Premier Guitar

Reader: Howard Linton

Hometown: Zürich, Switzerland

Guitar: Hardtail Gold-Foil S-Style

I'm a hardtail Stratocaster guy, so when I discovered that Harley Benton was offering a S-style with a Babicz bridge, I figured it would be the perfect platform for modding. I was lucky to find one in sonic blue for only 300 bucks as it was b-stock. When it arrived, it had high-output humbuckers and a roasted maple neck. I replaced the humbuckers with gold-foils from Victory pickups that I found on Reverb. The new pots, knobs, output jack, and pickguard were sourced locally.

Everything was great—at least for a while. After about six weeks, I realized that the reason this guitar was returned was because the neck was horribly unstable. It seemed that every other week I’d have to play with the truss rod to get it to play properly due to the strings practically laying on the neck. By this time, the mods I’d planned were already in place, so returning the guitar wasn’t possible. So, I bit the bullet and ordered a Mexico-made Fender neck and tuners. I prefer a 43 mm nut width and a 12" radius, which this neck has.

“When I took the guitar to my luthier he informed me that the scale length was off by about 5 mm. Oi!”

Something that I hadn’t anticipated was that the dimensions of the body aren’t exactly to Fender specification. When I took the guitar to my luthier, he informed me that the scale length was off by about 5 mm. Oi! Add another $120 to the overall price to make it play in tune!

Was it worth it? I’d say yes. Gold-foils are special pickups, and Victory makes a great product. I love the combination of sonic blue and tortoise shell pickguard and the neck plays really well. If I had to do it all over again, the only thing I would change would be sourcing the body as a separate item. But it all worked out, so no biggie!

Cort Guitars announces the new Gold-MC6 Ovangkol, an all-solid Modern Concert acoustic guitar designed for players seeking seasoned tone, premium craftsmanship, and stage-ready performance. Available worldwide through local retailers and online, the Gold-MC6 is built to deliver responsive, expressive sound from day one through its torrefied top, carefully selected tonewoods, and professional electronics, all crafted with precision detail.

At the heart of the Gold-MC6 is a torrefied solid Sitka spruce top, heat-treated to bring out the open, responsive character of a well-played instrument, matched with solid ovangkol back and sides to provide warmth, clarity, and dynamic range. The Modern Concert body features a natural gloss finish, black ABS binding, and an abalone rosette with ABS multi-ring design. A walnut-reinforced mahogany neck with a dovetail joint at the 14th fret supports a Comfort C profile and satin finish for effortless playability. The 25.5" scale length is paired with a Macassar ebony fingerboard with a 15.75" radius, 20 frets, and Gold Custom Inlay. The guitar includes a genuine bone nut measuring 1 3/4" (45 mm). Internally, hand-scalloped X-bracing reinforces the instrument’s all-solid construction, ensuring durability and tonal maturity over time.

For amplified performance, the Gold-MC6 is equipped with the Fishman Flex Blend system, combining an internal microphone and under saddle pickup to capture the guitar’s natural acoustic character while providing intuitive onboard control for live performance or recording situations.

Premium hardware completes the build, including Deluxe Vintage Gold tuning machines, a Macassar ebony bridge with ebony bridge pins featuring white dots, and a genuine bone saddle with 54.1 mm bridge string spacing. The guitar ships strung with Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Light 12–53 strings and includes a Cort Premium Gig bag.

For more information on the Gold-MC6 Ovangkol and other Cort acoustic instruments, please visit online at www.cortguitars.com.

Street Price: $1399.00 USD

Cort Guitars announces the new Core-MC Ovangkol acoustic guitar, available now worldwide through local retailers and online. Designed for players seeking an all-solid wood instrument that blends contemporary aesthetics with refined acoustic performance, the Core-MC Ovangkol pairs a solid cedar top with solid ovangkol back and sides, modern concert body styling, and onboard Fishman® electronics. With its semi-gloss black top and player-focused construction, the model delivers responsive tone, stage-ready functionality, and detailed craftsmanship built for long-term performance.

The Core-MC Ovangkol features a solid cedar top, known for its inviting, responsive character with smooth highs and rich mids, complemented by solid ovangkol back and sides that contribute low-mid fullness and broad tonal range. The Modern Concert body shape incorporates a slightly smaller waist and sleek cutaway for comfortable playability without sacrificing projection. The guitar is finished with a semi-gloss black top using an ultra-thin, UV-cured process designed to preserve resonance. Construction includes a dovetail neck joint at the 14th fret and hand-scalloped X-bracing. Added body details include aged white ABS binding, a black and aged white ABS rosette, rosewood bridge, and black bridge pins with white dots. The mahogany neck features a comfortable C shape with a semi-gloss finish, a 25.5" (648mm) scale length, and a genuine bone nut measuring 1 11/16" (43mm). The rosewood fingerboard has a 15.75" (R400) radius and 20 frets, with no inlays.

For amplified performance, the Core-MC Ovangkol is equipped with a Fishman® Presys VT preamp system with discreet side-mounted controls. The system provides onboard volume and tone controls for straightforward sound shaping, offering a clean acoustic tone suitable for live and studio applications.

Hardware appointments include vintage open-gear tuning machines and a genuine bone saddle, with 54.1mm bridge string spacing. The guitar ships strung with Elixir® Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Light 12–53 strings and includes a Cort gig bag. The model is available in Black Top Semi-Gloss (BTSG).

For more information about the Core-MC Ovangkol and additional Cort Guitars models, please visit www.cortguitars.com.

Street Price: $899.99 USD

MIRADOR formed out of the shared passion for good ol’ classic rock ’n’ roll held by Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka and Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin. The trans-Atlantic band took their blazing, bluesy rock out on the road, and before their show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Kiszka, Turpin, and tech Johnny Meyer led PG’s John Bohlinger through the vintage axes and amps they’re using to keep rock alive.

Brought to you by D’Addario.

The Underdog

The paint’s been completely stripped from this workhouse 1970 Gibson Les Paul Custom that Turpin scooped from an auction house in Wales, but those sweet, sweet pickups are original. Turpin had to replace both volume pots, and opted to add a Bigsby vibrato. He uses Elixir strings on this and all other electrics.

National With a Novak

Turpin used some electrical tape to secure a Curtis Novak K-Pancake pickup to this 1930s National Triolian. To avoid any unnecessary drilling, the output jack runs via one of the air holes in the top.

6L6 Slammer

Turpin packs a pair of Marshall JTM45 heads, with one serving as a backup. The main one in use on this run has 6L6 power tubes, and runs into a 4x12 cabinet with Celestion Greenbacks.

Chris Turpin’s Pedalboard

Turpin’s pedalboard includes a Dunlop Custom Audio Electronics Cry Baby wah pedal, JAM Pedals Double Dreamer, Analog Man Beano Boost, Analog Man Sun Face, a Boss GE-7, Maxon CS-550, Boss RE-202, and Universal Audio Golden Reverberator, while his acoustic board carries a Fishman Aura, MXR Carbon Copy, and a Line 6 HX Stomp.

Dearly Beloved

This 1961 Gibson SG is Kizska’s forever-and-always—he calls it “the beloved.” It’s been cracked, taped, and repaired over the years, but it’s still number one. Jake uses custom-made Dunlop coated strings on his electrics.

Juiced-Up Junior

This late-’50s double-cutaway Les Paul Junior was rerouted for a pair of PAF pickups, and is primarily used by Kiszka for slide-playing. The added sideways tremolo unit, from the ’60s, is there for looks only.

Dual Destroyers

Jake runs a dual-amp setup for a monster sound. A Park P50M and a Supro 1932R Royale get the job done, pumped out through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet.

Jake Kiszka’s Pedalboard

Kizska’s acoustic and electric boards carry a pair of Boss TU-3Ws, MXR Micro Amp, TC Electronic Flashback, Fishman Aura, Dunlop Cry Baby, Boss GE-7, Strymon El Capistan, Universal Audio Del-Verb, Universal Audio Golden Reverberator, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, a pair of MXR Deep Phases, Boss BP-1W, and Boss TU-3.

A trio of MXR units—DC Brick, Iso-Brick, and Mini Iso-Brick—power the pedals.

White Falcon

Supro 1932R Royale

Marshall JTM45

4x12 Marshall Cabinet

MXR Phase Pedal

Vox Wah Pedal

Crybaby Wah Pedal

EHX Micro POG

Universal Audio (UA) Delverb

Strymon El Capistan

Space Echo Delay

Universal Audio (UA) Golden Reverberator

Lollar Pickups has introduced the new Monolith humbucker model, a higher-output pickup designed for guitarists who play both modern and extreme styles of music.

Many high-output humbuckers suffer from either a boxy voicing or a harsh and brittle top end. The Monolith is designed to deliver balanced tone in all positions and increased dynamic and frequency ranges, using AlNiCo 8 magnets.

The bridge position offers a midrange forward sound with increased harmonics and fundamental frequency response and the right amount of compression when palm muting for a satisfying attack and grunt. And, like Lollar’s other pickup designs, the neck position is designed to be open, clear, and balanced with the bridge, offering a prominent midrange that offers a more vocal sound for leads and clean passages.

Splitting the coils on these humbuckers provides a full-bodied single-coil sound. When under gain, the split coils provide the percussive and aggressive tone for lower tunings and extended scale length instruments that progressive and djent players seek.

