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From The Allman Brothers Band to Gov’t Mule, it’s no secret that Warren Haynes is an axeman to be reckoned with. However, his dynamic blend of blues, rock and jazz has been refined by his fellow guitarists – because the true “magic” of performing is only revealed once you find the perfect collaborative partner.

According to Haynes, a strong guitar partnership brings out the best in both parties. “[You need] the right mix of contrast and similarity,” he tells Classic Rock. “If two guitarists are too similar it gets bland; too different and it can clash. But when there’s that balance, something magic happens.”

• READ MORE: “You’re adding to the problem”: Warren Haynes says this is the biggest mistake guitarists make when improvising
  

Haynes has been lucky enough to find his perfect muse in guitarist Derek Trucks. “Derek and I have been playing together for so long we almost don’t have to think about it,” he explains. “We can finish each other’s musical sentences. There’s trust, respect, shared philosophy about what music is. You need that – and a healthy amount of competition, but not one-upmanship.”

It’s a view Haynes has parroted time and time again; guitarists need to be able to listen to one another and work together. It’s not about being the best and standing out, but about adapting and working with those around you.

“To play music to the best of your ability, you have to learn how to listen to everyone else while you’re playing and adapt to that – even if it’s just from a tuning standpoint, or what register you’re playing in standpoint, or rhythmically,” he told Sweetwater back in March. “That’s the key in improvisational music, without question,”

“If you’re just concentrating on your own part and you don’t realise that the rhythm section is kind of laidback or pushing, then you’re adding to the problem,” he continued. “So, I think musicians that improvise on a certain level are all deeply listening to each other. All the years that I played with The Allman Brothers, that was the key ingredient – being locked in, together.”

Haynes’ upcoming record, The Whisper Sessions is set to drop this September. The record will serve as a “companion piece” to 2024’s Million Voices Whisper, comprised of solo and duet alternative takes on each track. “When I listened back, I thought there was something unique about hearing the songs in that raw, singer-songwriter form,” he tells Classic Rock. “Then Derek and I recorded a version of Melissa – just one take – and someone suggested putting it al out as a release.”

Pre-order The Whisper Sessions now before it arrives 12 September.

The post “If two guitarists are too similar it gets bland”: Warren Haynes on how to create “magic” in a band appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite being a founding member, Ace Frehley was nowhere to be seen throughout Kiss’ End Of The Road World Tour – because the glam rockers rescinded his invitation.

According to Frehley, him and founding drummer Peter Criss were both originally set to perform at Kiss’ final Madison Square Garden show in December 2023. “About nine months… both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were saying, ‘We’re going to bring everybody out on stage,’” he tells Guitar World. “And then, a few months before the concert, they both changed their tune.”

• READ MORE: “Ace started to indulge in things that went up his nose”: Gene Simmons on the “rebellious” nature of Ace Frehley in Kiss’s early days

Considering Frehley previously reunited with the band in 1996, fans were confused as to why Frehley did not perform at Kiss’ final show. And he would have, if the Stanley and Simmons hadn’t changed their minds.

Some rather rude comments only added insult to injury, too. “Paul went on to say, ‘If Ace and Peter got on stage with us, the band could be called Piss,’” Frehley recalls. “So, I kind of got into an argument with him.”

Following the snub of being uninvited to Kiss’ final show, the guitarist is understandably less keen to involve himself in Kiss-related projects. Most recently, Frehley has declined the invitation to attend Kiss’s Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas. “They asked me and I declined,” he explains.

The event in question, which is set to take place this November, pales in comparison to the grand Madison Square Garden send-off. “There’s no way I’m gonna be involved with that, you know?,” he says. “Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.”

However, Frehley isn’t entirely ruling out working with Kiss in the future. While the invitation to attend Kiss Kruise (which isn’t even a cruise this year) may feel insulting, he still loves his Kiss family. “I’m the kind of guy that never says never,” he says. “I don’t hate Paul or Gene, you know? We’re rock and roll brothers – and Peter, too. So, anything can happen.”

Regardless, Frehley is continuing to focus on his own work. He explains he’s “having too much fun doing my own thing” at the moment. “Maybe I’ll eventually get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist,” he notes.

Kiss are set to perform two unmasked sets over the course of the three day Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas event. The sets will feature all but Eric Singer from the final Kiss line-up, with Simmons, Stanley, and Tommy Thayer on lead vocals. But remember – Kiss have broken up. They’ve definitely broken up. Yep.

Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas will take place 14-16 November. You can grab tickets now.

The post “They asked me and I declined. There’s no way I’m gonna be involved in that”: Ace Frehley on his current relationship with Kiss appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When Fender announced its Standard Series – the cheapest new Fenders you can buy – at this year’s NAMM Show, many industry watchers wondered about the future of the Fender-owned Squier brand, which has long made affordable, entry-level alternatives to Fender’s classic guitar designs.

Indeed, earlier this year, Fender’s EVP of Product Justin Norvell revealed the brand had briefly considered replacing the entire Squier line with Fender-branded instruments, but ultimately realising there was “so much equity in the Squier brand name”, so it would have been “crazy to get rid of that”.

• READ MORE: “I was happy if I got 9 hours a day”: Steve Vai on the crazy practice schedule he developed as a teenager

Yep, it certainly doesn’t look like Squier is going anywhere, and the brand has just launched a plethora of new additions to its Classic Vibe line, which offers ‘50s-, ‘60s- and ‘70s-inspired instruments with period-correct aesthetics, tones, neck profiles and more.

There’s 10 new models on offer, with a selection of new finishes and hardware options that are sure to make even the most hardline Fender purist tempted by its budget sister brand.

“At Fender, we’re always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible within the world of instrumentation – for players at every level,” notes Justin Norvell.

“We’ve built this range to inspire creativity and elevate the playing experience in every genre. We’re proud to carry forward our legacy by continuing to shape the future of music whilst also paying homage to our heritage and the traditions that got us here in the first place.”

First to stand out in the drop is the new Custom Telecaster SH outfitted with a Bigsby tailpiece, just below a classic vintage-style Tele bridge plate. The Bigsby, in this case, features a string-through design for easy restringing – welcome, no doubt, for less advanced guitarists – and a floating bridge with barrel saddles for optimal tuning stability.

