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Session bassist Guy Pratt has revealed how his headless bass was stolen from a music store in London in the 1990s, which remains missing to this day.

Pratt, who has played with Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and many other huge artists, shared the story during an episode of his Rockonteurs podcast, hosted alongside Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet. His bass was taken as part of a string of thefts at the time, when a thief used the headless design to their advantage.

• READ MORE: The intriguing history of Steinberger guitars

Pratt recalls (via Guitar World), “I had this bass, and I gave it to the Bass Centre [in London, England] to sell. They called me up one day and said, ‘Really sorry, Guy, but someone’s nicked your bass.’ And it turns out they’d had a raft of thefts of headless basses.

“Eventually, this guy got caught. They went round to his place, and he’s got a flat full of headless basses for the simple reason he’d figured out a way he could nick them, because they don’t have a head, if you had a big carrier bag, you could put the body in the bag and have the neck go up your arm. So he stole about 50 basses.”

The podcast clip has been highlighted by content creator Danny Sapko, who has also shared Pratt’s appeal to locate the missing guitar in return for a reward. The bass you’re looking for is a Steinberger L2, serial number 712.

Speaking of stolen bass guitars, Ian Horne, a former sound engineer for Wings, recently recalled how remarkably relaxed Paul McCartney was when he broke the news to him that his 1961 Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass had been stolen.

While Wings were working in a recording studio, Horne had parked a truck full of their gear on a West London street, which was broken into. The stolen bass became the focus of a BBC Two documentary film, McCartney: The Hunt For The Lost Bass. It has since been reunited with McCartney.

“All these things go through your head,” said Horne in a Radio Times interview. “I must have looked like a beaten man when I knocked on the door. I just came out with it: ‘I’ve got some bad news, Paul. Our truck was broken into and the bass was stolen.’ I expected him to go ballistic, but Paul was lovely about it. He said, ‘It’s all right, I’ve got another one.’”

The post “If you had a big carrier bag, you could put the body in the bag and have the neck go up your arm”: How a prolific guitar thief stole 50 headless bass guitars in the ’90s appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Despite Angine de Poitrine initially landing on their microtonal sound as a joke, the polka-dotted papier-mâché-headed duo have taken the rock world by storm. Now, guitarist Khn de Poitrine’s wonky, double-necked bass/guitar started out as an experimental Frankensteinian hack job is being sought after by guitarists across the globe – and Eastwood Guitars has recreated it for the masses.

Upon sharing a Guitstarter campaign for the Microtonal Doubleneck 4/6, fans flocked to pre-order and back the model. While Eastwood Guitars only needed 12 backers to make the guitar a reality 36 customers have since bought the $1,299 axe.

• READ MORE: “The guitar gets funny questions because it looks like a dead body”: Angine de Poitrine have to transport their double-necked guitar in a sleeping bag – which causes problems at airport security

The Microtonal Doubleneck 4/6 appears to boast 38 frets on its guitar neck, coming in at 24.75” in scale, while the bass neck has 28 frets and sits at 30.5”. Alongside the bolt-on maple necks with rosewood fingerboards, the guitar features an alder body and Gotoh-style nickel and chrome hardware. It also weighs in at around 11 lbs.

While the model isn’t an official collaboration with Angine de Poitrine, Eastwood explains that there had previously been talks of collaborating with the band’s luthier, Raphael Le Breton. There had been discussion of authentically recreating guitarist Khn de Poitrine’s iconic instrument – but Khn “ultimately decided he would prefer not to have a signature replica of his guitar made available for purchase”.

The company goes on to claim that the decision was one they “fully respect”. However, Eastwood was still keen to release something inspired by the group. “Many years ago, Khn had approached us with a request to build a white, microtonal version of our Eastwood 4/6 Doubleneck featuring black appointments,” the company explains. That old request has finally been brought to life.

There’s still 18 days left to pre-order a model, if you’re interested. Though, be warned – the signature Angine de Poitrine polka-dots are not included.

Though the anonymous Canadian group have kept things pretty private, last month saw them speaking to Cult MTL and explaining that the project is “a culmination of a lot of years of inside jokes”. Even their bizarre names are tongue-in-cheek, with Khn saying: “The names were our alter egos in a 10-minute free jazz project, where I was just fooling around on saxophone and [Klek] was on drums.”

Drummer Klek also forged his partner’s strange, alien guitar as a joke. “I took two guitars, and I took the frets from one board, which was kind of rusty and fucked up anyway, and I put them on a second fret board,” Klek said. “We thought it would look fucking sick, and for 15 seconds, we were like, ‘Oh, that’s a funny joke.’ But it became clear that it was a good idea.”

“The whole idea of the band was to assume a bit of a satirical approach to rock music in general,” Khn added. “We wanted an exaggeration, so the double-neck guitar was the perfect choice to kind of make fun of guitar heroes.”

For more information, head to Eastwood Guitars.

The post Eastwood Guitars unveils an Angine de Poitrine-inspired double neck guitar/bass – polka-dots not included appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

After NAMM President John Mlynczak this week said Donald Trump’s tariffs are “tilting the playing field against American manufacturers, American retailers, and the American children and families who depend on affordable instruments”, EarthQuaker Devices CEO Julie Robbins has announced she has joined a delegation of NAMM members to meet with congress to urge tariff relief on musical instruments.

In a press release shared with Guitar.com by EarthQuaker, it’s revealed that Julie Robbins joined the 20th NAMM Washington DC Advocacy Fly-In, representing the state of Ohio – where EarthQuaker is based – alongside 100 music business leaders and professionals representing all 50 states.

The delegation argued that tariff relief would benefit music retailers, manufacturers, educators and students across the US.

• READ MORE: Taylor Next Generation 324ce review: “this could easily be your forever acoustic”

“EarthQuaker Devices has spent more than $100,000 in tariffs since April 2025,” Robbins says. “That’s money that could have gone toward good jobs for Ohioans and provided our team with more resources to innovate.”

Julie Robbins has been a longtime advocate for tariff relief, and testified on Capitol Hill before the Senate Small Business committee in May 2025 about the harmful effects of tariffs on the musical instruments industry, specifically smaller, family-operated businesses.

“Today, I asked Ohio’s Congressional Representatives to stand up for their constituents,” she said. “And I will continue to advocate for relief as long as I have to in order to get them to join the fight in earnest.

In John Mlynczak’s latest statement on the devastating effects of Trump’s tariffs, he argued that they threaten the flow of new musicians into the industry, on which it so heavily depends.

“[These tariffs] will price beginners out of the market, which will hurt the American students, retailers, and manufacturers that depend on today’s students becoming tomorrow’s customers…” he said. 