The Monolith humbuckers are available individually, or as two-piece sets for both 6 and 7-string guitars. For 6-string sets, Lollar also offers an F-spaced bridge position pickup (53 mm) to match a wider string spacing required for guitars with tremolos.

Specs for the Monolith humbuckers are:

• 6 string Avg. DC: Neck 12.9K, Bridge 19.3K, F-spaced Bridge 19k
• 7 string Avg. DC: Neck 14.7K, Bridge 19.6K
• Recommended Capacitor: .022uf
• Recommended Potentiometers: 500k

Lollar Monolith humbuckers’ street price varies based on options, starting at $190. For more information visit LollarGuitars.com/Monolith_Humbuckers.

Fifty years ago, a bold vision to “make a better bass” gave birth to what would become one of the most influential instruments in modern music history: the Music Man StingRay.

“It’s so much more than an instrument,” reflects Sterling Ball. “I was there when that baby was born. And when you see that 50 years later — it’s still as important, as vibrant, as valid — that’s insane.”

Originally developed under the guidance of legendary instrument pioneer Leo Fender at Music Man, the StingRay wasn’t just another bass guitar. It was the first mass production bass to feature active electronics — a revolutionary move at the time.

“The vision was to make a better bass. The vision was to use active electronics because there hadn’t been any production basses that had active electronics.”

What followed was both innovation and serendipity.

For five decades, the StingRay has set the benchmark for bold, forward-leaning bass tone. The Ernie Ball Music Man 50th Anniversary StingRay Special honors that legacy with two limited-edition finishes. Liquid Gold is hand-numbered and limited to 50 instruments worldwide, featuring a striking golden reflective pickguard for a truly exclusive presentation. Molten Gold, limited to 300 instruments, showcases a metallic gold finish on the body and headstock—each with its own unique character. Both versions are paired with an ebony fretboard with gold face dot inlays and glow-in-the-dark side markers for effortless navigation on any stage. A roasted flame maple neck and poplar body deliver a fast, comfortable, and perfectly balanced feel, while gold hardware throughout, including a 50th Anniversary-stamped bridge, completes the look. Finished with a commemorative 50th Anniversary silkscreen on the back of the headstock, each bass ships in a deluxe hardshell case with a certificate of authenticity.

50th Anniversary StingRay 4 Features:

• Roasted figured maple neck
• Gold face dot Inlays with glow-in-the-dark side dots
• 50th Anniversary stamped bridge
• Certificate of authenticity
• Deluxe hardshell case

The 50th Anniversary StingRay 4 Special in Molten Gold will be available at all Ernie Ball Music Man retailers, and the Liquid Gold colorway will be available exclusively in the Ernie Ball Music Man Vault this

The StingRay Special also gets an update with 7 new finishes available in 4 or 5-string in either H or HH pickup configurations. New finishes include Classic Natural, Anomalous Green, Mean Blue Burst, Soda Pink Sparkle, Trans Orange, Violet Sparkle Burst, and Yellow Brick Road.

Following months of relentless rumors and fever pitch speculation, it was announced today that Metallica will debut its Life Burns Faster residency at Sphere in Las Vegas. The highly-anticipated eight show run will take place on October 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 22 and 24, and 29 and 31, 2026 — and will continue the No Repeat Weekend tradition that began with the 2023 kick-off of the band’s M72 World Tour, with no songs repeated on each Thursday and Saturday throughout the course of the run.

Two-night No Repeat Weekend tickets and single-night tickets will go on sale March 6th at 10am PT. To register for tickets or for further information regarding pre-sales, enhanced experiences, travel packages and more, visit metallica.lnk.to/MetallicaSphere

Metallica’s standing at the vanguard of new and unique live experiences has seen the band play to millions of fans across all seven continents in every shape and size of venue imaginable. Their current M72 World Tour has played to more than 4 million fans from Europe and North America to the Pacific Rim and Middle East since its spring 2023 kick-off, its performances and production universally hailed as among the best of Metallica’s 40+ years of traversing the globe.

The band’s Sphere residency will see live staples and surprises spanning the Metallica catalog enhanced by the venue’s immersive technologies that will allow fans to experience the sound and fury of the band’s live performance in new experiential dimensions. Whether you’ve seen Metallica from the upper reaches of a stadium or arena, at an intimate club or theater gig or from the famed Snake Pit surrounded by the 360-degree M72 stage, Sphere’s technology, including the world’s highest resolution LED display that wraps up, over and around the audience; Sphere Immersive Sound, which delivers audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest; and multi-sensory 4D technology, will present a wholly unique and entirely new Metallica experience for all who attend — including James, Lars, Kirk and Robert.

Metallica co-founder/drummer Lars Ulrich commented, “About 12 seconds into the opening night of Sphere with U2 back in ‘23, I thought ‘We have to do this, it’s completely uncharted territory!’ This residency gives us another chance to reinvent how we interact with our fans in a live setting. We are beyond excited to share this with the world in six months time, and way fuckin’ psyched to go next level!”

Metallica Life Burns Faster at Sphere is produced by Live Nation and presented by inKind. inKind rewards diners with special offers and credit back when they use the app to pay at thousands of top-rated restaurants nationwide. inKind also provides innovative financing to participating restaurants in a way that enables new levels of sustainability and success. Metallica fans can learn more at inKind.com.

For updates and further information, stay tuned to metallica.lnk.to/MetallicaSphere

Death By Audio’s new Destroyer Series pedals, which include the Dream Station reverb, Moonbeam phaser, and Thee Treble Overload treble booster, are smaller than most DBA wares. But that very practical decision doesn’t herald a retreat to convention. There is abundant weirdness in the two pedals reviewed here. And what is satisfying about them is how easy it is to tap into both the strange and the familiar. They are very fluid-feeling creative tools.

Station to Station

Of the two pedals, the Dream Station digital delay and reverb is the most expansive, and in that sense, the most traditionally DBA-like. The range of available tones is enormous, straddling subdued echo and reverb and deep ambience. As a delay/reverb combo, it’s a practical way to save space and reduce pedal count, much like EarthQuaker’s more streamlined Dispatch Master. But the Dream Station’s three voice modes and stereo capability make it much more than a simple mashup of essential time-based effects.

At their essence, the Dream Station’s most basic sounds are versatile and lovely. The reverb is simple, offering only a reverb time control. But its voice is adaptable, living somewhere between spring and plate reverb tonalities depending on where you set the pedal’s 3-way voice switch. The bright voice tends to summon spring-like clang, while the full tone setting is softer around the edges, if still a bit metallic, and gives a sense of greater mass and body. The dark-voiced reverb is hazy and, at times, just a bit trashy and gritty at the corners.

“Paired with longer delay times and the reverb, the Dream Station's full voice sounds big enough to be measured in astrophysical terms.”

The delay lives within very analog-like delay time constraints, spanning 2 and 500 ms. But it’s surprisingly resistant to analog- and tape-style runaway oscillation, which enables useful near-infinite repeat beds. These working parameters might seem conservative on the surface. But in true DBA spirit they conceal a deeper capacity for mayhem.

Deeper Down the Vortex

A nerd’s confession: I’ve been hoovering ’70s Doctor Who episodes lately, marveling at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s resourceful, inspired, and fantastic sound design for the show. When you talk about guitar effects and Doctor Who, you’re usually talking about ring modulation (the effect behind the voices of the evil Daleks, among other things). Dream Station isn’t a modulator in a formal sense, but its capacity for tight, comb filtered delays at super-short echo settings generates sounds much like ring modulation bouncing around a tunnel—a texture few echo or delay units bother with. Dream Station excels at another vintage sci-fi effect: spiraling flying saucer take offs and landings. That’s thanks to knobs that are spaced and arranged to facilitate simultaneous manual sweeps of the echo time and mix, evoking the sounds and functionality of the Roland Space Echo and EHX Deluxe Memory Man. If you’re a guitarist who dabbles in tabletop synthesis or uses guitar pedals for mixing, this capability extends the Dream Station’s utility and fun quotient in a big way.

Some of the Dream Station’s most unique effects—the comb filter/ring mod effect among them—are attributable to the 3-position filter mode switch, which activates a high-pass filter, low-pass filter, or a full-frequency setting. Use of the high-pass filter, which makes echoes extra prominent, lends a sort of metallic dew-drop quality to repeats at high feedback and a sharp, tile-like attack in slapback settings. The dark voice is predictably analog-like. But its slurred, cloudy repeats take on very different personalities depending on where you situate them using the wet/dry mix knob. At high mixes, they have a spooky, hollowed-out, almost gamelan-like essence that sounds extra haunted with heaps of reverb and long repeats. At more modest mixes, these repeats are a delicious match for drive generated by picking dynamics, contributing satisfying, blurry distortion when you hit the strings hard, and more bell-like sounds when you kick back and chill. The full-spectrum voice is the Dream Station at its most open and sprawling. Paired with longer delay times and the reverb, the full voice sounds big enough to be measured in astrophysical terms. And if you’re a fan of grand-scale ambience without the sugary addition of octave voices, it’s hard to imagine the Dream Station coming up short in terms of space or size.

The Moonbeam: Phase Beyond the Dark Side

I don’t know about you, but I seem to reflexively subject any analog phaser to a “Breathe” test. I don’t consciously compare every phaser to the sound of David Gilmour’s swooshy Uni-Vibe. But the lazy, time-stretching phase that colors those sleepy opening chords is like catnip to me. The Moonbeam’s name may or may not be a cheeky nod to Pink Floyd’s mega-selling classic (DBA’s Interstellar Overdriver pedal suggests they are more squarely in the Syd Barrett camp) but it excels in that context. And just as the real dark side of the moon conceals secrets from us here on Earth, the Moonbeam’s three knobs belie great depth, complexity and, yes, lunacy.

