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Meet the new Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage collection: Aged lacquer finishes meet stainless steel frets, locking tuners and shred-ready necks
Fender has debuted the American Ultra Luxe Vintage series, a line of Strats and Teles which sit at the highest end of the brand’s current electric guitar lineup.
Offering vintage finishes with modern player-friendly features, the American Ultra Luxe Vintage range “redefines the balance between heritage and innovation”.
The new series comprises five models in total: the American Ultra Luxe Vintage ‘50s Stratocaster, ‘60s Stratocaster, ‘60s Stratocaster HSS, ‘50s Telecaster and ‘60s Custom Telecaster.
According to the Big F, this collection represents the “pinnacle of Fender innovation and craftsmanship, setting the benchmark for premium electric instruments whilst showcasing the finest of the brand’s heritage”.
Key features on all models include Heirloom lacquer finishes, Pure Vintage pickups and stainless steel frets. But naturally, we’ve got to first talk about those Heirloom finishes…
In fact, the American Ultra Luxe Vintage range is the first time Fender’s proprietary Heirloom finishes have featured on production line guitars, after first being introduced on Bruno Mars’ signature Strat in 2023.
Speculated to be an answer to Gibson’s Murphy Lab aging process, Fender’s Heirloom finishes aim to create a vintage worn look by letting the tonewood “breathe as it wears naturally and uniquely”.
Features present on each of the five guitars also include stainless steel frets with rolled edges – for “fast playing”, as well as “consistency and durability” – Modern D shape neck profiles and sculpted neck joints for uninhibited upper-fret access, deluxe locking tuners for quick string changes and superior tuning stability, Luminlay side dots and Graph Tech TUSQ nuts.
In terms of pickups, the new American Ultra Luxe Vintage models feature Pure Vintage single coils, while the ‘60s Stratocaster HSS is also loaded with a Haymaker humbucker. S-1 switches are present on each of the guitars’ volume pots, which allow guitarists to tap into a wider selection of pickup wiring options.
Colour options for each of the five models are as follows:
- ‘50s Stratocaster: 3-Color Sunburst, White Blonde
- ‘60s Stratocaster: Ice Blue Metallic, Surf Green
- ‘60s Stratocaster HSS: Fiesta Red, Seafoam Green
- ‘50s Telecaster: Butterscotch Blonde, White Blonde
- ‘60s Custom Telecaster: 3-Color Sunburst, Lake Placid Blue
“With the American Ultra Luxe Vintage series, we’ve redefined the balance between heritage and innovation,” says Fender’s Chief Product Officer Max Gutnik. “This collection honors our iconic legacy while pushing the boundaries of modern craftsmanship.
“Every detail is built for exceptional tone, feel, and timeless style. We’re proud to offer players an elevated experience that respects tradition and sets a new standard for performance.”
“The American Ultra Luxe Vintage series offers musicians the best of both worlds: classic Fender design, timeless elegance, and historical significance, combined with modern sonic engineering’s unparalleled performance and versatility,” the brand adds.
“These instruments are an evolution that honours the legacy that continues to define the Fender brand while being cherished by a new generation of players.”
Pricing for each American Ultra Luxe Vintage model varies depending on specs chosen, but range from $2,849 to $2,999.
For more information, head to Fender.
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“Yes, it does the Mk.Gee thing!”: Lo-fi lovers rejoice as JHS launches new pedal inspired by the classic Tascam Portastudio 424
After a recent teaser campaign set off a spiral of speculation in the guitar gear community, JHS has finally revealed its anticipated new pedal, the 424 Gain Stage.
A series of riddles posted to the brand’s Instagram account got people guessing. It wasn’t long before keen-eyed gearheads landed on the assumption that the upcoming pedal would be based on the vintage Tascam Portastudio 424, a portable multitrack recorder known for its lo-fi flavour.
And as it turns out, they were right. The new 424 Gain Stage is heavily inspired by the Portastudio 424, so much so that JHS says it’s a “historically accurate recreation”.
Why now to release a pedal inspired by the Tascam Portastudio 424, you might ask. Well, it couldn’t be anything to do with the rise of Mk.Gee, the Eric Clapton-touted lo-fi guitar maestro – who has a Portastudio 424 in his guitar rig – could it?
With the 424 Gain Stage, JHS hopes to offer guitarists that lo-fi sound without having to cram a Portastudio 424 into their backpack every time.
In terms of its controls, the $249 pedal has a relatively simplistic layout, with a single footswitch and controls for Volume, Bass, Treble, Gain 1 and Gain 2, harking back to the workflow of the original Portastudio 424.
In terms of I/O, the 424 Gain Stage sports regular jack input and outputs, as well as a balanced XLR output.
“In 2024, an artist named Mk.gee released an awesome record, and the guitar world exploded,” JHS founder Josh Scott says, introducing the new pedal and, of course, talking about Mk.gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police. “Tone chasers everywhere had to know how he was getting this really incredible and unique sound.
“We all realised he’s not using a guitar amp. He’s using a Tascam 424. I also realised, ‘Hey, wasn’t I going to make a pedal version of this at one point?’
“It’s an authentic and perfectly replicated single channel strip on the Tascam 424,” he continues. “Over the years, I’ve learned that so many albums and guitar parts that I love use this device or devices like it.
“Then this Mk.gee thing comes along. It’s really new and fresh and different. That really pushed me over the edge of wanting those sounds that are classic, and those newer sounds.”
In addition to doing the “Mk.gee thing”, JHS says the 424 Gain Stage does the job when harnessing the sounds of other artists including D4VD, Steve Lacey, Mac DeMarco and Radiohead.
The 424 Gain Stage is available now, priced at $249. For more information, and to get yours, head to JHS.
The post “Yes, it does the Mk.Gee thing!”: Lo-fi lovers rejoice as JHS launches new pedal inspired by the classic Tascam Portastudio 424 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
This quirky acoustic guitar features a big painting of David Crosby telling you to vote – get it now at a HUGE $350 discount
Sweetwater is offering a generous discount on a rather unique guitar – this Martin D-11E acoustic with a large picture of David Crosby on it, encouraging you to “rock the vote and the stage all at once”.
This guitar certainly has character, and was once priced over $1,600 but is now down to $1,299. It follows on from a former run of David Crosby Rock the Vote instruments, with a patriotic spruce top featuring artwork by Robert Goetzl.
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The guitar landed in August 2024 and is limited-edition, with only 47 made. The artwork is certainly realistic, and while it may not be to the taste of some players, for a Crosby fan it makes for one hell of a unique collectible. Alongside the pictures of him, it also features a quote from the late musician: “democracy works, if you work it!”
According to Martin, this D-11E was “crafted to inspire young people to engage in our democracy, honouring the legacy of David Crosby and his passion for voting”. At the launch of the collaboration, Martin said it was proud to support Rock the Vote, reinforcing the importance of civic engagement.
