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Neural DSP has announced what could be the biggest plugin collaboration of all time – Archetype: John Mayer X, a digital version of the Mayer’s recognisable and sought-after tone.

• READ MORE: Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer review – is this the Mayer tone plugin we’ve been waiting for?

Archetype: John Mayer X takes a similar approach to the brand’s other Archetype plugins, in that it sonically captures Mayer’s favoured analogue bits of kit. On the amps side, you get some digital replicant of his three most beloved and commonly used tube amps – a 1964 Fender Vibroverb, John’s #002 Dumble Steel String Singer, and the prototype of his signature Two-Rock head.

On the pedal side, you get versions of the pedals that you’d expect if you’ve ever even dipped a toe into Mayer tone scholarship: a Keeley Katana, an EHX Q-tron, a Way Huge Aqua-Puss, a combined Bluesbreaker/TS-10 Tube Screamer, and, of course, a Klon Centaur. Alongside this you get a huge variety of speaker cab simulations as well as the usual boatload of microphones that come with any given piece of Archetype software. That makes for a pretty compelling collection of sought-after vintage gear, even outside of the Mayer connection!

Neural DSP head Doug Castro said about the launch in a statement: “John’s sound has inspired guitarists around the world, and it was a privilege to work with him directly to recreate the rig that anchors his tone. “There’s an intimacy to the way his rig responds – it breathes, it opens up, it carries emotion – and capturing that behavior was one of the most meaningful projects we’ve taken on.”

The collaboration is notable as it’s one of the few non-heavy plugins Neural DSP has made, although certainly not the first, as it was preceded by Archetype: Mateus Asato and Archetype: Cory Wong.

And, in case you’d wondered if I’d started putting kisses at the end of my headlines – I haven’t. The ‘X’ in this case indicates an expanded approach to the Archetype software, which is understandable given the scope of the gear captured. Perhaps relatedly this is one of the pricier Archetype offerings from Neural, coming in at €199.

Want to know more? Check out our review of the software, or indeed the 14-day free trial is available from Neural DSP.

The post Neural DSP launches Archetype: John Mayer X appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

€199, neuraldsp.com

Back in the early 2000s, I was a woefully underqualified student on a music college guitar course, powerfully unenthused by the guitar heroes I was encouraged to emulate. In truth, I was probably struggling to see myself in the Mount Rushmore shredders because well, I was and remain a witheringly average guitar player. But a few months into the first semester, one of the tutors switched us onto this new young American lad who was taking an unconventional route to guitar success.

• READ MORE: Poly Effects Trails review – probably the world’s most inspiring multi-effects pedal

This kid had landed himself a spot on the Billboard top 40 with a fairly dreadful song about someone’s body being a wonderland. But, listen to his new album, Room For Squares, we were told – there’s a serious guitar player lurking underneath the radio-friendly pop songs.

I’m telling you this not to flaunt my John Mayer credentials – as if such a thing exists – but to explain that I am something of a greybeard when it comes to Mayer tone chasing. But obviously, I’m not alone.

Mayer is probably the most influential guitar player of the last two decades, with some of the biggest artists on the planet citing him as a huge inspiration on their tone, technique and artistry. There are whole websites devoted to analysing every piece of gear in an attempt to emulate his sound. This then, is a big ol’ deal.

Because while Mayer has had signature products before – the wildly popular PRS Silver Sky being the most notable – he’s often been quite secretive about his actual signal chain. Now however, he’s pulling the curtain back and presenting any guitar player with a laptop and an audio interface the opportunity to experience a high-end emulation of his guitar amps and pedals, and presets to show you how he puts it all together.

Whisper it, but this might be the most asked-for new artist-related product the guitar world has seen in a very, very long time.

Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer – what is it?

Archetype: John Mayer is the latest in Neural DSP’s – maker of the Cortex pedals and a bunch of other high-end digital guitar stuff – series of wildly popular artist-focused guitar plugins.