The Moonbeam’s earthy-to-insane sonic range is, at the fundamental level, made possible by two phase engines, which can be used in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6-stage modes. But the richness and weirdness are compounded as much by the range in the frequency and depth controls, both of which go beyond the conventions of more pedestrian phasers.

At the risk of oversimplifying, phase stages are all-pass filters. These filters don’t affect the amplitude of a given frequency, but they can be used to delay a signal relative to another, creating the phasing effect. Odd-numbered phase stages are not intrinsically, well, odd. But compared to even-numbered phase stages they produce fewer of the symmetrical notches in phase-shifted waveforms that make a phaser sound chewy, rich, and all those other yummy phase descriptors. In practical terms that means the Moonbeam’s 1-, 3-, and 5-stage phaser modes all sound thinner and more “snorkely” than their even-numbered counterparts in a way that’s analogous to a wah parked in a fixed position. DBA makes effective, if perverse, use of these odd-numbered phase stages. In 3-stage mode I uncovered cool unique auto wah sounds and weird variations on volume swell effects. In the 1-stage setting, the more binary, less vowel-inflected phase pulses could sound like vintage practice-amp tremolo. And in all three odd-numbered phase stages, weird harmonic peaks lent a quirky attitude to Nile Rodgers funk.

“In all three of the Moonbeam's odd-numbered phase stages, weird harmonic peaks lent a quirky attitude to Nile Rodgers funk.”

The Moonbeam sounds great in the even-numbered stages, too. The 4-stage mode sounded nearly equivalent to a favorite script-style MXR Phase 90. Except, of course, the Moonbeam’s 4-stage mode was capable of that and much more. Minimum depth settings, for instance, make the Moonbeam ideal for players who rarely switch their phasers off—generating subtle animation that enlivens arpeggios, leads, and the simplest strumming. Higher depth control settings also helped the Moonbeam approximate a Small Stone’s color switch mode, as well as a fast-pulsing Leslie speaker.

The Verdict

Death By Audio pedals always feel like a bit of an investment, as they should—these stompboxes are handmade in New York City by creative people that give a damn. They look fantastic and come with a lifetime warranty. If you were ever concerned that the esoteric nature of some DBA pedals could mean less return on your investment, you needn’t worry here. The Dream Station and Moonbeam can work in service of utility or in pursuit of the demented. They sound beautiful in stereo (which requires appropriate TRS cabling), and have a low noise floor that makes them suitable for mixing or artists working in quieter settings. In terms of pure value, I have to give the nod to the Dream Station for its range. But both pedals are full of potential for any player keen to use these effects beyond their most basic applications.

Danelectro, known for their irresistibly iconic guitars, launches their new DANO guitar line.

Borrowing styling cues from the company’s storied past, while adding modern playability and new sonic options, the DANO line was one of the biggest highlights at the recent NAMM show, grabbing attention with three new series:

• Golden 50s: The show-stopping body/headstock graphic is borrowed from an authentic 1950s kitchen table top and combined with a pair of hot Lipstick® pickups

• The Dan O. Cool series, sporting rare and evocative vintage colors from the 1950s with a pair of higher output Lipstick® pickups

• The Dan O. Mano series, armed with a pair of P-90 style pickups providing a dynamite match for the DANO's hollow inner body and rosewood bridge

With their Atomic Age styling – drawing heavily upon Danelectro’s boldly original 1950s roots – and turbocharged retro vibe, the DANO line might be the company’s most true-to-the-spirit guitars ever. Key features include:

• Full Bell Headstock, a Danelectro original design dating back to 1954
• Rosewood Saddle Bridge, another feature from 1954 prized by generations of players for its warm tone
• Skate Key Tuners, gloriously recapturing the Danelectro vibe from 1958 with smooth, modern tuning accuracy
• Ultracool vintage colors – all of them authentic to the 1950s
• And every DANO® guitar comes with a FREE 8-page collectable reproduction of a Danelectro catalog from the 1950s!

The new DANO® line brings modern playability to the vintage-inspired lineup. An adjustable saddle bridge is included free in the box with every guitar. It mounts with the same three screws as the stock rosewood bridge. Now, each player can enjoy their preferred bridge: vintage-style rosewood or modern adjustable saddles.The DANO line’s electronics offer a perfect bridge between old-school tone and contemporary tastes. The new Lipstick pickups (available on the Golden 50s and Dan O. Cool series) are made exactly like vintage gems from the 1950’s but are 30% hotter in the bridge and 20% hotter in the neck for sweet, harmonically rich tone. And the Dan O. Mano series’ P-90 style pickups (a first for Danelectro!) pair beautifully with the guitar’s rosewood bridge.The new DANO® instruments carry street prices ranging from $599 to $649. For more information visit danelectro.com

For decades, the Gibson Custom Shop has set the global standard for craftsmanship, authenticity, and artistry in the world of electric guitars. Each instrument is built with uncompromising attention to detail, honoring the legacy of the world’s most iconic players while inspiring the next generation of musicians.

Gibson Custom is proud to announce the release of the Mick Ronson 1968 Les Paul Custom Collector’s Edition, an extraordinary, ultra‑limited recreation of the legendary guitarist’s most iconic instrument. Long celebrated as a producer, arranger, songwriter, multi‑instrumentalist, and one of rock’s most distinctive guitar voices, Mick Ronson left an indelible mark on modern music—and his stripped‑finish 1968 Les Paul Custom became a defining part of his sound, style, and legacy. Only 100 of the Mick Ronson 1968 Les Paul Custom Collector’s Edition from Gibson Custom are available worldwide at authorized dealers, Gibson Garage locations, and on www.gibson.com.

One of rock music’s most distinctive and quietly influential guitarists, Mick Ronson was far more than David Bowie’s right-hand man during the most transformative years of Bowie’s career. He was a producer, arranger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a guitarist whose dramatic, melodic, and unmistakably aggressive style helped define an era. His work as an arranger shaped recordings for artists such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Pure Prairie League, Ellen Foley, and Roger McGuinn, and he contributed to the arrangement of John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane.”

Ronson was instrumental in shaping “Perfect Day” for Lou Reed’s 1972 album Transformer, acting as co-producer, pianist, and string arranger helping shape its glam-infused sound world with a craftsman’s precision and a showman’s flair. His work provided the song’s signature lush, melancholic, and dramatic feel, a sweeping emotional landscape that contrasted beautifully with Reed’s simple, intimate vocal performance. Ronson’s piano on “Perfect Day” is one of his finest and most sublime productions—restrained, elegant, and quietly devastating. His broader contributions to Transformer—from arranging its iconic string parts to playing guitar and piano—were central to the album’s enduring character.

His collaborations with Ian Hunter, his session work with Bob Dylan, Roger Daltrey, and Van Morrison, and his production for artists including Morrissey and Roger McGuinn showcased a rare musical versatility.

Ronson’s own solo career included five studio albums, among them Slaughter on 10th Avenue, which reached the UK Top 10. Yet it is his work with Bowie on The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and Aladdin Sane that cemented his place in rock history.

Central to Ronson’s sound was his beloved 1968 Les Paul Custom, an instrument he famously stripped of its original Ebony finish, giving it a raw, distinctive look that became inseparable from his identity. Its tone—shaped by Ronson’s use of a parked wah pedal, fuzz, and echo—was as bold and expressive as his stage presence. Now, Gibson Custom honors that legacy with a faithful recreation that captures the soul, character, and unmistakable aesthetic of Ronson’s original Bowie-era guitar. The Mick Ronson 1968 Les Paul Custom Collector’s Edition has been handcrafted with extraordinary attention to detail, using ultra-precise Murphy Lab aging techniques to replicate every nuance of the original instrument’s wear, feel, and sonic personality.

“Mick Ronson is a true musical legend, and his impact—delivered in far too short a time—cannot be overstated. As a writer, producer, singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of his generation, Mick helped shape the very sound of the 1970s through his work with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople, Elton John, and countless others” says Lee Bartram, Head of Commercial and Marketing EMEA at Gibson. “His solo records and wide-ranging collaborations continued to inspire fans and peers up to his untimely passing in 1993, and they still do today. The world misses Mick Ronson more than it likely knows. Our hope is that this project advances the broader recognition he so richly deserves. For Gibson, it’s an honor and a privilege to help celebrate the legacy he left us.”

This limited-edition model features a mahogany body with a plain maple cap, a mahogany neck carved to an Authentic ’68 Medium C profile, and an ebony fretboard adorned with mother-of-pearl block inlays. The aged gold hardware, including Grover tuners, an ABR-1 bridge, and a heavily worn Stop Bar tailpiece, mirrors the exact look of Ronson’s road-tested guitar. Even the mismatched volume and tone knobs have been faithfully reproduced. The unpotted, aged ’68 Custom humbuckers with Alnico 2 magnets and no covers deliver the aggressive, expressive tone that defined Ronson’s playing, while CTS 500k audio taper potentiometers and Black Beauty capacitors ensure vintage-accurate response. Every Murphy Lab detail—from the stripped top to the precise wear patterns—captures the essence of Ronson’s original instrument.

