Music is the universal language
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - Luke 2:14
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Save £100 on Universal Audio’s excellent Flow and Brigade pedals at Thomann
Summer’s officially here! And to celebrate, Thomann’s making your holidays a little louder with its Music Days sale, meaning now’s your chance to grab a premium Universal Audio UAFX pedal for less than £90 – a saving of £100 on each!
[deals ids=”1B45CZ3Rt7hIe0ORokFRwK,7M3wPBrqFINCg4VAUGqzR0″]
Both the UAFX Flow and Brigade are heavily discounted over at Thomann until 22 July. These two are part of UAFX’s more compact range of effects launched back in 2023. Rather than UAFX’s own original platform, these pedals are much more like your standard single-stomps, with smaller footprints, a mono signal path and no need for a control app.
Flow and Brigade joined the range last year, and when we reviewed them on launch we were mightily impressed. Despite a little bit of a shaky start from the rest of the range, the Brigade and the Flow were impressive effects, and garnered an 8/10 and a 9/10 from us respectively.
Both effects are digital recreations of classic analogue effects. The Brigade recreates a bucket-brigade chorus/vibrato, and can operate in either mode for your preferred flavour of wobble. On top of that, you also get a choice of true or buffered bypass, as well as a preamp recreation engaged on your dry tone. Flow recreates three discrete analogue tremolo effects, including two vintage amp tremolo effects and a choppier squarewave optical tremolo.
Both units come with excellent build quality, too – making use of a rugged smooth-edged steel chassis, a soft-touch footswitch and three chunky knobs with great travel and resistance.
These pedals both launched at £189, making their current sub-£90 prices at Thomann absolute steals. Check out the deals now!
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Should phones be banned at the Oasis reunion tour? Average attendee to watch 12 minutes of each show on their phone, per new research
Should phones be banned at music gigs? It’s a debate with growing interest, with some arguing phone-free shows make for a better atmosphere, and others viewing such bans as an encroachment on their rights.
And after bans from the likes of Ghost and Jack White – and even global superstars like Sabrina Carpenter mulling over the idea – the conversation is really starting to pick up traction.
As it stands, phones are not banned at Oasis’s widely anticipated reunion tour – which kicked off last week in Cardiff – but new research suggests maybe they should be.
According to a study conducted by phone company Compare and Recycle, fans are set to collectively miss over 17 million minutes of Oasis performing across the tour as they’ll be watching the shows while recording on their smartphones.
That figure is 17.3 million minutes, to be specific – equivalent to more than 33 years of non-stop Oasis performances.
The study – which saw 1,100 UK smartphone-owning, gig-going adults surveyed between 7-11 June, 2025 – also found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, over one in four (28%) admit they never rewatch videos recorded during concerts.
Elsewhere, 41% say they have missed key parts of shows because they were too busy filming, and over a third (38%) say they find it annoying when other people film during events.
In another staggering statistic, Compare and Recycle estimates the digital documentation of Oasis Live ‘25 will consume nearly 1.7 million gigabytes of storage space – enough to fill 13,266 128GB-capacity smartphones completely.
“While it’s tempting to record moments from live music events on your smartphone, our new research highlights a growing concern amongst concert-goers about doing so,” says Antonia Hristov, Head of Marketing at Compare and Recycle.
“Not only is a huge amount of phone storage wasted on never-to-be-rewatched footage, but many fans are also missing out on the very experiences they came for. Artists like Chris Martin and Bob Dylan have already championed phone-free shows, and we may see more acts follow suit.
“Recording a clip or two of your favourite track is fine. But for the sake of your memories, and your phone’s storage, consider enjoying the rest of the night through your eyes and ears, not your screen.”
When Swedish rock band Ghost announced they’d be banning phones for Skeletour – the tour supporting their latest album Skeletá, fans online were divided.
“I don’t mind not being able to use your phone,” one fan wrote. “I’ve been to a few concerts, including Ghost, where you had to put them in a locking pouch during the show. What I really don’t care for is the fact that these pouches are rather large and won’t fit in your pocket. So now you have to carry this useless thing around with you during the whole show.
Another highlighted the logistical implications of banning phones entirely. “People rely on their phones,” they wrote. “You may be on call for your job, have childcare concerns or many reasons why you need to be contactable. Plus, don’t forget lots of people in the audience may not be fans. They are just there with their friends or kids etc.”
While Oasis certainly don’t need any extra publicity for their reunion tour – which was likely the most highly anticipated reunion tour of all time, anyway – there’s an argument against phone bans for smaller bands, in that fan-filmed clips act as a sort of UGC (user-generated content), helping promote their tours on social media.
As it stands, the phone ban debate continues. And those attending Oasis Live ‘25 will be able to film to their heart’s content.
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Noel Gallagher debuted a P-90-equipped Gibson Les Paul at first Oasis comeback gig – here’s everything we know
The first Oasis Live ‘25 gig kicked off in Cardiff on 4 July, and Noel Gallagher was spotted with a new Gibson Les Paul in hand.
The reunion tour marks the first time both Noel and Liam Gallagher have played together since Oasis called it quits back in 2009 following a falling out between the two brothers backstage at a gig. The tour continues on throughout the year and wraps in November in Brazil.
With their return so highly anticipated, all eyes were on Cardiff at the weekend, and some may have spotted Noel’s new Les Paul as it made several appearances across the night. The guitar has a Murphy Lab aged body, aged hardware, and P-90 pickups. It’s complete with Les Paul Custom-style binding, but a non-bound headstock.
The guitar made an appearance for the first song of the night, Hello, and appeared regularly throughout the rest of their set among other axes including a Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Standard, and his beloved ES-335.
Lee Bartram, Head of Marketing & Cultural Influence EMEA at Gibson, has shared a close up of the new model to his Instagram page – you can check it out below:
Other guitars from the opening night worth spotlighting are also Gem Archer’s Trini Lopez’s. Two of them appeared to be used across the evening (as documented by The Chief’s Guitars), one in black and a second red version. Archer’s black Trini Lopez is a recent Gibson Custom Shop reissue, equipped with a Bigsby B-7.
In other Oasis news, Gene Gallagher, son of Liam and frontman of indie band Villanelle, recently shared his opinions on guitar music, noting that a resurgence could be credited to the Britpop bunch’s comeback: “People have been deprived of guitar music,” he told W Magazine. “But now it’s coming back, and everyone’s getting excited about it.”
To view the full list of Oasis Live ‘25 tour dates, head over to their official website.
The post Noel Gallagher debuted a P-90-equipped Gibson Les Paul at first Oasis comeback gig – here’s everything we know appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“F**k off you’re not marrying my daughter”: Ozzy Osbourne’s hilarious reaction when Slipknot’s Sid Wilson proposed to his daughter Kelly during Black Sabbath’s final show
For a 76-year-old Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s last show was the culmination of his life’s work and influence, with tens of thousands of fans of the genre he helped create descending upon Birmingham’s Villa Park stadium to see the metal legend and his original bandmates bow out one last time.