“The American professional instrument market is only as strong as the student market that feeds it.”

Learn more about the NAMM Advocacy D.C. Fly-In at NAMM.org.

The post EarthQuaker Devices CEO says the brand has spent “more than $100k in tariffs since April 2025” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Not many guitarists out there have the bragging rights to say they’ve played one of Jimi Hendrix’s guitars, but My Chemical Romance’s Ray Toro can, and the experience, he says, was “mind blowing”.

MCR recently put out a teaser post on Instagram in relation to the 15th anniversary of their 2010 album, Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys. The album turned 15 back in November, but now the band have posted a graphic with the roman numerals XV and the famous spider graphic from the album’s artwork.

In a recently republished 2011 Guitar World interview about the album, Toro and fellow guitarist Frank Iero shared what guitars they were playing at that time, when Toro said he’d managed to get hold of a Strat that once belonged to Hendrix.

• READ MORE: “You ain’t gonna hear nothing”: Buddy Guy admits that when he first saw Jimi Hendrix play live he thought he was “too loud” – but the Brits were next level

He said, “I’m still a Les Paul player, but recently I had the chance to play one of Jimi Hendrix’s Strats. Totally mind blowing! This guy, Jimmy, from Mates Rehearsal Studios in California, had one. I had shown up at the studio, and I didn’t have a guitar to play, so Jimmy let me play this Hendrix Strat that he got from Jimi’s old guitar tech.

“The thing was beat to shit, but it was the best-playing guitar ever. I played it for a year – Jimmy let me use it in the studio. Man, I loved that.” He added, “Live, I’m still a Les Paul guy, but playing Jimi Hendrix’s Strat really got me interested in Strats and other guitars. In fact, I’m in desperate search for the ultimate Tele to play. If I can find one, I’m there.”

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In other Hendrix-related news, Marshall is marking 60 years since he first played through one of its amplifiers by launching a unique gear drop featuring three items with designs inspired by Hendrix’s style, sound, and interest in science fiction.

The drop includes a reskinned Acton III Bluetooth speaker, a 1959 JMH Half Stack, and a limited-edition Fuzz Face pedal, all featuring nods to his love of velvet, the jewellery he wore, and his unique sound.

More news about MCR’s Danger Days anniversary celebration is set to arrive imminently. Head over to the My Chemical Romance website for further updates, or to check out their full list of tour dates.

The post “The thing was beat to shit”: The time My Chemical Romance’s Ray Toro got to play one of Jimi Hendrix’s Strats appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When you think of the forefathers of thrash metal, the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Exodus spring to mind. Whether the genre’s origins can be traced to a single person is the subject of much debate, but Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren thinks the creator of thrash is clear: Dave Mustaine.

In a new interview with Brazil’s TV Braba, Verbeuren looks back on his 10 years to date with the band, and waxes lyrical on the musical legacy Dave Mustaine has carved out.

• READ MORE: “A Beatle knows who I am? Ridiculous”: Peter Frampton’s response when George Harrison invited him to play on All Things Must Pass

“To be in the band for 10 years and to kind of continue the legacy with great music – obviously everything Dave has done is iconic, but also the amazing drum work of Nick Menza, Gar Samuelson, Chuck Behler [former Megadeth drummers], all the guys that have been in the band since then, it’s truly an honour. In metal music, you can’t really go much higher than that legacy

He goes on: “And to me, Dave is the guy who invented thrash metal. He wrote a lot of the iconic early stuff that kind of defined what that genre sounded like, and you can recognise his riffs among a million riffs. He has such a unique style of playing to this day on the guitar that, to me, Dave is the ultimate rock god. Absolutely.

Elsewhere in the interview, Verbeuren remembers being a fledgling rock fan, and Megadeth being one of the first live shows he ever saw in 1990.

“It’s still surreal to this day to be part of such an iconic band. You have to know that I went to see Megadeth live in 1990, so I was like 15 years old at the time. It was one of the first shows I ever saw. I only saw two other shows before that.”

Dave Mustaine doesn’t pull any punches over how influential he has been on his thrash metal genre-mates, either.

“Kerry [King, Slayer guitarist] and I played together [during the early days of both bands], and I showed him how to play Megadeth songs, which was before [Slayer] started having all their pivotal records. Kerry and I had a really great time together,” he said in a recent interview.

“And I wrote music in Metallica and I wrote music in Megadeth. So I’ve been very influential with the guitar with these three bands.”

“And when I met Scott [Ian, Anthrax guitarist] and the guys in Anthrax out in New York,” he goes on, “the same thing happened. Their first record was very different from the record they made after they met me and the guys in Metallica. So I think that’s great. I love all those bands.”

Megadeth are currently on tour supporting their self-titled final album. Check out a full list of dates at their official website.

The post Megadeth drummer says Dave Mustaine “invented thrash metal” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Back in the ‘70s, the rock scene was a bit of a sausage fest. When Heart broke onto the scene, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson were in the midst of their 20s – and it could sometimes be a struggle to be taken seriously. In her new solo documentary, In My Voice, Ann has reflected on her career thus far, including how men used to belittle her and her sister.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Wilson admits that the predominantly male rock scene wasn’t very encouraging at first. “You would build yourself up and do something really great, and you’d feel really good about it – then you could get put down and squashed down very easily by the rest of the men,” she admits.

• READ MORE: “I wake up every morning thinking about what’s on my pedalboard” Adam Granduciel on his love of effects and the next The War On Drugs album

Despite her and her sister being branded as a ‘Little Led Zeppelin’ due to their buckets of guitar talent, men never seemed to judge them on their merit. Everything seemed to be pointedly attacking them just because they were young girls. “They could make you feel like you were really silly for even trying,” she adds. “We were lucky enough to have great people around us, but I know other women who were starting up close to our time that had to rebel as hard as they could to get anything happening at all.”

Prior to Heart’s formation, the sisters already had a sense of rock ‘n’ roll’s inherent sexism after walking out of a 1969 Led Zeppelin gig. In an interview with Premier Guitar’s 100 Guitarists podcast, Nancy recalled how appalled her and sister had felt while watching Robert Plant perform “scandalously” suggestive tracks at the Green Lake Aqua Theater in Seattle.

“The singer, he’s so suggestive,” Nancy recalled. “He’s got his shirt wide open, he’s got his bare chest, and his jeans were really low riders. He was moving in this way that was super-suggestive and we were kind of shocked. We’re like, ‘Oh, my God.’”

Aged 15 and 19 at the time, the pair weren’t very comfortable with the sexuality on display. “We were in a little folk band at the time,” she adds. “We were from the suburbs. So we were kind of square, square little hippie chicks to be unenlightened, let’s just say. And so, they were like, ‘Oh, they’re so loud. They’re just being so suggestive and loud.’”