The Classic Vibe Custom Telecaster SH Bigsby is a tribute to the double-bound body Tele models of the late ’50s and ’60s, complete with Fender-designed alnico single-coil bridge and humbucking pickups.

Two new Stratocasters join the Classic Vibe lineup: a ‘50s-inspired one with a stable hardtail bridge and string-through-body design for “optimal body resonance”, and a ‘70s hardtail bridge-fitted HSS model, with ‘70s-inspired headstock markings, nickel-plated hardware and a slick vintage-tinted gloss neck finish.

There’s also a new Jazzmaster, Esquire and even the return of the Duo-Sonic, an offset design with a single coil/humbucker pickup configuration, complete with a short 24” scale length.

The drop also makes room for the bass players, with a new ‘60s Jazz Bass, Active ‘70s Jazz Bass, Telecaster Bass and Active ‘70s Jazz Bass V. 

For more information on the latest Classic Vibe models, head to Squier.

The post “Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for players at every level”: Squier’s 2025 Classic Vibe drop has arrived – with some head-turning new configurations appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$189/£189, earthquakerdevices.com

Ah, how nice it is to be able to talk about EarthQuaker Devices in the context of some pure bouncing-bunny-rabbits good news: the launch of a really tasty fuzz pedal.

It’s tempting to think the deathly skulls adorning the Rancho de la Luna Dirt Transmitter are a reference to the grim future of the American stompbox industry – the Ohio company’s CEO Julie Robbins has been one of the loudest voices warning about the potential impact of the Trump tariffs on EQD and other makers – but the artwork is actually a tie-in with the Rancho de la Luna recording studio in Joshua Tree, California. It’s cute anyway. Macabre, but cute.

• READ MORE: Beetronics Larva review – a speed-ramping phaser with a couple of twists

EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter – what is it?

On the inside, this is not a new pedal: the Dirt Transmitter was one of the first fuzzes EQD ever made. It was brought back last year in a limited-edition Legacy Reissue, and now it’s been re-reborn.

Loosely based on the Fuzz Face circuit, it has something that’s been cropping up on a lot of dirt pedals recently: a bias knob, letting you lower the voltage to the two 2N1711 silicon transistors for sputtery gating effects. The other controls are the standard-issue level, tone and fuzz; it’s true bypass and has a soft-touch footswitch.

EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter – sounds

Conventional wisdom says silicon fuzzes sound bright and raspy compared to their soft and fluffy germanium counterparts. Well get ready for some unconventional wisdom, because the Dirt Transmitter is about as dangerously abrasive as a duvet.

It’s not muffled, but the treble response is fundamentally moderate even with the tone knob maxed out. The bottom end, in contrast, is thoroughly well rounded, while the mids have the smooth, slightly scooped character of a classic Fuzz Face – albeit without the same looseness in playing feel. It sounds extremely pleasant with the fuzz around halfway, scuzzy but sweet with the guitar’s volume turned down a couple of notches, and sludgily colossal with everything at maximum.

Turn the bias down too far and things get spitty in a way that really isn’t musical, but the right half of the dial is well worth exploring for subtly tightened-up tones with an element of ripping texture and, on single low notes, good old-fashioned squelch. It’s this extra dimension, in the end, that might just leave you wondering why the Dirt Transmitter was discontinued in the first place.

EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter – should I buy one?

You might be inclined to buy this pedal because you appreciate EarthQuaker’s efforts to raise awareness of the existential threat facing the US pedal-making industry. You might want to buy it just because you think EQD is a cool company… or because you’re a Day Of The Dead obsessive and it’s got skulls on it. But no, let’s get serious: you should probably buy the Dirt Transmitter because it’s excellent.

EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter – alternatives

Two of the pioneering voltage-starved fuzz pedals of the 90s are still around in one form or another: the ZVEX Effects Fuzz Factory Vexter ($199/£189.99) and, an evolution of the Lovetone Big Cheese, the ThorpyFX Field Marshal (£209.99). Or if you really are all about the skulls, your other option is the superb Flattley DG Fuzz (£259).

The post EarthQuaker Devices Rancho de la Luna Dirt Transmitter review – heavy fuzz tones with a voltage-starving twist appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The Who found themselves at the centre of the headlines earlier this year when drummer Zak Starkey was abruptly fired following a choppy gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Starkey – the son of Beatles legend Ringo Starr – was re-admitted into the band on the condition that he “tighten up”, but was subsequently dismissed again a short time later.

Now, guitarist Pete Townshend has explained in further detail why frontman Roger Daltrey decided Starkey was out of the band following that Royal Albert Hall show and the subsequent aftermath.

• READ MORE: “Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player”: Roger Daltrey comments on firing of drummer Zak Starkey

“One of the difficulties Roger had was [Zak] jumped straight into Instagram and started to mouth off and defend his position in a cheeky, chatty manner, which belies the seriousness of what actually happened,” Townshend tells AARP.

In a now-deleted post on Instagram made shortly after his firing, Starkey wrote: “Heard today from inside source that Roger Daltrey – lead singer and principal songwriter of the group – is unhappy with my performance at the Albert Hall a few weeks ago, is bringing formal charges of overplaying.”

Pete Townshend continues: “Roger had asked us to rehearse The Song Is Over because that’s what we were calling the tour. We shortened it to three and a half minutes. And about halfway through [during the Royal Albert Hall show], it appeared that Roger got completely lost.

“He stopped, he complained, spoke to his own sound engineer, and started to rage. It looked like he was raging at Zak, but that’s not the case. It became a story among fans, and it looked like Roger made a mistake, but something technical went wrong. [Zak’s] handling of it was, I suppose, light-hearted, but you know Roger.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Townshend is asked why he and Roger Daltrey continue The Who while they’re both now in their 80s, instead of retiring.

“It’s a brand rather than a band,” he says. “Roger and I have a duty to the music and the history. The Who [still] sells records – the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires. There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band.”