For Ozzy, it would have been a highly emotional evening. On more than one occasion, as guitarist and original rifflord Tony Iommi treated the crowd to distortion-soaked classics like War Pigs, Iron Man and Paranoid, Ozzy looked visibly sentimental. Who wouldn’t be?
But that sentimentality extended to Ozzy’s personal life, too, when the evening saw Slipknot’s Sid Wilson – partner of his daughter Kelly – finally popping the question.
In hilarious backstage footage shared by Kelly on Instagram – captioned, “Oh, and this happened yesterday!” – Sid can be seen psyching himself to ask that all-important question.
“Kelly, you know I love you more than anything in the world,” he begins. However his speech is quickly interrupted by his father-in-law-to-be, who quips: “Fuck off, you’re not marrying my daughter!”
As you’d expect, the hilarious remark paired with the anticipation of the situation leads to rapturous laughter from those present, including Kelly’s mother and Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon.
“Nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you,” Wilson continues. “In front of our family and all of our friends, Kelly, will you marry me?”
Kelly doesn’t spend much time deliberating, before putting on the engagement ring and jumping into Wilson’s arms. Watch the adorable moment below:
Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning final show at Villa Park was a triumph, which saw a pantheon of metal’s elite gather to celebrate the band without whom the genre wouldn’t exist.
The evening saw performances from the likes of Lamb of God – who just released their own official cover of Children of the Grave – Metallica, who wrote on Instagram “Ozzy. Tony. Geezer. Bill. We love you so, so much”, and many, many others.
In another clip posted to Metallica’s Instagram, a who’s who of heavy metal’s A-list can be seen mingling during the show, with James Hetfield taking a photo with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and even Billy Corgan showing Sharon Osbourne a funny video on his phone (the pair famously had a feud back in the late ‘90s, so it’s safe to say they’ve now buried the hatchet).
“It’s like a heavy metal summer camp!” remarks Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
The post “F**k off you’re not marrying my daughter”: Ozzy Osbourne’s hilarious reaction when Slipknot’s Sid Wilson proposed to his daughter Kelly during Black Sabbath’s final show appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Chase Bliss Brothers AM review: “it could easily be the last drive pedal you ever buy”
$399/€469, chasebliss.eu
In the guitar world you tend to find that there are people who obsess over drive pedals, and those who don’t. For some, one TS-derived pedal sounds much like another, while others will care about every nuance of the EQ curve and devote a huge amount of time and energy into getting their gain sounds just so.
Even if you’re in the former camp, however, you’ll have probably heard about the legendary Analog Man King Of Tone. The famous purple box is one of those holy grail circuits that played a huge part in making the boutique pedal scene what it is today.
It’s also one of the hardest to get hold of, because each pedal is made by hand to rigorous and hard-to-find components. To put how hard it is to get one in perspective, the folks who ordered their pedals before the pandemic are still waiting to receive them here in 2025.
But what happens when one of the most famously fastidious analogue purists around decides to work on a project with Chase Bliss – creators of some of the most sonically ambitious pedals on the planet? Well, you get the Chase Bliss Brothers AM.
Image: Adam Gasson
Chase Bliss Brothers AM – what is it?
Let’s get this out of the way first of all… despite that tell-tale colour scheme, this is not simply a Chase Bliss version of the King Of Tone without the two-year waiting list. The Analog Man himself Mike Piera has already done that with the MXR Duke Of Tone, and it’s a lot cheaper too.
It’s also not not a Chase Bliss version of the King Of Tone either, though. It’s complicated.
“There’s no way to truly replicate Mike’s process, everything is simply too personal and hand-crafted (and made with finite, vintage NOS components),” says Chase Bliss main man Joel Korte. “So we decided to focus on the aspects of the King Of Tone that we could expand and take further. Instead of labouring over a perfect recreation, we decided to make an expanded counterpart.”
What that means in practice is that you get a pedal that has the same basic layout as the original Chase Bliss Brothers pedal from 2018, but with insides designed from the ground up with Analog Man to offer more sounds, more functionality and more control than ever before.
That means you get the legendary overdrive and distortion sounds from the original King Of Tone, plus an all-new addition – a dual-mode treble boost inspired by Analog Man’s Beano Boost.
Image: Adam Gasson
Like the original Brothers, the AM functions as effectively two identical but separate pedals, each controlled by its own footswitch. Using the three-way toggle for each channel, you can decide which of the three sounds – distortion, overdrive or boost – you want each one to use.
There’s also a switch to determine the flavour of your boost – flipped one way, it gives you added brightness and high-end sparkle; flipped the other, it delivers a classic Rangemaster-style tone with a strong emphasis on the upper mids.
As if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also find the usual Chase Bliss bank of dip switches on the top of the pedal. For the AM, these give you the option to turn on the ‘hi-gain’ mode for each channel (adding about 25% to the gain of everything), allow you to use the footswitches in momentary mode for that quick boost of signal when you need it, and the option to link the presence control (which is selected via a secondary function on the pedal itself) to the overall tone control.
There are also four onboard presets, plus full MIDI control (with 128 presets), and expression pedal control over any of the parameters (again determined via the other bank of dip switches on top) – this is a Chase Bliss pedal after all.
Finally, if this pedal is a team-up worthy of the Avengers, then we also get an end-credits scene. Pop off the back cover and you’ll find, in classic Analog Man style, some internal trim pots to tweak the impedance, output and bias of the boost circuit.
And if you feel like you need to take a break after processing all that information, I don’t blame you – it’s a lot. But all that clever stuff won’t mean a lot if it doesn’t have that sound.
Image: Adam Gasson
Chase Bliss Brothers AM – in use
The thing that scares a lot of people off Chase Bliss pedals is the complexity that all those knobs, toggles and dip switches imply – but in my experience the genius of them is how easy and user-friendly they are in practice.
I think with the Brothers AM, there’s been even more of an emphasis on making this an intuitive experience. This is a drive pedal after all, and the patience/knowledge floor of those trying it out will be much lower than one of the brand’s usual glitchy, ambient, loopy designs.
In truth, if you never want to look at those dip switches, if you never want to contemplate a preset, or be in the same room as an expression pedal, you can still have an exciting, inspirational and fulfilling experience with the Brothers AM.
It helps that the Chase Bliss Field Notes-style manuals it ships with pedals are so very good – and here it really does walk you through everything you need to dial in your basic sounds in just a minute or two. Even if you’d never played something more involved than a Tube Screamer in the past, you’d be up and running in a heartbeat.
And in truth, even the deeper editing is pretty easy to understand once you’ve flicked through the short and picture-heavy user guide. Want more gain on one of your sounds? Just flip the hi-gain dip switch… there’s not much in the way of hidden functions, complex button press combos here – it’s all right there on the pedal.