“Then, he sang [the Lemon Song], saying ‘Squeeze My Lemon,’ and we’re like, ‘we must leave…’ because we were just shocked! We actually walked out… We were scandalised!”

Alongside the new documentary, Ann is releasing a new track, Nothing But Love. It’s a track she wrote back in the ‘90s, and will feature on the In My Voice soundtrack. “That track never saw the light of day until now,” she explains.

“I’ve always really liked it, but it didn’t fit with what was going on in the 1990s at all. It’s just so unlike what was going on at that moment, but it seems natural now. It’s got some soul to it. It’s something that I love hearing, and I love singing. I hope people really get lifted by it.”

The post “I know women who had to rebel as hard as they could to get anything happening at all”: Heart’s Ann Wilson recalls the sexism of rock and roll in the ’70s appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Peter Frampton has looked back on the time he received an unexpected invitation from George Harrison to record on the Beatles legend’s third album, All Things Must Pass.

George Harrison recorded the album predominantly at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios), but the now-defunct Trident Studios – located at 17 St Anne’s Court in Soho – was used for some overdubs, partly in order to utilise its 16-track recording technology.

• READ MORE: “It’s a little bit of a cheat”: John Mayer’s “critical take” on why country songs are always talking about drinking

As the story goes, Peter Frampton first met George Harrison through Terry Doran, Harrison’s personal assistant and a man heavily involved in organising the All Things Must Pass sessions.

And via a chance meeting at a pub between Frampton and Doran, Doran invited Frampton to Trident to meet George Harrison, who was producing a self-titled album for R&B singer Doris Troy.

After playing guitar in front of Harrison, the Beatles man was so impressed that he invited him to EMI Studios to play acoustic guitar on his album, including on tracks If Not For You and Behind That Locked Door.

Now, in a new interview with MOJO, Frampton recalls his interactions with George Harrison while recording the album.

“He was at Trident Studios. In the control room, there was George and he goes, ‘Hello, Pete’ – I thought Pete Townshend must have walked in behind me,” Frampton remembers.

“I mean, a Beatle knows who I am? Ridiculous. He said, ‘You want to play? Stephen Stills is downstairs.’ Klaus Voorman was playing bass, Ringo was playing drums, and George gives me this guitar, which I find out later was the guitar Eric gave him which he played on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. George said, ‘Here’s the chord, let’s go…’”

Elsewhere in the interview, Peter Frampton reflects on his Inclusion Body Myositis, which has progressively hampered his ability to play guitar in recent years.

“It’s become dangerous for me because if I fall I really do hurt myself, and going into a hundred hotels where everything’s different? Whereas I know every square inch of my house,” he says.

“But mentally, physically and otherwise, everything’s fine. It sounds weird but I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Indeed, in another recent interview with the New York Times, the 76-year-old musician also commented on how he stays in a mentally good place despite his diagnosis. “If I don’t accept what I have, I’m going to be mad for the rest of my life,” he said.

Elsewhere, Peter Frampton is set to release his new album Carry the Light this week on 15 May. It marks his first collection of songs since his IBM diagnosis. Listen to Lions at the Gate, a track from the album, below:

The post “A Beatle knows who I am? Ridiculous”: Peter Frampton’s response when George Harrison invited him to play on All Things Must Pass appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

By Carlos Martin Schwab

If we divide a semitone into 100 cents, the average human ear can hardly perceive variations of less than 5 cents in a musical context. A standard pedal tuner (such as the BOSS TU-3) has an accuracy of ±1 cent. A strobe tuner has an accuracy of 0.1 cents. Let’s take a closer look at this.

The fundamental difference between a strobe tuner and a conventional tuner lies in the nature of their measurements. While a standard tuner (needle or LED) averages the note’s frequency and displays a visual approximation with an accuracy of 1 or 2 cents, the strobe tuner operates in real time without processing latency.

Instead of interpreting the signal, a strobe model allows the input signal to interact directly with a light or wheel pattern, revealing minute harmonic discrepancies with an accuracy of up to 0.1 cents.

For a musician, this means that the conventional tuner is useful for quick adjustments during live performances, but it may overlook slight detunings that affect intonation. In contrast, the strobe tuner is indispensable for octaving instruments and professional recordings, as its display only stops when the frequency is mathematically exact, offering a level of sound fidelity that a standard digital sensor simply cannot achieve.

These tuners are extremely precise—so much so that they are used more for adjusting the technical intonation of the guitar than for a quick tune-up between songs.

Peterson StroboStomp HD

This strobe tuner is widely regarded as the gold standard in the world of tuning, offering unmatched accuracy of 0.1 cents. This pedal is not just an accessory, but a professional-grade tool that ensures every note is mathematically perfect, thanks to its true strobe technology in a compact and extremely durable pedal format.

Key Features

Configurable High-Definition Color LCD Screen: Features a large screen with customizable LED backlighting, making it easy to view in any lighting environment. The user-selectable colors can be used to personalize the tuner or to improve display visibility in varying ambient lighting conditions, depending on the usage environment. The vibrant screen colors can also be assigned to stock or user presets to significantly reduce menu navigation time and increase on-stage tuning confidence during a gig.

“Sweetened” Tunings: Includes 135 exclusive presets that optimize tuning intervals for specific instruments (guitars, basses, banjos, and even wind instruments). Its low-frequency note detection algorithm (such as for 5-string basses) is the most stable in the industry.

Signal Management: The integrity of your signal is vital, especially if you have many pedals. This tuner offers 3 pop-free operating modes: True Bypass, Buffered output (to maintain tone integrity over long cables), and a Monitor mode (tuning always visible) by setting the mode switch located in the battery compartment.

Power: 9V battery or DC jack. It can power other 9V pedals on your board via the power-through jack.

Professional users unanimously praise its ease of use, noting that the stroboscopic wheel is much more intuitive for fine-tuning than traditional needle meters. They also highlight its versatility, as it allows for firmware updates and the loading of sweetened tunings via USB. Although it requires a brief learning curve, it is the ultimate pedal for those seeking maximum harmonic fidelity both in the studio and on international tours.

Fender Strobo Sonic Pro

This is a high-end strobe tuner that redefines precision on stage. Sharing many features with its predecessor, this device stands out for its impressive accuracy of 0.1 cents, positioning itself as one of the most reliable tools on the market for ensuring perfect intonation, even in demanding studio setups.