Only 100 of these exceptional guitars have been built by the expert luthiers of the Gibson Custom Shop and Murphy Lab in Nashville, Tennessee, making this a rare opportunity for collectors and musicians alike. Each guitar ships in a Custom case featuring a reproduction of Mick Ronson’s signature, along with a replica strap and a Certificate of Authenticity booklet that also bears his signature. The Mick Ronson 1968 Les Paul Custom Collector’s Edition is more than an instrument; it is a piece of music history, lovingly recreated to honor one of the world’s most iconic and influential guitarists

Outer space awaits in two new pedals from DBA that span pedestrian and bizarre sound worlds.

The Dream Station is like two Death By Audio pedals in one! It’s an instant mood creator, blending DBA-style reverb and delay to plunge your signal into a vivid fantasy hallucination. Three filter settings let you radically shape the tone and character of the effects, opening up a myriad of soundscapes at your fingertips and exploding your sound into super-wide stereo.

From shimmering, lush pads to wild slapback insanity, ping-pong comb filtering, and swirling atmospherics, the Dream Station delivers a full palette of sonic reflection for bending reality and dreams alike. In this compact package, you can create any combination of echo and reverb with the Dream Station’s easy-to-use interface and feel the power of a full-stereo ambience in our smallest reverb ever. With the three filter settings, you can explore different spaces from airy and bright, dark and moody, and full-range digital. And when you really want to go crazy, crank the ECHO F-BACK to blow your bandmates away.

Part of Death By Audio’s Destroyer Series, the Dream Station sports the line’s signature look: a compact footprint, glowing vintage-style LED display, and minimal controls that conceal a world of sonic madness. Each Destroyer pedal delivers a distinct, over-the-top effect in a smaller, stage-friendly box - together forming a family of beautifully chaotic tone machines in stereo.

The Moonbeam Phaser has landed. A stereo, multi-stage phaser like no other, the Moonbeam Phaser lets you completely reshape your sound by choosing between one and six stages of phase shifting for any modulation occasion. With its expansive range of controls, you can instantly explore everything from classic swirling movements to ultra-gooey bends, resonant filtered tremolos, and textures yet to be discovered. Take a trip through the world of tones from beyond the exosphere.

At its core, the Moonbeam Phaser houses two fully analog 6-stage phase shifter engines. You can tap into each stage individually and hear its unique movement as the display morphs through a spectrum of colors that mirror the sound. To unleash the full potential of this unique circuit, we supercharged the FREQ control far beyond the usual range. Drift slowly through 2-minute phase sweeps, dive into liquid swirls, or blast off into ring-modulated frequency shifts. Combined with the DEPTH control, the Moonbeam Phaser opens a vast spectrum of refracted phasing tones- from shimmering rotary-style warbles to deep, resonant bends. And if one phaser wasn’t enough, we’ve packed two phasers in one, letting you bring your guitar, bass, synth, or anything you can imagine into mesmerizing stereo with the click of a stomp.

Part of Death By Audio’s Destroyer Series, the Moonbeam Phaser sports the line’s signature look: a compact footprint, glowing vintage-style LED display, and minimal controls that conceal a world of sonic madness. Each Destroyer pedal delivers a distinct, over-the-top effect in a smaller, stage-friendly box - together forming a family of beautifully chaotic tone machines in stereo.

“Let’s define ‘music’ for a second,” says Deftones guitarist Stephen “Stef” Carpenter. “To me, music is the performance of sound. That sound could be anything, and it becomes musical if I can recreate it. So if there’s a sound I can make, and I can do that with intent every time—to me, that's music.”

This ethos essentially sums up how Carpenter has helped shape Deftones’ densely heavy and alluringly atmospheric music over the past 35 years. Because for Stef, it’s always been less about playing blindingly fast licks or complex riffs and more about coming up with unusual sounds, textures, and chords that enrich and intertwine with the songs that he and his bandmates create together.

“I’m not a technical player,” he says. “I play guitar, and I play it very simplistic; I’m not complicated at all—I leave that for all the players that want to do that. That’s not to say I don’t love math-y, complicated guitar riffs; I absolutely do. It’s just that none of that has been my focus. I absolutely love players that can do phenomenal things. I’m just not interested in doing that myself.

“As a band, we are all very interested in how it sounds,” he continues. “When it comes to why it sounds that way, we don’t talk about it or go into all those things in any great depth. But the thing I think we would all agree on is that we want the sound; we are all about listening for and hearing the little nuances. We’re very much into all the little nuances of things.”

Those “little nuances”—as well as Carpenter’s gigantic power chords—can be heard throughout Deftones’ catalog, including last year’s Private Music, their 10th album. The band’s first new studio full-length since 2020’s Ohms, the effort, co-produced by the band with Nick Raskulinecz, was released in August, 2025, to massive critical acclaim and commercial success, giving Deftones their first-ever #1 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart. “My mind is a mountain,” the album’s lead single, also became the band’s first song to reach #1 at U.S. radio, topping Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts.

Stef Carpenter’s Gear

Guitars

• ESP LTD SCT-607B Stephen Carpenter Signature 7-string Baritone
• ESP LTD Stephen Carpenter SC-608 Signature 8-string Baritone
• Kiesel Vader 8-string Baritone

Amps, Cabs, Emulators, Routers, & Receivers

• Bogner Uber Ultra
• Bogner 2x12 UberKabs
• Bogner 4x12 UberKabs
• Soldano SLO-100 Super Lead Overdrive
• Fractal Axe-Fx II
• Rivera Mini RockRec Power Attenuator
• Radial JX44 V2 Guitar & Amp Signal Manager
• Shure AD4Q Digital Wireless Receiver

Effects

• Boss FZ-1W Fuzz
• DigiTech Whammy Ricochet Pitch Shift
• Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini Pedal
• Eventide H9 Harmonizer
• Line 6 Helix
• Pigtronix Gatekeeper Noise Gate
• Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb
• Strymon Mobius Multidimensional Modulation
• Strymon TimeLine Multidimensional Delay
• TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay
• TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir
• Voodoo Lab HEX True Bypass Audio Loop Switcher
• Xotic SP Mini Compressor
• ZVEX Fuzz Factory
• ZVEX Machine (custom)

Stef’s signature 7- and 8-string ESP baritone guitars, long a central element of the Deftones sound, lent significant sonic heft to Private Music tracks like “milk of the madonna,” “cut hands,” and “i think about you all the time.” But the album also marked the first time that Stef employed headless Kiesel Vader 8-strings in the studio, which he acquired shortly before the sessions began.

“We have a friend, Chrys Johnson, who’s the A&R person for Kiesel,” Stef explains. “He’s done A&R for other companies as well, so we've known him through other endorsers throughout the years. And he had asked if I was interested in trying a Kiesel. At the time, I had just received one of their guitars from Marc [Okubo] of Veil of Maya; I had randomly asked him about why he switched from Jackson to Kiesel, and I guess he was having some guitars made at the time, so they sent me one of his guitars that he was getting made. I was very shocked and blown away by that—I had never received a guitar from anybody.” Carpenter laughs. “And then I was talking to Chris after that, and he’s like, ‘If there’s anything on the website that you’re interested in, just let me know, and I’ll have something put together.’”

“I absolutely love players that can do phenomenal things. I’m just not interested in doing that myself.”

Stef found himself especially intrigued by the company’s headless Vader model, which was available in 6-, 7-, and 8-string editions. “I wasn’t even seeking out a headless guitar,” he shrugs. “I’d never played one, but there was something about the Vader that really attracted me. And I wasn’t trying to get with a different guitar company; that had never been anything I was ever interested in. But I decided I really wanted a headless guitar, and ESP doesn’t make one.”

Stef continues, “It turned out that Jeff Kiesel was already a huge Deftones fan, and he built me a Vader himself. He’s super dope, just an awesome person, and he’s become a friend. I was moved by their generosity—and, well, it’s a headless guitar!” (Kiesel has since released a limited-edition 8-string Stef Carpenter Signature Model in all-white and all-black iterations, both outfitted with the same Stef Carpenter Signature Fishman Fluence pickups used in his ESP signature models.)

The Kiesels have become an integral part of Stef’s live arsenal as well. “When it comes to performing most of our songs, I can use either my ESPs or my Kiesels to play them,” he says. “It won’t make a difference.” The band’s 2000 effort, White Pony, he says, “is our only record where I have to use my ESPs versus using my Kiesels, because there’s some songs from that where I play the little bits above the nut on the headstock, as well as below the bridge on the strings as they’re going into the body.”

Of course, Stef always brings a veritable platoon of 7- and 8-string guitars with him on the road, due to the various alternate tunings that he began using on the second Deftones record, 1997’s Around the Fur. “Had I not done all that in the past, I could learn all the old songs on the 8-string, which I didn’t start playing until [2010’s] Diamond Eyes,” he says. “But they would be new versions of the songs—they wouldn’t sound the same, and keeping everything consistent is what I go for.

“Every day, I was just shy of crying from pain that was in my right arm; I couldn’t even move it.”

“On this record, I went back to what I was doing on the Koi record [2012’s Koi No Yokan], which is standard 8-string tuning—F#–B–E–A–D–G–B–E—with the top [low] string dropped to E [low to high: E–B–E–A–D–G–B–E]. And I did that because, at the time, I had met Tosin [Abasi] from Animals As Leaders, as well as the guys from Periphery and the Contortionist. They were all amazing dudes and amazing players, and they were all like, ‘We’re playing drop E!’