Image: Adam Gasson
Chase Bliss Brothers AM – sounds
For those wondering out of the gate whether it sounds like a King Of Tone… let me just get that out of the way. It really does – it nails the vibe of the original and captures even more of the little nuances than the impressive MXR Duke Of Tone did.
Is it identical to the real thing? Your ears will have to be the judge, but it certainly did everything I wanted it to do in that regard – and more.
Oh yeah, the more – that’s is kinda why we’re here, isn’t it? So with my trusty Jazzmaster and my Matchless Laurel Canyon in hand, I figure the best place to start here is the new thing – the boost.
And instantly, I’m hugely impressed. When you need a bit of extra gusto for leads, the boost settings on both modes cut through like a chainsaw. Each one also has a distinct character you don’t fully appreciate until you set them to each respective footswitch and put them side by side.
On the one side, you get a sound that retains all the nuances of the original signal but adds just a touch more treble. The other is a bassier, darker boost that’s still loud and dynamic, but with more low-end coloration. Both sound great, it’s a case of choosing which one best interacts with the sound you’re using on the other side.
I have pretty specific expectations of how a dirt pedal responds to the dynamics of a Jazzmaster’s single-coil jangle, and the overdrive portion of the AM does not disappoint.
It perfectly nails that edge-of-breakup sound, pushing any clean tube amp to its limits. Especially with the treble booster engaged, it gives you a wonderful ‘Tube Screamer pushing beyond the edge of breakup’ sound. But with a few tweaks you can find a much darker and more brooding sound – it’s soulful, smokey and very distinctive.
Moving into the distortion and again the breadth of what’s on offer here is hugely compelling – you can get subtle, you can get chaotic, and you can get strident, full distortion sounds all at the twist of that gain knob.
And then when you switch the hi-gain mode it’s another level of nastiness altogether, pushing the Brothers AM into almost metal territory. But the real magic is how the two sides of this pedal work together. The push and pull between the hugely varied sounds on offer lets you sculpt almost any drive or distortion tone you could imagine, and then mercifully save it as a preset so you never have to worry about dialling it in just so again.
What’s almost more impressive is the consistency of the pedal – whether it was being run through single-coils or humbuckers, it still retains that King Of Tone DNA… but with a dynamic range that lets you dial things in perfectly every time.
Image: Adam Gasson
Chase Bliss Brothers AM – should I buy one?
There’s no escaping that 400 bucks is a whole lotta beans for a drive pedal – alongside the dip switches its the criticism you most often hear about Chase Bliss pedals. But then you look at the work, and the craft and the ingenuity that’s gone into it – this isn’t just some lazily rehashed clone circuit.
You also have to take it in some context. For starters, you really are getting two incredibly versatile and great sounding dirt pedals in one compact unit. It also costs half of what a King Of Tone will cost you on Reverb today if you don’t fancy waiting half a decade to own it.
But again, this isn’t a King Of Tone – it’s heavily inspired by it of course, but the Brothers AM is very much its own thing – think of it as the Dolby Atmos version of the original, if you like.
It’s also by some distance the easiest Chase Bliss pedal I’ve ever used – the sort of thing that makes you marvel at how cleverly and intuitively designed a very deep and very tweakable pedal can be in the right hands.
Above all though, it’s inspirational. As with anything that has Chase Bliss or Analog Man attached to it, the online hype around this pedal has been intense, but it more than lives up to it in my experience.
With my hand on my heart I can say it’s one of the most tonally gratifying pedals I’ve ever used. Yes, it’s not cheap – but it could easily be the last drive pedal you ever buy.
Chase Bliss Brothers AM – alternatives
The obvious elephant in the room here is of course the MXR Duke Of Tone ($149/£169.99) – the last collaboration that Mike Piera did with another effects brand. It’s effectively one-half of the KoT’s dual circuits, and punches well above its pricetag sound-wise.
There aren’t many actual King Of Tone imitators, but one such budget option is the Tone City King Of Blues ($79/£69.99) – it’s not gonna get you as close as even the Duke does to the real thing, but it’s a passable ballpark impression for under a hundred bucks. Another take on the dual overdrive format is the Browne Amplification Protein V4 ($349/£349) – like the KoT one half of the Protein is derived from a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, but the other half is different, being inspired by the Nobels ODR-1.
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The ’70s rock guitarist The Kinks’ Dave Davies calls the “great and underrated guitar player of the time”
The ‘70s played host to no shortage of guitar heroes. But there’s one, Dave Davies says, who stood head and shoulders above the rest.
In a new conversation with Uncut, The Kinks guitarist breaks down some of the albums that have shaped his musical journey, and highlights Mountain’s Nantucket Sleighride (1971) as one such record.
- READ MORE: “I hope we did Rory right”: Joe Bonamassa reflects on “emotional” Rory Gallagher tribute gigs
“Mountain were a great influence,” he says. “They made heavy tones heavier and their sound was innovative: great production and bass by Felix Pappalardi, Corky Laing on drums and Steve Knight on keyboards – all cool.
“Plus Leslie West was a great and underrated guitar player of the time and he really stands out on this album. The song Nantucket Sleighride in particular is a momentous piece of music, a powerful blend of hard rock and melody.”
He goes on: “I never saw Mountain play live, but I did play on a bill with Leslie West in 2001. I didn’t get to know him well and I feel sad about that, but he was very nice during our short meeting. I was sad to hear of his death in 2020. He was rock ‘n’ roll to the roots.”
Last year, Dave Davies made clear his thoughts about AI-generated music, when he caught wind of one such track made to sound like a Kinks song.
“What the fuck is this?” he wrote on X. “This Kinks AI cover is like a horror show, sounds fucking horrible.”
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“I did it the old-fashioned way”: Herman Li squashes the assumption that DragonForce only became successful because of Guitar Hero
![[L-R] Herman Li and Sam Totman of DragonForce](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Herman-Li-Sam-Totman@2000x1500.jpg)
The inclusion of Through the Fire and Flames in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock brought DragonForce legions of new fans. But according to guitarist Herman Li, it’s a misconception that the band’s success is entirely attributable to Guitar Hero.
In a new conversation with Lee Anderton on the Andertons YouTube channel, Li recalls the journey DragonForce – which he founded in 1999 alongside co-guitarist Sam Totman – had prior to Guitar Hero catapulting their fame to new heights.
“I did it the old-fashioned way,” he asserts. “So, my demo CD, I would go and harass record label people backstage at festivals – at Wacken [Open Air] festival – I did it the old-school way.
“And we did our shows, and I would show videos of our live shows. Because you [still had to] show that part back then.
“So in 2004, on our first album, we got to Japan already for Halloween. It was like, ‘Wow, this show is my dream come true, I can’t believe it. I’m playing Japan, doing a tour!’
“It kind of went pretty quickly. In 2004, we did an Iron Maiden tour in Europe. And we did our own headline shows, too, playing in front of 200-300 people.