The guitar itself has a classic Martin dreadnought shape, though its depth is slimmed down. Its back and sides are made of American sycamore and it has a comfortable Performing Artist neck profile and a glassy ebony fingerboard.
Furthermore, it also comes equipped with an LR Baggs M-80 pickup that utilises a free-floating humbucking coil as a 3D body sensor and offers “authentic-sounding” tone. You can take a closer look at the guitar below, and hear from the artist behind its looks:
To purchase one of these unique Martin D-11E guitars, head over to Sweetwater to find out more.
The post This quirky acoustic guitar features a big painting of David Crosby telling you to vote – get it now at a HUGE $350 discount appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
The inside story of Noel Gallagher’s Oasis reunion Hiwatt amps: “We unapologetically make colossal sounding, big and heavy amps”
“Should anybody be remotely interested…” posted Noel Gallagher recently alongside the photos that he knew perfectly well that a huge swathe of the guitar nerd community had been extremely interested in.
Ever since Oasis triumphantly returned to the stage in Cardiff last month, Adidas-clad guitar obsessives have been poring over any hint of the gear Noel Gallagher was using to recreate the magic to such fantastic effect. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already read articles about Noel’s new P-90-loaded Les Paul, or watched videos about it, but these photos were the motherlode – an in-depth look at the pedalboard and amps that Gallagher was using to power this monster guitar sound.
We’ve checked out the pedalboard in detail elsewhere, but the amps were perhaps even more interesting. In defiantly modern style, instead of a huge wall of stacks, instead we had a pair of isolated small combos providing that gigantic sound – a Marshall SV20C and a Hiwatt Custom 50 along with a pair of backups.
As with so much of the gear Noel’s using on tour, they seemed like remarkably down to earth and off-the-shelf choices, but the truth is actually a little more involved. It turns out the Hiwatts were actually created specifically for the tour by the brand’s UK Custom Shop, and we’ve got the inside story on how these amps were made – and how they’re not quite as stock as they seem.
Tom Hannon with Noel Gallagher’s Hiwatt vertical combos. Image: Press
Vertical Flight
“I’m not sure how Noel became a fan of Hiwatt,” says Hiwatt Custom Shop engineer Tom Hannon. “But I’d like to think that it was the same as most of us who when growing up, saw bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, Kinks and Slade on TV and in magazines, blasting those huge Hiwatt stacks.…but more likely it was because after the success of the first few records he had a bit more money to spend on a better amp!”
Oasis fans will know that Noel used Hiwatt amps in the last decade or so of Oasis – specifically distinctive Custom vertical DR103 combos that would regularly be seen behind him on stage.
“I bumped into Noel’s old roadie at NAMM recently who mentioned that his back was still bad from lifting them on and off the stage every night,” Hannon jokes. “We unapologetically make big and heavy amps!”
When the announcement of the reunion tour was made, Hiwatt understandably reached out to Noel’s guitar tech to make themselves available.
“We simply expressed that should they need anything for the tour, we’re ready to build!” Hanon explains. “Noel was open to using the vertical combos again, so we made a couple and sent them over. He also requested the horizontal Custom 50s to try both amps with the current ‘triple-guitar attack’ setup.”
Noel had previously used 100-watt Hiwatts live, but the 50s offered a more controllable option in a modern precision live sound environment.
“As Hiwatt is a clean pedal platform amplifier with an extreme amount of headroom, you really have to crank a 100 watt to get the slightest bit of grit,” Hannon observes. “Whereas the Custom 50 breaks up a bit more at lower volumes, I think it made more sense for Noel to downsize his other amps used for the extra drive and just go with the Hiwatts.”
Gut shot of Noel Gallagher’s Hiwatt Custom 50. Image: Press
Secret Ingredients
The Custom 50s sent for Noel and fellow guitarist Gem Archer, Hannon added some hidden tonal extras – though he’s not sure whether or not the guitarists are using them live.
“When working on Noel’s Oasis amps I added a couple of extra tonal options, should they be required,” he explains. “For some of the amps I added low-pass filters which are switchable via a push/pull CTS pot on both the normal and bright channels.”
Noel and Gem eventually plumped for the horizontal Custom 50s, with Custom Fane Purpleback speakers in them – with neither guitarist providing any request for tweaks or changes when they arrived. Getting them ready in time for the tour however, was a different kind of challenge – these amps were going to power the most hyped rock ‘n’ roll reunion in history, after all. “As all of our Custom shop range is meticulously hand-wired along with our rigorous testing procedures, they do take a little while to build,” Hannon notes. “We definitely had a busy couple of months getting them together!”
For builders like Hannon however, the labour was one of love – he’s one of a generation of guitarists for whom Oasis is a vital part of their musical journey.
“This really meant a lot to me,” he confirms. “I must have only been 8 years old when I first saw them live at Glastonbury Festival back in ‘95. A few years later I learnt to play guitar whilst noodling along to Definitely Maybe, practising the solos to Bring It On Down and Supersonic.
“When we got the go-ahead to start working on the amps at the beginning of the year, it was a really exciting time. I’m extremely lucky to work with a lot of great artists at Hiwatt but this one definitely hits differently. I was down the front for the first Heaton Park show, it was just an absolutely electric atmosphere! One of the best, if not THE best gig I’ve ever been to. Arms in the air, bucket hat on, singing every word. Long live Oasis… and Hiwatt!”
The post The inside story of Noel Gallagher’s Oasis reunion Hiwatt amps: “We unapologetically make colossal sounding, big and heavy amps” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I will never call this a job. A job is fixing an engine, mowing a lawn”: Why Mac DeMarco has no time for artists complaining about how hard being a musician is
Mac DeMarco might be a rather unconventional artist, but one thing he will never do is complain about making music for a living.
On 22 August, DeMarco will release his 10th album, Guitar. It marks his first record since 2023’s One Wayne G, which was a compilation mostly made up of instrumentals and unusual demos that had a run time of over eight hours.
The album was viewed by many as a sort of rebellion against traditional album formats and streaming – DeMarco didn’t see it that way, but rather as a bit of fun. The indie artist now says he has an unusual relationship with the music industry, and doesn’t view his artistry as a job.
In a new interview with The New Yorker, he says, “If I’m idle, I feel like I should be working on music. But I have a complicated relationship with music, too, because I just want to have this pure experience with it, as opposed to thinking, Well, maybe I should put the b.p.m. up on this one, because they’ll want us to play it on Jimmy Fallon’s show.”
Though some may say that’s part of the business side of being in the music business, he goes on to add: “I will never call this a job. I get paid. But a job is fixing an engine, mowing a lawn. Writing songs? Going on vacation for free? Sometimes younger bands are, like, ‘Touring is so hard.’ Maybe these people have been going on vacation their whole life? For me, I’m kinda, like, ‘I’m in Chinaaaaa!’ It’s a paid rock-and-roll adventure! What is wrong with you?” he quizzes.
