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Do you really need a baritone? A complete guide to guitar scale length
“Scale length”, as well as being one of the few pieces of terminology shared between guitarists and herpetologists, is amongst the most important of a guitar’s specifications. It can totally change how a guitar sounds, in ways far beyond the impact of your choice of pickups or tonewood.
But whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player looking to branch out into some alternative-scale instruments, the impact of changing scale length can be a little confusing – so let’s explore the long and short of it.
What does the term scale length mean?
Scale length is the distance between the two places on a guitar that its strings are anchored. These are the nut, up at the guitar’s headstock, and, at the other end of things, the bridge. Halfway between these two points will be the 12th fret, with the rest of the fretboard scaled to match. The distance is most often displayed in inches, even in the parts of the world that favour metric – so I’ll stick to using inches rather than mm here.
So, what does changing the scale length actually affect? The main thing to consider is the fact that the same string at a longer scale length will need more tension applied to it to reach the same pitch. This tension is also affected by string thickness – a thinner string will need less tension for the same pitch, a thicker string more. If you’re wanting to tune lower, you can keep the same tension by increasing the string thickness or the scale length, or both. When talking about scale length, it is therefore important to keep in mind these two other factors.
String tension
Having a good idea of what string tension you want to set up a guitar for is important, as it has a huge impact on the sound and playability of your instrument. However, there is a lot of variance in how different players will approach this. One of the most immediately noticeable things tension affects is how easy it is to press the strings to the frets, and to bend. Higher tension means the string will offer more resistance in both cases. Hence players who want to do heavy bending all the time might opt for a lower string tension with thinner strings and/or a shorter scale.
Conversely if you play the guitar like it owes you money, you might want higher tension to keep things from accidentally being bent out of pitch. Higher string tension means more pitch stability in general – if you hit a string really hard, it will naturally bend sharp for a moment, as the energy from you hitting the string has added tension to the system. This effect is exacerbated at a lower starting string tension, as the same amount of energy will affect a thinner string’s pitch more than a thicker string’s.
What string tension does tonally is a little harder to pin down, as a lot of other factors will likely change alongside it. But, generally speaking, lower tension is associated with a ‘warmer’ tone while higher tension is associated with a ‘snappier’ or “brighter” tone. There are many, many other factors at play here, but it’s worth keeping in mind when choosing between, say, a Baritone tuned to B standard or a Gibson-scale guitar tuned to B standard.
Scale exercises
The other variable that impacts string tension is tuning – there are many weird and wonderful alternative tunings out there, some of which are at far lower pitches than E standard, and using a different scale length or a different set of strings or both can make more out-there tunings possible while keeping a similar playing feel.
So when thinking about different scale lengths, it’s handy to consider it as a variable alongside both string gauge and the pitch you’re tuning to. All three of these things impact playability and tone to some degree, and of course there are the generally accepted “right” ways of doing things – but keep in mind that we’re in the subjective land of musical expression here, so certain things that might seem like downsides at first are looked on by some as benefits.
¾-scale guitars – 22” and 22.5”
Gear4Music Visionstring 3/4. Image: Press
Let’s begin at the shortest scale lengths that you’re likely to see while still having the instrument count as a guitar, rather than a large six-string ukulele. Guitars between 22” and 22.5” are normally called ¾-scale guitars. And, no, neither of those numbers are actually three-quarters of either of the commonly accepted “standard” electric guitar scale lengths. Don’t think about it.
Regardless, ¾-scale guitars – such as the Gear4Music Visionstring I reviewed relatively recently – are most often beginner instruments, which makes a lot of sense. Their shorter scale length means that all of the frets are very close together – good for smaller hands or those who haven’t developed a wide stretch yet. But it also means that the string tension is lower, and so fretting and bending are both easier. This is super important – think back to those days before you developed your fingertip callouses. Any extra (literal) push-back from the instrument is less than ideal while playing is still painful! Not all guitars of these scales are explicitly beginner things, though – the Fender Duo Sonic has a tiny 22.5” scale, but is hardly placed as a pure beginner guitar.
While the lower tension can add a lot of sonic character and make for a very approachable instrument, there are some less ideal results. These are often not that great at staying in tune, not helped by beginner instruments also being inherently affordably-made. The slacker tension also means less stability when you actually hit the strings.
“Short scale” guitars – 24”
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If someone refers to a “short scale” electric that normally means 24” or thereabouts. The most notable examples are Fender’s Mustang and Jaguar – they’ve come to be known and loved by players for their springy, looser feel thanks to that shorter scale.
Here’s where that balancing act between those three elements of scale, tuning and thickness come in – on Jags and Mustangs, you can get away with using thicker strings like 10-52s without having way too much string tension to comfortably play in E standard Combine the thicker sound of these heavier strings with some aggressive playing and bright, punchy single-coils, well… thank me later. It’s a great combination, and the result is very hard to emulate on a longer-scale guitar. You’ll likely be familiar with the approach if you’ve ever heard of this small underground band called “Nirvana”.
Gibson scale – 24.75”
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The shorter of the two “regular” scale lengths, this is the standard scale for the vast majority of Gibson’s electric and acoustic guitars. Many guitars that draw direct inspiration from Gibson will also have this same 24.75” scale.
The impact of Gibson’s slighter shorter scale length varies, obviously, depending on your approach – but it means that you’ve got a good amount of room to go in either direction. With 9s, you can absolutely get away with two-whole-tone bends, if you fancy channelling your inner Jimmy Page. Alternatively make the most of those humbuckers, and get some thicker strings for some really massive sounds without having to work as hard as you might have to do on a Strat.
PRS Scale – 25”
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Paul Reed Smith’s approach was to split the difference between the big G and F, slightly favouring the G – for a slightly snappier sound and feel on the lower strings, while retaining easy bendability on the higher strings. Like a less extreme version of a multi-scale eight-string, which PRS sadly do not make at the moment.
Fender scale – 25.5”
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The scale of many of Fender’s ‘standard’ guitars, including basically all Stratocasters, Telecasters and Jazzmasters you’ll see on the market. A 25.5” scale is often cited as a relatively important part of the sonic character of a Strat or a Tele, thanks to the spankier sound mixed with a set of single-coils. The slightly longer scale length also means that Strats in particular really like to be tuned to Eb standard, as you get a very responsive feel from the slightly reduced tension.
Baritones – 26.5”-28”
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Generally a six-string that’s above 26.5” is classed as a baritone guitar. The longer scale length allows for a lower standard tuning without having to resort to suspension-bridge cabling in lieu of strings – the “standard” baritone tuning is B-B, five semitones down from E standard. Baritones are also, in 2025, just as tonally varied as regular-scale guitars – you’ll see a good few metal-focused guitars in this category, but not every long-scale guitar is pointy and destined for melodeath.
Do you need a baritone to tune to baritone tunings? Absolutely not, however the tonal results of tuning a standard-scale guitar to A vs a tuning a baritone to A will be very different. A baritone will let you keep tension higher, meaning a cleaner, brighter and more tuning-stable sound. This is great if you want some clear, country-tinted ambience, or if you’re aiming for speed and accuracy in your music. However, if you are aiming for chaos and darkness, you can absolutely set even Gibson-scale guitars up to play in absurdly low tunings – just be ready to accept a certain degree of pitch variance if you dig in.
Long-scale baritones/Bass VIs – 30”
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Are Bass VIs baritone guitars or six-string basses? The answer: yes, no, sort of. Guitars like the Danelectro six-string bass and the Fender Bass VI may have the same scale length as some guitars that are marketed as ‘baritones’, but what splits the difference is string gauge and tuning – a “standard” Bass VI string set is thicker than a “standard” baritone set, and Bass VIs will come tuned to one octave below E standard rather than the baritone standard of B.