“And then when the third album came out [2005’s Inhuman Rampage] – about a year before Guitar Hero, probably a year and half actually, it kind of already blew up. We did the Ozzfest on the main stage – first time ever.
“Before that we had sold out a US tour without ever releasing an album. So it was kind of blowing up, and then they wanted to put us in Guitar Hero.”
The interview also sees Herman Li showcasing his brand-new PRS Chleo signature model – an ultra-limited design loaded with Fishman Fluence pickups, dragon inlays in place of the classic PRS birds, glow-in-the-dark side dots and a range of voice options.
Limited to only 200 units worldwide, the Chleo is said to be the result of four years worth of R&D.
Learn more at PRS.
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Tony Iommi is signing two Gibson SG Standards backstage at Back to the Beginning – here’s how you can get one
How would you like to be the proud owner of a new Gibson SG Standard, signed by Tony Iommi backstage at Black Sabbath’s forthcoming Back to the Beginning farewell show?
Well, you’ll probably be competing with thousands of others, but with a new auction – the proceeds of which will go to charity – you’re in with a chance.
- READ MORE: “I hope we did Rory right”: Joe Bonamassa reflects on “emotional” Rory Gallagher tribute gigs
The guitars – donated by Gibson – will be signed by the Godfather of Heavy Metal backstage at Sabbath’s swansong show, which will take place tomorrow (5 July).
Along with the last ever performance from the original Sabbath lineup – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – Back to the Beginning will see support from a who’s who of metal’s elite, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Lamb of God and many more.
The guitars – one in black and one in Cherry Red – are being auctioned via ozzyauction.co.uk until 10pm UK time on Sunday, 6 July. All proceeds will go to three charities chosen by the Osbourne family: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice.
Credit: Gibson
“It’s an honour to pay tribute to Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath, and it’s back to the beginning for me as well,” reflects Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian.
“I started playing guitar because of Black Sabbath and Tony’s riffs. Tony is ‘the rifflord’ and the bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath on this epic day owe a great deal to them for paving the way for heavy metal.
“I am deeply honoured to call Tony my friend, my adopted godfather, and to have had the chance to collaborate with him at Gibson and on the single Deconstruction, co-written with [System Of A Down’s] Serj Tankian.”
He concludes: “I wouldn’t be at Gibson without that moment when I was 10 years old, when after discovering Black Sabbath, my life in music unfolded from that point onward.
“All of us at Gibson are proud to be playing a part in this epic last show and going back to where everything began for Black Sabbath!”
Alongside the guitar auction, Gibson will be present backstage at the event with a selection of guitars and interactive experiences, including a photo booth with Indian Motorcycle “as part of the unforgettable backstage environment available for the performers, VIP guests and industry legends.
Learn more at ozzyauction.co.uk.
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“I hope we did Rory right”: Joe Bonamassa reflects on “emotional” Rory Gallagher tribute gigs
Joe Bonamassa has just wrapped up a trio of shows in Cork, Ireland paying tribute to guitar hero Rory Gallagher, and has shared his thoughts following what he recently called “the biggest honour and greatest challenge of my musical life”.
In a new post on Instagram, the blues legend and guitar collector – who recently picked up his own sunburst Fender Strat in preparation for the gigs – reflects on the “many emotions running through my head right now”.
- READ MORE: “S**t, what did I just sign up for?” Joe Bonamassa reveals fears over Rory Gallagher tribute gig
Bonamassa says the prevailing emotion he’s feeling after wrapping the shows is “gratitude”.
“I am so grateful to have had this opportunity and to have conquered my own self-doubt in accepting this incredible honour and responsibility,” he writes.
“I hope we all did Rory right and played these shows in his spirit. I hope he would have been proud to see the love from his hometown carrying his legacy on.
“An honour of a lifetime for that I will never forget. Thank you Donal, Daniel, Eoghan and the entire Gallagher family for your trust.”
JoBo goes on to thank his backing band, and the “15,000 strong that came out for the three nights”: “Still processing it all and it might take a while.”
Last year after the shows were announced, Bonamassa expressed his apprehension at paying tribute to Gallagher, one of his all-time musical heroes.
“When they reached out I said: ‘You had me at hello.’ Then I thought about it and went: ‘Shit, what did I just sign up for?’” he explained to Classic Rock in December.
He went on: “I told [them]: ‘I’m not Rory; I don’t want to be a tribute act that replicates all the little glitches and mistakes. I’m going to be myself. And they said that’s exactly what they want. Having heard that, I could relax. It’s proven very popular, and from two shows it became three.”
He concluded: “It’s like all of the tribute shows I’ve done, with The Three Kings [blues legends Freddie, Albert and BB] and the one to Clapton, Beck & Page, you just have to go in there with conviction and show the fans how much the music means. But that’s me, I’ll never back down from a challenge.”
Rory Gallagher’s iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster sold for nearly £900,000 at auction last year, and was described by auction house Bonhams as “one of the world’s most recognisable guitars”.
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Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose review: “you may have just found your soul mate”
$1,189/£1,049, fender.com
It’s been 30 years since a Floyd Rose vibrato was first seen on a production Fender Stratocaster. And for many of us, a locking nut in such close proximity to a Fender logo can feel just as alien as it was back then.
- READ MORE: Fender Standard Stratocaster review – “I can’t shake the feeling it should be better than this”
And it shouldn’t really. After all, the whole idea of a ‘SuperStrat’ would not exist without well… a Strat. Perhaps this is because back in the 80s, when every brand under the sun was taking an S-type body and sticking a humbucker and a Floyd in there, Fender held firm with the classic synchronised tremolo. That’s why there are vanishingly few images of back-combed guitar heroes sporting genuine Strats with Floyds.
But that was a long time ago, and Fender is a brand much more open to giving the public what they want now. Indeed that’s broadly the entire point of the Player II Modified range – to cater to the needs of pro players not met by the core line.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose – what is it?
So what exactly do those ‘needs’ entail in this day and age? Well, the Modified series is effectively a replacement for the Player Plus – Fender’s first foray into creating upgraded instruments for those who wanted things like noiseless pickups, flatter radiuses, enhanced switching options, and some pretty out-there finishes.
The Modified guitars have carried most of that over, though the finishes are much more reserved this time. You can have this Floyd Strat in black, sunburst or this Olympic Pearl option. What price a Tequila Sunrise or Belair Blue?
In terms of player comfort on this HSS Strat, the main differences between this and a regular Player II are a slim ‘C’ neck profile and a flatter 12-inch fretboard radius to eliminate string choking. As with Player II you get the factory-rolled fingerboard edges.
In terms of hardware, there’s the Floyd Rose Special double-locking trem of course, and you’ll find locking tuners up beyond that locking nut, too. In terms of tuning stability, that won’t make any difference here of course, but it should at least speed up string changes.
