Don Felder's "Hotel California" Guitar Lesson — Video

Recently, legendary guitarist Don Felder stopped by Guitar World HQ to demonstrate some classic Eagles riffs.

In the below video, Felder shows you how to play some key parts to the classic song, "Hotel California."

In honor of his work on the song, Gibson Custom recently issued two new signature Felder models—the "Hotel California" 1959 Les Paul and the "Hotel California" EDS-1275.

"The one thing I felt impelled to demand was that the guitars be as close and identical in production, scale, tone, pickups and finish as humanly possible," Felder recently told Guitar World.

"So I had them send the 12-string from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Gibson's custom shop, and I shipped them my '59 Les Paul.

"Then I went back and had a meeting with the head of their custom shop, who does their reproductions. They actually had Billy Gibbons’ Les Paul there at the time. I asked them, 'How do you put these scratches in? They look so identical.' He opened the drawer and took out an Elvis rhinestone belt buckle and said, 'This is what we use.'"

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Guitar World Staff

Since 1980, Guitar World has been the ultimate resource for guitarists. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is the place to look.