The post “One of the difficulties Roger had was Zak jumped straight into Instagram and started to mouth off”: Pete Townshend reveals the real reason why The Who fired Zak Starkey appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

How did Steve Vai get so good at guitar? Well, it could be to do with the rigorous – to put it lightly – practice regimen he adopted from a young age.

In a new interview with Billy Corgan on the Smashing Pumpkins leader’s podcast The Magnificent Others, Vai recalls becoming obsessed with the guitar in his early teenage years, and developing a round-the-clock training schedule to sharpen his skills.

• READ MORE: “They were doing some fixing on their live record”: Peter Frampton claims Kiss borrowed his guitars to do overdubs on KISS Alive!

“When I was younger I chose the route of being fascinated by chops,” the virtuoso recalls. “It was an interesting discovery, and it was just something as simple as, ‘Look, if you sit down and just practice, you get better.’”

He continues: “And when I started getting better, it gives you a feeling of enthusiasm, self-respect, which I needed at the time. So it becomes sort of like an addiction.

“Practicing endlessly is not for everybody. It’s only for those that have a pull to do it. You can try to force it, but if it doesn’t feel natural to you, [it won’t happen].”

When asked by Billy Corgan about how many hours a day he would practice early in his guitar-playing career, Vai replies: “My schedule back then – I was happy if I got nine hours a day. I was very neurotic, very myopic.”

Vai says it was as early as 12, 13, and 14 years old that he became so engrossed and obsessed with honing his guitar skills.

“It just had such a pull, such an attraction, such an interest. Such a joy,” he explains.

“The funny thing was, it didn’t feel like discipline. People say, ‘You must have been very disciplined.’ Sometimes I would go to sleep early on a Friday so I could wake up and practice all the way ‘til Monday… I’m not a very disciplined person in that way. It was a passion. Passion is a much more powerful engine of creation than discipline.

“Discipline implies you have to fight something, you have to push yourself to do something that you don’t really wanna do. But passion says, ‘You’re gonna do this because you want to do it.’ There’ll be challenges along the way but there’s never the thought of giving up. Because it’s in your heart.”

The post “I was happy if I got 9 hours a day”: Steve Vai on the crazy practice schedule he developed as a teenager appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

It’s long been known that Kiss’s 1975 breakthrough Alive! album wasn’t quite as “live” as advertised. Members have since admitted to overdubs, while producer Eddie Kramer has explained that the band’s explosive stage show often came at the cost of clean-sounding performances.

• READ MORE: “Ace started to indulge in things that went up his nose”: Gene Simmons on the “rebellious” nature of Ace Frehley in Kiss’s early days

From fire-breathing and guitar rockets to sky-high platform boots, the chaos of a Kiss gig made it nearly impossible to capture everything cleanly on tape. “It’s no wonder things got a little bit out of whack,” Kramer tells Guitar Player. “So we did a bunch of guitar and vocal overdubs at Electric Lady Studios.”

As it happens, Peter Frampton was mixing Frampton Comes Alive! at the very same studio. And according to the guitarist, Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley made regular visits next door to borrow his gear.

“They kept on coming to us and asking if we got guitars, amps or basses, as they were doing some fixing on their live record,” Frampton told Guitar Player in a 2005 interview.

Among the gear was his mid-’50s Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’, the same instrument immortalised on the cover of Frampton Comes Alive! and in Humble Pie’s breakthrough record Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore.

”They just kept on coming in and borrowing all sorts of different stuff,” Frampton said. “So my equipment is on that album – but not me!”

Kramer, too, remembers Frampton’s gear being used alongside Kiss’s Marshalls: “I do remember Peter’s amps in Studio A other than the Marshall stacks that Ace and Paul had,” he says. “Aside from them doing lead vocals and some harmonies, that’s all the gear I can remember now, as it’s ‘only’ 50 years ago now.”

Despite purists questioning the overdubs, the producer insists the fix-ups were necessary to deliver the record Kiss needed.

“After having heard all of the original shows and the rehearsals, they were remarkably good,” he says. “The essentials were there and well played, and we did whatever was needed to make that a great live album.”

The result spoke for itself: Alive! went on to sell nearly eight million copies, turning Kiss into arena headliners – with a little uncredited help from Peter Frampton’s gear along the way.

The post “They were doing some fixing on their live record”: Peter Frampton claims Kiss borrowed his guitars to do overdubs on KISS Alive! appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Joe Bonamassa is done wrangling with the critics. With his new record Breakthrough fresh out, the blues legend is clear-eyed about where he stands: not everyone will like his music, and that’s perfectly fine by him.

In a recent chat with Guitar World, Bonamassa declares, “What I interpret the blues as is different from what other people interpret the blues as. I’m long past the point of caring. There’s nothing I can do to change people’s opinions about me, nor do I wish to.”

• READ MORE: Joe Bonamassa says he no longer cares if you use too many pedals: “Players can do whatever the f*** they want. How about that?”

For Bonamassa, the point of it all is simple: “What I offer is an escape for two hours and 10 minutes. When we play a show, it’s an escape from politics, the world’s problems and your personal problems. You enjoy the show, or put on the record, and you forget. That’s what music is about. It’s always been about that.”

And while the so-called “blues police” might nitpick, he shrugs it off.

“Even the people who get praised and championed by the blues police think the blues police are a joke. They all roll their eyes in private,” says the guitarist. “It’s like, ‘Who cares? It’s just music.’ It’s made to be enjoyed; it’s not that important.”

That attitude extends beyond genre debates to his gear too.

“Everybody has room. There’s no right or wrong,” JoBo explains. “We live in a world of influencers going, ‘Well, here’s the ultimate way to do X.’ The next thing you know, someone comes up with some oddball approach that changes the game again. But everybody is dealing with the same wood and wire as everybody else.”

As for the critics who still want him to play it straighter? Bonamassa’s simply not interested.

“It doesn’t matter, because when I look at our last set of gigs and I see full arenas, I think, ‘We did something right, and the music struck a chord with a large number of people,’” he says. “So do I placate the minority of folks, or do I play an arena gig with blues songs that nobody else is doing? I’d rather do the latter.”