In terms of actual noise-making power, you get a pair of Fender’s Player II Noiseless Strat pickups paired with Player II Modified Humbucker in the bridge. It’s all controlled by a standard five-way plus a trio of push/pull pots – giving you access to a treble bleed, neck and middle pickups in series, and a coil-split on that humbucker.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose – feel and sounds?
With its chunky Floyd Rose hardware, it’s not the lightest Strat in the world, weighing in at 8.3lbs. What must be said however is that the rosewood ‘board is deliciously dark and an indication of the quality of woods used – as with the Player II it’s a welcome return from the pau ferro days.
One thing that is a little disappointing is the lack of any kind of chamfering or sculpting on the heel of this guitar. Given that it’s so clearly aimed at those of a more technical bent, it would have been nice to see, but I suppose generations of Strat players have got by without finding the standard four-bolt square heel too much of an impediment.
Upon getting it out of its box, I lower the action a little – it’s the most straightforward part of setting up a Floyd Rose bridge, and the 12” radius allows me to get it quite low. In conjunction with the slim C neck we are now ripe for ripping.
Image: Adam Gasson
I plug into my Mesa Mark IV on a saturated setting. On the bridge setting I’m met with a full-throated rock sound that in its essence is Strat-like (plenty of snap and bite) but with a focused low end and an enhanced midrange.
Quick legato lines sound fluid and, as is the strength of the Floyd Rose, all our harmonic-driven dive bombs return to pitch nicely. The bridge comfortably handles any heavy riffage I throw at it, too – it’s firmly of the medium-high output category.
The single coil neck pickup will forever remain a go-to location on a Strat and through a slightly overdriven rhythm channel, Hendrix-style doublestop licks sound wonderfully authentic, retaining the character of a single-coil but minus the hum. I’ve not had great experiences with noiseless single-coils in the past, but these are a very pleasant surprise.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose – should I buy one?
The mid-price SuperStrat is one of the most oversaturated areas of the guitar market, but the reality is the Player II’s biggest competition is from Fender’s subsidiary brands: Charvel and Jackson.
That being said, Fender is shrewd enough to believe that there is a market out there for rock and metal players who want to play a Strat, and they’re probably right. The iconic model will always prove alluring to guitarists and at one point they will inevitably become embroiled in a showroom tryst with one.
“Once you play Strat, you never go back” may sound like a threat but it’s true – the design is so timeless and comfortable, you’ll soon realise that it can do anything. If the only thing that has stopped you flirting with a Strat until now is the lack of a double-locking bridge, then you may have just found your soul mate.
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose – alternatives
Charvel were one of the first producers of the SuperStrat and the Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR ($1,099.99/£969) features a set of medium-high output Seymour Duncans, rosewood neck, and black hardware, all in an instantly recognisable classic design.
The Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder (£1,049/$899) offers quite a bit of bang for your buck and firmly aimed at those who require a little more output in the gain department, featuring the uber-powerful EMG Retro Active Hot 70 in the bridge and a Sustainiac in the neck.
A cheaper alternative would be the Jackson X Series Signature Adrian Smith SDX ($629.99/£569), which is the Chinese-manufactured version of the Iron Maiden’s guitarist signature guitar.
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Joe Satriani struggles with being “extroverted” on stage: “I don’t think I ever feel like myself”
Despite performing countless shows over the years – not to mention his enviable skills as a guitar virtuoso, Joe Satriani has revealed he doesn’t consider himself a natural-born performer.
In an interview with D’Addario, Satch explains the disconnect he feels between his onstage persona and who he is in his personal life.
“I don’t think I ever feel like myself on stage,” he explains [via Ultimate Guitar]. “I think that’s the problem. You walk out on stage and you go, ‘Oh, they’re gonna know it’s just me.’
“I think the history of performing live has been a recurring subject nightmare for me, because I’m not really a kind of a people person.
“I don’t seek out to be in a crowd and be in front of an audience, but I love music and I want to share it. So there’s the typical artist conflict right there.”
Satriani explains that this internal conflict between being naturally introverted and the requirement to be extroverted onstage is why he adopted the alter ego Shockwave Supernova, a name taken from his 2015 album of the same name.
“My son made a documentary about it, and we decided that Shockwave Supernova was the character that I invented to become that person who could be extroverted on stage.”
But having been in the business of performing for decades, the guitarist has learned a few things along the way. Playing with Mick Jagger during his 1988 solo tour helped Satriani discover some important ways to open up creatively as a performer. In a 2007 interview with Guitar Player, he recalled a time the two jammed together during a rehearsal.
“I’ll never forget how I would just be noodling around on the guitar in the rehearsal room, and he’d come right up next to me and just start singing,” Satch recalls. “That made me relax, and say to myself, ‘Man, I shouldn’t be so guarded about my creativity. Mick Jagger isn’t guarded. So why am I?’
“When he hit the stage, you learned the meaning of ‘projection’ real quick. The joke was that you could stand next to him, light yourself on fire, and the audience would still be watching Mick. He has that power.”
Satch is also well aware that it’s not uncommon for professional touring musicians to have stage nerves. In another interview with Inc. in 2020, he explained: “I met Joan Baez at a benefit show. She’s incredible. She sings and plays guitar and never screws up. Later I learned she threw up right before she went onstage.”
He also found out that “Red Rocker” Sammy Hagar wore sunglasses onstage to get rid of the feeling of nervousness during performances. Satriani said to Hagar that he seemed born to front a band, but the ex-Montrose and Van Halen singer replied: “No, we’re all the same. Do you know how embarrassing it is to grab a microphone and sing in front of people?”
Based on these experiences, Satriani has come to realise that: “You don’t have to be extroverted. You just have to find a way to do what you want or need to do.”
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“Every decision that could mess up that song was done”: M. Shadows on the mistakes made releasing this classic Avenged Sevenfold single
![[L-R] Synyster Gates and M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold performing live](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/A7X-new-hero-1@2000x1500.jpg)
Avenged Sevenfold’s 2007 self-titled album sits as a diamond in their discography, playing host to some of their most standout tracks and sporting RIAA-certified platinum status in the US.
But frontman M. Shadows has some thoughts about how the album was rolled out, and the decisions made regarding some of its singles.
In a new interview with Ryan J Downey of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), Shadows – real name Matt Sanders – recalls the heightened level of involvement their at-the-time label Warner Bros. had in the album’s release schedule compared to previous records.
“I love Tom Whalley [former Warner Bros. CEO who helped sign A7X in the early 2000s]. I think he did amazing things for our career,” Shadows says. “He’s still a friend – a close friend – [A&R executive] Andy Olyphant as well.
“But we brought them in to hear the white album [the self-titled record], and we thought, Afterlife, no brainer, this is a massive song. This is a huge single. This is where we wanna roll.
“We played it for Tom Whalley and he turned around and he said, ‘That’s a little Warped Tour isn’t it?’