“So I went to drop E for the Koi record, and I went back to that for this record, because Koi is our record that I enjoy playing the most; I have the most fun playing those songs, physically speaking. But whether it’s the F#-standard tuning or the drop E, they inspire me to do different things on the 8-string; I feel like I can get things out of each one that I can’t get out of the other.”

Stef also switched things up, amplifier-wise, on Private Music. An early adopter of amp modelers, he’s unfortunately had some well-documented difficulties with his digital equipment over the years. “That’s when my struggle began, really, when I left the analog world,” he reflects. “When I initially started using the Fractal Axe-Fx Ultra, I didn’t have any problem with it, because I was just kind of treating it like a preamp. And then I got the Axe-Fx II when they became available. What had really drawn me to them initially was the tone-matching capability; that’s why I got really sucked in. Because, for me, I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m gonna be able to get all the sounds from all the records, so I’ll be able to bring that kind of audio to the live sound, where I can have each song sounding similar to how the record sounds!’ I was so excited about that.”

He continues, “It wasn’t until we got out of the studio, and we started actually living in the real world as a band again, that I started having all the problems with trying to make the digital world sound like it did to me in the analog world. Sitting in front of some recording monitors, you can do that a lot easier, but in the jam room, where we’re actually performing as a band, I did not understand how to make that become a reality, and it never did, the way I had it set up. The thing that I was lacking was just simply the thing that a real amp gives. There’s a certain feeling; you just play on them enough and you’ll feel it. It’s not an audio thing, it’s not something my ears were recognizing. It was just the way it feels, the overall experience. A tube amp is alive, just as you are, but we don’t often recognize—or we take for granted—the fact that there’s this living piece of machinery that’s interacting with you, as well as you with it.”

“I wasn’t even seeking out a headless guitar. I’d never played one, but there was something about the [Kiesel] Vader that really attracted me.”

To reconnect with that feeling, Stef had his collection of high-gain tube heads brought into the studio when it came time to record his parts on Private Music. “I’ve been collecting them over the last 10 years,” he explains. “I didn’t know how they would sound or anything, but I decided I’d at least throw them in the mix and see what happens. I’ve got an entire collection of Bogners; those are my preferred and my favorite, but they weren’t the only ones I brought down. I brought Fryettes, I brought out my Orange amps, my Rivera, my Diezel, my Soldanos. The Soldano SLO-100, man, that amp is amazing! We busted that thing out on many little bits throughout the record.”

The experience of recording with the tube heads inspired Stef to have his live rig entirely rebuilt by Dave Friedman and Greg Dubinovskiy, Stef’s guitar tech, with his Bogner Uber Ultra heads at the center of his setup. “There’s nothing wrong with the digital equipment, whatsoever,” Stef insists. “I mean, for what it does, what it has to offer and what it provides people? That shit’s amazing. But ultimately, I just had so much fun in the studio with the tube amps. My guitar tech, Greg Dubinovskiy, set all my gear up; he was dialing shit in as I tracked. I didn’t turn a knob—I didn’t even plug in,” he laughs. “I was just playing, and enjoying the moment of being there and being able to actually contribute physically.”

Indeed, there were points during the creation of Private Music where Stef’s ability to contribute seemed worryingly limited, largely due to the physical and psychological effects of what was finally diagnosed as Type 2 diabetes. “I had no clue what I was going through,” he says. “I’d just been so out of it for the past four or five years—all the things that go with poor diet and poor exercise, that’s what I experienced.

“During the whole writing process, I was just tired, but I was not connecting how I felt to what I was doing,” he recalls. “When we went in to start tracking the music, thankfully we got all of our scratch tracks done, because shortly after that, something had got me all messed up. Like, every day, I was just shy of crying from pain that was in my right arm. I couldn’t even move it. I did what I could to just take care of myself—at least as best as I understood what I was going through. And thankfully, when it was time to actually track my guitar parts, my body was feeling better, and I was able to physically do what I had to do.”

But rather than get to the root of his physical challenges, Steph simply chalked it up to the aging process. “I just thought it was old-man life shit,” the 55-year-old guitarist says now. It was only after experiencing more difficulties while performing with Deftones at Coachella in 2024 (“I was just trying not to fall over,” he says) that his bandmates successfully convinced him to seek medical help.

“I was self-medicating, hoping I was doing the right thing, and always hoping things would get better so I wouldn’t have to do any of that,” he admits. “But unfortunately, you can only kick a can so far down the road before you run out of road.”

“The sounds those [MRI] machines make are so wild. The techs were like, ‘You can listen to music while we’re doing it.’ And I'm like, ‘No—I want to listen to the machine!’”

Now markedly slimmed down after changing his diet, Carpenter seems to be doing much better, both physically and mentally. “I’m very glad I got help,” he says. “Type 2 diabetes was affecting me on a number of levels for a long time, and I’m grateful to have that information now and be able to deal with it. I’m also really grateful to everyone else in the band—their positive energy really carried me through that period of time, and really carried us through the making of the album.”

If there’s a silver lining to Stef’s medical odyssey, it’s that his health challenges may have inspired him to chase some new sounds for the next Deftones record. “I’ve had two MRIs in the last year,” he says, “and each time, I found myself thinking, ‘Man, how can I bring a recorder in here and record it?’”

Carpenter laughs. “The sounds those machines make are so wild. The techs were like, ‘You can listen to music while we’re doing it.’ And I’m like, ‘No—I want to listen to the machine!’”

Wampler Pedals announces the release of the Golden Jubilee™, a dual-voice high-gain pedal designed by Brian Wampler.

The Golden Jubilee delivers the punch, feel, and harmonic richness of classic hot-rodded ’80s high-gain amplifiers in a rugged, pedalboard-ready format.

Engineered as a complete gain platform, the Golden Jubilee features two purpose-built, complementary voices: tight, articulate American boutique high-gain and aggressive, saturated British crunch. The channels are designed to operate independently or stack together, providing seamless transitions from defined rhythm tones to saturated, singing lead sounds.

Independent channel controls and intuitive voicing and stacking switches allow players to shape tones quickly without menus or complex switching. The pedal is designed to perform consistently across clean tube amplifiers, solid-state platforms, and digital rigs, delivering reliable amp-like response in any setup.

Key Features:

• Two distinct high-gain voices in one pedal — American boutique distortion and British crunch, voiced to complement and stack
• Complete gain solution — rhythm, lead, and stacked high-gain tones in a single unit
• Independent channel controls with simple voicing switches
• Consistent amp-like feel across tube, solid-state, and digital platforms
• Premium U.S.A. construction built for long-term reliability

The Golden Jubilee is built for players who require professional-level performance, flexibility, and durability in a streamlined format.

For more information, visit www.wamplerpedals.com

I love to learn about the history of an instrument when I am tasked with creating something new. Many people are unaware that I make over 45 different types of stringed instruments. When I say that, I’m quick to add that although I make six or more styles of steel-string or classical guitars, these do not count toward that number of 45.

When I research instruments, I am often taken down a historic trail that will tell me about the culture of the instrument. One such instrument led me to learn about the connection between Irish and Mexican culture. Not only do these cultures share the Catholic faith, they both faced colonialism and fought for cultural resilience. There was also a large immigration of Irish people who went to Mexico, especially in the years after the Irish Potato Famine. During the 1846-1848 war between Mexico and the United States, many Irish defected to join the Mexican army, viewing it as a Catholic versus Protestant war. Together, they formed the Battalion of St. Patrick (Batallón de San Patricio).

With that history in mind, I thought I would share my history of building the Irish bouzouki, an instrument I was introduced to by a client who wanted one custom-made. I named the model the “Jeannine,” after my Irish-American mother-in-law. (Did I mention my wife is of Irish descent? Mooneyham … Pretty darn Irish.) Most know the Irish bouzouki in its teardrop form. To give an idea of the size of the instrument, think mandolin, then an octave-mandolin, then a cittern, and then the Irish bouzouki.

However, the instrument did not evolve from the mandolin family. It was the Greek bouzouki that gave rise to the Irish bouzouki. In the 1960s, the Greek trichordo was introduced to the Irish. Originally with a bowl back shape and three courses, it took a different form when a local Irish folk musician changed the bottom course strings to two individual strings and then later brought the instrument to a well-known luthier in Kent, England. There, it received a custom-made four-course, three-piece, partially staved back, giving birth to the Irish bouzouki and its new shape.

The Irish bouzouki has a distinct sound, and once you hear the instrument isolated from other instruments, you can pick it out much more easily in traditional folk, Celtic, or English music. Its distinct clear, bright sound is often described as “jangly,” but for anyone unfamiliar, I describe it more as a bassy drone blended with a mandolin-style tone.

When I was asked to custom-build a bouzouki, I wanted to do something unique and decided to make two models, each slightly different from the other, and very different from the teardrop style most commonly known. I built both with a double Florentine cutaway, Palo Escrito sides and back, Honduran mahogany necks, African ebony fingerboards, and Spanish cedar tops. On one of the models, I wanted to blend visuals that would capture both cultures using lush green inlays and abalone shell around the rosette, while blending in the bright colors in the center of the rosette and on the purfling.