Key Features

Its rugged aluminum design houses a 2.3-inch LED display with automatic brightness adjustment, ensuring full visibility in both dark stages and broad daylight. It offers two display modes: strobe (for maximum precision) and needle (for quick visual reference). A significant technical advantage is its bypass versatility, allowing you to choose between True Bypass, Buffered Bypass, or an always-on monitoring mode. Additionally, it features space-saving top-mounted connectors and power via 9V or USB-C.

Professional users praise its response speed, which eliminates the annoying lag found in other digital tuners. It does not have sweetened tunings, but it does allow you to calibrate the reference pitch between 430 Hz and 450 Hz. Reviewers agree that it is a direct competitor to the industry standard (Peterson), surpassing it for many in terms of ergonomics and ease of use. Its high-definition color LCD screen, which is its most useful feature, is extremely smooth and offers different display modes (including one that mimics an oscilloscope). It is, arguably, the most beautiful tuner display on the market.

More info: www.petersontuners.com and www.fender.com

Carlos Martin Schwab would like to thank Bob Potsic (Peterson) and Gabriel Madera (Fender) for their help in writing this article.

Adrian Belew has looked back on the leadership of Robert Fripp after King Crimson was reignited in 1981 with new members, after seven years of lying dormant.

The original Crimson lineup disbanded after the release of 1974’s misunderstood record, Red. The new iteration consisted of Fripp, Belew, Bill Bruford, and Tony Levin, and was originally going to be called Discipline. It was Belew who suggested they go out under the Crimson name, and Discipline ultimately became the name of their comeback LP.

• READ MORE: “They’re booby-trapped!” Steve Vai recalls the difficulty he faced learning Robert Fripp’s guitar parts for BEAT

Speaking to MOJO, Belew explains, “I think I just wanted to tell people I was in King Crimson! Robert had already said our music had the spirit of Crimson, different as it was. So he went for it and that upped the stakes immensely – especially for him.

“Every decision went through Robert,” he adds. “If something wasn’t up to snuff he’d tell you. But he also gave me great latitude as a songwriter. Some of my own stuff had been a bit whimsical or personal, but I knew Crimson had to be less specific, more abstract.”

He goes on to explain: “I didn’t want to embarrass myself with these three highly intelligent guys. The only fairly straight-ahead love song was Matte Kudasai, which evolved out of this beautiful guitar instrumental Robert presented to me. That was when I thought, OK, I can write to this crazy music.”

Fripp has since reflected on the rocky release of Red. In a Guitar World interview released earlier this year, he said, “I would’ve stayed as an estate agent in Wimborne, Dorset, if I had known the grief that was coming my way. I would have stayed in real estate!

“My approach has been, if you read your press, you read all of it. And if you read all my press, there have been – by and large – as many people who hated it as who enjoyed it.”

Adrian Belew is now touring with the BEAT band, which plays ’80s King Crimson music and is composed of Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Danny Carey. View their upcoming tour dates via the BEAT website.

The post “Every decision went through Robert. If something wasn’t up to snuff he’d tell you”: Adrian Belew on Robert Fripp’s leadership of King Crimson appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Wintergrass is one of the greatest bluegrass festivals on Earth. It also happens to be in our PNW backyard.

In what has become an annual Wintergrass tradition, the Fretboard Journal hosts a workshop where we gather as many rare and vintage instruments as we can, put them onstage, and have a few great players showcase their magic. No two workshops have ever been the same, and without fail, we always learn something and hear some great music.

This year’s session featured John Reischman and Caleb Klauder on mandolins and Patrick Sauber and Nina Gerber on guitars.

Huge thanks to Mark Demaray for emceeing and the Fretboard Journal readers and the Wintergrass community who let us borrow their instruments. Special thanks to Ear Trumpet for the microphones and D’Addario for all the strings.

Learn more about Wintergrass: https://wintergrass.com

We’ll be diving deeper into vintage acoustics at our 2026 Fretboard Summit in Chicago, taking place August 20-22, 2026. Register here: https://fretboardsummit.org

The post Watch: The Fretboard Journal’s Wintergrass 2026 Vintage Instrument Workshop first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Steve Vai has revealed that Eddie Van Halen once played him a number of tapes containing unheard material at his own home, and that what he heard was “such great stuff”.

The news arrives amid reports that Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen is compiling an album of unheard Van Halen material with the help of friend Steve Lukather. It’s not yet clear what Lukather’s involvement consists of though, as he has already said he would never play guitar on the record.

• READ MORE: “He doesn’t want to be Ed Jr”: Why Alex Van Halen is “proud” that Wolfgang Van Halen doesn’t play his father’s music
  

In a new interview with Guitar Player, Vai recalls: “I was up at Edward’s house once, in his studio. He had a room filled with tapes, and he was pulling them out, and we were listening. He would just sit, record, and play.

“I’ll tell you, nobody plays like they do when they’re sitting in their room alone,” he adds. “It was a whole library of tapes, and it was such great stuff.”

Vai also says that he asked Eddie if he’d consider turning these ideas into a solo album, but that his response was “he always felt that Van Halen was his solo records”. On the topic of the new record, Vai also said that Lukather is “the best guy to help” as he was so close with Eddie.

Alex has confirmed in an interview that the record will feature reworked versions of songs that he and Eddie never finished, rather than material in its “embryonic form”. Following reports that Alex was on the look out for a singer, former VH bassist Michael Anthony said they should go forwards without one and keep it purely instrumental.

In an interview with Matt Spatz of WNCX, he said, “The way I personally feel about it is, if they wanted to do it justice, [the best idea would be] to just finish it up as a great instrumental nod to Eddie.

“You know, because getting a new singer in there, we’re not forming a new band, and then you’ve got to work on lyrics and all that stuff. And who knows when anything would be put out at that point.”

The post Steve Vai recalls hearing unreleased material at Eddie Van Halen’s house: “Nobody plays like they do when they’re in their room alone… It was such great stuff” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Marshall is marking 60 years since Jimi Hendrix first played through one of its amplifiers by launching a unique gear drop featuring three cosmic-inspired items.

The drop includes a reskinned Acton III Bluetooth speaker, a 1959 JMH Half Stack, and a limited-edition Fuzz Face pedal, with each inspired by Hendrix’s sound, style and love of science fiction. The brand also hints that more Marshall x Hendrix surprises could be launching later this year.

• READ MORE: Ronnie Wood remembers living with “sweet man” Jimi Hendrix: “He’d just sit back and play right-handed or left-handed – that blew my mind”

The limited-edition Acton III’s design is influenced by Hendrix’s love of velvet, silver jewellery and his fascination with space. It’s coated in crushed velvet and has a silver control panel featuring purple knobs and purple LED lights. The all-seeing eye is stamped in silver onto the side of Acton III, “symbolising both clarity and vision”.