“And so, that just took everybody else in the room, everyone in the label, off of it. You could see it shift. Then it started going to these other things that were clearly not the right play.”
He explains that while the band were insistent on the big singles from their previous two records Waking the Fallen (2003) and City of Evil (2005) being Unholy Confessions and Bat Country, respectively, the self-titled album was the “first time we said, ‘Alright, what else is there?’ We were like Almost Easy, then we went to something else and we were all over the place”.
He continues: “But if you actually have the macro of time, Afterlife and A Little Piece of Heaven are the two that sit atop that record, and they’re just the lights.
“And then when we finally did get around to Afterlife – it was the fourth single – they cut the solo out. And so it’s one of those things where it’s like, every decision that could be wrong to completely mess up that record and that song was done.”
Of course, the full version of Synyster Gates’ Afterlife solo remains on the album version of the track, but the single version, which is heard in the music video, features a trimmed down version with several bars at the beginning cut.
Avenged Sevenfold have a series of live dates scheduled in North and South America for the rest of the year.
Visit avengedsevenfold.com/tour for more info.
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“I feel a bit exposed, talking about it”: Pete Townshend reveals the Oasis song that brought him to tears
The Who’s Pete Townshend was once moved to tears by one Oasis track, and feels their ability to delve into normal life is far more magical than their “swagger” at times.
Oasis will kick off their Live ‘25 reunion tour on 4 July in Cardiff. It will mark the first time the band have played live together since their infamous split in 2009, following a backstage dispute between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. Their debut album, Definitely Maybe, also celebrated its 30th anniversary in August last year.
Ahead of the monumental tour, which spans across the globe and concludes in November this year, Townshend – among many other artists – has reflected on how their music impacted him, selecting Half The World Away as an especially poignant track.
The song was originally released as a B-side to Whatever, and later featured on The Masterplan album. It was also used as the theme tune to the British sitcom, The Royle Family, which captured working class life through the living room of a family in Manchester – a show which Townshend was also a fan of.
“The thing that got me about Oasis was Liam’s voice, not so much the attitude. It took me a while to get used to the attitude, and I felt Noel was the one with the most edge,” Townshend tells The Times.
“Liam used to come to Who gigs with his girlfriend and he was always charming. And despite the fact that it was intended to be threatening and to have no emotion, it was loaded with emotion,” he says.
“The songs were inspired not just by The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks, but also had this feeling of coming from an entirely new place and I don’t really know where it is. I feel a bit exposed, talking about it now, but the song that brought me to tears is this one. I’ve heard it again and again because I’m such a fan of The Royle Family, and it moves me. Beyond the swagger is an incredible view of normal British life they seem to tap into.”
Oasis will play at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 4 July. You can view the full list of Oasis Live ‘25 tour dates via their official website.
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“Maybe it’s not for you!”: The awkward advice Noel Gallagher gave his daughter after hearing her early musical endeavours
![[L-R] Noel Gallagher and his daughter Anais](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noel-Anais-Gallagher-hero@2000x1500.jpg)
Is a penchant for music hereditary? If you’re the child of the Oasis Gallagher brothers, you’d certainly expect so…
But in a new interview with W, Noel Gallagher‘s daughter Anaïs recalls giving music a go as a child, and her father’s brutal response to her musical potential.
She says she had a “brief stint playing the cello at 11”, but during some of her early recitals, she recalls her father telling her: “Maybe it’s not for you!”
Of course, Noel Gallagher has a reputation for not being shy with his opinions, but Anaïs says he was reasonably delicate about his thoughts on her musical skills. She remembers noticing his “comedic knowing looks at the camera” during a rewatch of some old home videos.
While music ultimately wasn’t for her, Anaïs took a different yet still creative path: photography, modelling and filmmaking. Her work includes the music video for Inhaler’s My Honest Face, and she recently documented her father’s tour with his solo band, High Flying Birds.
Like Anaïs, her cousin, Liam Gallagher‘s daughter Molly also doesn’t consider herself a musician; she says that she “honestly couldn’t think of anything worse than being onstage in front of an audience”.
Liam’s other two children – Lennon and Gene – have picked up the musical baton, however. Lennon plays with his alt-rock band Automotion, while Gene’s band, Villanelle, plays heavier riff-tinged indie music.
Lennon’s Automotion sees his taste for ’70s German progressive rock creeping in as an influence. He says his dad has “always been supportive” of the project, adding: “Dad has given me some great pointers. One of the best ones is: Don’t think about what you’re doing when you’re getting onstage. Just get up there and belt it out. It’s a pretty perfect piece of advice, because if you ever think too much, you’ll just get locked in your shell.”
Oasis’s massive comeback tour is set to commence tomorrow (4 July) at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
For a full list of dates, head to Oasisnet.com
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Will Bruce Springsteen ever do a farewell tour? Here’s the Boss’s one-word answer
Bruce Springsteen feels the E Street Band has never been better, and with that in mind, it seems he won’t be stepping down from his music career anytime soon.
The Boss, who is just about to wrap his The Land of Hope & Dreams European tour with the group, released a mighty collection of previously unheard music at the end of June. The seven disc release, titled Tracks II: The Lost Albums, was put together when Springsteen unearthed his musical archives during the Covid lockdowns, and is a follow-up to his 1998 box set, also titled Tracks.
Yet despite unleashing such a huge offering of lost records and looking back on his long and lucrative career so far, Springsteen has absolutely no plans to retire from music, and especially not the stage. In fact, he hopes to continue working for as long as he possibly can.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Springsteen explains, “We played different in 1975. There was a different youthful energy. But the depths and resonance and experience that we’ve had over the past 50 years of playing together has really come to the fore right now in our performance. And the band is just completely badass onstage at this moment.”
Asked if he hopes to be like Pete Seeger, who played live into his 90s (and whose music inspired Springsteen to release the Seeger Sessions album), Springsteen keenly replies, “Oh, absolutely. I knew Pete, and Pete had a lot of energy. When his voice began to go, he simply found another way to do it.”
He adds, “Pete understood that people were coming to experience his spirit, which was as strong as could be. [He’s a great role model], as is Willie Nelson, as were a lot of the fathers who played well into their eighties. I think the Stones are playing better than they’ve ever played, as is Paul McCartney. Bob Dylan is out there. So these guys, they’re showing, ‘Hey, it’s not time to sleep yet. There’s many miles to go.’
With that in mind, when asked if there will be a Bruce Springsteen farewell tour, he simply answers, “No.”
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will play in Milan on 3 July for the final date of their European tour. Find out more via the official Bruce Springsteen website.
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“We’ll figure it out when we get there”: Zakk Wylde admits even performers still don’t know exactly what they’re doing at Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning farewell
Black Sabbath’s monumental farewell show, Back to the Beginning, is set to take place this Saturday (5 July) – but the trouble is, many performers still don’t know what to expect, at least according to Zakk Wylde.