Visual design aside, the tone and sound I was building for was a warmer, softer attack with the mids being highlighted, so it would be neither bass- nor treble-dominant. The bracing style and wood combinations created a rich tone with a unique warmth, and I know my clients were happy with the end result. It is difficult saying goodbye to a new instrument, but the bouzouki was one I especially wish I had more time with, because I enjoyed playing it for the short time I had with it.

Hopefully I will get around to building one of these again, but one of the challenges of building in the old-world technique (as opposed to having others make the instruments for you and just slapping your name on it for the credit) is that there isn’t much time outside of the orders for extra builds.

So for now, somewhere in the world live two custom Delgado “Jeannine” Irish bouzouki models that blend my Mexican heritage with my wife’s Irish heritage and carry my mother-in-law’s name. My “Irexican” (Irish/Mexican) daughter’s wish for you is, “May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.”

Tom Bukovac is not a guitar player. Well, technically, he is—but more so, he’s a musician who plays guitar. He’s someone who always strives to make the best musical choice above all else. Bukovac, a first-call Nashville session guitarist and four-time winner of the Academy of Country Music Guitar Player of the Year award, has played on over 1,200 sessions for artists such as Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Sheryl Crow, while also being called upon to tour with heavyweights like Joe Walsh and Vince Gill.

Bukovac has gained legions of fans via his YouTube channel (@501chorusecho) where he regularly posts his Homeskoolin’ lessons. There, he imparts nuggets of musical wisdom with humor via extended segments of playing, proving him to be a seemingly endless font of creativity—with a killer collection of guitars.

His latest release is 2024’s In Stereo, an album of original music he co-headlines with fellow Nashville session wizard Guthrie Trapp.

Chords Are the Key

One of Bukovac’s superpowers is his profound understanding of chords, which informs both his lead and rhythm playing. Watch how he uses organ-style voicings to play through a blues in G.

Ex. 1 is inspired by his playing here. While he’s thinking G7 for the entirety of the first four bars, note how he employs various three-note chord fragments, including F and C triads—but not to create a chord change. Think of it more as splashing various “colors” over these four bars of G7. For example, the F triad (F–A–C) brings the b7 (F), 9 (A) and 11 (C). These first three examples are played fingerstyle.

Ex. 1

Bukovac often plays solo in his videos. But even when he’s improvising with single notes, he often deftly uses his fret-hand thumb (usually) to play bass notes that imply the chords he’s hearing in his head. Here, he adds just a few subtle thumps to propel the rhythm as he solos.

Ex. 2 explores similar territory. Be sure to palm-mute the bass notes to keep them nice and punchy. Note your fret-hand thumb should fret all of the notes on the 6th string except the final one, where your 3rd finger is a better choice.

Ex. 2

Bukovac is an encyclopedia of chord voicings, and he is remarkably musical in how he composes with them. This video is over seven minutes of inspired, beautiful music. There’s so much here to explore, even if you just randomly skip around.

Ex. 3 is a variation on his intro here—just simple seventh chords, but voiced in a unique way. Note how the melody clearly sings out, being so far from the accompaniment. There are no thirds in any of these chords; you can alternately think of them as power chords with melody notes on top.

Ex. 3

Grab Yer Pick

Bukovac is equally skilled using a pick. In this video, he’s employing hybrid picking—alternately or simultaneously using the pick and fingers.

Ex. 4 begins in the key of E, then borrows from E minor for the final two chords. In measure three, fret the down-stemmed notes with your middle finger, executing the slides with your pinky.

Ex. 4

Now, for something completely different, as Bukovac’s got a wide range of styles in his bag, here he shows his country-style pickin’ prowess.

Throughout his solo, over F7 throughout, Bukovac again keeps things interesting, here by employing different textures. Played with your pick, Ex. 5 travels from triads to dyads to single notes, ending with some death-defying open-string pull-offs. Be sure to pick close to the bridge for those to give ’em extra bite, and don’t forget the slapback echo.

Ex. 5

In the first two bars of the previous example, Bukovac uses Dm and Cm triads over F7. Let’s use some Bukovac-style creativity to see how we can take this knowledge a step further. You likely already know that, when soloing, you can use the D minor pentatonic scale (D–F–G–A–C) over F7 — remember it’s the same as F major pentatonic (F–G–A–C–D). But how about using the C minor pentatonic scale (C–Eb–F–G–Bb) over F7? The rule of thumb is you can play the minor pentatonic scale a fifth above the root of a dominant seventh chord. Ex. 6 demonstrates with a Bukovac-style lick. Note that the C minor pentatonic scale brings into play the F7 chord’s 5 (C), b7 (Eb), root (F) and 9 (G). The phrase colorfully touches upon C Dorian (C–D–Eb–F–G–A–B) by including an A, the 3 of F7 at the end of bar 1, as well as a D, its 13, at the end of bar 2.

Ex. 6

Bukovac is especially expressive in the way he bends. In this video, he’s executing two half-step bends simultaneously, using the pick.

Ex. 7 is a similar phrase, and, of course, these bends need to be in tune. If this proves to be challenging, the thing to do is simply slow things down. Bend by turning your wrist only, keeping your fingers stationery as it turns. If that doesn’t feel comfortable, try pulling both strings towards the floor. Tricky….

Ex. 7

Next, over the same groove, Bukovac uses his pick-hand index and middle fingers to create a melody over an open D-string drone. Ex. 8 explores similar territory; execute the final bend by pulling the 3rd string towards the floor to allow the open 4th string to continue to ring.

Ex. 8

Practice Creativity

Like so many of his longer videos, here, Bukovac—off the top of his head—continually finds new musical ideas, taking time to explore each one.

Ex. 9 is based on another idea from the same video. Note the final two examples are played with the pick.

Ex. 9

As Bukovac does, let’s create a couple of simple variations on Ex. 9, as demonstrated in Ex. 10.

Ex. 10

Finally, inspired by Bukovac’s creativity, try exploring your own by simply taking time to fool around with the previous two examples. Don’t think too much. Just start playing, and you’ll undoubtedly discover some brand-new ideas of your own.

Calculating the possible tones the Electro-Harmonix Bender Royale can produce—especially in relation to its simpler MkIII Tone Bender forebears—is not work for the casual mathematician. Let’s see, take the original 3-knob MkIII template, multiply those possible sounds by three additional knobs and two switches, multiply that again by the range of the extra knobs, and … well, you can see why I'm a guitar journalist rather than a NASA scientist calculating possible trajectories for Mars probes. But you needn’t be a senior researcher at M.I.T. or the Berkeley physics department to understand that the Bender Royale is a fuzz-tone gold mine.

A vintage-based fuzz with this much additional tone sculpting capability can be anathema to many old-school heads. Ordinarily, I might even count myself among that camp—certainly where a circuit as near perfect as the Tone Bender MkIII is concerned. But time and time again, I found myself in thrall to the Bender Royale’s broader sense of possibilities. It’s equally happy in dunderheaded ’60s garage-psych contexts and modern ambient settings. Best of all, its many controls enable intuitive pathways to these very different destinations.

Palace Expansions

I’d be lying if I said I looked over the Bender Royale for the first time without trepidation. I have a few 3-knob Tone Bender MkIII clones that I love and know intimately. I also know that compound tone possibilities can come at the cost of an otherwise simple pedal’s magical essence. But I also love the grand tradition of Electro-Harmonix as demented maximalists. And in this case, faith in the vision of Mike Matthews and his designers is well placed.

Early versions of the 3-transistor Sola Sound Tone Bender architecture were simple 2-knob pedals—just output volume and gain. The MkIII Tone Bender, on which the Bender Royale is based, added a high-pass filter-based tone control, which made it a much more nuanced pedal than its predecessors. On the Bender Royale, the tone section is comprised of treble and bass knobs, and using the two together yields many sounds that aren’t easily found in vintage style MkIIIs—especially when you set them in opposition to each other. Heavy bass settings and attenuated treble, for instance, can shape wooly, mysterious low-mid focused fuzz that’s uncommon in simple ’60s circuits.

The bias control is a familiar feature in modern fuzz design. And like the EQ, it can serve contemporary or vintage-style tone-shaping aims. In the latter scenario, the bias knob helps the Bender Royale assume personality traits of lower voltage vintage fuzzes like the Maestro FZ-1 or Selmer Buzz Tone. It can also help shape the Bender Royale’s output into glitchy, fractured tone scree peppered with odd overtones—or thuddy but substantial no-sustain fuzz that is perfect for doubling a bass line.

Mixing More Magic Potions

I don’t often see wet/dry blend controls on fuzzes, and I understand why some players would fail to see the point. On the Blender Royale though, it’s a feature with transformative power—particularly if you approach fuzz with a song arranger’s mindset. The most convenient framework for describing the sound of the blended wet/dry tones might be the work of My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields (who, not coincidentally, perhaps, is a fan of the MkIII Tone Bender.) If you’ve dived deep on Shield’s MBV sounds, you’ve probably noticed that many of them are not as filthy as legend would suggest. In fact, many of Shield’s classic MBV tones rely on a certain quantity of “cleanliness” to communicate the nuance of his pitch shifting and reverse reverb moves. The Blender Royale’s wet/dry blend makes it easy to shape these textures. And while this function shines in shoegaze-style applications (which often rely on fuzz as a source of dream haze rather than riff underpinnings) it can be invaluable in any song- or melody-first compositional or performance situation where detailed chords are of foremost importance and fuzz works better as a mood enhancer than sledgehammer.

