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Walter Trout is healthier and playing better than ever, but he’s still being dragged down by the world around him
“It’s a rough time,” veteran blues guitarist Walter Trout attests. “The whole world feels like it’s in a dark place, with the wars going on. In this country, the political polarization definitely feels like we’re very divided. It feels like a very scary time for the world.”That sense of fear was heavy on Trout’s mind as he set out to write the dozen tracks on Broken (Mascot), his 21st solo album since he left John Mayall’s band in 1989. But far from wallowing in dread, Trout’s new songs take the listener on a journey out of the darkness and into...
Dr. Z Z-80 Head review
When Dr. Z founder and chief designer Mike Zaite tells you, “I think this is the best amp I’ve ever built,” it’s worth paying attention. The maker has been a perennial name at the top of the boutique amp charts since he introduced his first Carmen Ghia to the market 36 years ago, and the intervening years have brought us tone monsters like the MAZ 38, Route 66, Stang Ray, Z Wreck, and others, so “best amp” comes in the wake of a lot of competition. While Dr. Z has a strong reputation for originality, the new Z-80 has its roots...
How an unorthodox studio setup helped Trevor Rabin re-establish Yes with an improbable #1 hit
Though they were quite commercially successful in their initial, early-/mid-70s heyday, if you'd told someone during that time that Yes would – a decade or so later – hit the top of the pop charts with a synth-aided smash hit, you'd have probably gotten some strange looks, and not just for the whole ‘I bring a message from the future and this is what I chose to tell you’ thing.Yet that's exactly what happened in 1983, when Yes reconstituted with electric guitar whiz Trevor Rabin taking the place of Steve Howe. With a wholesale transformation in sound, driven by Rabin's...
Joe Bonamassa tracks down Lowell George's Dumble Overdrive Special after a 15-year search
Joe Bonamassa has just bought “the crown jewel” of his guitar amp collection, bringing Lowell Georges's Dumble Overdrive Special to Nerdville.Taking to Instagram to celebrate his latest purchase and revel in the relief of ending a “15-year quest” to get his hands on the amp, the bluesman has given details of its interesting history. The amp, Bonamassa says, hasn't been played since June 28, 1979, at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington by Lowell George himself. The next night, the Little Feat guitarist tragically passed away aged just 34, meaning the amp has laid dormant for nearly 45 years. A post shared by Joe...
Fender will return to NAMM in 2025
Fender will return to NAMM next year, marking its first appearance at the show since 2020.The gear giant has been a noticeable absence from the past four editions of the world’s biggest gear trade show, starting with 2021’s virtual edition. As of last year, CEO Andy Mooney said that Fender’s return was unlikely, so its U-turn has understandably caught gear lovers off guard, but it’s certainly not an unwelcome surprise. Thus, Fender will make a grand return to the gear-filled halls of the Anaheim Convention Center in January 2025.Speaking via an announcement video, Mooney, joined by NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, has detailed...
Junior Marvin on seeing one of Jimi Hendrix's early UK gigs
In a recent interview, Junior Marvin marveled at the two sides of Jimi Hendrix, noting how he was “playing guitar behind his neck” onstage, but too shy to look him in the eye off it. The Wailers guitarist, speaking in the latest issue of Guitarist, recalls crossing paths with the legendary guitarist after he wowed – and ultimately silenced – a talent-packed crowd that included members of the Beatles and the Small Faces.Yet, despite his heroics on stage, off it, he proved too shy to talk to Marvin, who was just 17 years old at that time. “He’d play clubs and...
Richie Sambora reflects on his departure from Bon Jovi
Back in 2013, Richie Sambora – in the midst of a tour, and just one month after the release of the band's What About Now album – left Bon Jovi, ending a 30-year-run with the beloved, ever-popular New Jersey band. The electric guitar ace served as half of the musical partnership – the other being frontman and band namesake Jon Bon Jovi – that drove the band to eye-watering commercial success during that period; five chart-topping albums, four #1 hits, and tens of millions of albums sold in total. So why leave? As Sambora tells Guitar Player in an exclusive new interview,...