Ultimately, Bonamassa wears the “polarising” label like a badge of honour: “You have to, at some point, say to yourself, ‘This is who I am, but not everybody is going to like it.’… You’re not doing it right until you’re polarising. You’re not doing it right until someone you know makes a stupid meme about you.”

“There’s a quote from a bass player [Derek Smalls] from a great band [Spinal Tap], who said, ‘There’s fire and ice,’ but what you don’t want to be is lukewarm water. I’d rather quit than be lukewarm water,” says the musician. “I’d rather be loved or hated – but not tolerated.”

The post “There’s nothing I can do to change people’s opinions about me”: Joe Bonamassa accepts some people will never appreciate his take on the blues appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

For most of us, learning guitar is a labor of love, and that love is placed squarely in the music we want to make with the instrument, not necessarily in how it works and functions as a piece of equipment. In this article, or perhaps series of articles, we’ll take a look at some of those steps that might get overlooked when it comes to getting to understand our instruments and how they work.

• READ MORE: The best electric guitars for metal – our top-rated Jacksons, Gibsons, Strandbergs & more

How Do I Tune A Guitar With A Tuner (Properly)?

Tuning a guitar seems like it would be the easiest thing in the world for a guitarist to learn, but there is actually a fair amount of subtlety to it if done properly. Everyone should learn to tune by ear, and there are enough tutorials online on how to do that. I do have some tips for those using a tuner of some sort that will help you get a better reading.

A guitar string vibrating consists of several notes – there’s the fundamental note, which is the initial sound when you pluck the string. Your fundamental note is the lowest note and then you have harmonics of that note at various points on the string. We know exactly where these points are, and they are very important in determining the timbre of an instrument. However, these harmonics often confuse a tuner – that’s why your tuner might bounce around a bit before it “settles down” and gives you a good reading.

When tuning your guitar, you only want the fundamental note, which happens to be the lowest note, so, to make it easier for the tuner to find that, roll the tone knob down very low, switch your guitar to the neck or rhythm pickup (if it has one) and then pluck the string over the twelfth fret. Don’t pluck it too hard or your string will go sharp and by the time it settles down, the note has died out – this is especially true on down-tuned guitars. Light pluck is all you need. This will give you the most accurate reading on a tuner.

What Does A Tone Knob Actually Do?

Most guitars have volume knobs and tone knobs, and while the volume knobs are fairly self-explanatory, ‘Tone’ knobs are a bit more misunderstood. Tone is a big buzz word in the guitar community and there are a million different ways that a guitarist can alter their tone, only one of which is the knob on the guitar. As it turns out, the tone knob affects the tone in a very specific way and can be a very important tool for us to alter tone before it leaves the output jack of our guitar.

The tone knob on your guitar is essentially a low-pass filter which allows lower frequencies to pass through the pot while knocking out the high frequencies. So, when you find your tone a bit harsh and high pitched, you can roll back on your tone knob to knock out some of those high frequencies. It functions very similarly to a treble knob on an amplifier.

When your tone knob is set to 10, you are letting all frequencies through, and you can dial it down until it’s at 0, at which point no frequencies will get through, and the guitar will not have any output. Learning to work with your tone knob will allow you to dial in a wider range of sounds right on your instrument without having to go mess with your amp during a show.

Are Neck And Bridge Pickups Interchangeable?

Most of the time, pickups will physically fit into either position on the guitar, but a good life lesson is: just because it fits doesn’t necessarily mean you should put it in there. There are some key differences that you should be aware of.

The first difference is that bridge and neck pickups are often wound differently. A string vibrates differently at the neck pickup than it does at the bridge. The string vibrates less at the bridge because it’s closer to a fixed point. Many builders compensate for this by making the bridge pickup “hotter”, essentially boosting the signal to match the neck pickup’s output signal.

The other key difference is string spacing. The string spacing at the bridge and the nut is generally different on electric guitars, with the string spacing being narrower at the nut than at the bridge. Because of this, the pole spacing on the neck pickup is often closer together than on the bridge pickup. This is not always the case, but oftentimes it is. Today, many aftermarket pickups make “F-Spaced” humbuckers, which can be used in Fenders as the string spacing on a Fender is usually a bit narrower than on a Gibson. Eddie Van Halen compensated for this difference on his Frankenstrat by slanting the humbucker to put the pole pieces more directly under the strings on his Fender-style guitar.

With these differences in mind, my advice is always to try anything that you feel might give you the sound you are looking for. Experimentation is just fine. I swap pickups all the time, and sometimes it has yielded really good results. Remember, you can always swap them back.

Why Do Some Guitars Have A Stripe On The Back Of The Neck and Some Don’t?

This is referred to as a “skunk stripe,” and it is most commonly found on Fender guitars. It was originally seen on guitars where the neck and fretboard were one piece of wood. In these cases, the truss rod was inserted from the back of the neck and the hole was covered with a piece of wood that was usually a different color. This was done because using a piece of the same color maple would have made it look as if a repair had taken place. So, they opted to make it ornamental instead, using walnut prior to 1959 and today it can be anything (I usually use roasted maple).

Fender still uses a skunk stripe today, even when the neck is a two-piece design and the truss rod can be easily inserted into the neck before the fretboard is glued on. The skunk stripe has become somewhat of a marketing gimmick for people who have become accustomed to it.

Got your own question about guitar that you were too afraid to ask? Email editors@guitar.com and the answer might appear in a future article…

The post Answered: Technical Guitar Questions You Were Too Afraid To Ask appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Mac DeMarco has had plenty of things to say about musicians complaining about how difficult their job is, and now the guitarist has doubled down on his belief that the next generation are too entitled to appreciate their privileged position.

DeMarco is due to release a new album titled Guitar on 22 August, marking his first record since 2023’s One Wayne G. Earlier this month in an interview with The New Yorker surrounding its release, he spoke of the unconventional ways he releases his art, and shared how he doesn’t view music as a “job”.

• READ MORE: John Fogerty says this thing is more important to musical success than being a good guitar player: “Even if your playing is kind of average, you can go far”

On the same note, DeMarco said that he views touring as a “rock ‘n’ roll adventure”, and doesn’t quite understand it when musicians complain about the hardships they endure when out on the road.