“I get it. Not for everybody. But I love it. I didn’t get to go to these places, and now I’ve been to fuckin’ China!… That is amazing! Because I wrote some little songs? What a gift!”
Mac DeMarco’s new album, Guitar, will land on 22 August. He also heads out on tour at the end of this month – you can view the full list of scheduled shows via his official website.
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The Line 6 Helix Stadium is nearly here – and if you preorder now at Sweetwater you get a free IR sample pack
Sweetwater is including a free IR sample pack with pre-orders of the highly-anticipated Line 6 Helix Stadium amp modeller.
The Helix Stadium and its deluxe XL sibling, which were announced back in June, are officially launching this autumn and winter. Those who purchase the modellers through Sweetwater from now until the end of December will also get five free impulse responses from speaker and IR company, Eminence.
Eminence was originally a garage-based manufacturer that started up in 1966 in Kentucky. Building on its vast history and global reach, today the company offers a range of different impulse responses so that players can deploy its products in digital form with their rigs of choice.
The five IRS included in this free collection have all been captured by the famed Shure SM57 mic. Within it, you’ll get:
- Cannabis Rex 12: Captures a fresh take on American clean tone. “The hemp cone of Cannabis Rex 12 delivers invigorating clarity and brightness without compromising body or substance,” says Eminence.
- Swamp Thang: Delivers dark, aggressive mids and a rounded bass response. This one is ideal for down-tuned or extended-range guitars, including 7- or 8-string guitars and baritones.
- Governor: A British-voiced speaker with close links to the American-voiced Red White and Blues speaker, capturing “the transatlantic trade of blues tone”.
- Legend GB-128: For hard-hitting volume and low- to medium-gain tones, this IR captures a “cleaner brand of British power”.
- Legend EM-12: Has a neutral voice that helps emphasise your guitar and amp.
The Helix Stadium and the XL version offer a competitive rival to the beloved Neural DSP Quad Cortex. They bring a range of highly-anticipated upgrades with them including entirely new modelling tech, cloning capabilities, and high-resolution touch screens.
This new modelling tech is called Agoura, and it replaces Helix’s HX modelling for improved authenticity when modelling physical amps, as well as offering increased accuracy when it comes to how amps respond to the way you play.
Since the announcement, Line 6 has been drip feeding us plenty of teasers and videos on what we can expect from the Stadium duo. Just recently, it released a video in which you can hear its Marshall-inspired ‘Brit Plexi’ amp, and another of its US Double Black. Check them out below:
To pre-order the Line 6 Helix Stadium and get a free Eminence sample pack, head over to Sweetwater.
The post The Line 6 Helix Stadium is nearly here – and if you preorder now at Sweetwater you get a free IR sample pack appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I’m like, ‘Where does this stuff come from?’”: Sharon Osbourne says claims that Black Sabbath’s final show raised £140 million for charity are “just ridiculous”
Sharon Osbourne says reports that Black Sabbath generated £140 million for charity through their Back to the Beginning farewell show are “just ridiculous”.
The sold-out show was also livestreamed on pay-per-view, with 100% of the proceeds going to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Cure Parkinson’s. The pay-per-view was priced at £24.99, and The Guardian reported last month that more than five million people tuned in.
5 million multiplied by £24.99 is a little under £125 million, so in the ball park of the figure quoted, before accounting for physical ticket sales, merch sales and so on.
Following the event, Billboard magazine also reported that the event had raised over $190 million, while Tom Morello – who served as the event’s musical director – posted a selection of photos on Instagram, one of which read: “More than 190 million will be donated to houses and hospitals for children.”
Now, in a new interview with Pollstar, Sharon Osbourne – Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and long-time manager – says the figures quoted aren’t exactly accurate.
“One of the things that’s frightening me is all this false press about [how] we’ve made £140 million and all of this, and I’m like, ‘God, I wish we could have, for one gig.’
“It’s just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I’m like, ‘Where does this stuff come from?’
“It takes a really long time [to work out how much was made], because we’ve had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it’ll take a good six weeks to get the final number.”
Though she’s hesitant to comment on how much the event made before the official figures are available, Sharon says the event was a “huge success”.
“It was a phenomenal event,” she says. “It was the first time, I think, that anybody’s gone into retirement and done it, where the show is streamed and it goes to charity. So it’s the first time anybody has said goodnight like that. It’s the perfect way, when you’ve had such a long career, to end it.
“I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event.”
Aside from hosting Black Sabbath’s swansong performance, Back to the Beginning saw performances from a plethora of heavy metal’s elite, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Mastodon, Yungblud, Lamb of God and so many more.
The post “I’m like, ‘Where does this stuff come from?’”: Sharon Osbourne says claims that Black Sabbath’s final show raised £140 million for charity are “just ridiculous” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Beetronics Larva review – a speed-ramping phaser with a couple of twists
£239/$249, beetronicsfx.com
What do you see when you look at the Beetronics Larva? A large pedal with a daunting number of knobs and switches? Extravagantly ornate styling that calls to mind the LA company’s two zaniest and most complicated creations, the Zzombee and Seabee? Relax – it’s all an optical illusion.
What is the Beetronics Larva?
First things first, what is morphing? Basically it’s Leslie-style ramping from one sound to another. Switch the Larva on and you’re dealing with a simple phaser, controlled by the rate and depth knobs at top-left; now hold down the left footswitch for a moment and it will start morphing into a second setting, controlled by a matching pair of knobs on the right. Congratulations, you are now a fully qualified morpher.
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
The two slightly smaller dials are for adjusting that transition time and the intensity of the phaser’s resonance, while two mini-knobs in the centre look after the input gain – the Moogerfooger-inspired preamp has some proper overdrive on tap – and output level.
That just leaves two toggle switches – one for selecting how the morphing feature moves back and forth, and one for the operating mode: standard phaser, extra-wobbly vibe or, strangely, just the preamp without any modulation. In case anyone’s in the market for a non-phasing phaser…
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
And the LEDs? They just move across from left to right, and turn from blue to pink, to indicate morphing status. They are cute.
What does the Beetronics Larva sound like?
Sorry, bit of a spoiler earlier on – but ‘just really nice’ is the best way to describe virtually everything this phaser does. The obvious way to set it up is with a slow, shallow sweep on one side and a rapid wibble on the other; in both cases the core tone will be sweet and musical, with resonance dialled in to taste. Extra-slow morphing is the most fun, but you can actually double-tap on the bypass footswitch for instant hopping between your two settings.
Part of the reason for that innate sweetness is the preamp – it’s warm and fluffy, keeping everything smooth and preventing any harshness at the top of the phaser’s arc. It ranges from clean-ish to quite heavily overdriven; the only snag, arguably quite a big one, is that you can’t switch it off or dial it out completely to hear the phasing effect pure and uncoloured.