It’s also worth noting that these are different from six-string bass guitars that are more explicitly extended range bass guitars, which will have much wider fretboards and take full-sized bass guitar strings rather than a set of thicker guitar strings.
Because of the age of their designs, Bass VIs and other six-string bass guitars of this ilk have their own playing traditions that differ a little from what people tend to use modern baritones for. The ‘tic tac’ bass sound, for instance, is centred around clean, percussive basslines played on Danos and/or Fender VIs, slotting between the upright bass and the electric guitar’s place in the band.
Multi-scale guitars
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Now that we have explored the many-faceted world of the different guitar scale lengths, it’s time to make things even more complicated. Hooray! If you’ve ever heard the term multi-scale guitar and been a little confused before now, let’s clear things up – all it really means is a guitar that has a different scale length for different strings. A multi-scale instrument allows the lower-tuned strings to have a longer scale for extra tension, and the higher-tuned strings a shorter scale for easier bending. The variance in scale means that the frets, along with the bridge and nut, are “fanned” to compensate. Many multi-scale instruments will have more than six strings, however six-string examples do exist.
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“They weren’t alive to be there to play and to enjoy it” Tom Morello compares Black Sabbath farewell gig to Freddie Mercury and Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts
With Black Sabbath’s final-ever live concert set to take place this Friday (5 July) in their hometown of Birmingham, Tom Morello is putting things into perspective.
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist – who’s been tapped to oversee the all-star farewell event – notes the upcoming tribute show will be both historic and unusually intimate, not least because this time, the honourees are still around to witness it.
He likens the upcoming gig to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, in which A-list bands gathered to pay tribute to the late Queen singer, or more recently the two transatlantic shows that honoured Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins following his death in March, 2022.
“But guess what? They weren’t alive to be there to play and to enjoy it,” says Morello on the new issue of Metal Hammer. “Black Sabbath’s gonna be there, dude. To be in their backyard, with a line-up of the biggest acts in metal paying tribute to them, has got to be pretty special.”
As the musical director of Back to the Beginning, Morello is keeping most of the setlist and guest roster under wraps, though he teases that surprises are guaranteed and that fans would do well to be in their seats from the very start.
“I will say this – for anyone lucky enough to be going to the show, don’t be late,” he says. “This is not one of those shows where the bands are playing in ascending order and you can show up at 5pm. We have surprise guests that you won’t believe. Trust me – don’t be late.”
Born in Birmingham in 1968, Sabbath’s bleak, heavy sound paved the way not just for metal, but for a wide range of genres and artists that followed. That legacy, says Morello, is impossible to overstate.
“Their DNA is everywhere, not just in metal,” he explains. “I’ve talked to [Public Enemy rapper] Chuck D about them, the Run DMC guys – the founders of hip hop were influenced by Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Same with the world of EDM. Without them, literally nothing would be the same.”
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“The gun was tied to two previous murders” Jake E. Lee shares shocking update about his shooting
Jake E. Lee has shared a shocking update about the shooting incident that landed him in the intensive care unit last October.
The 68-year-old guitarist, best known for his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne between 1982 and 1987, previously revealed that he was shot multiple times while walking his dog in Las Vegas.
Now, in a Facebook post shared last week, Lee says that justice is on the horizon: “The two that shot me have been caught and face sentencing next month,” he writes. “The gun was tied to two previous murders so my case is almost an afterthought. They’re going bye bye for a long time. On that happy thought, see ya on TV!”
The post includes a picture of his dog Coco, who was with him during the incident and reportedly targeted in the attack. According to the guitarist, the gunman fired 15 shots, with some aimed at Coco. Lee was struck three times, with one bullet narrowly missing his spine.
Elsewhere in the post, the musician also confirms his upcoming appearance at Black Sabbath’s final show in Birmingham.
“Just confirming I’m playing,” Lee states. “In fact I believe I’ll be first at bat, which means Coco has to be up at 7:00am to watch Pops! I’m thrilled to be sharing the stage with top tier musicians, I won’t name cause you never know until the curtain rises, but will confirm once we have our rehearsal next week.”
Just confirming I’m playing in Birmingham on the 5th of July. In fact I believe I’ll be first at bat, which means Coco…
Posted by Jake E Lee's Red Dragon Cartel on Friday, June 27, 2025
In related news, Jake E. Lee recently opened up about why he said yes to Black Sabbath’s farewell concert despite decades of no contact with the Prince of Darkness.
“Tom Morello [the show’s musical director] called me,” he told Guitar World. “He said, ‘There’s going to be a thing, an original Sabbath performance and Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. I can’t see this going on without Jake E. Lee in there somewhere.’”
“It’s a thrill to be a part of it,” Lee continued. “And even more so for me to watch it. I hope Ozzy can get through it. I haven’t spoken with him or seen him in decades.”
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“Do you want to be as big as The Beatles? Don’t you want to go to Waitrose?” Zak Starkey on why he won’t be in a band with fellow Beatles kids Sean Lennon and James McCartney
Being the child of a Beatle might come with its perks – musical chops, famous friends, a last name that opens doors – but for Zak Starkey, it also comes with very clear boundaries.
The son of Ringo Starr and drummer at the heart of The Who’s recent firing-and-rehiring drama, Starkey has finally teamed up with fellow Fab offspring Sean Lennon and James McCartney on a new track, after nearly two decades of dodging the prospect.
Speaking to The Independent, Starkey explains the reasons behind his reluctance and why the idea of forming a ‘Beatles 2.0’ never appealed to him.
“They’re all like, ‘It could be as big as The Beatles,’” he scoffs. “I said, ‘Do you want to be as big as The Beatles? Don’t you want to go to Waitrose? My dad can’t go to fucking Waitrose, he can’t go and buy a paper or whatever. Do you actually want that? You wanna be as good as The Beatles, but do you want that mania and people bringing babies for you to touch and cure them of cancer and shit?’”
That said, Starkey eventually grew close with his fellow Beatle babies, and when the right track came along for his rock band Mantra of the Cosmos, he reached out to Lennon and McCartney to contribute.
The result is Rip Off, a swirling, psych-folk cut that features Lennon adding “an amazing John Carpenter sort of synth and one line, which is really psychedelic and amazing,” and McCartney contributing vocals and guitar.
The track also arrives on the heels of Mantra of the Cosmos’s Noel Gallagher collab Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous), which the Oasis legend previously described as follows [via The Times]: “It’s Dylan, Dali, Ginsberg and a bit of cosmic jibber-jabber. Add in Bez, who dances on the tunes like Zak plays the drums and Andy Bell plays all things stringed, and you have it”.
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“People have been deprived of guitar music, but now it’s coming back”: Liam Gallagher’s son thinks Oasis reunion could kick off a new guitar music boom
After years of chart dominance by synths, samples and algorithm-driven pop, guitar music appears to be on the verge of a full-blown comeback. A new generation of fans is discovering the thrill of distortion, riffs and sweat-soaked gigs, and arguably few events could accelerate that resurgence more than the upcoming Oasis reunion.
Gene Gallagher, son of Liam and frontman of indie band Villanelle, is among those who think the moment is ripe.
“People have been deprived of guitar music,” the 23-year-old tells W Magazine. “But now it’s coming back, and everyone’s getting excited about it.”
Gene, whose band’s first single Hinge arrives later this month, speaks from the frontlines. He and his brother Lennon (who fronts post-rock outfit Automotion) grew up adoring ‘90s grunge, even if their dad wasn’t always on board.
“Heavy guitar music – that’s what I like,” Gene says. “My dad wasn’t fond of the grunge stuff, but I made him come around to it as he got older.”