While many artists may disagree as touring costs rise, DeMarco has again reiterated his thoughts on the matter. He tells The Independent, “It’s frustrating for me when I meet these young musicians who are like: ‘Oh, touring is so hard and exhausting,’” he says.

“Maybe there are just too many nepo babies now that are used to sunning themselves in the south of France every summer going: ‘Oh Papa, this venue is so dark and stinky. I’d rather be on the shores of Marseille…’

“I tell those young musicians: ‘Don’t you see? This is why!’” he adds. “You get to go on vacation with your friends indefinitely, hang out with new people every night and you’re getting paid to do it! It’s the ultimate adventure!”

Not one to shy away from controversial takes, DeMarco has previously shared a strong dislike of guitar pedals, and made comments that may make some of you wince. Speaking to MusicTech in 2023, he said, “They’re stupid. They’re cheap pieces of shit with crappy electronics. It’s just crap in the path. I don’t like crap. I don’t care if it makes you sound like Jimi Hendrix or whatever. I don’t want it. I don’t want it! It just stresses me out thinking about it.”

Mac DeMarco heads out on tour on 29 August. You can view the full list of his scheduled live shows via his website.

The post “Oh Papa, this venue is so dark and stinky!”: Mac De Marco savages the music industry for being full of coddled “nepo babies” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Whether you’re a student heading back to school this September, or a parent who’ll be waving them on their way, Thomann has rounded up a whole bunch of back to school deals to help you kick off the new academic year.

Featuring a range of brands and including a number of varying guitar starter bundles with all you’ll need to get going, the back to school sale offers up to 20 percent off on gear ideal for beginners or intermediate players looking for something new.

• READ MORE: Do you really need a baritone? A complete guide to guitar scale length

There are 11 bundles up for grabs, featuring electric, acoustic, or bass guitars from brands such as Harley Benton, Yamaha, Startone, and Thomann’s own branded instruments. For those looking to get started with an electric model, there’s a range of sets that are suited to either rock or pop guitarists.

For young players with small hands, the Harley Benton RG-Junior BK Set offers a short-scale, sleek black electric model, perfect for rock players. It hosts two humbuckers, and is comfortable in lower tunings. This set also includes the Harley Benton HB-10G combo amplifier, a gig bag, clip-on tuner, a strap, and instrument cable for £119.

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For those in need of a super budget-friendly guitar to learn with, then Startone’s £50 CG 851 set hosts a 4/4 sized classical guitar, and is accompanied by a gig bag, clip-on tuner, and some plectrums for £50.

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For older or more intermediate players who don’t need all the bells and whistles, the Harley Benton CLG-70SR CE NAT model might be more apt. It also comes with a gig bag, and is fitted with Fishman Sonicore pickups, ideal for those wanting to play live shows.

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To find out more and view the full list of deals, head over to Thomann.

The post Want to buy your first guitar? Thomann’s back to school sale is a great opportunity to save appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ozzy Osbourne might not have been a guitarist, but he was a remarkable judge of guitar talent. His knack for picking sidemen is legendary, and none of his solo axemen are as feted as Randy Rhoads. But now it appears that not only was Randy ready to call time on his rock star career before his death, his choice of alternative was shocking. nearly took a step back from life on the road to get a master’s degree instead.

• READ MORE: “I’m like, ‘Where does this stuff come from?’”: Sharon Osbourne says claims that Black Sabbath’s final show raised £140 million for charity are “just ridiculous”

According to his sister Kathy Rhoads, Randy was planning to leave Ozzy’s solo band and head back to college to complete his master’s degree in classical music instead. It’s a remarkable claim, and Kathy remembers that one person in particular was flabbergasted by his plans to step away from rockstardom: Ozzy himself.

Kathy explains in a forthcoming interview with Guitar World, “He had told Ozzy just a few short days before he passed that he was done with touring and wanted to come back home,” she shares.

“My mom went to UCLA, my dad too, so my mom was at the beginning of the process to get him into the school and get his master’s degree in classical music. She was starting the process and contacting the school. And he was really looking forward to that.

“Ozzy said to him, ‘Are you crazy? You’re a rock star.’ Randy said, ‘That’s just not what I want right now. This is what I want to do.’ Ozzy said, and I’ll quote him, ‘Okay, you could buy your own fucking college by the time you’re done if you keep doing this!’ But for Randy, the biggest key [thing] was that he was a true musician. It was always about the music for him,” she concludes.

Rhoads was part of the original lineup of Osbourne’s solo band, which formed in 1979. He played with them until his death in 1982 due to a plane crash. Osbourne passed away just recently on 22 July, just a matter of weeks after Black Sabbath’s reunion and farewell show.

Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler recently reflected on the experience in an interview with Uncut. He told the outlet, “I am so grateful that we were able to play one final show together, the original four of us, back in our home town,” he says. “[Ozzy] held on so he could do that gig, to say farewell to the fans.”

The post “Are you crazy? You’re a rock star”: Ozzy Osbourne’s baffled reaction when Randy Rhoads told him he was going to quit his band shortly before his death appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Joe Bonamassa has clarified that he doesn’t actually care what other players do with their rigs, saying instead that there’s room for every kind of guitar player. This is in somewhat stark contrast to an opinion he expressed a few years ago, where he bemoaned the existence of ambient players with complicated boards.

• READ MORE: The best pedals for ambient music, from space-warping reverbs to experimental micro-loopers

In a new interview with GuitarWorld, he offers a strongly-worded rebuke to a question about players hiding the “natural” tone of a guitar with lots of effects. “We’ve been down that road before, us and the media,” he says. “Players can do whatever the fuck they want, I don’t care. How about that? [Laughs] You do you, I do me, and we’ll see how it works out. I don’t give a shit what anybody else does.”

Bonamassa has previously been a little less open-minded on the subject of pedals. In a 2017 interview with MusicRadar, he called guitarists who use lots of pedals “fucking lazy” for focusing on non-traditional guitar sounds, and challenged them to make compelling music on an acoustic guitar.