The two switches—a FAT switch that emphasizes low-mid frequencies and one that switches between germanium and harder-edged LED clipping—are the two features I used least. And in general, I preferred the more vintage-aligned germanium clipping and FAT-less EQ profile for their clarity, which emphasizes detail in other control interactions. But they are far from superfluous. The LED-clipping, for example, will interact with treble-forward and off-biased settings to create extra-splintered, narrow output that stands tall, proud, and strange in a mix.

The Verdict

Electro-Harmonix’s Bender Royale may seem to exist in extra-dimensional space at times. But for all the adventure it enables, it is a pedal of great utility. It shines with humbuckers and single-coils, with American- and British-style amps, and for scorching leads and tuneful indie chording. And none of this very real variety in the Bender Royale comes at the expense of vintage MkIII accuracy when you need it. At $149, it has to be a contender for the best fuzz value in the business.

Calculating the possible tones the Electro-Harmonix Bender Royale can produce—especially in relation to its simpler MkIII Tone Bender forebears—is not work for the casual mathematician. Let’s see, take the original 3-knob MkIII template, multiply those possible sounds by three additional knobs and two switches, multiply that again by the range of the extra knobs, and … well, you can see why I'm a guitar journalist rather than a NASA scientist calculating possible trajectories for Mars probes. But you needn’t be a senior researcher at M.I.T. or the Berkeley physics department to understand that the Bender Royale is a fuzz-tone gold mine.

A vintage-based fuzz with this much additional tone sculpting capability can be anathema to many old-school heads. Ordinarily, I might even count myself among that camp—certainly where a circuit as near perfect as the Tone Bender MkIII is concerned. But time and time again, I found myself in thrall to the Bender Royale’s broader sense of possibilities. It’s equally happy in dunderheaded ’60s garage-psych contexts and modern ambient settings. Best of all, its many controls enable intuitive pathways to these very different destinations.

Palace Expansions

I’d be lying if I said I looked over the Bender Royale for the first time without trepidation. I have a few 3-knob Tone Bender MkIII clones that I love and know intimately. I also know that compound tone possibilities can come at the cost of an otherwise simple pedal’s magical essence. But I also love the grand tradition of Electro-Harmonix as demented maximalists. And in this case, faith in the vision of Mike Matthews and his designers is well placed.

Early versions of the 3-transistor Sola Sound Tone Bender architecture were simple 2-knob pedals—just output volume and gain. The MkIII Tone Bender, on which the Bender Royale is based, added a high-pass filter-based tone control, which made it a much more nuanced pedal than its predecessors. On the Bender Royale, the tone section is comprised of treble and bass knobs, and using the two together yields many sounds that aren’t easily found in vintage style MkIIIs—especially when you set them in opposition to each other. Heavy bass settings and attenuated treble, for instance, can shape wooly, mysterious low-mid focused fuzz that’s uncommon in simple ’60s circuits.

The bias control is a familiar feature in modern fuzz design. And like the EQ, it can serve contemporary or vintage-style tone-shaping aims. In the latter scenario, the bias knob helps the Bender Royale assume personality traits of lower voltage vintage fuzzes like the Maestro FZ-1 or Selmer Buzz Tone. It can also help shape the Bender Royale’s output into glitchy, fractured tone scree peppered with odd overtones—or thuddy but substantial no-sustain fuzz that is perfect for doubling a bass line.

Mixing More Magic Potions

I don’t often see wet/dry blend controls on fuzzes, and I understand why some players would fail to see the point. On the Blender Royale though, it’s a feature with transformative power—particularly if you approach fuzz with a song arranger’s mindset. The most convenient framework for describing the sound of the blended wet/dry tones might be the work of My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields (who, not coincidentally, perhaps, is a fan of the MkIII Tone Bender.) If you’ve dived deep on Shield’s MBV sounds, you’ve probably noticed that many of them are not as filthy as legend would suggest. In fact, many of Shield’s classic MBV tones rely on a certain quantity of “cleanliness” to communicate the nuance of his pitch shifting and reverse reverb moves. The Blender Royale’s wet/dry blend makes it easy to shape these textures. And while this function shines in shoegaze-style applications (which often rely on fuzz as a source of dream haze rather than riff underpinnings) it can be invaluable in any song- or melody-first compositional or performance situation where detailed chords are of foremost importance and fuzz works better as a mood enhancer than sledgehammer.

The two switches—a FAT switch that emphasizes low-mid frequencies and one that switches between germanium and harder-edged LED clipping—are the two features I used least. And in general, I preferred the more vintage-aligned germanium clipping and FAT-less EQ profile for their clarity, which emphasizes detail in other control interactions. But they are far from superfluous. The LED-clipping, for example, will interact with treble-forward and off-biased settings to create extra-splintered, narrow output that stands tall, proud, and strange in a mix.

The Verdict

Electro-Harmonix’s Bender Royale may seem to exist in extra-dimensional space at times. But for all the adventure it enables, it is a pedal of great utility. It shines with humbuckers and single-coils, with American- and British-style amps, and for scorching leads and tuneful indie chording. And none of this very real variety in the Bender Royale comes at the expense of vintage MkIII accuracy when you need it. At $149, it has to be a contender for the best fuzz value in the business.

BzzzzKill today announced the launch of its long-anticipated hum-reduction solution for Telecaster-style guitars. Available now in Single and Dual configurations, the new Players Series Telecaster models deliver buzz-free single-coil performance for one of the most iconic — and notoriously noisy — guitar designs ever created.

Since their introduction in the early 1950s, Telecasters have been known for clarity, snap, and responsiveness — along with persistent 60-cycle hum (50Hz in UK/EU). Until now, there has never been a viable dummy-coil solution engineered specifically for Telecaster wiring configurations, particularly models equipped with reverse-wound, reverse-polarity (RWRP) neck pickups.

The new Telecaster lineup includes:

• Single model for Telecasters that buzz in all selector positions (non-RWRP wiring)
• Dual model engineered to complete the partial hum-cancelling systems found in RWRP Telecasters

Both versions operate passively, require no batteries or external power, and install invisibly inside the guitar’s control cavity without drilling or permanent modification.

Like the recently launched Players Series for Stratocasters, the Telecaster models feature a modern, precision-formed PETG structure and durable rubber-jacket wiring. Each unit is carefully engineered for a precise fit within the famously restrictive Telecaster control cavity — a design challenge that required extensive development and refinement.

Priced at US $99, the Players Series Telecaster models bring engineered noise reduction to a broader audience while preserving the guitar’s authentic tone, dynamics, and value.

Expanding the BzzzzKill Platform
With Telecaster now added to the lineup, BzzzzKill continues to broaden its engineered hum-reduction architecture across the most popular single-coil formats. Versions for Jazz Bass and Gibson-style P-90 guitars are currently in development and will be announced soon.

BzzzzKill products are available directly at www.bzzzzkill.com.

Last weekend I got together with a bunch of high school friends. I hadn’t seen some of them in over 30 years, but conversation was easy and our shared memories and “exploits” led to some good laughs. We all sat around the fire pit with wild eyes! I suppose from the outside most of us are simple vestiges of what we once were, but on the whole we were all talking about current passions and endeavors. Eventually we got around to music, and then guitars.

When we began playing instruments, particularly guitars, we all started out on cheaper imports. I mean, after all, we were the sons of steel and quarry workers. But it was all good because we were content with any approximation of a “cool” guitar. Case in point: the Emperador!

Of course we all would have been happy with a real Gibson, but to us a guitar like this was almost as cool. Towards the tail end of the 1960s, imported “copy” guitars were becoming more popular and caused quite the stir in guitar-land with the threat of legal action towards spec-by-spec clone guitars. It was difficult to regulate, and many Japanese guitar makers changed minor aspects to keep U.S. guitar manufacturers at bay.

This guitar offers that classic SG shape but with some Japanese flair. The more extreme cutaways and body sculpting combined with a tremolo and different pickups make it a more adventurous example than the typical faded cherry SG. The Emperador finish is bright and in your face.

You might have noticed this guitar has Guyatone components, like that tailpiece/tremolo. That was a Guyatone exclusive, found on the famous Sharp 5 guitars and a few others. And those pickups are also Guyatones. In fact, those were specially designed alnico units (which sound really nice) from around 1967. Even the electronics were Guyatone designs. I’ve seen examples of this same instrument in a vibrant blue color as well. So, is this a Guyatone guitar? Well, yes and no.

The Emperador brand name was apparently used by a Canadian importer, so if you live up north you may have seen this name before. The backstory of Guyatone and these Guyatone-adjacent guitars goes like this: The owner/founder of Guyatone was Mitsuo Matsuki, and believe me when I say this guy was a scrapper. He had been in the musical-instrument game since the late ’40s, primarily making amps and electronics. The company really dove into electric instruments in the late ’50s and Mitsuo was building new factories to keep up with growing demand. Alas, as the 1960s wore on, that demand faded and Guyatone went bankrupt in 1969. Now, just because a Japanese company goes bankrupt does not mean the factory gets shuttered. All those parts and partially made instruments will be resurrected in some way, and that’s what happened all the time in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

For instance, some factories only made the wood portions of guitars. And other factories only made the electronics and/or hardware like tremolo units, tuners, etc. During the ’50s and ’60s in Japan, many guitar factories simply partnered with others to make whole guitars. During Guyatone’s run, there were some years when they made guitar bodies and necks, and other times where the work was farmed out. But Guyatone consistently made electronics like pickups, and they were some of the best to come out of Japan.