While streaming trends have favoured hiphop and TikTok-tailored beats for the better part of the past decade, guitar-led music has been steadily creeping back into the cultural mainstream. Acts like Wet Leg, Covet and Yungblud have introduced guitar textures to Gen Z audiences, while legacy sounds from My Bloody Valentine to Nirvana continue to resurface in viral clips and tour merch.
Even Polyphia’s Tim Henson recently weighed in on the shift. “I’d say guitar music got cool!” he told Guitar World earlier this year. “Maybe we had a little to do with that, maybe we didn’t.”
Henson also pointed to Machine Gun Kelly’s genre shift from rapper to chart-topping pop-punk provocateur as a major turning point in bringing the guitar back into the limelight: “Around that time, Eminem did the thing with MGK, and kind of made him switch genres. And then MGK got a number one record with a guitar on the cover, which is really cool,” he said.
As for the Gallagher kids, they’re aware that what fans want from this Oasis tour isn’t just nostalgia but connection.
“So many people want to go with their dad, because he played Oasis in the car when he was driving them to school,” says Gene’s sister Anaïs. “Music is an emotional experience – it’s not just a night out.”
“Gone are the days of fan clubs and seeking out a B-side and buying a magazine because your favorite artist had an interview in there,” she says. “Now there’s less of a community among fans, and I think that people are desperate for that. The Internet can be such a lonely landscape that coming together with others who have a mutual interest in something positive, like music, really benefits people.”
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Guitarist gets dad’s ashes interred in the neck of his Telecaster: “This way he will still be with me at all the shows”
Finding the appropriate way to remember a loved one is a very personal thing, and one guitarist from the UK recently decided to comemorate his late father by having his ashes interred in the neck of his Fender Telecaster so that, in his words, “he will still be with me at all the shows”.
37-year-old Mark Wood, who played in several metal bands including Manchester’s Winterfilleth and now performs with Impurist, says his father, Keith Wood, was not only the person who first taught him to play guitar but also his biggest fan – often travelling across the UK and Europe just to watch him perform.
“Dad was my biggest supporter. He just used to rock up at gigs and we’d just have a beer and a catch up,” he tells the BBC.
Wood says his father died from a heart attack on Christmas Day 2022 at the age of 68. The loss, he adds, had left a “big hole” in the family. His sister Katie chose to have some of their father’s ashes turned into jewellery, which inspired Mark to find a more musical tribute.
That’s when he approached close friend, fellow musician and one-time Guitar.com DIY columnist Sam Orr, who runs Sam’s Guitars in Chester. Orr also knew Keith personally and agreed to take on the delicate task, despite never having attempted anything like it before.
Working ashes into the dotted inlays on the neck of a guitar “was something that I did not know could be done”, Wood admits.
As for the actual process, Orr began by experimenting on a spare neck, eventually developing a method of mixing the ashes with a special glue to fill the fretboard markers.
“At first, I was just wondering how it would work,” he says. “Then the more I thought about it and did a few test runs on a spare guitar neck I had, I realised it wouldn’t be too difficult to complete it.”
Credit: Sam’s Guitars via Instagram
Wood, who was there the entire time, says watching Orr do this “was an emotional experience”: “We put some music on in the background and had a couple of beers and made a thing of it. Sam did the work while the shop was shut and was so caring and careful and really respectful.”
The musician only recently felt ready to play the guitar again, but says the moment he did, “it felt great.”
The first song he played was Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold – a favourite of his dad’s: “He always asked me to play that as a kid,” says Wood, who plans to bring the guitar onstage at his next gig in Hull on 18 July.
“I wish dad was still here but doing this makes me feel like he’s always going to be here with me and you have always got your memories,” he adds. “This way he will still be with me at all the shows and this has given me a sense of closure.”
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How the Rockman revolutionised guitar tone and changed recording forever
The techniques used for recording guitar haven’t changed that much over the years. Even though direct recording has been around for a long time, it’s only recently that going direct has become an acceptable option for guitar players. DI sounds were often harsh, brittle and thin-sounding, leading to most players preferring the trusty old method of mic’ing up a speaker cabinet when it came to recording their tones… but then the guitarist from Boston came along and changed things…
Tom Scholz was the founder, guitar player and mastermind behind legendary 70s rockers Boston. But in addition to writing every bit of More Than A Feeling by himself, Scholz was also an MIT-trained engineer – a handy thing to have in your back pocket if the whole ‘write one of the most iconic rock songs of all time’ thing doesn’t work out.
Anyway, in 1982, Scholz designed a quirky little device for his electric guitar that could fit in your hand. It was no bigger than a normal DI box, or the new-at-the-time Sony Walkman portable headphone cassette player. But the tones you could get out of it were larger than life.
This is the story of the Rockman, the device that invented the concept of amp simulation.
Tom Scholz, 1994. Image: Karjean Levine/Getty Images
Enter Rockman
In truth, the Rockman was far from Scholz’s first guitar-related innovation. He had long used his electronic engineering background to enhance and improve the basement studio he’d created to record much of Boston’s early work.
As the glow of More Than A Feeling faded, he’d even created his own company to bring some of his innovations to life – Scholz Research & Development, Inc.
The first SRD product was another attempt to create a big sound without excessive volume – the Power Soak. The Power Soak was one of the first examples of what we would now call an attenuator. It sat between an amp’s speaker output and the speaker input on a cabinet, and with it, guitarists could drive their amps to get a saturated tube tone without deafening decibel levels.
It was his next innovation that would truly etch Scholz’s name into the history of guitar gear, however – the Rockman. The Rockman, Scholz claimed, could replace $10,000 worth of studio gear and fit in the palm of your hand.
This portable headphone amplifier included four built in amp simulations – two cleans, an overdrive and full distortion – plus effects like stereo chorus and chamber echo.
In an era before digital amp sims and good-sounding solid-state gear, the Rockman was a hugely impressive portable headphone amplifier… but guitar players and studio engineers were about to discover it could be so much more.
The MXR Rockman X100. Image: Press
Direct Line
This is because not too long after the Rockman debuted, guitarists and recording engineers began to realise that if this little box sounded great through a set of headphones, it might also sound great running straight into a desk.
And so it did – what was intended to be a simple headphone amp offered guitarists a signal direct to a recording console that was packed with crystal cleans, natural harmonics and mid-heavy drive tones. There was even a little onboard compression and analog stereo chorus to enhance the whole package.
The Rockman’s great headphone sounds were something of a revelation for both bedroom players and touring guitarists alike. The latter were especially taken with the ability to warm up practice or warm-up in silence, or record some ideas on the road. Scholz’s efforts were officially validated when he received a Rockman warranty card in the mail from none other than Jeff Beck!
Decades before Line 6’s POD brought compact, digital amp simulation to the masses, Scholz and the Rockman were effectively doing the same thing in an analogy form – it was in many ways the first compact amp modeller.
Breaking The Mould
The Rockman was an innovative piece of gear that offered some key features. It was one of the first devices with realistic solid-state amp simulation. One of the signatures of the circuit is built-in compression, which helps sustain the signal and limit the output from clipping. Chorus and echo effects are stereo, which widens the sound.
With it Scholz blazed the trail for the modern digital hardware and software we have today – even if he’s not a fan of the results. “Don’t get me started on the many shortcomings of digital sound,” says Scholz today.
Going Big
Realising that it could be used as both a recording and practice tool took a little while to catch on, but before long it was being used by big bands who were plugging in the Rockman and causing us to rethink how recorded guitar sound was made.
You can hear it on KISS’ Animalize, ZZ Top’s 1985 release Afterburner, and virtuoso shredder Joe Satriani’s hugely influential debut Surfing with the Alien.