“I know I’ll get shit for saying this,” he said, correctly. “But it’s fucking lazy. It’s insulting to people who spent 35 years playing and learning, like a lot of players. And we continue to work at it! These guys can barely play a chord but call themselves soundscapists. Get the fuck outta here! It’s bullshit.”

Many players took issue with Bonamassa’s comments, stating that he was misunderstanding tonal preferences and the musical goals of non-blues players. Joe’s aversion to complex pedalboards was also a bit of a point of contention when his own rather involved board, stacked with vintage fuzzes and complex switchers, was revealed in a rig rundown.

However for 2025 he seems to have revised his opinion that players should avoid shoegaze-ready monoliths stacked to the nines with delays. “I’m not gonna comment on other players’ business; they can do whatever they want,” he tells GuitarWorld. Although he does add in a little jab at the practicality of a larger pedal-based rig: “If you want to lug a tabletop full of shit around to a club, God bless you. Mazel tov. And if you want to plug straight into the amp, it’s all good. It’s just guitar, man. It doesn’t matter.”

The post Joe Bonamassa says he no longer cares if you use too many pedals: “Players can do whatever the f*** they want. How about that?” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott has revealed that he’s been seriously injured in a cycling accident, taking to Instagram to share the alarming news with his followers, but assuring them that “I’m fine”.

• READ MORE: Klon Centaur designer says you should NEVER use a multi-tap PSU to power the legendary pedal

“Hey y’all, I’m a private guy, but I do want you to know that I was in a pretty bad cycling accident,” Scott posted on Instagram on 15 August. “Lots of broken things and lots of stitches. I’m fine and will pull through like I have in the past.”

https://www.instagram.com/joshuaheathscott/p/DNYlgCURvKb/

Scott went on to pay tribute to his wife Alice, who he described as “THE GOAT when it comes to caring for me. She deserves a medal.” but revealed that he’s likely to have to take some time away from his hugely popular JHS Show on YouTube while he recovers. “You won’t be seeing my face for a bit (trust me- you don’t want to), and if I haven’t returned your email, DM, or text, this is why. If you’re the praying type, say a few for the swelling, the breaks, and the overall mental weight of it all.”

A popular and influential figure in the guitar world, the comment section of the post featured an outpouring of support and well wishes from the great and good of guitar,  including Paul Gilbert, Lari Basilio,  ‘Danish Pete’ Honore, Ella Feingold, Dave Hill, Pendulum’s Peredur ap Gwynedd and plenty more besides.

https://www.instagram.com/joshuaheathscott/p/DNeDHtWPZoX/

Scott followed up with a second post on 17 October expressing his thanks for the support and providing an update on his current condition, “Thanks to everyone for the countless messages and real help you’ve given our family since the crash,” he began. “I’ve had several moments of overwhelming gratitude thinking about you all. Today’s been tough – lots of soreness setting in, tightness around all the stitches, and plenty of pain. Tomorrow I see some doctors about the breaks. Grateful for you all.”

Only last week, JHS launched the 424 Gain Stage – a lo-fi pedal inspired by the sound of a Tascam portastudio – but it seems Scott will have to take a back seat on product launches for the time being. Everyone at Guitar.com wishes Josh a speedy recovery.

The post JHS founder Josh Scott seriously injured in cycling accident: “You won’t be seeing my face for a bit (trust me you don’t want to” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar claimed that the late, great Eddie Van Halen had visited him in a dream and they’d written a song together, it certainly led to a lot of raised eyebrows around the music world. And it seems that David Lee Roth was similarly unimpressed.

• READ MORE: Kirk Hammett thinks no guitarist will ever eclipse Eddie Van Halen

Hagar released the song, Encore, Thank You, Goodnight, back in April, having first claimed back in 2022 that he’d been visited by Van Halen in a dream during which they composed the song together, “I remembered it. I got up in the morning and I wrote the song,” he told Ultimate Classic Rock. “I used the fuckin’ lick that he showed me in the song.”

Now it seems that Hagar’s precursor in Van Halen, David Lee Roth, is not entirely buying the Red Rocker’s story however – certainly if his remarks to the audience at concert at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom last week was anything to go by.

“One of my esteemed colleagues, he’s a contemporary, he’s got a great voice, he’s got a great catalogue,” Hagar told the crowd in a video posted by a fan on YouTube. “You all know Sammy Hagar, right? He’s got a great voice. And Sammy, aloud, he described to the media about six weeks ago that the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited him and graced him with a song that he memorised and then went home and recorded. It’s on the internet.”

There’s few things more reliable than Van Halen members throwing shade at one another, and Hagar described Roth as “fake” during an interview earlier this year. DLR’s clapback, however, was pretty withering.

“I don’t know what the odds are, but last night the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited me at the fucking hotel room,” he joked. “I was watching the weather report and he came in and he was laughing. His fucking ghost was laughing.

“I said, ‘What did you do now?’ He said, ‘Dave, Dave… Dave, you know that song I gave Hagar?’ I said, ‘What now?’ He said, ‘It’s actually [1968 Iron Butterfly proto-metal hit] In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida backwards. Don’t fucking tell him.'”

Hagar claims that Encore, Thank You, Goodnight is a tribute to his relationship with Van Halen – it features Joe Satriani on guitar, Jason Bonham on drums and fellow ex-Van Halen man Michael Anthony on bass.

“It’s not meant to be anything more than a thank-you – with love, with respect, and with one hell of a guitar solo,” he said – but it’s not the only surprising claim he’s made about Van Halen recently.

Back in June, Hagar claimed that the last time he spoke to Eddie before his passing, the guitarist claimed that he’d primarily been playing cello – though in this case he does have EVH’s backing, who posted in 2017 that the instrument was his favourite after guitar and piano.

The post “Don’t f**king tell him!” David Lee Roth mocks Sammy Hagar by claiming Eddie Van Halen’s ghost has visited him too appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$449/£419, walrusaudio.com

The great thing about amp simulators is that they offer three different ways to fall out with someone in a raging, expletive-strewn argument. First up, there’s the straightforward debate about which one is best. Then there’s the wider philosophical dichotomy between digital and analogue types. And finally, the question with real brawling-in-the-street potential: are any of these products actually up to the job, or are they just soulless imitations of the real thing?