For the most part, these Archetypes have focused heavily on the shredder, metallic end of the guitar spectrum – John Petrucci, Gojira, Tim Henson and the like – with the occasional flirtations with non-heavy guys like Mateus Asato and Cory Wong.

Landing a bluefin tuna of a fish like Mayer then, is a big deal not just for guitar fans who have been crying out for an official Mayer plugin, but also for Neural DSP. While the Quad Cortex has become hugely popular with fans and artists across the musical spectrum for its remarkably realistic amp profiles (including Mayer himself), the company has struggled to fully cater to the non-heavy audience at times – this is quite the statement of intent that they’re going to change that.

So, what actually is it? Well it’s a guitar plugin, which will work standalone or with your DAW of choice, that offers a bunch of amps and effects exhaustively modelled on Mayer’s own gear, plus a bunch of presets for that gear created not only by the man himself but by a boatload of other artists, too. Yep, if you’ve ever wondered what John Petrucci, Lee Malia or Plini would do if they were plonked down in front of John Mayer’s rig – wonder no more.

Specifically, what we get here are replications of John’s three most beloved and commonly used amps – a 1964 Fender Vibroverb, John’s #002 Dumble Steel String Singer, and the prototype of his signature Two-Rock head. All three come with corresponding cabs, and there’s an interesting fourth option, “The Three-In-One Amplifier”, which combines all three together as Mayer himself would do, under one streamlined control panel.

You can run each of the amps through any of the connected speaker options – and there are a boatload of mic options, both in terms of type and placement, as you’d expect with any high-end guitar plugin.

Effects-wise, the signal chain offers 11 effects in total, split up into various stages in the chain. And if you ever doubted that Mayer was both extremely online and extremely aware of the internet’s feverish obsession with his signal chain, the fact that all the pedals here are rendered as if clumsily covered in black paint – a nod to Mayer’s habit of ‘blacking out’ certain pedals on his real ‘board to throw off the tonehounds – should remove them conclusively.

In terms of actual pedals, we have five Mayer staples in the pre-effects slot – a Keeley Katana, EHX Q-tron, Way Huge Aqua-Puss, Klon Centaur and a combined Bluesbreaker/TS-10 Tube Screamer. At the other end we also have a Providence Chrono Delay and the reverb bit of a Strymon Flint, and there’s also a studio EQ and compressor after the amp stage.

The most interesting part of the rig, however, is the ‘Gravity Tank’ a Neural-designed hybrid harmonic tremolo and spring reverb tank that puts together the sound of John’s favourite units in a bespoke unit that sits between the pre-effects and the amps.

You also get a transpose function that enables you to go up or down 12 full steps, a noise gate, doubler, plus a built-in tuner, metronome and all the MIDI jiggery you’d expect.

There are 18 built-in Mayer-designed presets, plus multiple presets from over 40 different artists, and a shedload from Neural itself – you can of course, create and save your own too.

Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer – usability

Neural’s Archetype platform is a mature one at this point and if you’ve used any of Neural’s plugins before the basic setup is as you’d expect. Even if you’ve never used one before however, the interface is extremely straightforward and intuitive.

Across the top of the interface, no matter what you click on, you have the five editable parts of the signal chain – pre-fx, verb & trem, amp, cab, EQ and comp, and post-fx. Below that you have another permanent bar with the input and output level, noise gate, transpose, doubler and a menu to select presets. At the bottom you have an outlined depiction of the four amp and cab options so you can see at a glance what you’re playing through anywhere, while the big space in the middle is devoted to a suitably WYSIWYG depiction of whatever it is you’re currently editing.

Each effect and amp is clearly laid out in the manner you’d expect from the originals, though the blacked-out thing isn’t the most helpful at a glance. The coloured labels don’t exactly pop with their slightly washed-out colour palette, while the labels for the controls are scrawled in what you assume is Mayer’s fair hand. Again, it’s not the most legible thing I’ve ever seen, and from an accessibility standpoint it would be helpful to be able to alter the font to something more legible – but they’re hardly the first pedals, virtual or otherwise, to put form over function in that regard.