And here’s another snag, necessitated by that double-tap feature on the bypass switch: hit it once to turn the Larva off, and it’ll take a moment to respond because it has to wait to see if a second tap is coming. This probably isn’t going to ruin anyone’s night, but it’s frickin’ annoying and should surely have been avoided somehow.
Should I buy the Beetronics Larva?
Yes, you should buy the Larva because it’s absolutely gorgeous. But then again, no, you shouldn’t buy the Larva because it’s absolutely infuriating. Can you tell I’m a little bit torn here? But that’s what it boils down to: if you only care about the tones, you’ll struggle to find a nicer phaser than this; but if you demand technical perfection in all areas of stompbox functionality, it might just drive you mad.
Beetronics Larva alternatives
It’s a very different beast to the Larva, but the Heptode Virtuoso (€192) is a beautiful-sounding phaser that offers ramping between slow, medium and fast speeds. You might also look at the Caroline Arigato ($219/£229) and SolidGoldFX Aurras ($209/£189.99).
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“Paul Reed Smith has mastered creating an instrument that behaves”: Carlos Santana on his love of PRS guitars
“Guitars are like crayons to me,” says Carlos Santana. “Life is the canvas.” Such is how the legendary guitarist views his tools: not as mere instruments, but as portals to creativity and self-expression.
Over the decades, Santana has played them all – Gibsons, Fenders, Gretsches, and even a signature Yamaha in the 1980s – but the one brand he keeps returning to is PRS.
“Paul Reed Smith has mastered creating an instrument that behaves,” says the Mexican-American guitarist in the new issue of Guitar World. “No matter what the weather is like, it will stay in tune and always give you that great tone.”
- READ MORE: Carlos Santana: “I like being squirted in the face by music because it makes me feel alive”
Despite having played just about everything under the sun – “They all have their own sound, texture and feel,” Santana explains – PRS guitars are the only ones that feel like home.
“I always go back to my PRS models,” he says. “I’m very grateful to Paul. He came up with his own vision to create a different tone and feel. I’m grateful he did that because his designs suited my personality when it came to self-expression.”
This is especially true of his PRS signature model ‘Salmon’, which he describes as the “easiest instrument for me to materialize my inner-vision, thoughts and emotions. There’s not much struggle translating myself onto that guitar.”
Santana’s friendship with the PRS founder also goes back a long way: “We’ve had a relationship since the late Seventies. He convinced me to come on board. Back then, there were only three companies I knew of – Gibson, Fender and Gretsch. There were others, but those three were the main ones.”
According to Santana, PRS’s attention to detail is what keeps him loyal, even decades later.
“From guitars to food or whatever, there are two words that are important for any business – impeccable integrity,” says the guitarist. “When people put love and attention into what they make, it stands out. When my guitars arrive from Paul Reed Smith, they are always perfectly in tune. I’m not making it up! They come to me set up perfectly because somebody at the factory is doing that final check. A lot of companies don’t do that.”
As for how many guitars he owns these days? “Probably not more than 100 and not fewer than 75,” Santana reckons. “I guess the Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls would be the oldest models in my collection. I’ve got Strats from 1954; some of my Les Pauls go all the way back to 1959.”
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“I’m not going to confirm anything – but I’m not going to deny it”: Lars Ulrich on Metallica’s rumoured Las Vegas Sphere residency
![[L-R] Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Metallica-Hetfield-Ulrich@2000x1500.jpg)
Last month, rumours began to swirl about a potential Metallica residency at the Las Vegas Sphere.
According to Vital Vegas, the thrash metal legends were ready to “ink a deal” with the Sphere, following successful residencies by the likes of U2 and Dead & Company at the venue.
Now, in a conversation with Howard Stern, drummer Lars Ulrich has spoken more about the potential residency, and where exactly things are in talks.
“I’m not going to confirm anything, because there’s nothing to confirm,” he says [via NME] “But I’m not going to deny it, because we’re all such fans of this venue.
“All of our managers and our production people have been there and looked at it. It’s something that we’re considering, [but] nothing is etched in stone or green-lit. It’s something that we’re looking at at some point when the 2026 tour is done.”
He continues: “I would fucking love to do it, let there be no question about it. It’s not signed, sealed and delivered, but speaking to me and asking my opinion, I would fucking love to do it.”
Metallica – whose members are all over the age of 60 – show no signs of slowing down, or even stopping playing some of the world’s biggest stages.
Aside from their ongoing M72 World Tour – which sees them stop at some of the biggest stadiums on the planet, Lars Ulrich also suggests the band would be keen to play at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, given the opportunity.
“Fuck yeah, of course we would,” Lars tells Howard Stern. “First of all we would do it. Second of all, to do it in San Francisco would be a dream come true and would be the right fit…
“Certainly as somebody who’s represented San Francisco all over the world and shouted for decades about San Francisco and our love for the Bay Area, that part of it is the right fit. Ultimately it’s not our decision.”
We’ll keep you updated on the status of the potential Metallica residency as we know more. Again, we stress that nothing is signed yet. But the prospect is certainly exciting…
You can check out all of Metallica’s upcoming M72 dates via their official website.
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“There’s lots of laws against me selling my invention”: Robert Keeley has made a drive pedal that doubles as a weed vape – but don’t get too excited
Robert Keeley – founder of Keeley Electronics – has apparently invented a drive pedal that doubles as a weed vape. Only trouble is, he’s not allowed to sell it online due to restrictions on vaping products and, of course, weed.
In a conversation in the new issue of Guitar World, Keeley details the cleverly named Vapor Drive, an overdrive stompbox which, somehow, also serves as a vape.
- READ MORE: “I got fired because I couldn’t get it!”: Eric Johnson relives his most disastrous studio session
“I have a pedal that you can smoke/vape weed/THC out of,” he explains. “It’s the first rechargeable pedal, and it produces the most amazing distortion.
“It charges at five volts through a USB or the standard nine-volt battery, but I can’t sell it on Amazon, eBay or Reverb because it’s a tobacco or vaping product. There’s lots of laws and barriers against me selling my invention.”
As a consequence, the Vapor Drive looks like it’ll be perpetually stuck in the prototype phase, but Keeley’s not losing any sleep over it: “I scratch my head and take a toke from my cordless Vapor Drive pedal!” he jokes.
So, unless the widespread easing of restrictions on weed and vaping products happens, don’t bet on your ability to get a Vapor Drive of your own any time soon.
Robert Keeley and Keeley Electronics have staked a huge claim in the effects pedal market, with highlights including the Keeley Compressor – used by Noel Gallagher, Matt Bellamy and John Mayer, to name a few – and the Katana Clean Boost, which also forms part of John Mayer’s pedalboard.
And it looks like there’s plenty more where that came from. “I don’t plan on selling my company,” Keeley tells Guitar World.
“There may have been a time in the past, but this is what I love doing. I like the idea of creating a manufacturing business that can sustain generations of employees. Martin, Gibson, Fender, Dunlop and Electro-Harmonix have done it; maybe Keeley can.”