• READ MORE: Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII D1 review – the do-it-all high-fidelity delay pedal gets glitchy

None of these arguments will ever end. But the Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1 surely makes the most persuasive case yet for using a digital pedal to replace real amps and cabs when it comes to gigging, recording and even bedroom practice with headphones.

What is the Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1?

The main point of a pedal like this one is to cut a whole load of bulk (and noise) out of your rig: plug a guitar in at one end, and what comes out of the other is a digital simulation of what you’d get from putting a microphone in front of a real-life amp and speaker cabinet. Send that straight to an audio interface or live PA, and hey presto: all that heavy hardware in your spare room is suddenly ready to be converted into novelty coffee tables.

The original ACS1 offered three amp types and six cabinet IRs, with full stereo capability, onboard room reverb and the ability to store three presets (or 128 with MIDI). MkII brings revised versions of the old unit’s Fender Deluxe Reverb, Marshall Bluesbreaker and Vox AC30 models, and adds an Orange Rockerverb, a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Peavey 5150 – while expanding the cab offering to 12. You also get a choice between room, hall and spring reverbs, and no less than nine preset slots.

How is all of this possible? As discussed in my review of the MkII D1 delay, the whole Mako Series has had an interface revamp, with an LED display replacing the three toggle switches across the middle. Here’s where, with the help of the three encoder knobs above it, you get access to those extra settings and a few more besides (including an option to bypass the IRs). It might not feel super-intuitive at first, but the whole system is clear and logical.

What does the Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1 sound like?

I don’t have a lot to say about the clean tones. They were already lusciously lifelike and three-dimensional, and now they’re still lusciously lifelike and three-dimensional but with a bit more headroom – the main effect of which is that, when you hit the boost switch, it actually makes things bigger and louder rather than just getting thick and congested. You can also adjust the boost level for each preset, which is very handy.

The Vox crunch still lacks midrange punch out of the box, but you can fix this quite satisfyingly by cranking the mids to maximum in the three-band EQ. And if you really want to rock like a mudskipper? The overdriven Orange, Boogie and Peavey models all sound impressively large when used one at a time – and simply colossal in stereo pairs.

To experience that colossalness to the full, you might be inclined to leave at least some of the factory presets unchanged (aside from dialling back the reverb and maybe turning off the annoying noise gate). While the first two batches of three presets cover the six single models, the last set offers absolutely killer left/right pairings: Fender and Vox, Marshall and Orange, then Peavey and Boogie. This last setup, fully panned, is probably the biggest guitar sound my home studio monitors have ever spewed out.

Should I buy the Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1?

Here’s one more argument to enjoy: Are the MkII ACS1’s Vox tones as convincing as those of the Strymon Iridium? For me that’s too close to call, but in every other respect there’s no contest, because this is as good as digital amp and cab simulators get – and the step up to MkII has turned an already great pedal into an utterly compelling one.

Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1 alternatives

The aforementioned Strymon Iridium (£379) is now six years old and surely due some kind of update. A newer rival with cab models galore is the Boss IR-200 (£329), while analogue purists might prefer the DSM & Humboldt Simplifier X (£449).

The post Walrus Audio Mako Series MkII ACS1 review: “this is as good as digital amp and cab simulators get” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While fans didn’t know it at the time, Black Sabbath’s final show on 5 July would also prove to be the late Ozzy Osbourne’s final ever live performance – and Geezer Butler believes that the Prince Of Darkness knew the show was his last chance to say goodbye.

Speaking in the latest issue of Uncut, the Sabbath bassist explains that Ozzy seemed to sense his hourglass was running out. Ozzy was a notorious hellraiser throughout his life, chomping down bat heads and snorting lines of ants, but he was relatively quiet at the final show. “At the final show, he was much quieter than I’d ever known him,” he reflects. “Looking back now, I think he knew he wasn’t long for this world.”

• READ MORE: “We’ve lost our brother”: Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy would eventually pass on 22 July – just over two weeks after Back To The Beginning took place. While Butler believes that the frontman knew his clock was ticking, Ozzy apparently didn’t seem to sense that “he’d leave [this world] so soon” after the performance. The Sabbath frontman had only just moved back to the UK after years in the US, and Butler explains how “Ozzy was looking forward to spending his days back in England”.

Elsewhere in his tribute to Ozzy, Butler reflects on how thankful he is to have been able to perform with his Sabbath bandmates one final time. “I am so grateful that we were able to play one final show together, the original four of us, back in our home town,” he says. “[Ozzy] held on so he could do that gig, to say farewell to the fans.”

“He was emotional, it was so important to him to say goodbye after illness had prevented him from touring for the past six or seven years,” he continues. “He wanted to see his fans one final time, play with his own band and with Sabbath one last time.”

Butler closes off with a heartfelt farewell: “Ozzy was larger than life and his legacy will live forever… He may have been The Prince Of Darkness, but for me he was a family-loving, soft-hearted, and the best friend anyone could ever have.”

Sabbath’s Tony Iommi has also gone on record stating that he believes Ozzy knew that Back To The Beginning would be his grand send-off. “I think he really just held out to do that show,” he told ITV News last month. “Me and Geezer were talking about it last night – we think he held out to do it. Just after [the show], he’d done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”

“He’s built up for it for a while now,” Iommi continued. “He’d been training and trying to do what he can, so he could do this gig… I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it and he was determined to do it.”

The post “He was much quieter than I’d ever known him”: Geezer Butler thinks Ozzy Osbourne “knew he wasn’t long for this world” at final Black Sabbath concert appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

During his time in Deep Purple, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore lived by his own rules – even if it meant denying fans an encore.

Speaking in the latest issue of Classic Rock, Glenn Hughes reflects on his experience working with Blackmore. According to the ex-vocalist and bassist, his former bandmate was sometimes a tough nut to crack. “When we were going down really well at shows, he would refuse to do an encore,” Hughes recalls. “He would have to be forced to go back on stage!”