The show – which will take place at Villa Park in Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, England – features a stacked lineup of heavy metal’s elite, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Lamb of God and, well, the list goes on.
But in a new conversation on the Loudwire Nights podcast, Wylde, Ozzy’s longtime six-string sidekick, who is also currently filling Dimebag Darrell’s boots in Pantera, says the actual plan remains somewhat of a mystery.
“Nobody knows what’s going on,” the guitarist reveals. “It’s kind of like how it was when I first joined Ozzy. Nothing has changed.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there. Are you sure about this? Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wylde describes Back to the Beginning as “like an Ozzfest on steroids”.
“That’s what was so great about the Ozzfest,” he continues. “Every year you had all the best in hard rock and metal touring… You’ve got Metallica on the thing, you’ve got Alice In Chains, you’ve got Guns N’ Roses, I mean everybody. It’s just like an Ozzfest on steroids and growth hormones. It’s like the Dorian Yates of the metal fests.”
As far as we understand, the event will see Sabbath’s core lineup taking on their biggest tracks – Ozzy famously said he’d only do “little bits and pieces” during the show – with other musicians on the bill forming a sort of rotating lineup to perform some deeper Sabbath cuts.
“There’s certain songs you know no one’s going to touch, because the guys are going to play it,” Wylde says.
“But as far as Father Tom [Morello] picking, [he is] making sure everybody has something they can play. There’s tons of stuff on that menu at the Black Sabbath steakhouse.”
As you’d expect, tickets sold out pretty quickly to Back to the Beginning – some estimates say in as little as 16 minutes. But fear not, for you’ll be able to watch the show live on pay-per-view.
Learn more at backtothebeginning.com.
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Malevolence pick their top five metalcore riffs of all time
“We used to call it riff soup,” Malevolence guitarist Josh Baines says as he’s explaining how they wrote songs back in the day. They’d throw a riff out into the ether, then another, then another. They moved from A to B without giving anyone listening something to grab onto. Nowadays, wisened by countless live shows and their 10,000 hours of songwriting, their ideas boomerang back to them more. As they sat down to work on their new album, Where Only The Truth Is Spoken, they knew from the outset they wanted to develop a more chiseled, refined sound. “We focus a lot more on the structured elements, playing around with harmonies and layers and things like that, so when we play them live, it comes across well for the crowd,” he adds, dialing in from his bed near the end of a long, hot day.
“It’s definitely more refined this time,” adds fellow guitarist Konan Hall, sitting in his car at the end of his drive. “We put a lot more emphasis on thinking about what parts go where and what benefits each other. Josh has had this huge bank of riffs forever and I’m going through these old songs, picking out bits and saying, ‘Can we combine these ideas?’ We wanted the riffs and vocal parts to complement each other, rather than on previous records where Josh brought this riff soup to the table and then me and Alex [Taylor, vocalist] would fill in the gaps. You end up covering a sick riff with vocals because otherwise it leaves an empty space in the song. This time, we really allowed them to shine. It allows you to have those huge riff moments which aren’t overpowered by vocals layered on top. You just got a lot of breathing space.”
They’re not just sharpening their blades on Where Only The Truth Is Spoken – they’re bolstering their own sense of ambition. It’s no wonder they sound in such confident spirits when they’ve edged to the front of the pack within British heavy music. Two years ago, they were opening for Trivium in the country’s biggest academy venues. Later this year, they’ll headline them. They sub-headlined Bloodstock last year, just beneath Architects. They played a rammed secret set on the Sunday afternoon at Download. They feel both like heroes and men of the people, their fearsome metal opening mosh pits but also minds, often touching upon subjects relating to toxic masculinity and mental health.
Few things say ‘we’re a big band now’ than getting to record in Dave Grohl’s famed Studio 606 in Los Angeles. “There’s a creative energy in that space,” adds Baines. “They have loads of the Foo Fighters’ gear, there’s amps in the back, the desk they’ve got is the one that Nevermind was recorded on. Josh Wilbery produced it and it was his idea to go there, because we needed a drum room, and he liked the sound of that one. Honestly, it was a good price! It’s in the middle of LA so it worked in our favour.”
Image: Eddy Maynard
“It was an absolutely legendary experience,” says Hall. “To go to such a legendary studio where they’ve got all the tapes of all the albums that you listened to as kids on the racks in the back room, like, it just makes you think, ‘Oh shit. We’re actually doing it.’”
Reaching the big leagues means moments like that have come thick and fast. “It just feels pretty normal to be fair now,” acknowledges Hall. “Every milestone in our career has been bucket list. My end goal is to headline Download. My dream once upon a time was to play Download. I could never afford it [as a punter] and the first time I ever went, we played it. We never thought we’d play a gig outside of [our hometown of] Sheffield.” That wide-eyed, down-to-earth amazement has never gone away, as Baines adds: “When we headlined Kentish Town Forum, I was looking around after we’ve played, thinking ‘Changeover’s now,’ because the band that everyone’s come to see are about to set up and play!”
Unquestionably, people gravitate to Malevolence because they’re real. The five-lads-from-Yorkshire mentality has never changed, no matter how many people have eyes on them. That applies just as much to their demeanours as it does their approach to music, especially when they’re playing live. “We always just talk about those legendary days of bands like Pantera and Lamb Of God, where they just have an amp and a guitar and what you hear is what you get,” remarks Hall.
“Everyone expects things to sound like it’s the CD, whereas, like, the beauty of it being live is that there’s different things going on, and it’s like slightly different and anything could go wrong, but it doesn’t matter in the moment,” adds Baines. “I think that’s lost in a lot of metal these days, because it’s so bang on time and uses loads of tracks, which is fine – we use a couple of little things just to back up the ballads and stuff. But I like to mess about with tempos and things like that and just make sure that all the guitar that’s coming out is us playing it.”
It comes as no surprise that Malevolence like their metalcore raw and rugged. Here are their top 5 metalcore riffs:
Dying Wish – Path To Your Grave
Hall: “They have my favourite metalcore riffs at the moment. I’ve got it on repeat on my phone, because it’s right hard. Their vocalist Em [Boster] has these sick melodies, but then it breaks into this really hard metal chorus. I’m really into that record [2023 album Symptoms Of Survival].”
Misery Signals – The Failsafe
Baines: “They were definitely one of my favourite metalcore bands back in the day. Hearing melodic chords being used in a heavy setting with odd time signatures was the thing that drew me into it when I was trying to learn more about how to develop my guitar playing in a metal style. It really stood out to me in a way that I just found interesting. I’ve not heard anything like it before.”
Architects – Follow The Water
Baines: “I remember playing that in music tech once for Charlie’s [Thorpe, drummer] music tech piece so I learned the whole song, and I was like, ‘There’s some mad stuff going on in this!’ because it was all dissonant and used not very standard scales. It’s really hard to play. It definitely expanded my knowledge of the guitar.”