View Keeley’s latest product lineup at Keeley Electronics.
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“Do you want a kick in the balls?”: Andrew Watt pens heartfelt tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Andrew Watt has shared a moving tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, describing their close friendship as “the greatest gift of all”.
Osbourne passed away last month at the age of 76, leaving behind an enduring legacy as the Prince of Darkness and frontman of heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath. Tributes have poured in from fans and fellow musicians around the world, honouring his decades-long influence and singular voice that helped define an entire genre.
In a new Instagram post, Watt opens up about the grief of losing his close friend and collaborator. “Still processing saying goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne,” the producer writes. “Someone said ‘Grief is the price of love’. I say that to myself everyday but at the end of the day I just miss my friend so much. There is a new hole in my heart, something I will learn to live with.”
“The music is obvious. How lucky I was to share in a little of Ozzy’s magic, but the friendship was the greatest gift of all. I will miss laughing with you forever Boss. Do you want a kick in the balls?”
Accompanying the post are photos of the pair hanging out on and off stage, along with a video of Ozzy having fun with a harmonica in Watt’s studio.
Watt produced Ordinary Man, Osbourne’s 2020 solo album, and remained a close musical ally in recent years.
“Ozzy and I have a connection that’s unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced,” he told Guitar World in June. “We made some music together that we really love, and we’ll continue making music together forever. More importantly than that, we talk every day and we’re really close friends.”
The producer also took the stage at Back to the Beginning, the all-star tribute show that featured Steven Tyler, Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt and Chad Smith celebrating Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s legacy.
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“I got fired because I couldn’t get it!”: Eric Johnson relives his most disastrous studio session
You wouldn’t think it, but even Grammy-winning guitarists have been fired from studio sessions. Just ask Eric Johnson.
Speaking in a new interview with Guitar World, the Cliffs of Dover icon looks back on some of his earliest and most humbling experiences as a session player, and the one time he got sacked mid-session by a country singer because he simply couldn’t come up with the goods.
- READ MORE: Eric Johnson says “there’s so much option anxiety” when buying new gear in today’s market
“He was a pretty famous guy,” Johnson recalls. “But the piano player had played almost every fill in-between the vocals. Like, he was doing a thing between every vocal, you know?
“So, the producer wanted me to put something in there besides chords, but I couldn’t find any room to put anything in there or play it.”
In order to contribute meaningfully, he says, he would’ve had to learn “every single lick the piano player did” to “either harmonise, or double it, or come up with a continual part” – a task that proved impossible at the time.
“It was taking me forever,” Johnson says. “And I just got fired from the session because I couldn’t get it.”
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last time Johnson found himself struggling in the studio.
“I was working on a session for Donald Fagan, and that didn’t work out too well, either,” the guitarist recalls. “Not because of him, he was just looking for a certain thing, and I don’t think that I came up with it immediately.”
“Like, sometimes, I guess you want to go with that first impulse. But I guess the first thing that I came up with wasn’t good enough. So, those two things were learning experiences, or some examples of times that it just didn’t work out.”
Not that any of that had slowed him down. If anything, those tough sessions were just part of the long road toward the tone and artistry he’s now celebrated for – a reminder that even guitar heroes have bad days at the office.
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The bizarre reason Paul Weller is refusing to watch Oasis’ reunion shows – despite being good friends with Noel Gallagher
Paul Weller has said that he won’t be watching Oasis’ reunion shows – not because he’s not a fan, but because he hates “big gigs”.
Much as the ongoing Oasis tour will go down in history as a “big cultural moment,” the ex-Jam frontman says that even his friendship with Noel Gallagher isn’t enough to get him through the gates of a massive arena.
The Gallagher brothers launched their long-anticipated Live ‘25 tour with two shows at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last month, before returning to their hometown of Manchester for five nights at Heaton Park, then playing five (of their seven) planned dates at London’s Wembley Stadium.
But despite being one of Noel’s closest mates, Weller is giving the whole thing a pass.
In an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2, he explains, “I’ve not been to see them, no… I’m not a big fan of big gigs, I said to Noel, a few weeks or months ago: ‘Are you going to do any warm-ups?’ which he wasn’t, but, I’d go and see something like that in a smaller venue, but I just don’t like big gigs. It doesn’t matter who it was, really.”
For Weller, anything beyond the front row just isn’t worth it.
“Inevitably, it doesn’t matter too much where you’re sitting unless you’re right in the front row, you just end up watching the screens,” he says. “It kind of spoils a bit for me because I want to see whoever is playing or singing, and I want to be able to see them.”
That said, the musician insists he’s thrilled the band is back, and sees the reunion as more than just nostalgia.
“You know how it’s going to go for him, it’s going to be mad,” says Weller. “I said to him that it’s going to be a cultural moment because the amount of people I speak to just out on the street, not necessarily who you’d think would be an Oasis fan, but they are all going to it, and it’s a big cultural moment, I think that will be remembered forever.”
“There’s probably not too many bands like them [Oasis] at the moment, y’know, kind of guitar music,” he adds. “I can’t think of any, not from the UK anyway, maybe Fontaines DC is different and people like that. So, I think it’s definitely a younger audience who missed out on that ’90s thing.”
And while that younger crowd is getting a crash course in what made Oasis so iconic, gearheads are being treated to something special, too.
Gibson recently revealed the story behind Noel’s Oasis reunion Les Paul. Lee Bartram, Head of Commercial, Marketing & Cultural Influence at Gibson EMEA said that the guitar took “at least 18 months” to come together and that it wasn’t even designed specifically for the Live ‘25 tour at first.
“It really came from a conversation around creating a Les Paul that would accommodate P-90s (which Noel was playing a lot with NGHFB at the time, favouring Epiphone USA Casinos) at high volumes, without compromising on the sound and tone of the pickup,” Bartram said.
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Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster review: “it gives Fender’s US instruments a run for their money”
$1,049/£949, fender.com
Let’s face it, most of us have at some point modded one of our electric guitars, indeed for many of us, part of the fun in a journey with a guitar is modding it to make it our own, whether it’s a total re-finish, parts swap, or the quest to expand the tonal palette of a particular instrument with some choice pickup substitution.
In today’s frenzied world of binge-watch TV boxsets, instant food deliveries, and endlessly scrolling social media, lots of us think we need everything yesterday. Scouring forums, reading reviews, sourcing parts, waiting months for work or refinishing, whilst fun for many, can be a time-consuming and costly process. What if we could buy the guitar with the mods already done right out of the box?
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
Well that’s just what Fender has done in this expansion of its already impressive Player II series, adding a bunch of modern amenities to the classic recipe in the shape of the new Player II Modified Stratocaster.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster – what is it?
The Player II range represents some of the finest guitars to come out of Fender’s Ensenada, Mexico factory to date – the reviews of the various Strats, Teles and Jazzmasters that launched last year were suitably effusive in that regard. But they were unquestionably guitars spec’d with the classic accoutrements of Leo Fender’s legendary masterpieces at heart.