Speaking of pedals, as is the nature with all other Archetypes, the signal chain is fixed to Mayer’s preference in terms of both the overarching chain and the individual components therein. That means if you wanted to move, say, your Aqua Puss to your post fx bank, it’s a no-go – it’s sat at the end of your pre fx slot and that’s where it will stay.

The fixed chain has other limitations too – not least the decision to have an either/or situation with the TS-10/Bluesbreaker pedal – and then there’s the amps. Each amp has its own tone stack when selected independently, but it defaults to whatever Mayer’s preferred option for the three-in-one option. In this mode you also only get the ability to tweak the level of each amp, a master gain, plus output and room send.

What’s more, each amp only offers a single channel, and the tone stack is obviously condensed quite considerably from what’s on the front of the real thing – for example, the Vibroverb only has four controls (volume, bass, treble, output) and a bright switch.

This is less of a criticism than it is a note of caution – if you’re buying this expecting to get a fully realised replication of a Steel String Slinger or a Two-Rock, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, think of it more like what Mayer considers the most important bits of each amp – and this is an artist plugin at the end of the day. If you’re buying something for its endlessly editable and configurable sonic options, plenty of options exist.

Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer – usability

Booting up the plugin on my 2022 MacBook Pro, I naturally reach for the USA Strat that has been a faithful companion for over 20 years – it’s only as I go to plug it in that I recall that both the guitar and its finish choice (sunburst with a tortie pickguard) were the direct result of me spending too much time poring over Mayer’s Any Given Thursday live DVD in a grubby Coventry student house in 2004. The past is nothing if not cringe. Anyway!

The presets are obviously the right place to start for any signature product like this. While Mayer can be a cantankerous character at the best of times, it’s good to see that he hasn’t been totally obtuse here – there are no less than five presets here that have the word ‘Gravity’ in their name. Give the people what they want, John.

I start with ‘Gravity Clean’ because of course I do, with my Strat’s in-between position selected, and well… there it is. Taking into account the fact that Mayer is many dozens of forces of magnitude better at playing guitar than I am, and that my well-loved old Strat is far from a ’64, all it takes is those first five notes to raise the eyebrows at how close this sounds to the man himself.

The presets run a nice gamut of the sort of tones Mayer has become associated with, from meaty Hendrix and SRV-adjacent leads to tastefully restrained bluesy cleans, through to more raucous affairs. The ‘Just Plain Dumb’ preset is frankly, far from it – chaining all three dirty options in the pre effects into a cooking Dumble is certainly a wild ride, but one that is bags of fun.

Isolating all three amps really shows the effort and time that has clearly gone into capturing the sounds, as they really do have distinct and enjoyably authentic characteristics. The Vibroverb is like a warm hug no matter how you set it, while the Steel String Singer certainly lives up to Alexander Dumble’s reputation for creating amps that will show off exactly how good a player you are for good or for ill – forgiving this thing ain’t.

The three-in-one is obviously meant to be the headline event here though – it’s the one that most of Mayer’s presets make use of, but it’s a truly enjoyable experience regardless. The best part is the way you can use the three level controls to precisely tailor how much of each amp you want in your particular sonic gumbo – and the three are different enough that you can easily compensate for anything you don’t like about one with an extra dollop of something you do.

The effects are very impressive across the board, but the star of the show is that Gravity tremolo/reverb tank. The tremolo, in particular, throbs with a wonderfully organic and warm tonality that you rarely find in digital recreations.

And as silly as they might seem from the outset, some of the non-Mayer artist presets – looking at you John Petrucci – do a nice job of showing that there’s utility here beyond Mayer’s bluesy heartlands.

Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer – should I buy it?