Marshall celebrates 100 years of Celestion with a standout, super-limited and hand-crafted Studio JTM head and cab
Marshall Amplification is celebrating Celestion's 100th anniversary with an extremely limited-edition and handcrafted Studio JTM head and cab dubbed, appropriately, the Celestion 100. The small but mighty 20-watt creation centers on the same winning formula of tubes. Its five-strong team comprises two ECC83s in the preamp, two 5881 power amp tubes, and an ECC83 phase shifter. They combine with a Celestion 100 Alnico speaker, first unveiled at NAMM 2024, that nestles in a 1x12” cabinet that matches the head’s cream covering. The speaker has been specially designed in honor of Celestion’s milestone anniversary. Its design is inspired by its G12 (AKA the Alnico...
Gibson's Custom Shop recreates Jeff Beck’s 1959 ‘YardBurst’ Les Paul Standard
Gibson has released a new 1959 Les Paul replica to commemorate the late Jeff Beck’s time in The Yardbirds, but only 130 will be made. Today, Jeff Beck is remembered as a formidable and highly influential electric guitar player, predominantly as a solo artist, but it was his time in The Yardbirds that helped launch his career. The band had a matchless production line of next-best-thing musicians, with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page also cutting their teeth in the band. As such, the company's latest history-honoring release focuses on those early days of Beck’s career, with the ‘59 ‘Yardburst’ a faithful recreation...
Blue Öyster Cult's Buck Dharma on the stories behind (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, and other BÖC classics
Guitar was a “third time’s the charm” proposition for Blue Öyster Cult co-founder Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser. The Queens, New York, native started out playing accordion when he was nine years old before switching to drums a year later “when I realized the accordion wasn’t hip,” he says. That lasted for a few years until he broke his wrist playing basketball.“When I got my cast on,” Roeser recalls, “my brother had gotten a Stella acoustic guitar for Christmas, and I started playing that. I was a junior in high school and knew a drummer who was better than me, so...
How Amos Garrett and switching away from a Strat helped Glenn Tilbrook write Squeeze’s Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
As pop-rock masterpieces go, it’s hard to top Squeeze’s Pulling Mussels (From the Shell). With its airtight hooks, wicked musicianship and highly literate lyrics, the first single from the band’s 1980 third album, Argybargy, played a key role in breaking Squeeze in the States, and over the years it’s become one of their most popular songs.“Pulling Mussels definitely helped us throughout the U.S.,” says lead guitarist and singer Glenn Tilbrook. “What’s funny is, the song did okay on the charts. It wasn’t a huge hit, but it’s grown in stature over the years. That’s the story with a lot of...
Pink Floyd's Echoes marked David Gilmour's emergence as a guitar hero – and its surreal tonal highlight was created by accident
Though it would be another year and change before they went supernova with The Dark Side of the Moon, it was in 1971 that Pink Floyd laid down one of their greatest epics, the side-length prog-funk odyssey Echoes.Having spent years attempting to settle on a sonic direction in the wake of the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, Echoes was the sound of a band finally locking into place, and was arguably the moment David Gilmour became one of rock's preeminent guitar heroes.Though one can't discount his sublime, funky, none-smoother soloing throughout, perhaps Gilmour's most famous moment on the song...
Michael Schenker teams up with Slash, Adrian Vandenberg, and more for album of UFO re-recordings
Electric guitar great Michael Schenker is paying homage to his UFO glory days with a brand new studio album, and he’s teamed up with Slash for its lead single. My Years with UFO marks over 50 years since the ‘German wunderkid’ joined UFO’s ranks aged just 17. His talents helped propel the band to new heights during his original, '70s-era tenure, creating “one of the most celebrated periods in the annals of rock” in the process. The record sees Schenker and an all-star cast of guest musicians putting a fresh spin on UFO classics, with a Slash-lacquered take on Mother Mary...
Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink says Slash made the Les Paul cool again
By the late-80s, Kramer, Charvel, and Jackson had established something of a stranglehold on the electric guitar market, but Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink believes that Slash – via the band's 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction – helped tilt the balance back in Gibson’s favor. Guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Mick Mars, and Randy Rhoads, very much the poster boys of '80s guitar, had budding guitar players all over the world drooling over their preferred models. As such, the Les Paul, strongly associated with the ‘60s blues rock movement, fell out of fashion with younger musicians. In a new interview...