The impressive fundamentals of the Player II guitars have already made them popular modding platforms for more experienced and partial players, who know that a quick swap of hardware or pickups could elevate an already impressive instrument into something that was very much pro-ready.
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
The Player II Modified range basically takes the strain of all that for you. So in the case of the Strat we have here, it means we get a set of Fender’s all-new Noiseless single-coil pickups, short-post locking tuners, a Tusq nut, and two-point floating trem with block steel saddles, plus a chamfered trem block for increased travel. Under the hood there’s also an enhanced wiring package that lets you add the neck pickup into positions one and two with the pull up of the volume pot, and like the Mike McCready signature Strat, there’s also a treble bleed circuit. In essence, it’s a lot closer in spec and intention to Fender’s American Professional II range, which will cost you an awful lot more.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster – build and playability
The first thing I notice upon picking up the guitar is its nice weight out of the box, and a gorgeous feeling one-piece maple neck. The modern C profile and factory-rolled fingerboard edges are retained from the impressive vanilla Player II, and combined with the beautiful smooth satin finish, slick action and jumbo frets, it’s a remarkably easy and fluid guitar to play.
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
The presence of locking tuners and a Graph Tech Tusq nut should enhance the solid tuning stability of any Strat, and so it is here – combining with that two-point Tremolo to offer a smooth and expressive performance that always returns to pitch.
The Sunshine Yellow finish here might not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it pairs rather nicely with the black pickguard to give a modern Strat twist on the classic ‘blackguard’ Tele colour scheme. If it’s not your bag, then I’m sure one of the Olympic Pearl, Harvest Green Metallic, Dusk or Electric Blue options will take your fancy… or there’s always the more ubiquitous 3-Colour Sunburst option.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster – sounds
The best description of the sounds this guitar produces is to think of a traditional Strat, but in higher definition. Bigger, crisper, cleaner, no hum – almost a ready-produced tone that players who use digital modellers or record direct will appreciate.
The Player II Fender Noiseless Strat pickups here read a touch hotter than standard Strat pickups, all seem to be in the 10-12K range on my meter. But when combined with rolling off the volume control, the tremendously useful treble bleed cap brilliantly retains top-end clarity. The Player II Modified dishes up a superb and broad palette of classic Strat sounds.
Most revelatory compared to my usual reference maple-necked Strat, even with higher-gain settings, is the almost unnerving absence of 60-cycle hum from the Noiseless pickups – a bonus not to be discounted for playing loud stages or working in front of computer monitors in a studio.
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
The bridge pickup is punchy without being abrasive, offering powerful classic twang snarl with gain and plenty of snap to low notes with cleaner sounds. The oft underused, but my personal favourite, middle position is perfect for singing sweet melody lines and strumming chords. The neck position gives us the classic flutey lead tones that Gilmour and Hendrix revelled in, but there’s more here. These pickups can handle more gain than a classic Strat set without extraneous noise becoming an issue – giving it a broader palette to work with across the board.
There is a modern hi-fi sheen to the top-end voice of the guitar that I’d put down to these Noiseless pickups, and it sits perfectly for indie jangle and pop and retains clarity under serious gain even into digital modellers and pedal-laden boards. Stepping on my favourite high-gain fuzz pedal with a splash of chorus sets us firmly in shoegaze heaven.
Plugging into a high-gain modern rock setup, the Player II Modified Strat retains impressive clarity and note definition. Rolling down the volume control retains top-end detail thanks to the well-tuned treble bleed circuit, and adds greater breadth to an already versatile guitar.
Image: Adam Gasson for Guitar.com
Setting your amp or drive pedal gain a touch higher for lead sounds and then playing most of the time at 6-8 on the volume control before jumping to 10 for leads and riffs to cut through in a band mix is a super way to get so much more from your setup.
It shouldn’t be underestimated how useful a mod the push-pull switching is here. Having the ability to add the neck pickup to the bridge in position one takes us squarely to Tele land, albeit with the Strat’s calling card of tactile top-end sweetness. It’s the kind of mod I wish I had on all my Strats – and it’s going to be a huge selling point for these guitars in a guitar shop playtest setting, no doubt.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster – should I buy one?
Many Strat fans will prefer the characterful idiosyncrasies of a classic set-up, and Fender caters very well to those players with the Vintera II and American Original lines. Nobody’s going to take your microphonic pickups and bent steel saddles away from you just because this thing exists.
But for more contemporary spec-inclined players who work in noisy venues or record regularly with screens and other sources of audio interference as challenges, the range of classic and modern tones on offer here is hugely compelling.
It’s also nice to see a gigbag included (Fender ditched them from the base Player II range) but the basic Fender bag remains a somewhat non-reassuring thing – it would have been better to see that get a bit of modification love too. But that aside, Fender has created what is a superbly professionally-spec’d guitar that gives its US instruments a run for their money – and the biggest winner when that happens is us players.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster – alternatives
If you want some genuine Leo Fender pedigree, then G&L’s Tribute Legacy ($649/£545) could be classed as the man himself’s final word on the S-type, with a similarly modded feel. PRS also has taken a stab at bringing the Strat into the 21st century with the SE Silver Sky ($849/£849) – its sounds are very much rooted in the classics, however.
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“I flew over the drum kit and missed Nick’s head by inches”: David Gilmour on the time he suffered an electric shock during a 1969 Pink Floyd rehearsal due to a “wiring error”
Looking back on some of his fondest gig memories from his storied six-decade career, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has detailed one unfortunate incident during a show in London in the late ‘60s.
Specifically, the show took place at Royal Festival Hall on 14 April, 1969, and during rehearsal, Gilmour suffered an electric shock due to a “wiring error” with some of the equipment.
In the afternoon rehearsal there had been a wiring error, and I got electrocuted,” he recalls in the new issue of Record Collector. “I flew over the drum kit and landed on the floor on the other side, missing Nick’s head by inches.”
As he explains, “The shock stays in you for a long time, and my fingers were still shaking all through the concert.”
Gilmour doesn’t pinpoint exactly what piece of equipment was responsible for the electric shock, but notes that the band had a “reputation for using new electronics”.
“In Pompeii, we were asked, ‘Do you control them, or do they control you?’ Well, let them control you and see what happens. There was a moment when there was a lot of that electronic gear coming at us, partly because we were friends with Peter Zinovieff, who owned Electronic Music Systems [EMS] in Putney.
“I would go round his house and into his big shed where he would be looking to miniaturise electronics into a briefcase. The VCS3 was a big wooden thing and the Synthi AKS was pretty much the same, with extra electronics.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gilmour reflects on his latest solo album. “I love Luck and Strange,” he says. “I would venture to suggest it’s my best solo album. Maybe it’s my best album. I’m really satisfied with the way it came out with the team of people that came together to make it.”