The good thing about Neural’s Archetypes is that you don’t really need me to answer that question for you – a 14-day free trial is available for you to download and let your ears be the judge.

If you’re a seasoned user of plugins and in-the-box guitar stuff, boot it up and have a go. The sting in the tail is that it’s quite a bit more expensive than other Neural artist Archetypes – but you are getting a lot for your money.

The other thing to weigh on is the fact that, despite being a longtime user of various digital guitar solutions – including Kemper, Fractal and Neural – Mayer is often held up by the guitar community as a bit of an analogue messiah.

As a rule, he’s all about big amps, real effects pedals, and putting them together to make massive sounds – can a digital plugin really come close to that? Well… yes and no. Within the scope of some headphones and a laptop, you’re not going to capture the full majesty of playing through several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of boutique and vintage gear on a giant stage.

But you can feel the care and attention to detail that’s gone into this from a sonic point of view – it really does capture the essence of those sounds you hear on stage and on record in a way that I’ve not heard from other plugins, and presets that claim to offer you some of that Mayer magic in digital form.

I have no doubt that the man himself would never claim that this is going to replace his analogue rig – this is a guy who built mini isolation boxes for his amps so he could use them at The Sphere for Dead & Co this year, don’t forget. But what it offers him, and all of us, is the ability to capture some of that magic in a much more affordable, accessible and replicable way. Arguably, it’s what Mayer fans have been asking for for decades.

Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer – alternatives

Not down with the digital thing? Well Fender don’t currently make a Vibroverb but the ’68 Custom Vibro Champ Reverb ($1,049/£899) is a smaller and quieter substitute. Mayer’s Two-Rock signature has been discontinued for a while, but a Silver Sterling signature will set you back the thick end of $7,000/£6,399. Dumbles? Most clones emulate the Overdrive Special as opposed to the Steel String Singer, but the Overtone SSS 100 from Ceriatone ($2,000) is one option. Alternatively, if you just want a very high-quality suite of guitar amps and pedals in plugin form, without the Mayer endorsement, Paradise Guitar Studio from Universal Audio ($149) is well worth an audition.

The post Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer X review – is this the Mayer tone plugin we’ve been waiting for? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Guitar and bass brand Höfner has filed for bankruptcy in Germany, a new filing in the Fürth District Court in Bavaria reveals.

Few details about the insolvency have been made public, however the filing does reveal that “provisional insolvency administration” has been ordered for Karl Höfner GmbH & Co as of 10 December. An insolvency administrator has been appointed, who will proceed to attempt to rectify debts over the next three months. Höfner has been contacted for comment.

The company has a long and storied history. It was founded by Karl Höfner in 1887, in what was then the Austria-Hungarian town of Schönbach, and is now Luby in the Czech Republic. Over the next few decades, the company grew to be one of the largest suppliers of stringed instruments in the area and for export. Operations were unsurprisingly scaled back during World War II, and its facilities were put to use making supplies for the German army. Germany’s postwar reconstitution meant the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, and Höfner relocated to West Germany, opening a new factory in Bubenreuth in 1950.

The company would go on to expand its facilities across the 50s, 60s and 70s. Höfner was acquired by the Boosey & Hawkes group in 1994, which led to further expansion. In 2003, Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division, including Höfner, to the Music Group as part of a rescue buyout. In December 2004, Höfner was sold to long-time general manager Klaus Schöller and his wife, finance director Ulrike Schrimpff.

The brand has made countless different instruments across its history, but one remains perhaps the most recognisable: the 500/1 bass guitar, AKA the Violin Bass, made most famous by Paul McCartney, who was seldom seen playing anything else while he was in the Beatles. The bass remains Höfner’s most recognisable instrument, and has seen many other notable users since McCartney. McCartney’s first 500/1 bass has its own unique history – it was stolen in 1972, only to be found in an attic in suffolk after nearly five decades of hunting.

Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.