Taken from a selection of Hendrix recordings, including a rare instrumental version of Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) from The Jimi Hendrix Experience deluxe box set, a new on-off sound also pays homage to the guitar legend.

As for the 1959 JMH Half Stack, these are made by hand in the Bletchley Marshall factory in the UK. A 1960 AJMH 4×12 Handwired Angled Cabinet combines with a 1959 Handwired Head to form Hendrix’s signature set-up.

It hosts a black and purple cosmic swirl across the fret and control panel and a purple LED indicator. Silver detailing inspired by Hendrix’s jewellery also features throughout, including on the knobs, handle, logo, grill and back panel. The all-seeing eye badge sits on the top and bottom of the stack.

Dunlop’s limited-edition Fuzz Face Distortion pedal features the same unique oil-on-water design, and is available exclusively with the stack.

“Jimi was a formidable musician, a real force of nature. He took everything to a new level and carried everybody with him. When he played, it was an emotional time for everybody because everyone was thinking, if he can do it, I could maybe do it. And he’s using Marshall, therefore we want Marshall. It was a really special time for us all and there’s no doubt that we grew with him and his fame, it was a natural tie-up. The rest is history as they say,” states Terry Marshall, co-founder of Marshall Amplification.

“From his fashion to his lyrics and of course, his music, there are so many different stories we could tell when it comes to Hendrix,” adds Emma Rydahl, Senior Industrial Designer at Marshall Group. “We started with materials and pattern exploration, looking at different fabrics and running test prints with a psychedelic track in mind. We spent a lot of time adjusting the final design to get it just right across the whole collection.”

Find out more or buy now via Marshall. The collection will also be available from select retailers from 14 May. 

The post It’s been 60 years since Jimi Hendrix first used a Marshall – now the company is celebrating with an array of cosmic-inspired guitar gear appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In 1976, Miami’s Criteria Studios became a hotbed for massive rock albums, when both Black Sabbath and the Eagles converged on the facility to record their respective albums, Technical Ecstasy and Hotel California.

As the story goes, Black Sabbath caused considerable issues for the Eagles, mostly due to excessive noise, which would bleed through the walls and force the band to halt recording and wait for windows of quiet.

• READ MORE: “I like him, but he’s a bit pushy”: What Paul McCartney really thought of Andrew Watt during their early sessions together

But the Eagles themselves weren’t exactly squeaky-clean in terms of their professionalism, as hard drugs formed a large part of the day to day while recording Hotel California, an album now cemented as one of the greatest of all time.

Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler even once claimed [via MOJO in a new feature] that they once entered the control room the Eagles had vacated to find one of the faders “so clogged with cocaine it wouldn’t move”.

Indeed, one of the biggest songs on Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane, was heavily inspired by the band’s drug use, with one lyric reading: “There were lines on the mirror, lines on her face.”

“Life in the Fast Lane turned into a celebration of what we were trying to warn people about,” says Eagles founding member Don Henley.

“I could hardly listen to that song when we were recording it, because I was getting high a lot of the time, and the song made me ill.”

Excess was a common thread for the Eagles in the ‘70s, and Don Henley recalled in a recent interview with Guitar World their habit of getting banned from their favourite hotels.

“Keith Moon [The Who drummer] and Joe [Walsh] were good buddies, and that, of course, led to some mischief,” he said.

“It was amusing for a little while, but it eventually became a very expensive hobby, and we were beginning to get barred from some of the hotels we liked to stay in. So after a while, the chainsaws got locked away in storage and other kinds of dramas replaced the ‘remodelling’ of rooms and hallways… But, at least Joe got a hit song out of it! [1978’s Life’s Been Good].”

The post The time Black Sabbath recorded in the same room as the Eagles and found one of the consoles faders “so clogged with cocaine it wouldn’t move” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The first-ever official Beatles fan experience is due to open in 2027 at 3 Savile Row in Mayfair, London, where the Fab Four played their final gig.

3 Savile Row is a Grade II listed mansion, and was one of the original headquarters for Apple Corps Ltd, the band’s multimedia company. They recorded their final album, Let It Be, in its basement, and played their last gig on its rooftop in 1969.

• READ MORE: “It’s alright, I’ve got another one”: Wings engineer remembers Paul McCartney’s relaxed reaction when he told him his Höfner Violin Bass had been stolen

The fan experience will mark the first time that 3 Savile Row will open its doors to the public. Though information at this early stage is limited, fans can sign up for email alerts on more updates as they become available through The Beatles website.

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Its launch next year will allow fans access to seven floors of never-before-seen material from Apple Corps’ archives, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, as well as a recreation of the original studio where Let it Be was recorded, as per NME.

Ringo Starr says “It’s like coming home”, while Paul McCartney adds: “It was such a trip to get back to 3 Savile Row recently and have a look around. There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”

Apple Corps’ CEO Tom Greene says, “Every single day fans are taking pictures of the outside of 3 Savile Row – but next year they can go in and explore all seven floors of the iconic building, including the rooftop where even the railings remain the same from that famous day in 1969.”

To sign up for alerts on the 3 Savile Row fan experience, head over to The Beatles website.

The post The Beatles played their last-ever gig on the rooftop of Apple Corps in 1969 – now it’s set to open to the public as a new fan experience appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

At just 35 years old, Andrew Watt has become the go-to producer to the stars, with a stacked portfolio that includes work with Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John and The Rolling Stones, as well as contemporary artists like Post Malone, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber.

And now, that resume is furnished with Paul McCartney’s name, as the Beatles legend gears up to release his first solo album in five years, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

The album came together over a period of five years, as the pair scattered in sessions among their mountain of other professional comments, which for Watt, included the Stones’ 2023 album Hackney Diamonds, and Ozzy’s final album, 2022’s Patient Number 9, to name just a couple.

• READ MORE: “It’s alright, I’ve got another one”: Wings engineer remembers Paul McCartney’s relaxed reaction when he told him his Höfner Violin Bass had been stolen
  

And in a new interview with MOJO, Paul McCartney recalls his first impressions of Watt as a producer following their first songwriting session together.

“I came away from the first session thinking, ‘Well, I like him, but he’s a bit pushy,” McCartney says. “But pushy’s not a bad thing in a producer. It’s just enthusiasm from someone who wants to keep making this record. It’s infectious.”

Watt recalls the wisdom he gained from the 83-year-old Beatles icon during their early sessions. “We were just talking, and he says, ‘You can write a song from anything. Sometimes I just pick a random chord I’ve never played before and go from there,” he remembers.

“So he played this weird chord and smiled with this boyish charm. He had to resolve it, because it was hanging out there so fucking weird. I grabbed a guitar, and we were off.” That moment led to the creation of the album’s opening track, As You Lie There.

