing could be further from the truth. For starters, Beetronics’ wares are genuinely substantial in terms of quality. The brand is also inventive—and more than a little irreverent at times—when it comes to sonics.
Old Blood Noise Setback Review
I have to resist reverse delay like most have to resist ice cream. A totally uninhibited version of myself would probably record multiple box sets’ worth of reverse-delay-based music given the chance. Old Blood's Setback reverse delay makes a project of that scope seem totally possible, too.
Keeley Tube Drive Review
When I see an overdrive powered by a real tube, I’m predisposed to think about all those things that you associate with glowing tubes and overdrive—low-to-medium gain, warm, toasty, maybe even mellow tones. Keeley’s Tube Drive (which was originally issued in a limited edition of 100 fitted with 76-year-old Sylvania 12AT7s) dishes drive tones that are all those things, and sounds beautiful doing it. But the Tube Drive is made up of two sections. One is powered by a 12AX7 (alas, no ultra-rare antique tubes in this version.) The other is Keeley’s Phat Mod, a riff on the JFET Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, another circuit regarded as warm and responsive. Together, though, the two drive circuits expand each other’s range exponentially—right up to wicked saturated sounds that make a low-wattage combo more akin to a big British stack.
Mile End Effects Sofort, Si Fort Review
Mile End Effects does not do “subtle.” From art to enclosure to audio, Montreal builder Justin Cober’s pedals make big, bold statements. Even against a lineup of effect units that look and sound like Cold War-era machines of destruction, his latest creation, the Sofort, Si Fort, might just be the most devastating yet: a two-in-one design that combines a Sovtek Big Muff and Ampeg Scrambler elements.
Strymon Canoga Review
The Strymon name is commonly associated with fully featured, and sometimes complex, digital pedals. But if the company’s new analog endeavors are something of a surprise, they are already yielding promising results. The new Canoga fuzz emanates from some down-time/chill-out projects built by CEO and chief analog engineer Gregg Stock about a decade ago. But now it’s very real, and one of the first offerings from Strymon’s new all-analog, U.S.-built, Series A lineup.
Walrus Audio Highpoint Review
For some players, compression, and compression pedals, are exciting at a level just above a tuner or volume pedal—essential in some cases, but not the kind of thing that gets the blood pumping. For others, compression is an essential facet of their sound, perhaps even the core of it. For these players, the differences between compressors are meaningful and consequential, and separate a true creative device from a joyless, utilitarian tool. Walrus Audio’s Highpoint is more likely to appeal to players who see the painterly possibilities in a compressor. As an optical comp, it offers the smooth, fuzzy, non-linear glow that makes a good opto sound less sterile and bossy than a voltage controlled or FET compressor. It also has a control set that can get surgical. The $349 price reflects the pedal’s power and flexibility, and signals that this isn’t one for compression casuals. But while committed comp nuts might find the most to love here, less experienced users might be very surprised and impressed by what an asset the Highpoint can be.
Dominion Electric Filmotone Review
Aaron Sabourin runs Dominion Electric Effects Co., out of Ottawa, Ontario, as a one-man show, building effects using pricey, vintage parts when his day job permits him to. His Faceless Fuzz and Soul Power—inspired by the Fuzz Face and Hendrix’s screaming tone at Fillmore East circa 1970, respectively—are top-shelf recreations of common circuits that have been around for a long time. But it’s Sabourin’s commitment to using premium components in bomb-proof builds that make his pedals so coveted. His latest design, the Filmotone, strays a little further from the guitar-tone canon: It’s an effect pedal designed to approximate the sound and dynamic feel of a single-transistor preamp wrenched from the guts of a Bell & Howell Filmosound film projector.
Vox VFZ-1 Fuzz Review
In design and engineering terms, a vintage fuzz is a comparatively basic thing. And most of the earliest vintage fuzzes evolved from common ancestry. But as we’ve discovered in the intervening years, even small differences in a simple design can mean profound shifts in performance and personality.
Tsakalis AC Master Review
Amp-in-a-box pedals are a world unto themselves these days, spanning everything from digital simulations to discrete analog versions of amp topologies. Tsakalis AudioWorks of Piraeus, Greece takes the latter approach with their new AC Master. But here they couple a vintage AC30-based channel with a circuit inspired by the Dallas Rangemaster treble booster. As any fan of Brian May or Rory Gallagher will tell you, that’s a recipe that approaches perfection. But the AC Master’s tone-shaping power doesn’t stop with the addition of the treble booster. The pedal’s amp section also features approximations of an AC30’s top boost and normal channels, which can be blended with each other to create more complex drive textures. It all adds up to an impressive and varied array of Vox-style sounds in a single pedal.