Mentioning, specifically, vocalist and collaborator Polly Samson, he continues: “My main ally in all this is Polly, who is a brilliant lyricist and has ideas about every part of it.”
The post “I flew over the drum kit and missed Nick’s head by inches”: David Gilmour on the time he suffered an electric shock during a 1969 Pink Floyd rehearsal due to a “wiring error” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“There’s something special about picking up a guitar years later and thinking about the hours you put in”: Zakk Wylde says you should never sell the gear you started with
Guitarist Zakk Wylde believes that an artist should never forget where they came from – and one of the easiest ways to do that is to hang on to your early gear.
Despite making a name for himself as Ozzy Osbourne’s chief axeman and fronting Black Label Society, the guitarist has never forgotten the instrument that started it all – a 1981 Gibson Firebrand SG in Pelham Blue. “I still have it,” he reveals in the latest issue of Guitar World. “I sold it but managed to buy it back, which was an amazing feeling”
“I think it’s important to keep your early gear if you can; there’s something special about picking up a guitar years later and thinking about the hours you put in,” he explains. “Those first guitars are what set you off on the path. I have friends who say they wish they still have some old toy or something, and I always say just go and hunt one down on the internet! Reconnect yourself, you know?”
What was so special about Wylde’s Firebrand SG in particular? Well, as the guitarist explains, it was the “first real ‘quality’ guitar” he ever got his hands on. “I did so much of my learning on it,” he reflects. “I bought it at Red Bank Music [in New Jersey] back in the day. There was a lot of publicity for these models at the time; I remember the Gibson ads saying, ‘A Firebrand for under a grand’. It was a fantastic guitar, though, and a major step up for me.”
“Before I got it, I had a bunch of guitars that weren’t anywhere close to the SG,” he continues. “There was a copy of a Gibson L6 with action that was about 10 feet off the neck. I had a Fernandes and a couple of Electras in crazy shapes and some other stuff that was pretty crappy. The ones I didn’t hang on to, I tried to pick up in later years on eBay or Reverb; some I managed to buy back from the guys I’d sold them to, so I have all my childhood memory guitars one way or another.”
As Wylde explains the history behind his first ‘quality’ guitar, it’s clear why it’s so important to him. It not only symbolises his novice years, but it also reminds him of the people and shows that helped him progress along the way. “My guitar teacher at the time, Leroy, recommended the guitar to me,” he says. “He was a fan of SGs; he thought the double cutaways and access to the top frets would suit the stuff I wanted to play. I wasn’t really playing shows when I got it, more parties and jamming in the basement. I spent a ton of time woodshedding…”
“I never changed a single thing on it – it’s completely stock,” he insists. “I still pull it out from time to time at home; it’s a bit of a lost classic in the Gibson range. Another thing about it was the colour, which I liked so much that I’ve used it on a few guitars since then as well as on some of my own Wylde Audio fiddles.”
Wylde has spoken out about never selling your first guitar in the past. During an interview with the Musicians Institute back in 2019, he said: “It doesn’t matter if the guitar is the biggest pile of garbage on the planet, it’s the connection that you have with that guitar… It has a life of its own.”
While Wylde is precious about his Firebrand SG, he has happily sold other guitars that hold less emotional significance to him over the years. Back in 2023, Wylde was flogging signed, road-used guitars while filling in for Dimebag Darrell on the Pantera celebration tour. Fans who opted for a VIP package were entitled to a Wylde Audio Barbarian guitar in Orange Buzzsaw, Genesis Bullseye or Purple Blizzard finishes, as well as a meet and greet with the guitarist.
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Carlos Santana: “I like being squirted in the face by music because it makes me feel alive”
Aside from his other-worldly chops, Carlos Santana has a deeply spiritual connection to his guitar playing.
With an illustrious career now spanning 60 years, the Mexican-American guitarist has won 10 grammy awards and sold over 100 million albums worldwide, and he credits this success with making listeners feel what’s coming from his soul as a guitar player.
He explains that to best convey emotion and soul, guitarists should practice improvisation.
“Anybody can practice scales up and down,” he explains in the new issue of Guitar World. “But there’s something about coming down a water slide. You don’t know how you’re going to land; it might be on your head or on your feet. That’s what happens when you deviate from the melody.”
In Santana’s view, a guitarist should seek to evoke the same emotions in a listener as a vocalist would.
“I don’t care who you are, whether you are Al Di Meola or not, I’d recommend this to any guitar player. If you spend even one day learning how to play and phrase like those lady soul singers, you will become a better musician. This is the truth. This is genuinely the most important part of the interview – right now.
“The only thing people will remember about your music is how you made them feel. They are not going to remember all the fast scales and ‘Look at what I can do!’ moments. But they will remember those three notes that made the hairs stand on the back of the neck and tears come out of their eyes, even if they don’t know why. That’s a whole other element, one I call spirit. Some people don’t know how to play with spirit, heart and soul.”
Santana explains that choosing the right notes when constructing a melody is “like putting your fingers in water and sprinkling someone’s face with water, or if you take a spoon to grapefruit and it squirts”.
“Those are the good notes,” he explains. “A lot of people don’t know how to squirt their best notes!”
“I learned this stuff from Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King. If you don’t know how to squirt, everything is contained, and it can get boring after a while. I like being squirted in the face by music because it makes me feel alive.
He concludes: “The goal of any guitar player, whatever the style may be – from funk and flamenco to heavy metal – is to make the listener feel alive. A good guitar solo should sound like an orgasm. I can hear it in Eddie Van Halen’s playing, and the same goes for Jimi Hendrix. I live for the juicy notes.”
In the same interview, Carlos Santana reveals he once had a dream in which Stevie Ray Vaughan visited him and told him to convince his brother Jimmie to borrow his Dumble amp.
“He wanted to utilise my body and hands because he missed playing guitar,” he says.
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“For someone to do it better than him, they’re gonna have to reinvent the guitar all over again”: Kirk Hammett thinks no guitarist will ever eclipse Eddie Van Halen
![[L-R] Kirk Hammett and Eddie Van Halen](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Hammett-EVH@2000x1500.jpg)
Will there ever be another guitarist who changes music quite like Eddie Van Halen? Metallica’s Kirk Hammett isn’t convinced.
As Hammett explains in a new interview with Consequence – in which he lists 11 albums every guitarist should own – EVH “reinvented the guitar”, and for anyone to make the same impact, they’d need to do the same.
Of Van Halen’s entire catalogue, Hammett contests that every guitarist – nay, “everyone” – should own the band’s 1978 debut album, Van Halen I. This album featured the likes of Eruption, You Really Got Me, Runnin’ With The Devil and Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.
Speaking specifically on Eddie Van Halen’s style on this album, Kirk Hammett explains: “[He] never really went into harmonic minor or anything like that, or augmented scales or diminished stuff. Black Sabbath does it, we do it, tonnes of bands do it.