Elsewhere in the interview, Andrew Watt recalls being captivated by the idea of using retro Beatles gear, including the Studer four-track tape machines the band used on tracks like A Day in the Life, on Macca’s new album.

“I had never gotten to make music like that before,” he says. “I fiddle around with mixes until I am fucking blue in the face, and then I want to change them again. The idea of committing to a sound and playing the part perfectly was so exciting to me.

“I wanted to hear Paul McCartney make a song on that machine with that sound.“

The Boys of Dungeon Lane is set to arrive 29 May via MPL/Capitol Records, and will bring “Wings-style rock, Beatles-style harmonies, McCartney-style grooves, understated intimacy and melody-driven storytelling”.

The album’s tracklist can be seen below: 

1. As You Lie There
2. Lost Horizon
3. Days We Left Behind
4. Ripples in a Pond
5. Mountain Top
6. Down South
7. We Two
8. Come Inside
9. Never Know
10. Home to Us 
11. Life Can Be Hard
12. First Star of the Night
13. Salesman Saint
14. Momma Gets By

The Boys of Dungeon Lane is available now for preorder. Listen to its lead single, Days We Left Behind, below:

The post “I like him, but he’s a bit pushy”: What Paul McCartney really thought of Andrew Watt during their early sessions together appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

€169/£179, atticaudio.mt/northernstomps.com

The Edge, when you think about it, is a profoundly silly name for a musician. But there’s nothing silly about the hugely respected U2 guitarist’s approach to gear – so, given that he’s a big fan of the Boss FA-1 preamp, the only mystery is why this oddball unit from the early 80s hasn’t been copied more often.

• READ MORE: Milkman/Benson The Amp review: “a compelling solution for players looking to replace a traditional tube amp”

Attic Audio is an indie pedal maker based in Malta, the little Mediterranean island famous for… Maltese stuff. This is its take on the FA-1, copying the original in spirit but turning it from a simple tone-improving preamp into something of a sonic multi-tool. And it’s just arrived in the UK courtesy of Northern Stompboxes.

Attic Audio Putty – what is it?

The first thing you notice is the word ‘Putty’ being squished into oblivion by a picture of itself in the middle; that aside, this pedal has been laid out for simplicity and clarity. The four main controls are gain, volume, bass and treble – basically the original Paul Cochrane Timmy template, about as standard as it gets.

But there’s also a three-way toggle switch for high, low or no clipping, and a push-button on the side to make that clipping symmetrical or asymmetrical. Add another switch to put the tonestack before or after the gain, and you begin to see the potential for this to be more than a straightforward dirt provider.

Attic Audio Putty – what does it sound like?

A dull, unimaginative person would start with all the controls at halfway and the clipping switch in the off position… so it’s lucky I’m a dull, unimaginative person because that’s what I did and it sounded great. This starting point is a subtle clean boost that adds some sparkly bite to the top end; in some setups it could easily serve as an always-on tone enhancer.

If you need more than enhancement, the tone controls can help: there are usable sounds on offer all the way around both of them, from a zingy treble boost to a gently thickening, spike-suppressing jazzy tone that I found uncannily addictive – especially with a spoonful of drive added.

The only question there is, how big is your spoon? Again, the Putty lives up to its promise of shaping itself to whatever you want from it. It can do a lovely low-gain thing that sounds a lot like a Klon but without the midrange push, it can work equally well as a medium-gain ODR-1 or EarthQuaker Devices Plumes type, and it can even dip a toe into the shallow end of fuzz. In general we’re talking fluffy distortion rather than anything too raspy, but the carefully tuned power of those tone knobs means you shouldn’t have any issues with balance or control.

Attic Audio Putty – should I buy it?

This is a stompbox of many sounds, but they’re all variants on a theme that’s best described as… niceness. You only have hands-free access to one of those sounds at a time, of course – some players might wish it had a second footswitch for clipping mode instead of that little toggle – but the Putty is not here to displace your favourite dual drive. It’s a sweet-toned all-rounder that’s on hand to fill a gap of virtually any shape or size.

Attic Audio Putty alternatives

The JHS Pedals Clover ($199/£199) is based on the Boss FA-1, as is/was the discontinued Drunk Beaver FET OverBooster. Other high-quality drive pedals with similar shapeshifting powers include the Silktone Expander ($269/£279) and Coggins Audio Dinosaural Hypoid Drive (£219).

The post Attic Audio Putty review – will this ultra-mouldable preamp give you The Edge? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

[Editor’s note: This Tucker Zimmerman interview conducted by Jamie Etherington was slated for the Fretboard Journal’s print edition. With the artist’s passing on January 17, 2026, we’ve decided to share it in its entirety online. It is probably one of the last interviews the self-proclaimed “song poet” did, and we hope it sheds light on his profound music and influence.]

Photographs by Dirk Leunis

If Tucker Zimmerman is an unfamiliar name to many readers, that should come as no surprise. As West Coast musician Zach Burba tells me, Tucker’s music has until recently gone largely unnoticed. “People may be inclined to call this a crime, ‘how could we miss out on such vital music!’ but I know that this was by design,” he says. “Tucker had many chances to grab a career in the spotlight and he just listened to something in his gut that said, ‘maybe not this time.’”

Over seven decades, Zimmerman has released a dozen albums–a sonic memoir incorporating folk, 12-bar blues, full-band rock concertos, and classical piano compositions. Born in California in 1941, he graduated with an MA from San Francisco State College at the height of the Beat era. In the summer of 1966, he had just received his draft papers when he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study musical composition in Italy. During his two years in Rome, Tucker emerged as a fixture on the Roman folk scene, playing the clubs in Trastevere. It was in the Eternal City that he also met his future wife, Marie Claire.

In 1968, the couple moved to London where Tucker befriended a young Tony Visconti, at the time an apprentice producer learning his trade at the Regal Zonophone studios. This friendship lead to Visconti producing Zimmerman’s debut album, “Ten Songs.” In the early ‘70s, Tucker and Marie Claire crossed back over the Channel, setting up home in her home country of Belgium. Thereafter, Tucker spent the following decades quietly working the European festival circuit, biking around the Belgian countryside, raising their son, Quanah, and all the while writing and recording.

His most recent record, Dance of Love, on which he collaborated with Big Thief, has finally garnered the 84-year-old Zimmerman some wider later-life attention. Zach Burba, who also played on the album, recalls the first time he heard Tucker’s music.

Zach Burba: Adrianne [Lenker] played me “Foot Tap” one evening when we were hanging and sharing songs in James Krivchenia’s old downstairs garden apartment, in a now burnt-down Altadena home. I was taken by Tucker’s liberal use of phaser pedal on his lo-fi country songs. After a few songs I readjusted my focus to the lyrics and was smitten with the playful surrealism and humble gentleness of the poetry.