• READ MORE: “That was my cue to do a ten-minute keyboard solo”: Deep Purple’s Don Airey recalls the time Ritchie Blackmore fell over onstage while soloing

Even if Blackmore was coerced out for an encore, he would do so rather unwillingly. “He’d play behind his equipment,” Hughes explains. “It was so ridiculous. You couldn’t make him do anything.”

This stubborn behaviour wasn’t strictly limited to encores, either. Hughes recalls the guitarist as an “isolator” and lone wolf. “He had his own dressing room, his own car,” he says. “It wasn’t a band, it was us and it was Ritchie. That’s been his thing for ever. It was uncomfortable for me. I missed the family aspect of all of us together. It was a strange situation.”

This isn’t the first time Hughes has spoken out about how “strange” it was working with Blackmore. Last June, Hughes described his relationship with Blackmore as “difficult” in an interview with Guitar Interactive Magazine.

“When I joined the band, he flew me to Hamburg for a ‘boy’s night’ weekend,” he recalled. “We didn’t sleep… drinking coffee and alcohol. We were great together. [I had a] great time with him – alone. As soon as he was around other men, he wasn’t personal. It was difficult.”

“[He was] difficult, but very intelligent,” he concluded. “Smart, but a difficult person to know and play with.”

Following the release of Nature’s Light back in 2021 under his Blackmore’s Night project, the guitarist has unfortunately been facing a number of health issues. Over the past few months, Blackmore’s wife, Candice Night, has revealed that he is suffering with a slew of problems, ranging from a heart attack to gout.

Her most recent update came last week. “There are three main issues with him that are going on,” Night tells the Iron City Rocks podcast [via Rayo]. “He has a heart issue – he had a heart attack a couple of years ago, so we stay on top of that.

“He’s got gout, so that’s difficult,” she adds. “It’s affecting his feet really badly. And it’s starting in his forefinger, so it’s hurting the mobility in that. He just had an injection for that. And his back, of course, which has always been an issue.”

Despite his health issues, Blackmore seems to be keen on performing some shows down the line. Fans will be glad to know that the classic Blackmore stubbornness persists. “With Ritchie, if you try to pressure him to do something, he instantly says no,” she says. “He’s like a teenager… So I wait for him to come to the realisation, or I drop little seeds, wait for him to be ready to talk about it. But he did just say, ‘What about doing some Blackmore’s Night dates in the fall?’”

The post “He would have to be forced to go back on stage!”: Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes reveals why Ritchie Blackmore would refuse to do encores appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Refining your chops isn’t necessarily the key to attaining musical success. According to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty, the path to success actually lies in something a lot more obvious, but a lot harder to woodshed – strong songwriting.

Speaking to The Guardian, Fogerty reveals how Creedence became one of the defining rock acts of the 60s – they had a rock-solid catalogue of great tracks. “I’m a great believer in songs,” the guitarist says. “If you have enough songs, even if your playing is kind of average, you can go far.”

• READ MORE: Ariel Posen on his new Fender Custom Shop signature Stratocaster: “I felt like my sound was right there immediately!”

In Fogerty’s opinion, artists should always focus on writing, writing, writing – even if that means 90% of your work is left on the cutting room floor. “For every song I wrote I threw 10 away,” he admits. “When you heard one of my songs, I wanted there to be no doubt it was a really good song. It sounds grandiose to say it, but I was trying to have that as my career goal.”

Considering Creedence are the second most streamed act of the 60s, just behind The Beatles, there’s certainly proof that Fogerty is on to something; cuts like Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary and Have You Ever Seen The Sun continue to rake in listeners even six decades on.

But don’t just take Fogerty’s word for it. Other artists have also asserted the importance of songwriting over technical ability, with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry stating as such just last year. “If you spend all your time learning technique, scales and all that, you’re not going to write something new and interesting!” he told Guitarist magazine in October.

Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates has also gone on record preaching the importance of songwriting over flashy guitar playing. Speaking to 93XRadio, he pointed out the band’s 2007 track A Little Piece of Heaven: “That’s a fan favorite, that has hardly any guitar in it… That’s probably our best song. And it’s very, very little guitar work. So to me, it’s songwriting first” [via Metal Injection].

The post John Fogerty says this thing is more important to musical success than being a good guitar player: “Even if your playing is kind of average, you can go far” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Aerosmith may have officially retired from touring last summer, but Joe Perry is once again teasing the possibility of the band sharing a stage. In a new interview, the guitarist hints that despite the logistical hurdles, a reunion – at least in some form – could still happen.

• READ MORE: “He went on first, and he kicked our ass”: Aerosmith reveal the “stunning” guitarist who opened for them, and had the audience walking out before they even came on stage

The Boston rockers called it quits on touring last year after it became clear that frontman Steven Tyler’s long-standing vocal injury wouldn’t allow him to sustain a full farewell run.

Still, Tyler hasn’t been completely offstage: earlier this year, he jammed with Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt at his annual Jam for Janie Grammy Awards Viewing Party. He also appeared in a supergroup at the Black Sabbath Back to the Beginning event in Birmingham, alongside Bettencourt and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello.

Now, Perry has added more fuel to the reunion speculation.

Speaking with WZXL’s Kenny Young, he says, “We’re actually talking quite a bit. I know our touring days are over, but I don’t know. We’re all flesh and blood. I don’t know, man.”

“I would say, at some point we will all be together on the same stage…If I was a betting man, which I am, I would say, at some point something’s gonna happen. But we’ll see.”

Perry has hinted at a reunion before, noting that another Aerosmith performance is “just a matter of getting there,” though he’s also been candid about the challenges of organising a full tour.

Just last month, he told SiriusXM, “I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I’m not looking forward to putting the set list together for that one.”

“I’m always hoping, but going on the road, it’s a big deal pulling that together. 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.”

In the meantime, Perry isn’t staying idle. His solo band, The Joe Perry Project, has already kicked off their 2025 North American tour, starting at Tampa, Florida’s Hard Rock Event Center.

Head over to Joe Perry’s website for the full list of dates.

The post “If I was a betting man, which I am, I would say, at some point something’s gonna happen”: Joe Perry drops another hint at Aerosmith reunion appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.