“Eddie’s riffs were kind of just like major-sounding riffs. Sometimes he had minor sounding stuff, too, but that says a lot in terms of how Van Halen’s music sounded. A lot of Van Halen sounds like good-time party music because that’s just the way that Eddie Van Halen wrote the guitar riffs. And it’s a beautiful thing in itself because he was able to write all sorts of songs that had all sorts of emotions and feelings.”
Of course, if there’s one technique Eddie Van Halen was best known for, it was two-handed tapping.
“There are people doing a right-hand technique on the neck, but not like Eddie,” Hammett explains.
“Eddie blew it open and hands down was the best guy in doing all that stuff. Absolutely the best guy in creating those amazing tapping licks and harmonic licks and crazy sort of note patterns. He was the king of all that stuff. No one did it better.
“For someone to do it better than him, they’re gonna have to reinvent the guitar all over again ‘cause Eddie reinvented the guitar. There wasn’t anyone who did that since Jimi Hendrix. And then Eddie did it.”
Elsewhere, Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale recently waxed lyrical on Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang, even going as far as to say he’ll “save rock ‘n’ roll” with his band Mammoth.
“He’s a humble kid, there’s none of that ‘I’m a rock star’s kid’ stuff,” she said. “I’ve met quite a few of those guys that think that they’re better than everybody else because their dad was famous. That’s never been Wolfie.”
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Ariel Posen on his new Fender Custom Shop signature Stratocaster: “I felt like my sound was right there immediately!”
If you’ve spent any time in the presence of Ariel Posen playing guitar – whether online or in the flesh – you’ll know that he is one of the most expressive and spellbinding guitar players on the scene right now.
It was entirely fitting then that the Canadian guitarist teamed up with Fender Custom Shop to create a limited edition signature instrument. But Posen’s signature Strat has certainly turned heads – even among those who aren’t fans of the 39-year-old – not just because it’s drop dead gorgeous, because that’s a given for the Custom Shop, but because it was a very unique and unconventional take on a Strat.
So instead of the classic recipe of three single coils and a synchronized tremolo, Posen opted to spec his guitar with a pair of P-90s, a hardtail bridge and even the knob layout was streamlined – with just a single master volume and tone for both pickups.
“I’ve been digging the two-pickup set up on a Strat-style guitar for a long time,” Posen explains of his decision. “I found after years and years of playing Strats, I think I just don’t connect with the three single coils as much. I find I don’t play like myself as much.”
Image: Press
Usually the default for a two-pickup guitar is to rock with humbuckers, but Posen’s experience playing a Jazzmaster sold him on the benefit of two single coils.
“I didn’t want to do two humbuckers as I really like low-output pickups,” Posen adds. “I knew I loved the sound of a Jazzmaster neck pickup (and the neck pickup in my Strat is wired to the spec of my actual JM). So when we started talking about the bridge pickup, the suggestion of P-90s came up and traditionally, I wasn’t always gravitating towards them, but decided to try it again and immediately connected with it. The way it complimented the JM-derived pickup was beautiful and I felt like my sound was right there immediately!”
The pickups themselves are unique to this guitar too, and were created for Ariel by Fender’s pickup guru Tim Shaw.
“Tim was amazing to work with,” Ariel gushes. “I said what I didn’t like, and said what I loved, and he kind of gave me an ‘anything is possible’ perspective. Lots of calls back and forth to discuss. It’s hard to describe sound with words, but we managed to do it and when the first set was ready in the prototype, it was just ‘it’.”
Image: Press
One For The Road
The prototype Ariel mentions is a guitar that Ariel has been seen a lot with over the last couple of years – it was here that all the important stuff of the final guitar was tested and refined.
“That was the prototype for the signature,” he confirms. “I had been messing around with some Strats, throwing different configurations of pickups in them. Each time I would talk to my friend at Fender, I’d talk about my experimenting and eventually they just said, ‘What if we just did a model?’ That kept the experimentation going.
“It took about two and a half years from originally chatting – these things take a while! So yeah, the Custom Shop Strat you’re referring to was the first official prototype. We kinda nailed it right on the first try, minus some cosmetic stuff. But the core elements and the sound was there first try.”
The cosmetic stuff he mentions were pretty minor, but they all add up. “The Lake Placid Blue on the first was a little ‘too’ blue,” he admits. “I also decided not to go matching headstock. That was based on the look of my Jazzmaster, and while it looks great on that, I just never connected with the look of it the same way on the Strat! Much happier with what I ended up going with.”
If you’ve seen Ariel at shows in recent years you’ll notice that he has a thing for blue guitars, in addition to his Jazzmaster, he also owns a blue Mule Mulecaster…
“I do like blue!” he chuckles. “If you’re gonna do a signature model, it should represent your aesthetic. My other Strat that the neck of this guitar is based on is a beautiful sunburst with a heavy relic but I feel like it’s the most common looking finish on a guitar, especially a Strat. I just wanted to lean into what was true to myself and authentic. I also think it looks nice!”
Image: Press
Hard Lines
Perhaps the other biggest departure from the traditional Strat recipe on Ariel’s signature is the lack of vibrato – a decision that’s been borne out from hard lessons learned on the road.
“I love vibrato-equipped guitars; however, as a touring musician and someone who’s in the studio a lot, or other higher pressure situations, I didn’t want to lean on a guitar that had a floating system of any kind,” he explains. “I used to love having the whammy on a Strat but every time I’d break a string, the guitar becomes unusable. In the middle of a show, you’re kind of stuck. It was a decision out of necessity, and maybe this is crazy, but I feel like there’s a little more resonance in the sound of the guitar where it’s hard-tailed. Maybe I made that up, but I’ve just been digging that set up more on Strat the last few years!”
Another thing that you won’t find anywhere on Ariel’s signature Strat is… well… a signature… “Honestly, I didn’t even discuss it,” he explains of the lack of his name anywhere on the guitar. “It’s not a big deal to me. They would have put it on if I asked! The guitar is unique and people will know that it’s my model, but also, I’d love for people to want to use it as a tool and not just play it because it is or isn’t a signature model of someone!”
That’s not to say that Ariel is taking this moment in his career lightly however, far from it – he understands what a moment it is for any guitar player to have a signature Fender guitar.
“I can’t say it was something I planned on doing,” he admits. “Sure, it’s a dream, but not something I was actively chasing with anyone. In fact, I never assumed I’d have this opportunity, so when it came up, I was just as surprised as anyone else would be.
“I truly believe that it is a really great and solid instrument, and a really fresh take on something that has been done the same way so many times before. I can’t say enough how grateful I am – I definitely don’t take the opportunity for granted. It’s not something that everyone gets to do and I’m incredibly grateful to be able to experience it! A milestone indeed.”
Find out more about the Ariel Posen Strat at fender.com
The post Ariel Posen on his new Fender Custom Shop signature Stratocaster: “I felt like my sound was right there immediately!” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.