The post Höfner files for bankruptcy appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

In one of the many ways that I am crushingly unoriginal as a guitar player, Back To The Future is a Very Big Deal for me. To call those three movies formative on me probably understates things somewhat.

• READ MORE: Does it matter that Marty McFly used the ‘wrong’ guitar in Back to the Future? According to Michael J. Fox, it makes “little difference”

Among the guitars and sports memorabilia that clutter up my home office, an ‘OUTATIME’ license plate sits proudly on my desk, while an Enchantment Under The Sea Dance poster sits framed over my shoulder. So unabashed is my love of BTTF in fact, that when I left Guitarist magazine a decade ago, the traditional ‘leaving cover’ given to departing staff as a farewell saw me expertly photoshopped into the red body warmer of Marty McFly, stepping out of a DeLorean.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that when, earlier this year, Gibson and Epiphone announced their partnership with the movie to release a pair of commemorative instruments modelled on the mythical ES-345 used by Michael J Fox in the movie, I was paying attention.

The cold financial realities of being a guitar journalist meant that I was never going to be in for one of the 20 grand Gibson models, but the Epiphone version? That might well be in reach… or so I thought.

Because in reality, I would have needed a time machine built out of a DeLorean to get one – by the time I’d umm’d and ahh’d about whether I really needed it (I didn’t, by the way) all 1,985 of them had sold out.

I wasn’t really surprised by that– I doubt you were either. I am far from alone in being a guitar player for whom Back To The Future was hugely important to them. I’ve interviewed a lot of musicians who were born between 1970 and 1990, and by and large it’s more notable when one of them doesn’t cite Marty McFly as a musical touchstone.

And yet in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t just that. Plenty of genuine fans were buying the guitars, sure – but as the brand new instruments started popping up on Reverb and eBay with vastly inflated price tags in the following weeks, it was clear that plenty of people had simply bought them to flip for a profit. And it was even worse with the Gibson version.

Obviously, I wasn’t surprised by this. Scalpers are a fact of life in a culture that has become more and more obsessed with limited-edition drops and artificial scarcity. Whether it’s trying to cop the latest Palace x Nike collab, a Snoopy Moonswatch or god forbid, a Labubu, there will always be people trying to profit in these situations at the expense of people who would just quite like to own the thing in question.

The Scale Of The Problem

But how big is the problem in the guitar world? It’s always been quite hard to quantify – it certainly felt like something that was a growing issue, but how big was it exactly. Well, thanks to Reverb, we can now get a sense of the full scale of it.

As you may be aware, every year Reverb crunches the vast amount of data it holds on the buying and selling of new and used music gear across the globe to provide a list of the best selling products in various categories. 2025 was no different, but as I was perusing the lists this year I saw something that made me do a double-take.

At the top of the best-selling new electric guitars for 2025 was, you guessed it, the Epiphone Back to the Future ES-345. This guitar, which was offered for sale exclusively via Gibson’s own website and a few select dealers – and as a reminder, was limited to just 1,985 units – beat every other new guitar launched in 2025.

And let’s not forget, while Reverb may have got its start as a used gear marketplace, it’s now a place where a huge chunk of the gear sold is new – often by retailers. Don’t be under any illusions – a significant proportion of all the gear sales in the US, Europe and beyond now goes through Reverb.

For this guitar to beat out every single non-limited run new guitar made by Fender, Epiphone, Gretsch, PRS and everyone else this year… try and wrap your head around that. How many of those guitars that were bought must have been flipped for profit to have the BTTF Epiphone standing alone on the podium? It’s mind-boggling.

A glance at the other categories shows some similar red flags – if not quite as brazen. JHS’s troubled NOTADÜMBLË – a 15,000-run pedal kit that was sold exclusively via the brand’s website and discontinued after a month – is sitting pretty at number three in the overall pedal category. Elsewhere, Joe Bonamassa’s 500-run MXR Deep State sold out in a day, but still somehow made the top 10. A quick search of both sees them mainly listed for twice the amount they cost a few months back.