But perhaps the most famous use case is on Def Leppard’s Hysteria – indeed much of the hype for the MXR Rockman pedal’s release has been about the ‘Hysteria in a box’ fun it produces.
The arena-ready sounds of the Rockman were perfect for the vibe the band and producer Mutt Lange were chasing, and it heavily influenced the album’s polished sound. What’s more, for an album that was legendarily tortured and troublesome to create, the Rockman at least mitigated a lot of studio headaches and saved time twisting amplifier controls and moving microphones.
Rock…men?
The Rockman was a smash then, and soon SRD started producing other guitar products based on the original’s innovation. The first of these were the Rockmodules. Released in 1986, these were half-rack mounted breakout boxes of individual circuits from the Rockman. They expanded on the original’s capabilities and features, offered greater flexibility, and easier integration into guitarists’ racks – the Rockman could now rock stadiums with ease.
Rockmodules cashed in on the growing rackmount trend and include the Sustainor and Distortion Generator amplifier simulators, Instrument EQ, Guitar Compressor, Smart Gate, Stereo Chorus, Echo, and Chorus/Delay. There were also the MIDI Octopus and Dual Remote Loop units, all with the efficacy of making it easier for guitarists to fit them into their rigs.
By the late 80s and early 90s digital effects were becoming increasingly popular, and analog gear was considered old tech – the original Rockman was discontinued in the early 90s. In 1995 Scholz Research & Development shut down and the Rockman brand was sold to Jim Dunlop. Scholz registered more than 30 patents over the course of his career, and most of the revenue was donated to charity.
Rockman Til You Dropman
Dunlop has continued to produce Rockman Guitar Ace and Metal Ace portable amps in the decades since the company acquired the rights – and they’ve continued to be popular practice tools even as digital amps have made practice amps more and more impressive and versatile.
Then, at NAMM 2025, MXR debuted a new pedal that revitalized the interest in the Rockman – the X100. A Rockman reborn in pedal form, the X100 offers the same stereo guitar sound, four familiar amp tones, and lush chorusing as the original, but in a form factor that can slot onto any board.
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“It started with a Laney, it ends with a Laney”: Laney to reissue Tony Iommi signature amp to mark Black Sabbath’s final farewell
The dawn of heavy metal was welcomed in by Black Sabbath’s debut record back in 1970 – and the ominous, menacing onslaught was powered by a Laney LA100BL amplifier. To mark the final Black Sabbath Show on 5 July, Tony Iommi is collaborating with Laney to honour the amp that started it all.
Laney’s Black Country Customs Tony Iommi TI100 amp is a testament to Iommi’s 60-year-long relationship with the brand. “Without you [Laney], we wouldn’t be here,” the guitarist reflects. “I wouldn’t use anything else.”
The amp is a faithful reissue of Iommi’s original TI100 signature released in 2012, an amp that continues to be Iommi’s go-to. While the guitarist plans to use his original TI100 at the Black Sabbath farewell show, a handful of fans will be able to purchase and enjoy Iommi’s preferred amp.
But you’ll have to act fast. Only 50 units were produced, making this reissue an extremely limited edition release.
Credit: Laney
Handcrafted in Black Country Customs’ UK workshop, the TI100 tube amp comes equipped with everything you need to deliver heavy metal brutality. 8 x 12AX7 loaded preamp tubes are tailor-made for distortion, with 4 x 6L6 power tubes offering 100 watts of powerful output.
The amp also boasts three band EQ, with the addition of specific Volume, Enhance and Presence controls. There’s also twin footswitchable channels, with pre-boost on each channel.
Credit: Laney
Aesthetically, the cab is the absolute image of blasphemy – exactly as Sabbath would have wanted. The front baffle design is littered with crosses, which glow a demonic red when the amp is in action. It looks like something straight out of a horror movie… essentially, it’s the perfect amp for playing some devilish heavy metal.
Each head is also signed by the guitar legend himself, with an added certificate of authenticity and nifty custom cover. There will also be other Iommi goodies in the box, including postcards, picks and more.
Credit: Laney
Some people seem to believe Iommi once used a 50-watt Marshall, the guitarist has remained firm on his Laney love affair. In a 2010 interview with MusicRadar, he explains: “I think I was using Marshall early on, and then Laney on the first album… I switched to Laney because they started up around the same time as us, and they’re a Birmingham company.”
Ever since, Laney have stood by Iommi’s side. “Black Sabbath – it started with Laney, and it ends with Laney,” the guitar company says.
The limited run of TI100 signature amps are now available to pre-order for £2,999.
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Watch Wes Borland cosplay as a skeletal James Hetfield as Limp Bizkit open for Metallica
Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland is no stranger to elaborate stage looks, but his latest might be one of his most metal (and meta) yet.
During the band’s final support slot for Metallica’s M72 World Tour in Denver last Friday (28 June), Borland appeared onstage dressed as a skeletal version of ‘80s-era James Hetfield – complete with white high-top sneakers and a “Metal Up Your Ass” t-shirt.
The guitarist kept the costume on for Limp Bizkit’s full 10-song set at Empower Field at Mile High, delivering a fittingly theatrical sendoff as they wrapped their run opening for the heavy metal titans on the North American leg of the M72 tour. The group previously shared the stage with Hetfield and co. in cities including Toronto, Nashville, Philadelphia, Tampa, and Santa Clara, alongside fellow openers Ice Nine Kills.
Check out fan-filmed footage of Limp Bizkit’s performance below.
Borland’s Hetfield homage wasn’t entirely out of left field as well. Just two months ago, the guitarist shared a reimagined instrumental version of Metallica’s Orion (from the band’s third album Master of Puppets) on Instagram, writing that he was simply “[h]orsing around and loopidy loopin’” at home that afternoon.
As for Metallica, the M72 World Tour is far from over. Following their 2023-2025 dates across Europe and North America, the band has announced plans to return to Europe in 2026. Stops at Frankfurt, Budapest, Dublin, and London will feature the now-familiar “No Repeat Weekend” format, where two shows in the same city are played with completely different setlists.
Earlier this month, frontman James Hetfield revealed that he’d likely still be “trying to form Metallica” and “looking for a Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer and co-founder]” if the band hadn’t existed.
“I’d be roading or working in a studio, hopefully helping make music somehow. Or graphic design,” said Hetfield on The Metallica Report. “I love graphics. I love doing artwork. I also like doing trades stuff – craftsmanship with wood, with metal, building stuff. Maybe that would’ve turned into something, too. But music is a gift I’ve been given, so I’d still be trying to kick some doors down and get into it somehow.”
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“We can finally be what I’ve always wanted to be”: Wolfgang Van Halen on why Mammoth has officially dropped the ‘WVH’ from its name
Last month, eagle-eyed fans clocked something different when Mammoth’s latest single, The End, dropped with a noticeably shorter name. Gone were the initials WVH, leaving the group officially known as simply Mammoth.
As frontman Wolfgang Van Halen now confirms, that’s how he always wanted it – and the only thing standing in the way until now was a trademark issue.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted it to be,” the guitarist tells KOMP 92.3 [via Blabbermouth]. “It’s just we didn’t have the trademark. And so now that we do, we can finally be what I’ve always wanted to be.”
While the original Mammoth WVH moniker served its purpose, Wolfgang admits he was never a fan of the clunky title: “It’s a mouthful. You don’t need it,” he says.
“I mean, I always say ‘Mammoth’ at the shows anyway. Now it’s just official.”
For the uninitiated, Mammoth isn’t just a cool band name. It’s a direct nod to Wolfgang’s legendary dad, Eddie Van Halen, who played – alongside his brother Alex – in a short-lived band called Mammoth before changing their name to Van Halen.
Wolfgang previously revealed that he asked for his dad’s blessing to revive the name when he was just 15 and Eddie, ever supportive, gave it wholeheartedly.