John Mayer confirms he's using tube amps at Dead & Company's Sphere concerts – but their location has caught everyone off guard
John Mayer and Dead & Company’s Las Vegas residency at The Sphere is well underway, and it’s been the subject of much gear-snooping speculation. Having turned heads by playing what Joe Bonamassa revealed to be Jeff Beck’s 2014 Custom Shop Stratocaster, Mayer’s now responded to speculation that he’d ditched tube amps for a digital modeler, rumors that have been fueled by the fact that no amps have been spotted on stage. But while tube amps are still a key part of his live rig, alongside his beloved PRS Silver Sky and a carefully assembled pedalboard, their placement has proven somewhat unorthodox. For...
Reverb returns to Joe Bonamassa’s home for ‘Welcome Back to Nerdville’ mini-documentary
Joe Bonamassa’s love for and knowledge of vintage gear is vast. Recently, he sought to share the stories behind his own legendary guitar collection by inviting online gear retailer Reverb into his Nerdville museum for an ultra-nerdy mini-documentary.Bonamassa first let Reverb’s camera peruse his gear collection in 2014. Suffice to say, in the intervening eight years, the bluesman has made multiple additions to his collection.“I look back at the 2014 documentary and that room seems so empty,” Bonamassa reflects early on, “like, where is everything, did I get robbed?!”The YouTube documentary therefore made for a comprehensive catch-up, which is packed...
Yamaha launches two FS9 acoustics – which are inspired by a Japanese woodworking technique
Yamaha has launched two new concert-style acoustic guitars, which have both been described as the “no-compromise accompaniment for singer-songwriters”.The FS9 M and FS9 R have been carefully crafted for responsive dynamics, with Yamaha noting the instruments particularly “shine with finger-picked performances”.Both guitars offer Adirondack spruce tops and differ in their back and sides tonewoods. The African mahogany employed for the FS9 M helps achieve a “warm and balanced” sound, with the FS9 R’s Indian rosewood instead focusing on “crystal-clear highs”.The rest of the specifications are shared between the two models, with bolt-on mahogany necks, ebony fingerboards and bridges, and scalloped...
Michael Anthony says there’s unreleased Van Halen material – but we “probably” won't hear it
When Van Halen announced they were making one final album with David Lee Roth, there was huge excitement for that band getting back together. However, bassist Michael Anthony – who had featured on all their previous records – wasn’t invited back. Instead, the band employed Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, to play bass. But despite his absence, Anthony says the band had “miles” of recorded ideas dating from before their first album in 1978, which they poured over during the A Different Kind of Truth sessions in the early 2010s. As such, his presence was very much still felt. And, while discussing...
George Benson to head up star-studded guitar event with Steve Lukather and Tommy Emmanuel
Dreamcatcher Events and Ibanez have announced Breezin' with the Stars – an immersive four-day event with George Benson. Taking place 3-6 January 2025 at the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, Arizona, guests can rub shoulders with guitar greats including Steve Lukather, Cory Wong, and Tommy Emmanuel, alongside Benson, in an intimate but relaxed environment. Breezin' with the Stars will feature masterclasses, Q&As, jam sessions, and concerts featuring the event’s distinguished guests each night. The current confirmed guest list is rounded out by Andy Timmons, Stanley Jordan, jazz guitar players Lee Ritenour and John Schofield, Grammy-winning bass player Esperanza Spalding, and vocalist Patti Austin. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes serves as the event’s musical director, while YouTuber Rick Beato has been tapped as host and moderator of the event sessions. In addition to the workshops and signing events, the guest musicians will deliver storytelling sessions, sharing unique experiences and insights into life as a musician. The provided jam rooms, meanwhile, come loaded with “top-notch gear for impromptu collaborations”. George Benson and co will also offer mentorship to all guests across the four days, with registration open to players of all ages and skill levels. Head to Dreamcatcher Events for full details and registration.
Watch John Mayer play Jeff Beck’s custom Strat during Dead & Company’s The Sphere residency
In recent years, John Mayer has rarely been spotted without his best-selling PRS Silver Sky signature guitar. However, he’s recently resumed playing some old favorites, like his Jimi Hendrix Monterey Stratocaster. During his recent residency shows at Las Vegas’ uber-futuristic The Sphere with Dead & Company, he’s been seen wielding a familiar-looking white Stratocaster with a reverse headstock. Fans had theorized that it looked strikingly similar to the late Jeff Beck’s Custom Shop Strat, and now gear guru Joe Bonamassa has confirmed those eagle-eyed suspicions, saying it is indeed the real deal. Instagram account JohnMayerGear and Youtuber Justin Jeske were the first...
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