Basically, what we have here is like a “combo” guitar that incorporated Guyatone components during a time when Guyatone was struggling. Matsuki came out in the ’70s by rebuilding his company from the ground up, and Guyatone guitars did rather well in the ’70s. But this guitar was made during that strange window of time where Guyatone was at the lowest point in the company’s history.

Sitting around the fire pit with my friends that night was a nice ride around old memories, like wisps of gray hair. We may have achy joints, but we’ve still got eyes as vibrant as this Emperador’s finish, glowing in the fading flame of youth.

Interscope Records today announces the release of U2 - Days Of Ash, a brand new standalone 6-track EP from U2. Out now, listen HERE. Watch lyric videos HERE.

In advance of a new album in late 2026, the U2 - Days Of Ash EP is a self-contained collection of five new songs and a poem - "American Obituary," "The Tears Of Things," "Song Of The Future," "Wildpeace," "One Life At A Time," and "Yours Eternally" (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) - an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom. Four of the five tracks are about individuals – a mother, a father, a teenage girl – whose lives were brutally cut short. A soldier who’d rather be singing but is ready to die for the freedom of his country.

“It’s been a thrill having the four of us back together in the studio over the last year… the songs on Days of Ash are very different in mood and theme to the ones we’re going to put on our album later in the year. These EP tracks couldn't wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation. Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now… because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing normal about these mad and maddening times and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future. And each other.

“If you have a chance to hope it’s a duty…” is a line we borrowed from Lea Ypi.

A laugh would be nice too. Thank you.”

Bono

“Who needs to hear a new record from us? It just depends on whether we’re making music we feel deserves to be heard. I believe these new songs stand up to our best work. We talk a lot about when to release new tracks. You don’t always know… the way the world is now feels like the right moment. Going way back to our earliest days, working with Amnesty or Greenpeace, we’ve never shied away from taking a position and sometimes that can get a bit messy, there’s always some sort of blowback, but it’s a big side of who we are and why we still exist.”Larry Mullen Jr.

“I’m excited about these new songs, it feels like they’re arriving at the right time.”

Adam Clayton

"American Obituary" speaks to the shocking event the world witnessed in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 7th, 2026 where Renée Nicole Macklin Good, an idealistic mother of three, was shot at almost point-blank range while exercising her right to peacefully protest, a right that is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This unarmed mother was then described as a “domestic terrorist” by a government who will not withdraw the description even though they know it’s not true. Or mount a proper enquiry into what happened for the sake of everyone involved.

"The Tears Of Things" borrows its title from a book by Franciscan friar Richard Rohr, which examines, through the writings of the Jewish prophets, how one can live compassionately in a time of violence and despair. The song imagines a conversation between Michelangelo’s David and his creator… where the young man with the sling and five smooth stones refuses the idea that he has to become Goliath to defeat him... he’s also revealed as having heart shaped pupils half a millennia before the heart shaped emoji, which puzzles visitors at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, to this day.

The star of the lyric, Sarina, in "Song of the Future" honors the life of 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, one of thousands of Iranian schoolgirls who took to the streets as part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in 2022. These protests were sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in Tehran on September 16th that year from injuries sustained following her arrest by the so-called "morality police" for not wearing a hijab in accordance with government standards. Seven days later, Sarina was beaten by the Iranian security forces and died from her injuries, the regime claiming she killed herself. The song aims to capture Sarina’s free spirit, the promise and hope of her short life.

The Days of Ash EP includes a reading of "Wildpeace" - a poem by Israeli author and poet Yehuda Amichai - by Nigerian artist Adeola of Les Amazones d'Afrique, with music by U2 and Jacknife Lee.

"One Life At A Time" is written for Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian father of three. A nonviolent activist and English teacher, Awdah was killed in his village in the West Bank by Israeli settler Yinon Levi on July 28th, 2025. Awdah was a consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” made by Palestinians and Israelis. At his funeral, one of the directors, Basel Adra, spoke of the slaughter of his friend and the experience of Palestinians being erased “one life at a time.” U2 took that line and turned it around to suggest that a peaceful resolution will be wrought “one life at a time.”

"Yours Eternally" sees Bono and The Edge joined on vocals by Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier Taras Topolia, as well as Ed Sheeran. In the spring of 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bono and The Edge traveled to Kyiv to busk in a metro station at the invitation of President Zelensky. A couple of days prior to that, Ed connected Taras Topolia, and by extension his band Antytila, with Bono. Bono, Taras and The Edge met for the first time on that subway platform. They’ve been friends ever since. Taras is the inspiration for "Yours Eternally," a song written in the form of a letter from a soldier on active duty with a bold, mischievous spirit to match Ukraine’s.

"Yours Eternally" will also be proudly accompanied by a short 4½ minute documentary film directed by Ukrainian cinematographer and filmmaker Ilya Mikhaylus, that will be released on Tuesday, February 24th - the 4th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shot in December 2025 while Mikhaylus and his crew were embedded alongside the 40,000-strong Khartiya Corps, the film captures the extraordinary daily lives of Alina and her fellow soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war.

U2 Days of Ash EP is accompanied by the return of Propaganda as a one-off digital zine, with a limited-edition print run. Forty years ago, in February 1986, the first issue of Propaganda dropped through the letterboxes of U2 fans around the world. Aspiring to match other fan magazines at that time, Propaganda was born out of the punk-era D.I.Y. zine culture that embraced attitude, ideas and dialogue. In the spirit of those early issues, this standalone EP will be accompanied by a one-off limited edition print run plus digital e-zine drop of Propaganda titled "U2 - Days Of Ash: Six Postcards From The Present… Wish We Weren’t Here." This 52-page special publication accompanies the release of the Days Of Ash EP and includes exclusive interviews with "Yours Eternally" film director Ilya Mikhaylus and film producer Pyotr Verzilov, as well as musician and soldier Taras Topolia. It also includes song lyrics; notes from the four band members; plus a Q&A interview with Bono. Read Propaganda HERE.

Question: What record are you most looking forward to this year?

Joe Sutkowski

Dirt Buyer/This Is Lorelei

A: To be so honest, I don’t really know very much about upcoming releases, but I do know that Gorillaz is putting out a new record and I hope that it’s good. The singles have been pretty cool. The thing that I appreciate about Damon Albarn is that he’s a serial collaborator and just kind of does whatever he wants, and that’s Gorillaz. It’s always been his weird version of pop music that nobody else can touch.

Obsession: Right now I’m totally obsessed with old Pokémon cards. I have a pretty huge collection at this point. I have binders full of slabs and top-loaders; some of my favorite cards from the vending series from 1998. The art is mostly all crudely drawn and looks like it was made by a child. There’s this Onyx (a big and long rock-snake Pokemon) card where he’s crying and taking refuge from a storm inside of a cave. There are so many cool cards like that and I’m so passionate about it. Scalpers are ruining collecting, but you can still find affordable gems.

Augusta Koch

Gladie

A: My most anticipated record this year would have to be a new rumored release from Aldous Harding. It’s been four years since her last release, Warm Chris, which was a masterpiece in my book. Her albums are always such inspirations to me. She builds these incredibly beautiful sonic worlds you can dive into. Fingers crossed these rumors are true.Obsession: My current obsession these days is watching videos on projection mapping and trying to figure out how to do it, and staying in on weekends working on all my little projects.

Jom Grana

Reader of the Month

A: I don’t really stay up to date on upcoming releases, plus I have my own bands (Mindless Pop, Warpten, Irrevocable) busy trying to record and release hopefully this year, too. But! I do know that most of the bands I’ve been listening to since forever are still alive and kicking: Streetlight Manifesto are dropping The Place Behind The Stars on June 24 so I’m hoping this doesn’t jinx them, and while a new RX Bandits record isn’t coming anytime soon, their vocalist Matt Embree is releasing his solo album Orion this March 7.

Obsession: HBO Max’s The Pitt.

Richard Bienstock

Editorial Director

A: The new Black Crowes album, A Pound of Feathers. I’m a day-one Crowes fan. Sure, they work within a very specific lane, but they do it with overwhelming personality. You can hear the Stones, the Faces, and a dozen other classic-rock touchstones, but that kind of swagger and soul can’t be carbon-copied. You either have it or you don’t. The Robinsons have it. I was genuinely psyched when they got back together (again!) a few years back, and thought 2024’s Happiness Bastards was a strong, if somewhat straight-ahead, comeback. Even better was last year’s Amorica reissue, a deep dive into what’s arguably their creative peak.

Based on the two songs they’ve released from A Pound of Feathers so far—which dropped the day I’m writing this, actually—I’m fully in. “Profane Prophecy” in particular opens with a killer Keith Richards-style riff, features some smoking slide guitar, and finds the band sounding looser and more playful (those call-and-response backing vocals) than they have in years. Plus, they always kill it onstage.

Obsession: Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast. Corgan as a host, like Corgan as a musician, is very much a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. I love the music, and I think I love the podcast, too. Yes, he sometimes dominates the conversation, and yes, almost anything a guest says somehow ends up looping back to his own experiences—but the upside is a run of surprisingly great, weird, and revealing conversations. Steve Vai, Vernon Reid, and particularly Dale Bozzio, were excellent. But so were Chazz Palminteri, Corey Feldman, and freakin’ Carrot Top. It’s a wild mix, and absolutely worth an hour or so of your time.