Spoiling Our Fun

But does it really matter? You can argue that it’s capitalism working as it’s supposed to, I guess. But I can’t shake the sense they’re ruining the entire point of releasing products with limited production runs – the fun and excitement of trying to bag one.

Obviously, this isn’t a guitar-specific problem – practically every leisure activity you can think of has to deal with scalpers in some shape or form. StockX exists, for crying out loud. I don’t blame the brands, retailers or marketplaces for this – nobody’s managed to fix this problem for shoes, trading cards or anything else, so expecting guitar to lead the way seems a tad unreasonable.

There’s also nothing wrong with buying something, using it for a bit and then selling it on, of course. If you make a profit on it along the way, good for you. But what I hope we can push back on, collectively, is the normalisation of flipping in guitar culture.

It’s that active desire to buy something with no intent to do anything more than stick it on Reverb for double what you paid for it – that feels quite gross to me. And looking at forums and social media, it seems like a lot of the guitar community agrees.

Perhaps the only way to fight back is to stop giving in to the price-gougers – ask yourself, do you really want that thing so much that you’re prepared to give some chancer double what it should cost to get it?

If we all decided to not play the game, the prices would start coming down because nobody wants a guitar they’re not playing kicking around the house long-term. In the end, that’s what I decided to do.

I was disappointed, sure, but in the months since I can’t honestly say I’ve missed it. Maybe in a few years the prices will come down and I’ll pick one up, maybe I won’t – but whatever happens, I won’t let the scalpers turn something that’s suppose to be fun into something so… heavy?

The post Scalpers are ruining the fun for real guitarists – and now I have the data to prove it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When billionaires throw holiday parties, expectations tend to rise well above lukewarm wine and a dutiful covers band.

That was the case last Thursday (11 December), when Eldridge Industries chairman Todd Boehly hired out New York’s Capitol Theatre and turned what was ostensibly a corporate holiday party into a full-blown all-star rock showcase.

• READ MORE: Justin Hawkins takes another brutal swing at Yungblud: “if the future of rock comes from musical theatre and Disney, if this is Ozzy’s heir, we’re in trouble”

The 1,800-capacity venue in Port Chester reportedly played host to an in-house band led by Slash and Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and producer-guitarist Andrew Watt.

Performing under the name The Dirty Bats, the group was joined throughout the night by a rotating parade of guest vocalists including Bruno Mars, Eddie Vedder, Yungblud, Brandi Carlile and Anthony Kiedis, who donned a cowboy hat for his cameo – because why not.

The setlist leaned heavily on rock canon, with covers of Motörhead’s Ace of Spades and Iggy and the Stooges’ Search and Destroy sitting alongside covers of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana. Mars, in particular, made a strong case for himself as the night’s wildcard, strapping on a Fender Stratocaster for Whole Lotta Love, Fire, and a ferocious take on Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Slash, meanwhile, stuck to familiar territory, wielding a sunburst Gibson Les Paul in front of a line of his signature Magnatone amps, while a selection of Fender combos sat ready for guest guitarists to plug into.

The night closed with everyone piling onstage for Johnny B. Goode and Rockin’ in the Free World – a fitting finale to a holiday party where money is no object and the guest list plays arenas for a living.

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Still stuck chasing the perfect rig? Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer says he’s long since stopped worrying about “magic guitars” and his latest album is proof of that.

Speaking to MusicRadar about his newly released EP Bombshell, Thayer says some of its best sounds came from gear he barely remembers using – including a Gibson SG he never thought much of previously.