The latest name change also underscores Wolfgang’s ongoing balancing act: embracing his musical legacy while forging his own creative path.
“Man, is it a fucking tight rope to walk,” said Wolfgang in a previous interview where he reflected on the weight of the Van Halen name. “With the shadow I’m under and the expectations… It’s, like, I wanna be able to have the opportunity to reference my lineage, but not copy it and just put a flag in it and sit there and play Panama for everybody every night. I wanna be able to be my own person.”
In related news, Wolfgang Van Halen recently confirmed that he will be pulling out of Black Sabbath’s farewell show next week due to scheduling conflicts.
“I, unfortunately, had to back out because the Creed tour starts the day after, and I wouldn’t be able to pull it off – unfortunately,” he said. “I’m very excited to watch it, but I unfortunately had to back out.”
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“I didn’t foresee it turning out as amazing as this”: Eric Gales and Buddy Guy trade licks in new album honouring his late brother Little Jimmy King
Eric Gales is set to release A Tribute To LJK, a new album dedicated to his late brother and blues guitar phenom Manuel Gales aka Little Jimmy King.
To mark the announcement, Gales has unveiled Somebody, a soulful new track that closes the record and finds him trading licks with the legendary Buddy Guy and ‘sacred steel’ guitarist Roosevelt Collier.
“It’s just a really dope song, man, and I thought it was a great way to end the record. Buddy Guy is a legend,” says Gales, noting that the idea for the collaboration actually came from his wife LaDonna.
“She said, ‘I think you should see if Buddy is available. We don’t know how much time any of us has, so while you have the opportunity, you should give it a shot.’ So we went for it, and he said yeah. He knew my brother, and they played together, so I think it was easy for him to agree to do this song – and the rest is history.”
Of the song’s making, Gales explains that “Me and Buddy actually did our parts at separate times, but you wouldn’t know it: It seems like we’re in the same room at the same time. And that was the intention, to bridge the gap between semi-old and middle-aged, if you will.”
“That’s an anthological sort of tune, in how it starts off acoustically, blows up big, then comes back down again.”
Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, A Tribute To LJK features all original material by Little Jimmy King (save for one song), reinterpreted through Gales’ lens. Aside from Guy and Collier, the record also boasts appearances from a host of heavyweights, including Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, Joe Bonamassa, and Josh Smith.
“This record has been a long time coming,” says Gales. “I wanted it to be the ultimate tribute to my late brother, Little Jimmy King, to keep his memory alive and make sure people remember who he was and still is.”
“I wanted to deliver his tunes to the world through my eyes. And I wanted it to be badass – and that’s exactly how it turned out.”
While he “foresaw a great record”, Gales admits he “didn’t foresee it turning out as amazing as this”: “My brother is there throughout this whole record – and I can’t wait for it to start turning people’s heads…”
A prodigy out of the Bluff City, Manuel Gales played with Albert King’s band in his teens before launching a solo career that earned him critical acclaim through the ‘90s. He died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 37.
A Tribute To LJK is now available to pre-order. The album will be released digitally on 29 August and physically (vinyl & CD) on 24 October. Listen to the first single Somebody below.
The post “I didn’t foresee it turning out as amazing as this”: Eric Gales and Buddy Guy trade licks in new album honouring his late brother Little Jimmy King appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
In pictures: the coolest guitars of Glastonbury 2025
Glastonbury is the biggest and most iconic music festival on earth, and so it stands to reason that with over 3,000 performers stepping on stage at Worthy Farm every that there will be plenty of extremely cool and interesting guitars getting shown off to the world along with it.
But some guitars stand out more than others, either for their uniqueness, rarity or sheer incongruity. With that in mind, here are the coolest guitars we saw at Glastonbury over the weekend.
Photo by Harry Durrant/Getty Images
Matty Healy’s Octave Fuzz Telecaster
The 1975 headlined the Pyramid Stage on Friday night, and while Adam Hann might do most of the guitar work for the band these days (often leaning on his trusty paint-spattered Music Man JP6), frontman Matty Healy’s guitar choice for the evening was definitely one of the most interesting.
The guitar itself caught my eye instantly because how many Teles do you see with see-through scratchplates for one? But then on closer inspection you can spot some very un-standard wiring inside too.
That’s for good reason – the guitar is a creation of one of the Fender Custom Shop’s most interesting builders, Levi Perry. Perry has rapidly earned a rep for loading his builds with built-in effects, and this Fuzz Brain ’67 Tele is no exception – sporting built in fuzz, octave and delay circuits.
Healy didn’t seem to use any of them in anger during Friday night’s set, but it’s still one of the cooler takes on a ‘Smuggler’ Tele out there.
Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Beabadoobee’s Fairlaine Zephyr
London boutique luthier Fairlane has been building a cult following among British and Irish artists over the last couple of years, with everyone from Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, to Fontaines DC’s Conor Curley and of course, Beatrice Laus herself.
You may have heard of them under their previous monicker of Providence, which is the name still branded on the headstock of this custom pink Zephyr that has been Bea’s guitar of choice for a few years now.
Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Rhian Teasdale’s BC Rich Mockingbird Acrylic
Whisper it friends, but is BC Rich about to make a comeback as the ironically cool musician’s guitar of choice?
Phoebe Bridgers has been playing various BC Rich guitars on stage for a few years now (and memorably trashed one on stage during her SNL appearance in 2021), and now Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale seems to be taking it to another level with this super-rare Mockingbird Acrylic in Antifreeze yellow.
There’s a price to pay to look this cool however – the lucite-bodied Mockingbird are legendarily heavy… no wonder she didn’t play guitar much in her set.
Elsewhere in Wet Leg, lead guitarist Hester Chambers seems to have ditched her offsets for a Kramer Galaxie, leading me to wonder if the SuperStrat might be also prime for a crossover comeback?
With Turnstile’s Meg Mills and Olivia Rodrigo guitarist Daisy Spencer also rocking Jackson Super at Glasto this weekend, the evidence is mounting…
Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage
Ron Wood’s Zemaitis ‘Disc Front’
The Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood joined his former Faces bandmate Rod Stewart on stage for Glasto’s Sunday afternoon legends slot, and it was fitting then that he did so sporting one of his most iconic guitars ever.
The Tony Zemaitis ‘Disc Front’ guitar was created for Ronnie around 1971, and he’s used the guitar throughout his time in both The Faces and The Stones. The UK luthier’s distinctive metal- and pearl-fronted guitars were used by pretty much everyone from that era – including Hendrix, Harrison and Wood’s bandmate Keith Richards – but Ronnie remains the brand’s most dedicated exponent.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Noah Kahan’s Fender Coronado
We’ve been used to seeing Noah Kahan playing a variety of Gibson semis and acoustics as he’s exploded into a global superstar over the last couple of years, but the Glastonbury set was notable for some interesting Fender semi-hollow diversions.
The most heavily featured was a vintage black Fender Starcaster, with those all-important Wide-Range humbuckers, but the most striking was undoubtedly a love-it-or-loathe-it Antigua Burst Coronado.
Photo by Harry Durrant/Getty Images
Ellie Rowsell’s 1970s Gretsch Super Chet
The Wolf Alice frontwoman has tended to lean on Fender Telecasters and Jazzmasters as live guitars over the London band’s first 15 years, but her current main guitar squeeze is an interesting Gretsch curio.
The Super Chet is an evolution of the Chet Atkins guitar and sports pickguard-mounted controls and some ornate pearl work on the fretboard and headstock. A very unusual Gretsch that was only made between 1973 and 1980.
Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
Olivia Rodrigo’s modded vintage Mustang
The US pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo brought the curtain down on the festival on Sunday night, and while she played a custom purple Music Man St Vincent on tour last year, recently she’s switched it up to a bunch of red Fender offsets.
The pick of the bunch is this vintage Mustang, which from the looks of things appears to be a mid-60s example with suitably yellowed pearlescent pickguard and a fair few battle scars – but the most interesting thing from a guitar-nerd perspective is the tailpiece.
Rather than the classic Mustang tremolo system, Rodrigo’s example pairs a very non-vintage Mastery bridge with a unique hardtail tailpiece – I’ve never seen anything like this elsewhere, so I’ll assume it’s custom.
Photo by Jim Dyson/Redferns
Neil Young’s Old Black
Neil Young might have faced some stern competition from Charli XCX when he headlined Saturday night, but for a guitar connoisseur there really wasn’t any question where you’d want to be.
Young brought out some of his most iconic instruments, including Hank Williams’ 1941 D-28, his Bigsby-loaded ’54 Goldtop and of course, the most iconic and legendary of them all Old Black.
The black-refinished 1953 Les Paul with a Firebird mini-humbucker in the bridge and a Bigsby vibrato has been Young’s constant companion since his Buffalo Springfield days, and it is without doubt the most iconic and special guitar to feature at Glastonbury 2025.
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“I do think it’s slightly sad when you see Tescos selling guitar packs”: Lee Anderton on keeping his brick and mortar store alive in the Amazon age
Guitars and groceries might both fit in your shopping cart, but for Lee Anderton, that’s where the similarity ends.
In a time where e-commerce dominates and the average consumer can get anything from a vintage fuzz pedal to a boutique tube amp delivered by drone, the Andertons Music CEO continues to invest in something many see as a relic of the past: an actual physical store. And it’s not just any store – the Guildford-based Andertons shop remains one of the UK’s most respected and recognisable musical instrument retailers, despite the immense pressure of online retail giants and shifting consumer habits post-pandemic.
Speaking in a new interview with Guitar.com, Anderton reflects on why he still believes in keeping the in-person experience alive, even as he acknowledges that the landscape has changed forever.
“Anybody who’s in the music business, we’re fundamentally trying to enable people to make music somehow,” the founder explains. “I’m still a complete sucker for getting a lump in my throat every time I see parents with their 10-year-old kid coming in and buying a starter guitar pack.”
It’s moments like that, he says, that no online transaction can replicate.
“We mustn’t take for granted what a profound moment that could be for that kid’s life… So I never want to lose that. And I suppose to a certain extent, I do think it’s slightly sad when you periodically see [UK supermarket giant] Tescos selling guitar packs at Christmas.”
“I do accept that if it reaches a wider audience and gets more people playing, it’s a good thing,” he adds. “But do I really think that the best way for you to start your guitar playing life is chucking it in with a half a chicken and a pound of potatoes in your shopping basket? No, I’m not about that.”
That said, Anderton isn’t oblivious to the realities of modern retail.
“People like the selection and the freedom to shop online that bricks and mortar retailers just can’t compete with,” he admits. “If I add up the number of guitar amp and pedal products that you could order today on the Andertons website – I’m not even counting strings and cables, just guitars, amps and pedals – there are 14,000 different products. And 10,000 of them are in stock! How on earth is your average bricks and mortar store gonna get close to that? It’s financially not possible to have that kind of operation in every major city.”
Still, he argues there’s value in shopping in-person with people who live and breathe the craft: “I buy lots from Amazon, and I don’t necessarily have a bad word to say about Amazon,” says Anderton. “But I don’t suppose Amazon is as passionate about music and instruments as we are.”
“I kind of feel it’s still nice to know that you are shopping with people who really care, you know?”
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Seymour Duncan Hot Jazzmaster Silencer review: an awesome feat of pickup design
$278, seymourduncan.com
Confession time. I play high-gain music without a noise gate. While this is the sort of sin that can get a chair thrown at you in certain circles, I do manage to make it work. I’m not doing chuggy modern metal, so I require very little of the stop/start percussiveness that a gate can afford. I just turn off my gain pedals with a looper if I want to change to a clean sound or stop the feedback.
With that said, my lack of a noise gate does mean that my single-coil loaded Jazzmaster isn’t really ever played live. Very loud feedback is very much a part of the music I want to play – very loud mains hum, less so. But! Seymour Duncan may have the solution here – the Silencer Jazzmasters, a newly designed noiseless set of pickups designed as drop-in replacements for standard-sized Jazzmaster single-coils.
The new pickups use a three-coil design, flanking a main central coil with two smaller coils for hum-cancellation. The middle coil has, like regular Jazzmaster pickups, alnico pole-pieces – and so when installed, the Silencers have a totally traditional look. Can they breathe life back into my parts Jazzmaster build and put it back into live rotation?
Before installing the Seymour Duncan Hot Jazzmaster Silencers. Image: Cillian Breathnach
Install
The patient today is a parts Jazzmaster that I’ve Ship-Of-Theseus’d together over several years. The body is from a Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, the hardware and the neck pickup are from a Classic Vibe Jazzmaster, and the bridge pickup is an aftermarket Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder. Its most drastic departure from a ‘traditional’ Jazzmaster is the neck, which is an aluminium Baguley baritone conversion. So, this guitar’s ‘original sound’ doesn’t really exist – it’s a blank canvas of Jazzmastery experimentation, perhaps perfect for a new pickup install.
Installing the Jazzmaster Silencers is basically as complex as installing any set of humbuckers, as their lead houses four conductors as well as a bare shield wire. In a normal humbucker, this wiring would allow you to split the coils – presumably here the four conductors could also be used to isolate the outer coils from the main coil, and perhaps undo the whole point of the pickup. I’ll leave that experiment for another day.
There’s an included wiring scheme printout to make things easier, presuming you want to opt for a standard Jazzmaster layout. If you want something non-traditional, this wiring scheme does also indicate which leads are which, so you can adapt it into another scheme.
Installing the Hot Jazzmaster Silencers. Image: Cillian Breathnach
As I install the pickups, I’m very grateful for how the wiring includes a strain relief bracket – the pickup’s main lead isn’t just soldered on, it’s also bolted to the case with a sturdy bit of metal. If you’ve ever installed new pickups in a Jazzmaster, you’ll know it can be a bit of a dexterity test keeping the guard and the pickups under control as you get things positioned, so the added reassurance that I wasn’t going to break any wires off was very much appreciated.
The Jazzmaster Silencers are true drop-in replacements – to the point where they fit some well-worn cream pickup covers I have. This pleasingly allows me to match the plastics across the guitar. I was worried that their triple-coil design would ask for a bespoke cover style, or that they might even be glued in to keep their hum-cancelling design magic a secret. Not so – they’re easily switched! If you are ordering your own set, Seymour Duncan gives you the option of cream, white, parchment or black covers.
How’s the hum?
With a gain pedal engaged, I plug in the newly-wired Jazzmaster – and am struck by the sound of almost silence. I say almost silence as a totally quiet system is just unfeasible. However, A/Bing between the Silencers and some humbuckers, the Silencers are just as quiet – if not more so. The only hum is what I’d expect from a loud amp being boosted with a dirt pedal – compared to that same setup with the single-coils, it’s a huge improvement. So a success on the ‘noiseless’ front!
Installing the Hot Jazzmaster Silencers. Image: Cillian Breathnach
How’s the sound?
I’m looking at the Hot variant of the Silencer Jazzmasters – there’s also a vintage-output set available for those who want to keep things more old-school but still hum-free. For my high-gain purposes the Hot pickups are ideal – I’ve set most of my rig up to deal with higher-output humbuckers anyway, and so the Hot set should require less knob-twiddling.