Throwdown – Black Vatican
Hall: “The Throwdown album Deathless is unlike any of their other records, but that’s one of my favorite records of all time and my favourite track is Black Vatican. That record gave me a lot of inspiration on the new record, especially songs like Imperfect Picture, where you’ve got quite a simple chuggy riff, where one guitar cuts in and out, and there’s mad singing and clean, growly Southern vocals over it, and then it comes into, like, big screams and hard riffs and then other technical bits as well.”
Unearth – Sanctity Of Brothers
Baines: “It’s got some sick riffs. I remember trying to learn it and I was like, ‘How does he play this?’ There’s breakdowns in it as well and it’s got four big arpeggios at the end of it. I just thought, when I first heard it, ‘That is so sick.’ I’d never heard anything like it at the time. When I first listened to Unearth, I just thought it was really cool because they had the hardcore elements, which I like about metalcore, whereas these days, metalcore is not very hardcore, it doesn’t have much. It’s just more like pop metal. Metalcore to me is metal and hardcore. I really liked the technical side of Unearth, but they also had breakdowns and two steps, which were good for a live situation. It wasn’t just noodling all the way through. You could mosh to it as well and sing along and get involved with the crowd. But you could also stand and watch the guitarists and be like, ‘Yo, this is sick.’ That was kind of a big influence on the way that I try and write music as well, even today.”
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The Cars guitarist says that Epiphones and Squiers can “sound very close” to expensive guitars “with a good setup”
Got a budget to stick to? Well it’s a good thing you don’t need to break the bank to get a great-sounding guitar, at least according to The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton.
Speaking in a new interview with Guitarist, the musician explains how modestly priced guitars can punch well above their weight with a “good setup” and why players should buy the best instrument they can afford, regardless of the brand on the headstock.
“We live in a time when there are more great guitars available to us at lower prices than there ever were when I was a kid,” he says.
“The Epiphone and Squier guitars that you can get now, with a good setup, will play great and sound very close to more expensive versions.
“So buy based on your budget, and buy the best one you can get because you won’t grow out of it and get tired of it. You’ll always play it and it’ll always be good.”
As Easton puts it, you could own the most expensive guitar out there, but it won’t do you much good without a proper setup.
“Even the most expensive guitars are only as good as their setup. That’s my feeling,” he says.
Offered a choice between a really good guitar and a cheap amp, or vice versa, the musician says: “That depends on the situation. I’ve got a ton of really good guitars and some great amps, too.
“If the situation is that I’m somewhere and I have to make a choice… well, it’s a hypothetical question!”
“I can certainly say the passion I have for guitars is not the same for amps,” Easton adds. “I love great amps, but I don’t know what ‘rectifier’ or ‘tube’ is in that one or this one. I’m not an amp geek in that way.”
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“There’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig”: Joe Perry on the band’s future following last year’s retirement
Less than a year after Aerosmith pulled the plug on their farewell tour, guitarist Joe Perry says one last gig isn’t off the table – if they can get there.
The band announced their retirement from touring last August, cancelling all remaining dates of their Peace Out farewell tour due to frontman Steven Tyler’s vocal injury.
Now, appearing on a recent episode of SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Perry opens up about the possibility of one last Aerosmith show, and what it would actually take to get the band back on stage.
“Well, yeah, I’m always hoping, but going on the road, it’s a big deal pulling that together,” he says [via Ultimate Classic Rock]. “It’s one thing to sit there and look online and see who’s touring and stuff, and there’s dates that show up, but there’s so much planning, and what it takes out of you physically, it’s a lot more than people realise.”
“It’s one thing when you’re doing it when you’re 25 or 30,” Perry adds, “but it’s another when you’re starting to get up there [in age] like us. It’s a really physical thing, going out on stage. And all that energy that you’re putting out, that you’re transferring to the audience, it takes something out of you in a physical and emotional way. And all of that energy that you give, that’s flowing out there, that’s making people feel good, it takes it out of you.”
The guitarist also shares that the members are still in regular contact; he and Tyler even shared the stage at a San Francisco charity gig back in April.
“So I don’t know, man. But we’re talking about it. I mean, except for anything on the calendar, we’re all alive and well. So, we’ll just have to see.”
“I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I’m not looking forward to putting the setlist together for that one. But I don’t know, man. We’ll just have to see,” says Perry.
And as for Tyler? “I think he would [do it],” Perry reckons. “I think it’s just a matter of getting there, you know? I mean, we’re up there, man. And it’s a lot.”
He continues: “I’ve always played like every show’s the last one. I hate to sound like it’s a downer, but I give it up every night, you know? The first gig we did for that [farewell] tour that got cancelled, we certainly felt like it was gonna be another one, but, you know, shit happens.”
Check out the full interview below.
The post “There’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig”: Joe Perry on the band’s future following last year’s retirement appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“Drop me out of an airplane anywhere, and I’ll find the nearest roadhouse, and light up somebody’s night”: Bruce Springsteen on why he never gave in to self-doubt
For most artists, self-doubt is part of the job. But Bruce Springsteen isn’t most artists.
In a new conversation with Rolling Stone, the singer-songwriter reflects on his sprawling 74-track box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums, and explains why – even during the quieter stretches of his career – he never questioned his place in music.
Springsteen’s latest record gathers material largely written and recorded during the 1990s, a decade often seen as a lost chapter in his career. Between 1992 and 2002, the musician released only one studio album, 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad, leading some to wonder if his fire had dimmed.
But as Springsteen puts it, “that was for a variety of reasons”.
“Our children were very young at exactly that moment. And also I didn’t have any interest, really, in working with the band. I felt just burned out on it at that particular place in time. But I was working on music all the time. I just wasn’t releasing it.”
Asked if there was any point in the Nineties where self-doubt had started to sink in, he admits: “not really.”
“I always used to say, when I was in the middle of some of the big lawsuits [in the mid-Seventies], ‘OK. Well, somebody can take your publishing and somebody can take your records or take your songs or take whatever money you’ve made out of the thing, but you can drop me out of an airplane anywhere in the United States or most parts of the world, I’ll land and I’ll find the nearest roadhouse and I’ll light up somebody’s night.”
“And so, that’s something that’s in me,” he adds. “You can never lose it. And so during the Nineties, I understood that.”
He recalls telling longtime manager and co-producer Jon Landau, “‘Gee, this record didn’t do as well. Jon, it’s just not our time. Somebody else’s time.’”
“If you’re ever going to have a long career, hey, it’s going to be your time and it’s going to be not your time sometimes,” says Springsteen, “and you got to be OK with that and you just got to carry on, work on.”
Springsteen, who’s set to wrap up his tour with the E Street Band later this week, also teases a “finished” solo record on the way.
“I would imagine it will come out in ‘26 sometime,” he says.
The post “Drop me out of an airplane anywhere, and I’ll find the nearest roadhouse, and light up somebody’s night”: Bruce Springsteen on why he never gave in to self-doubt appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.