• READ MORE: “I really don’t find either of those guitars particularly comfortable”: YouTube star Bradley Hall on classic guitar designs like the Stratocaster and Les Paul

The EP reunites Thayer with longtime friend and collaborator Jaime St. James of Black ’N Blue. Describing the process as “super organic”, Thayer says of the project’s start: “Jaime and I got together simply because we’re so close and thought it would be fun to record again. We sat down intending to revisit a few old tracks we liked, but Jaime happened to show me two new ideas he had, and I loved them.”

“So, we just dove in – writing, finishing the songs, and working out arrangements right there in my living room with an acoustic guitar and recording the ideas on my phone.”

Once the material was ready, the pair headed into a Portland studio with producer Rob Daiker, who Thayer says took the reins when it came to gear and tones.

“It’s funny – people have asked me about the gear and guitars I used to record with Jaime on our new EP, and honestly, this is the truth – I’m not totally sure!” Thayer admits.
“Rob Daiker isn’t just an amazing engineer and producer. He’s also a guitar player and a fantastic musician in his own right. So he had a whole arsenal of guitars and amps ready to go, and he set me up completely.”

Still, one instrument did leave an impression. An old Gibson SG he’d brought along almost as an afterthought ended up making its way onto the record.

“I did bring along an SG I’d had hanging around for years, which I never thought was a particularly good-sounding guitar,” he says. “It was just something I happened to have with me in Oregon. But when we plugged it in at the studio, it ended up sounding great, so I used it a bit. Beyond that, Rob had everything dialled in.”

For Thayer, the experience reinforced a lesson that’s only become clearer with time – that gear matters far less than the people using it.

“Back in the old days, we all had those special guitars or amps you had to bring into the studio because they were the ‘magic’ guitars or instruments you couldn’t do without,” he says. “But over time I’ve realised it doesn’t really matter as much as I used to think.”

“What makes the difference is having someone in the room who knows what sounds good and understands the tone you’re aiming for. After that, it’s in your hands – literally in your hands. That’s what truly makes a great sound. With that, you can make almost anything work.”

The post “It doesn’t really matter as much as I used to think”: Kiss guitarist Thommy Thayer on recording his new EP without “magic guitars” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The Rolling Stones have reportedly cancelled plans for a UK and European tour in 2026, after Keith Richards admitted he “didn’t think he could commit” to the demands of another full-scale stadium run.

According to The Sun, the Stones had been exploring a return to Europe following the success of their Hackney Diamonds tour in the US last year. The band – whose 2024 tour grossed an estimated $235 million – were said to be weighing up dates at major stadiums across the UK and mainland Europe, after earlier touring plans for 2025 were quietly shelved.

• READ MORE: Ronnie Wood celebrates 50 years as a Rolling Stone with new paintings of bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts

Had it gone ahead, the run would have marked their first live shows since the 2024 Hackney Diamonds tour, which sold close to one million tickets across North America. But those plans now appear to be on ice, with guitarist Keith Richards reportedly reluctant to sign on for another lengthy stretch on the road.

The news was first reported by The Sun, citing an American music critic familiar with the situation: “The Rolling Stones had all the big promoters throwing loads of ideas and dates at them for next summer,” the critic said. “But when they properly sat down to discuss the tour, Keith said he didn’t think he could commit and wasn’t keen on a big stadium tour for over four months.”

A spokesperson also added: “The band were looking to tour earlier this year but couldn’t make it work either. It’s hard for their fans but The Stones will get back onstage when they’re good and ready.”

Despite the uncertainty around touring, the band’s creative engine hasn’t stalled. Speaking to The Sun in September, Ronnie Wood confirmed he was still waiting on the green light for 2026 dates, while producer Andrew Watt revealed that the Stones have been back in the studio working on new material.

“You will be getting new music from the Rolling Stones with an album next year,” Wood said at the time. “It is almost done.”

The band’s most recent release, Hackney Diamonds, arrived in 2023 and marked their first album of original material in 18 years.

The post Is Keith Richards finally slowing down? Rolling Stones cancel tour plans as guitarist “didn’t think he could commit” to the gruelling schedule appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.