I give things a tentative go into the overdrive channel of an Orange Super Crush 100. First observation – these things bark. They absolutely retain the character of true single-coil Jazzmaster pickups – the neck is warm, round and full-bodied, while the bridge pickup cuts like a scimitar – overall they’ve got a great balance between a full low-end, a slightly scooped midrange and a very present high-end that you really don’t get from any other kind of pickup.
One thing that gives traditional Jazzmaster pickups their sound is the wide, flat coil – which more evenly senses a longer area of vibrating string. When I switch to a clean channel it’s also clear that those two flanking coils are filling out the sound in the same way, adding low-end thunk and high-end presence without ever focusing the response too hard in any one area. I have no idea what pickup-design magic Seymour Duncan is using to achieve this, but whatever it is, it’s clearly effective.
Those full-sized alnico pole-pieces are also definitely doing their job – the string separation is remarkable, and remains so as I switch to the rhythm circuit and engage a Big Muff-style fuzz. That’s an achievement, as for comparison the neck pickup that was in here before would immediately turn into a landslide’s worth of mud with any level of gain engaged.
The Hot Jazzmaster Silencer (bare). Image: Cillian Breathnach
Back to the bridge pickup on the lead circuit, and that level of punchy, high output is a great combination with the same Big Muff tone. It’s a sharp and aggressive sound, to the point where I’m legally obligated to turn on three delay pedals and refamiliarise myself with the Jazzmaster vibrato’s operational limits. Which is to say: it’s time for the Shoegaze Test.
The Silencers pass this test with flying colours – this is ultimately a baritone Jazzmaster running through a rig built for delay-soaked doom. With this many pedals on, the actual ‘voice’ of the pickups becomes somewhat academic. But there is a degree of clarity retained as things get heavy – the main problem the Silencers solve is that, rather than fading into a mix of feedback and over-amplified mains hum, the Silencers bloom into pure, loud, singing feedback when the limits of natural sustain are reached,.
As much as ‘chugging’ isn’t really the sort of metal that I personally need this guitar to do, it is also worth giving them a test with a more modern metal sound, and for that I break out the UAFX Anti set to a do-it-all gated chug. These pickups chug as much as any Jazzmaster-style single-coils can, noiseless or otherwise – the aggressive scoop of the bridge pickup means a much more biting sound than I would normally dial in, but it has its own gnarly appeal.
Should I buy a set of Jazzmaster Silencers?
So, up until now, everything has been pretty hunky dory for the Silencers. They sound great, their noise rejection is brilliant, they look the part and their construction is rock solid. However, all of that does not come cheap.
A set of Silencers will set you back $278 – a fair deal of dollarydoos for a set of pickups, even if they are pretty damn fantastic. Right now they’re also only sold as a set, so if you were hoping to save by only replacing one, then tough luck. It’s also worth noting that talking about the price of US-made music gear in June 2025 is akin to asking how much one of those lovely Titanic deck chairs will set you back just as the boat starts to tip. Depending on how some Supreme Court rulings shake out, the Silencers might well be a good deal pricier by the end of the year.
But the Silencers do ultimately deliver on the ultimate promise of noiseless single-coils: all of the tone, none of the buzz. For some, there’ll be no price too high for that.
Jazzmaster Silencer alternatives:
The Silencers are not the only noiseless Jazzmaster pickups out there – Fralin makes a well-regarded set with a stacked dual-coil design, and if you’re willing to go even more non-traditional, EMG’s active JMaster set is also an interesting option.
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Step aside 4 July – Reverb’s “Independents” Day sale is here, and some of the savings are huge
As the US gears up for the 4 July, Reverb is kicking off its own celebration of independence. Back in April, the online marketplace was sold by Etsy, marking a transition to being an independent, privately owned company – and it’s marking the occasion with an “Independents” Day sale.
Running right up until 7 July, the ‘Independents’ Day sale will spotlight its vast community of independent shops and sellers across the online store. We’re talking thousands of discounts on new, used, and B-stock gear.
[deals ids=”cNuZ7viC562Bl3AIHVert”]
The sale offerings vary from top brands like Fender and Gibson, to more obscure vintage offerings. And the savings can be huge – smaller shop Tone Wolf is offering 20% discounts on Korina Explorers, while KORG is slicing £1,145 off its usual Vox Bobcat S66 pricetag, meaning you could get one for just £381.
There’s also plenty of pedal deals, whether you’re hunting for a simple tuning pedal or a more boutique effects stompbox. City Music Annex is offering a 60% discount on the Electro-harmonix and JHS Pedals collaborative Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz, a pedal we gave an 8/10 back in 2023. Elsewhere, a TC Electronic Polytune 3 Mini polyphonic tuning pedal has had a 41% price drop, now available for just under £50.
Warm Audio is also selling B-Stock at a fraction of the original price. The WA-DI-P Passive Direct Box in particular is available for 10% off, dropping from £82.46 to £74.21. You could also get your hands on a Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+ Speaker Simulator for 15% off, now just £123.25.
As Reverb champions its independent sellers, the company will continue on its own path of independence moving forward. “There’s a lot for our community to look forward to and I’m very excited about what’s coming as we move forward as an independent company again,” Reverb CEO David Mandelbrot teased back in April.
To check out more ‘Independents’ Day sales, head to Reverb.
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Meet your heroes and try out the latest gear at Sweetwater’s GuitarFest 2025
Last August, Sweetwater hosted its very first GuitarFest, allowing the public to get hands-on with new products from top guitar brands, engage with brand representatives and meet their favourite musicians – and its happening again this year.
The second annual GuitarFest will take place on 27 September at Sweetwater’s Fort Wayne, Indiana campus.
Manufacturers such as Gibson, Fender, Marshall, and more will be in attendance, allowing the public to test out new guitars and quiz brand reps. It’s also just a great opportunity to mingle with fellow guitar lovers.
While nobody has been announced just yet, Sweetwater has teased that multiple “major artists” will be making appearances throughout the day, including meet-and-greets and signings.
The festivities will serve as the grand finale of Sweetwater’s Guitar Month sale. The sale will see a slew of exclusive in-store deals popping up over an 8-day period, kicking off on 20 September.
GuitarFest is completely free, but you do need to register for entry. Early registration is already available via Sweetwater’s website, where the company will continue to post updates on artist meet-and-greets, planned activities, and more.
“We’re thrilled to bring GuitarFest back for its second year,” says Samantha Hunter, director of artist relations and campus events at Sweetwater.
“We’ve taken everything we learned from last year’s event – along with the valuable feedback from attendees – and used it to make the experience this year even better.”
“We truly believe 2025’s GuitarFest will be an unforgettable celebration for music lovers of all kinds,” she concludes.
The free festival is just one of many ways Sweetwater gives back to the community. The company’s 2024 Impact Report shared that the company’s Guitar Workshop recycled over a quarter of a million guitar strings last year, as well as generating 1.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity across its Fort Wayne campus’ 93,000 feet of solar roof panels.
If you’d like to get a sense of what GuitarFest has to offer, YouTuber Masters of Shred posted a thorough vlog of the 2024 experience, showcasing the wide variety of guitars, pedals, amps and artist signings on offer.
Registration to attend GuitarFest is open now. Browse all your favourite products over at Sweetwater.
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Why Jake E. Lee agreed to perform at Black Sabbath’s final show even though he “hasn’t spoken with Ozzy Osbourne or seen him in decades”
With Black Sabbath’s long-awaited farewell show just around the corner, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has opened up about why he agreed to take part despite not having spoken to the Prince of Darkness in decades.
Speaking in the latest issue of Guitar World, Lee reveals that it wasn’t Ozzy who reached out directly, but Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who’s serving as musical director for the all-star Back To The Beginning event.