Earlier this year, I caught up with Tucker via Zoom from his home deep in the Belgian countryside to chat about his journey from San Francisco to Belgium, explore his creative process, talk about guitars, and the making of Dance of Love. My first question, however–reflecting the geographer in me, was wanting to know where in Belgium Tucker and Marie Claire call home.

Tucker Zimmerman: We’re in Stockay Saint-Georges, which is on the plateau above the Meuse river. We came here in 1978. It’s a farming community: Potatoes, beetroots and corn. We’re 20 kilometres from Liège, in a small valley that leads down to the Meuse. My studio is just down the hill from the house.

I mention to Tucker Zach’s observation that his relative obscurity is by design and that it reminds me of something Michael Hurley said about his own low profile, “Calling me an outsider artist? Yes, I think that’s apt. It’s taken me a long time to join the gang.” I wondered to what degree that sentiment resonates with him?

TZ: Well, I only had one brush with this–going one way or the other. It was in England in the late ‘60s and I was surrounded by the pop music world at that time. I made my first record and there were gigs, but things weren’t happening. The government wouldn’t give me a work permit, so I couldn’t do gigs legally. I did them, but under fake names. There was no way of getting to where I wanted to go. But, at the same time, I saw around me what happens to people who desire fame and fortune. And I said, I don’t want to do that. The British government kicked me out of England as I wasn’t making any money. In a way, it was fortuitous. They kicked us out and that put me into the world I wanted to be in. I started doing gigs in Belgium and Northern Europe and decided I’m going to stay here and keep going, because it was too good!

Belgium has been very receptive to me. I came at a good time because this was the late ‘60s, Woodstock had happened and they were looking for some sort of Woodstock scene! My first gig after being in the country for only a couple weeks was at a big event in Brussels. I entered a room that held about 700 people, it was packed. There were so many people on the stage, I had to wade through bodies to get to the microphone. That began something positive for me. I started to become known. It all stemmed from the movement created by Woodstock and this desire to join in internationally with the spirit that was happening in America. So, they chose their American! At the same time, I started touring West Germany and I took in every corner of that country too.

I remark that his early career appears to have been a perfect trifecta of timing, location and talent.

TZ: It always is, isn’t it? You run into things and you just happen to be there. My life has been like that all along. These coincidences which have been beneficial for me. I arrive in a place and it works out, you know. In Germany, the mood was a little bit different than Belgium. The students were still reeling from World War II and what had happened politically in Germany. They were saying we’re going to make sure this doesn’t happen again and, in the early ‘70s, they were supporting anything positive that came along. I was a cultural outlaw for them and they supported that very strongly. I had that good run of 15 years with Germany as well. It was great and I was working all the time. I remember one year in the mid-‘70s, I did over 250 gigs!

I had great audiences all through the ‘70s, until the students got older, started having families and children and then I lost my audience. This happened at the same time as MTV came along in 1984. That ruined everything! However, it was a fortuitous moment too as it brought me into other things and took me into another world.

The Dead, Miles, and Moondog

I wanted to hear about Tucker’s student days in San Francisco. His song “Old Hippies Lament,” namechecks Wavy Gravy and Ken Kesey. I wondered if his immersion in the late ‘50s counterculture had influenced him creatively.

TZ: The thing is, I was part of that movement. I grew up in my teen years, 10 years up through high school, in the country on a ranch. But I came back in 1958 to go to college in San Francisco, and I plunged immediately into the Beat era. That movement influenced me the most. The writing of Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, and Ginsberg got me going.

Tucker says that in ’64–’65 he lived on Downey Street in Haight-Ashbury.

TZ: [It] was the cheapest rent in the city! You could get a flat or apartment for $60 a month. That’s why I went there, because it was cheap! Garcia and the Grateful Dead were living one block over. The Dead were playing almost every weekend at the Avalon. I didn’t miss a set.

Within the Dead camp, Tucker found common ground with Phil Lesh.

TZ: I was studying musical theory and composition in San Francisco and he was across the bay at Mills College. He was also a student composer and we met at concerts of our music. That’s how I got to know him. We shared this idea of being student composers. I knew him as a trumpet player and he was pretty good. I heard his compositions, he heard mine and we exchanged ideas. We never became close friends but I knew him.

In late ’65, however, he says the demographic of Haight-Ashbury changed.

TZ: We had a nice community up until the invasion started happening. People, kids…started moving in. They heard the news, you know, and paradise was gone.

This period was also the golden era of West Coast jazz. The San Francisco scene in particular was a vibrant one, cantered around venues such as the Blackhawk and Bop City. Tucker recounts one of those “I was there” moments, disclosing that he was at the Blackhawk in 1958 when Miles Davis and John Coltrane were rehearsing the running order for Kind of Blue.

TZ: It was an incredible moment in my life. I’ll never forget it. It was a small club with little round tables where you’re supposed to hold your drinks, and I was right in front of Miles Davis. He was looking right at me when he was playing, Coltrane was off to my left, and Adderley was off to my right. That was pretty much the unit. It was overpowering in a way, because these guys played, I mean, really played. I attended all three performances. I think Miles got tired of looking at me one point. He turned his back on me and played in the other direction. He was a funny guy, in a way, because I think maybe he didn’t like white people. With good reason. I understood it.

Tucker also sought out John Lewis, who led the Modern Jazz Quartet.

TZ: I met him several times on purpose as an invitation to sit and talk about music. And he was interested that I was composing. I knew when the MJQ was coming to the Blackhawk and we’d set up a meeting at his hotel, which was right next door. We’d spend an hour in the afternoon, before the gig, talking about composition. He would analyze what he thought about Bartok, for instance. He had great musical knowledge, which went way beyond jazz. I considered them lessons. He talked, I listened and I absorbed. I wasn’t going to butt in because it was too interesting.

As for Tucker’s other musical influences, I had heard that Moondog and Leadbelly were important figures for him.

TZ: Well, those recordings, of course. I actually met Moondog later on in Germany in the ‘80s but that’s another story. I ran into some recordings of their music. Leadbelly and Moondog are quite different, but both touched me deeply.

Tucker says that listening to “On the Streets of New York” and “Snaketime Rhythms” as a 10-year-old gave him his first idea of someone being a composer.

TZ: Oh, people can do that? They can construct things and play them, make them perform them. That was cool. With Leadbelly, it was more abstract in the sense that I loved his voice and the sound of the 12-string guitar. I said to myself, someday, maybe I’ll play music like this and if I do, I’ll have to have a 12-string. And that’s exactly what happened. I still only play the 12-string.