Supercool Pedals Spritz! Saturator Review
Supercool Pedals, based in Peterborough, Ontario, released the original Spritz compressor, a simple 2-knob pedal, back in 2022. Earlier this year, builder Jamie Muir overhauled that design and released the Spritz! Saturator, adding a “tube simulation” overdrive circuit with its own discrete controls in addition to the familiar dual-knob setup. Like its titular drink on a hot summer afternoon, the Spritz! Saturator is a refreshing, invigorating treat.
EarthQuaker Scrolls Bass Odyssey Review
I thought I had everything a gigging bassist could possibly need. I usually get a pretty solid bass tone, the players and clients I engage with generally like it, and I tend to feel pretty good about my EQ choices. Some instruments I like to run direct, without much tonal color. Others I run through an amp, where I can get plenty of it. Between the two, I figured I had any session covered.
Jackson And Phil Collen Collaborate With New Pro Series Signature PC1-E
Jackson introduces the Pro Series Signature Phil Collen PC1™-E, the latest chapter in a nearly four-decade collaboration with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen. Since debuting his first Jackson signature model in 1989, Collen has developed four distinct signature instruments with Jackson, each evolving alongside his playing and creative needs. The new PC1-E marks the next evolution of Collen’s longtime PC1 and brings the model to the Pro Series for the first time.
“Being relic’d, my signature PC1-E is worn in, but it is definitely not worn out,” said Phil Collen, Jackson signature artist. “It has many of the qualities of my vintage PC1s, like the pickup, compound radius fingerboard and Floyd Rose, wrapped in a beautiful aesthetic that delivers. I’m loving it, and I can’t put it down.”
As one of Jackson’s longest-standing signature artists, Collen’s relationship with the brand has evolved alongside his career, spanning instruments including the Phil Collen PC Archtop, PC1, Custom Shop PC Supreme and PC1 Ninja. Each has reflected Collen’s evolving needs as a player, with the new Pro Series PC1-E marking the latest chapter in that collaboration. This model brings key elements of his longtime signature instrument to the Pro Series for the first time and reflects Jackson’s ongoing commitment to making premium, artist-driven instruments accessible to guitarists at every level. The launch follows another milestone for Collen and Def Leppard, who were recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“Phil is one of Jackson’s longest-standing artists and has played an important role in our history,” said Jon Romanowski, VP of Product, Jackson. “Our relationship has always been truly collaborative. Phil regularly visits the factory to work with our team as his instruments continue to evolve, and he’s become part of the DNA of Jackson over nearly four decades. The PC1-E is a meaningful next chapter in that relationship, bringing his signature instrument to a new generation of players.”
The Pro Series Signature Phil Collen PC1-E is engineered for players looking to channel Collen’s rock legacy. Featuring a road-worn finish, this is Collen’s first signature available outside the Custom Shop, bringing his sound to a wider range of players.
Key features include:
- Floyd Rose® 1000 Series Tremolo – For Phil’s dive bombs and string bends, the Floyd Rose delivers unwavering tuning stability.
- PC1 Sustainer Driver Neck Pickup with 18V Battery System – Available at the flip of a switch, this feature powers Phil’s live performances, letting him sustain notes indefinitely for expressive depth in every solo.
- Genuine Mahogany Body – Infuses Phil Collen’s signature guitar with a warm, resonant tonal foundation, providing the durability he needs to deliver consistent tone night after night on tour.
- Black Distressed Finish with Gold Hardware – This road-worn aesthetic with gold hardware adds a striking contrast on stage.
Pro Series Signature Phil Collen PC1™-E (MSRP: $2,199.99 USD, £1,699 GBP, €1,999 EUR, $3,499 AUD, ¥330,000 JPY) Phil Collen has wielded Jackson since 1986, and the Pro Series PC1™-E carries on the legacy of his landmark PC1 Dinky® — one of Jackson's first artist collaborations. Features a mahogany body, caramelized maple neck with graphite reinforcement and ebony fingerboard with compound radius and 24 jumbo frets. Loaded with a DiMarzio® X2N® bridge humbucker, DiMarzio Sugar Chakra™ middle and the PC1 Sustainer Driver (18V) for infinite sustain. Push-pull coil splitting, Floyd Rose® 1000 Series tremolo with locking tuners, black distressed finish with gold hardware and foam core case included.