“Tom Morello called me. He said, ‘There’s going to be a thing, an original Sabbath performance and Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. I can’t see this going on without Jake E. Lee in there somewhere,’” he recalls.
Lee, who played on hits like Bark at the Moon and Killer of Giants during his stint with Osbourne in the ‘80s, says he’s excited about the upcoming show both as a participant and as an audience member even if he hasn’t been in contact with Ozzy for years.
“It’s a thrill to be a part of it,” he says. “And even more so for me to watch it. I hope Ozzy can get through it. I haven’t spoken with him or seen him in decades.
“I really don’t know what condition he’s in, but he deserves a final farewell performance.”
“No matter how he is, or how well his singing is, he deserves to have that final farewell. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Taking place on 5 July in Birmingham’s Villa Park, the one-day Sabbath-headlined show will be preceded by Osbourne’s own mini set and supported by metal heavyweights like Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira, and Anthrax. The concert will also be available as a pay-per-view livestream for £24.99 for fans around the world.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Van Halen earlier this week revealed that he’s no longer appearing at Black Sabbath’s farewell gig due to prior touring commitments with Creed.
“I wouldn’t be able to pull it off – unfortunately. I’m very excited to watch it, but I unfortunately had to back out,” the guitarist told WRIF Detroit.
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“His future is as bright as his talent is undeniable”: Jason Becker applauds Matteo Mancuso after meet-up that “bridged generations of guitar greatness”
Guitar history has its icons and its rising stars, and every so often, those worlds collide – such as they did when 28-year-old Italian virtuoso Matteo Mancuso visited the legendary Jason Becker.
One one of the most celebrated guitarists of the late ‘80s, Becker made his mark alongside Marty Friedman in the neoclassical shred duo Cacophony before joining David Lee Roth’s band for 1991’s A Little Ain’t Enough. His meteoric rise was tragically cut short after being diagnosed with ALS (a motor neuron disease) in 1989. Though he eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates via computer, his mind remains sharp and he continues to compose music using only his eyes.
Despite these challenges, Becker has remained a beacon of inspiration for guitarists around the world. Over the years, countless players – from Eddie Van Halen to 11-year-old prodigy Maya Neelakantan – have paid him visits. Most recently, that list grew to include Mancuso, whose jaw-dropping technique and expressive touch have drawn praise from icons like Steve Vai, Al Di Meola, and Joe Bonamassa.
The meeting, shared via Becker’s official Instagram account, was described as “a moment that beautifully bridged generations of guitar greatness.”
“Each of [the above guitarists who praised Mancuso’s skills] has echoed a powerful sentiment: if the future of guitar lies in Matteo’s hands, then the instrument’s legacy is in very good hands indeed.”
“But what struck us most during his visit wasn’t just his technical brilliance – it was his heart,” the post states. “Matteo arrived with sincere humility, kindness, and a deep respect for Jason and his story. Watching the two connect – one a rising star, the other an enduring symbol of courage and creative brilliance – was moving and unforgettable.”
“It was a meeting of minds, a celebration of music, and a reminder that true greatness lies not only in talent, but in the soul behind the strings.”
The post continues: “Jason and all of Team Becker want to express their heartfelt thanks to Matteo and his manager, Michele Mozzicato, for making this visit possible – and for being so generous with their time, energy, and spirit.”
“It meant the world to us. We’ll be cheering Matteo on every step of the way and can’t wait to watch his incredible journey continue to unfold. His future is as bright as his talent is undeniable.”
Check out the full post below.
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“I buy them from Sweetwater”: Vintage obsessive Joe Bonamassa’s pedalboard consists entirely of “standard-issue” modern effects
He’s got one of the biggest vintage guitar collections in the world. A reputation for being a certified gearhead and tone obsessive. He also purchases standard-issue pedals straight from Sweetwater.
Yes, we’re talking about Joe Bonamassa, whose pedalboard is surprisingly no-frills for someone with access to nearly any piece of gear imaginable.
Speaking on the new issue of Guitarist, Bonamassa reveals just how low-maintenance his effects setup actually is when asked if any of his pedals – like the MXR Micro Flanger, for instance – had been modded.
“Nope, standard issue – I buy them out of Sweetwater,” says the blues legend.
“There’s a Tube Screamer that is either an ‘80 or an ‘81. A Micro Pog and a Fuzz Face that goes through the Twins. Then the switcher and the wah and the Fulltone [Supa-] Trem and a Way Huge Conspiracy Theory.”
“The rest of it’s just junction boxes, you know: inputs for the amps, and a junction box, basically, to get to the switcher and out, and then there’s the two boxes that power everything.”
As with his pedalboard, Bonamassa prefers to keep his amplifiers simple as well.
Whether he’s sitting in for a night or flying in for a special appearance, the musician previously revealed that his priority is just to “bring something that’s appropriate” for the gig at hand.
“The older I get, the more I prioritise my general condition and the condition of my back,” he said. “If I’m in L.A., I have a lot of stairs. What goes down must come up.”
So when he’s just dropping in for a guest spot, Bonamassa keeps things light: “I just scale accordingly. It’s only one guitar, a gig bag, a protector case, and a cable.”
“If I’m just sitting in, I just prefer to play through whatever’s there,” he added.
“The only thing that will make me bring my own amp is if they go, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a Princeton Reverb’ and it’s a live band. Well, you can’t really move the needle there; it’s not loud enough. You’re just peaked.”
Meanwhile, Bonamassa is set to play a trio of Rory Gallagher tribute concerts in Cork next week – and in a move that perfectly sums up his guitar-obsessive spirit, he recently purchased a Fender Stratocaster from none other than Crowley’s Music Centre, the very shop that sold Gallagher his iconic 1963 Strat, in preparation.
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“I like grabbing something that I don’t think is the ‘right’ thing and seeing how that works”: Why Alex Lifeson still reaches for the $57 Japanese guitar his parents got him
When you’ve spent decades playing in front of stadiums with one of prog rock’s most sonically ambitious bands, you earn the right to reach for whatever gear you damn well please.
And for Alex Lifeson, that sometimes means bypassing his custom rigs in favour of a cheap, beat-up Japanese guitar he’s had since 1967.
Asked if he tends to stick with familiar tools or reach for new ones when recording, Lifeson tells Guitar World,
“There are definitely go-to’s that I prioritise, but I also just like grabbing something that I don’t think is the ‘right’ thing and seeing how that works.”
“Like, I have the first guitar I ever owned, which my parents bought for me in 1967 for $57. It’s just a cheap Japanese guitar that I had refinished. I pull it up for some things.
“It’s kind of like a Jack White sensibility, like, ‘I’ll take this crappy guitar and see what happens.’”
“So far, I haven’t had much success, to be honest,” he adds with a laugh. “But you get what I’m saying. Sometimes, I’ll go for a P90; I’m not normally inclined in that way with guitars, but now I realise that tonality is what it’s all about. I create different tones.”
As for his most-used gear today? “I’d probably say my ES-335, the Lerxst guitars, and a couple of my Teles,” says Lifeson.
“And then, on the amp front, I’ve got a bunch of them. I’ve got a Marshall, my Lerxst amps, Bogner, a Mesa Boogie Mark V and – like I said – I have an enclosure built with a single Celestion 12.”
“Then I’ve got my Universal Audio compressors and about a dozen good acoustics. I’ve been collecting gear for 50 years, so I’ve got a good arsenal of gear here in my apartment. I’m covered.”
Still, for all the gear and decades of experience, the Rush guitarist admits confidence hasn’t always come easily.
“I’ve never been very confident, to be honest with you, as a player,” he says.
“I’ve always felt like I had to work hard, and maybe I didn’t appreciate that I have a natural talent for playing guitar.”
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