Ten Songs

We then talk about Tucker’s time in England. I was intrigued how he met and befriended the legendary producer, Tony Visconti.

TZ: I didn’t have a work permit, only a three-month visa. I said, well, I’m going to try to find gigs anyway. I went around to several clubs, including Les Cousins in Soho. The guy heard me play and said, ‘I’d love to take you on, but do you have a work permit?’ In the same room was this young guy, Nick Jones, who was a sort of hanger-on but in a nice way. He was the son of Max Jones, the jazz editor of Melody Maker. Nick came up to me and said, “I like what you’re doing. It’s a shame you can’t get anything going.” Nick knew everyone on the scene at the time, partly through his father and the magazine. One of them was Tony Visconti. He said, “I want you to meet this guy, you might get along” and he took me over to the demo studios at Regal Zonophone.

Tony had only been in England a few weeks. He’d been brought over by Denny Cordell. Tony was getting started. He’d done some arranging and a little bit of production. We clicked personally and immediately became friends. Over the next couple weeks, he heard more of my music and wanted to record it. Denny had gone to America and left Tony in charge of the place. Tony said, “Listen, I’m not going to talk to Denny; we’re going to go in the studio and record.” Of course, when Denny came back, he was pissed off, “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want this artist.” Tony says, “Well, I do” and that began a more solid foundation between Tony and me. He stood up for me and found gigs for me under a fake name. We were actually talking about doing a duet together at one point and played a couple gigs as Tony & Tucker. We’ve remained friends ever since.

The Song-Poet

Tucker vehemently resists the label “singer-songwriter,” preferring the epithet “song poet.”

TZ: Somebody gave me that tag way back before I was touring Germany in the early ‘70s. I accepted it. It sounded right, and I never paid much attention to it. I’m glad it happened because these days it seems everybody is a singer-songwriter. I know they haven’t put in 50 years of work to be where they are, and I don’t know how much more they would do. They’re so young, some of them, and I know most of them will drop out. I don’t have any respect for that tag “singer-songwriter.” I’m glad I have this “song poet” thing to fall back on.

We then exchanged thoughts about the modern curse of pigeonholing musicians by label or genre, which prompted an impassioned response from Tucker.

TZ: Well, that’s good as I don’t want to be a pigeon! I don’t like to be pigeon-holed and I’ll resist it. When people say, “Oh, well, you know, that sounds a lot like Townes van Zandt,” I’ll say I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to know because you’re already letting the pigeons crap on you!

I ask Tucker about the intense periods of writing he refers to as “river runs”–what prompts them and how he engages with them on the creative plane.

TZ: I had a big run on poetry in the first 10 years of this century, and there’s been moments when I’ve had periods of intense writing, but they come unexpectedly. I’ve no control over that. It’s sudden, I have to do it, and if I didn’t, I’d get in trouble with myself. If you don’t follow these things, it’ll block up and cause all kinds of problems. But that’s not actually the reason. The reason is that it feels so good to do it. There was one period in the ‘90s somewhere, I wrote 80 songs in a week. That seldom happens. I was running between my writing desk and my Pro Tools, and I’d write the lyrics, run over and make up the song.

Tucker volunteers that the day before, he had been looking over the lyrics for his new record.

TZ: Nick Holton at Big Potato proposed another album and we’re finishing that one right now. It’s called “Dream Me a Dream.” We recorded it here in my studio. Nick came with his recording material, even though I have Pro Tools. He said, ‘Let’s leave that aside. You don’t have to worry about doing that. You just concentrate.’ We sat on the other side of the studio at my writing desk, I had the guitar and let the songs come out. 11 or 12 of them, most new and a couple of old ones.

“I Consider Myself a Drummer More Than a Guitarist”

This being a FJ interview, I naturally wanted to ask Tucker about the 12-strings he has owned, in particular the ones made by Tony Zematis and Božo Podunavac. I had been forewarned, however, that Tucker is somewhat reluctant to indulge the nitty-gritty of guitar nerdom.

TZ: I’ve been surrounded by people in the ‘70s and, even still today, who want to talk about guitars and strings! I’m not interested. I’m not a guitar player. I use the guitar. I consider myself a drummer more than a guitarist, because I play a drum that has nice sounds…chords. That’s how I treat it. I don’t change the strings on my guitar for two, three or four years. I think the strings have been on there for five years right now! I don’t change them, it’s too much trouble. I know a little bit about guitars, of course, because I’ve looked around for good 12-strings. I’m always open for a new 12-string!

I played the Zematis for a few months, then found too many faults in it. It was not a good guitar. Then, a friend in Holland found a Božo for me, and all I knew was that Leo Kottke played one. I love the sound of it on his recordings. My friend called up and said there’s a Božo in Utrecht, you’d better come up and look. And it was cheap, 1600 guilders. It was a good guitar, so I got it and used that for a long time.

Music by River, Words by Ear

Before wrapping up, I wanted to ask Tucker about the origins of “River Barge,” a melancholic, haunting track that conjures images of fog-bound marshlands and a sullen northern European river.

TZ: Well, I wrote it in Maastricht, which is on the Meuse. I’d been bicycling with an American friend, a sculptor who I’ve known for over 50 years. Another artist in my life! He was setting up an outdoor exhibit sculpture. I had been working on this poem all day long, looking at the river and thinking about the barges going by. I thought, would I like to live on one for a while to see what it was like? In my head, I was composing all these verses about the river barge. We finished the exhibit, went bicycling and ended up at a cafe above Maastricht eating potato soup. I had written about 16 verses, which I read to John. He listened and said “there’s too much river barge.” That night I got home, picked up my guitar, and reduced the 16 verses down to three. John pushed me into reforming the poem and I made it into a song. I still play it with my trio.”

I mention that it’s a personal favorite, lyrically and musically, and his response is entirely in keeping with what Zach had told me about Tucker’s ability to speak directly to the best and most engaged version of whoever he is talking to.

TZ: Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad because it reaches out and touches you. That’s why I write. It’s important we keep in contact with everybody. When I sing for people, that’s the initial point. If we lose that, we’re gone. The person sitting next to you is a friend that you don’t know yet. I cannot be with a person and ignore them. Even waiting at a stoplight, across the street there’s somebody next to me. I say, how you doing, in French or whatever. Maybe not much comes of it in terms of words, but they know that I know them. I recognize them as another human being. An example is you asking for an interview. Of course, I will. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to sit and talk.This was good. I appreciate you being there. I have to find Marie Claire with the oatmeal!

The post Tribute: Tucker Zimmerman first appeared on Fretboard Journal.