A release date for Steve Vai and Joe Satriani's first join studio album has finally been set.

Considering the pair’s incredibly tight-knit relationship, it seems inconceivable that it took the duo 53 years to write an album together.

Vai was just a teenager when he showed up on Satriani’s doorstep with an electric guitar. That was in 1973. Fast-forward to 2026, and their highly anticipated first full album together is set for release on November 6 via earMUSIC.

Three singles, The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1 (there are three parts in all), I Wanna Play My Guitar, and Dancing, which features a music video directed by Brendon Small, have teased the album over the last 16 months. Those were just the tip of the iceberg.

New single, Mayhem, finds the pair harmonizing and dueling with abandon, with six more tracks set to follow.

“We’ve been planning this since 1973,” Vai laughs. “Just unconsciously.”

The seeds of the record were sown in early 2024 when Vai, Satriani, and Eric Johnson reunited the original G3 line-up. But it’s a record defined by their differences just as much as their virtuosic commonalities.

“The biggest surprise was that we write in completely different ways,” Satriani details. “That’s what made the project so fun and interesting.

“It illustrates just how far we’ve come,” he adds. “We’re these two kids who haven’t found our sound yet, but we’ve got enthusiasm. We’re chasing something, and we’re determined.”

They’re joined by some familiar faces. A wealth of bass greats provides the low end, including Billy Sheehan, Bryan Beller, and Marco Mendoza.

Drums have been tracked by longtime collaborator Kenny Aronoff, who is currently in the Best of All Worlds band with Satch, along with Gregg Bissonette, Jeremy Colson, and former Dream Theater talent Mike Mangini and more.

Eric Caudieux, a recurring figure on Satch’s albums and tours, has pulled a double shift on keyboard and production duties. Glenn Hughes, who recently retired from touring, serves guest vocals on I Wanna Play My Guitar.

“It’s a beautiful coming together of me and my friend in a very intimate musical way,” Vai wraps. “That was the reason we did the record.”

The Sea of Emotion is available to preorder now.

The Sea of Emotion tracklist

• Mayhem
• Bronco Freight Train
• Dancing
• The Feeling I Know
• Zoot Suit Riot
• Old Sins Have Long Shadows
• I Wanna Play My Guitar
• The Sea Of Emotion Pt. 1
• The Sea Of Emotion Pt. 2
• The Sea Of Emotion Pt. 3 / Reflections On A Year And A Half

Newly formed supergroup Cretin Family, featuring Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, and Blink-182’s Travis Barker, came together on August 30 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the Ramones’ self-titled debut album.

The tribute set also saw late-era Ramones bassist C.J. Ramone joining the lineup, as well as special guests Billy Idol, The Linda Lindas, and comedian Fred Armisen. The supergroup’s name serves as a clever nod to classic Ramones tracks Cretin Hop and We’re a Happy Family, both from 1977’s Rocket to Russia.

The all-star performance took place at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, where guitarist Johnny Ramone, who died in 2004, is buried.

It kicked off with the short instrumental track Durango 95 from 1984’s Too Tough to Die, before launching into Rockaway Beach, from Rocket to Russia.

The 19-song set included crowd favorites I Wanna Be Sedated, Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment, Sheena Is a Punk Rocker, and Do You Wanna Dance. Gen Z punk rockers The Linda Linda hopped on I Wanna Be Sedated and the Ramones cover of Joe Jones’ California Sun.

Idol – whose first band, Generation X, was heavily inspired by the punk legends – lent his chops to Beat on the Brat, Generation X’s Ready Steady Go, and Blitzkrieg Bop.

In fan videos of the event, the Green Day frontman revealed that the Ramones tribute set was the first time he had ever played with Barker. He also raved about taking the stage with “a goddamn Ramone,” referring, of course, to 60-year-old C.J. Ramone, who held down the low-end for the band between 1989 and 1996.

As for the gear, Billie Joe wielded a Rock N Roll Relics Thunders Custom for the occasion, coupled with his newly launched signature Marshall 1959BJA head and the Marshall JCM800 Sex Pistols 50th Anniversary half-stack. The other Armstrong opted for a vintage Gretsch 1971 Country Club, while, in true Ramones fashion, the veteran bassist donned a Fender Precision.

Speaking about the importance of the event to Rolling Stone, the Green Day icon noted that, “The spirit of the Ramones is alive in every backyard punk show, punk club, and festival.

“Generation after generation of cretins and weirdos become Ramones lovers. Kids are influenced by the Ramones, and they don’t even know it yet.”

The full setlist is below.

1. Durango 95
2. Rockaway Beach
3. Cretin Hop
4. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
5. Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman cover)
6. The Crusher (Dee Dee King cover)
7. R. A. M. O. N. E. S. (Motörhead cover)
8. Danny Says
9. Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
10. Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
11. California Sun (Joe Jones cover)
12. I Wanna Be Sedated
13. Commando
14. Havana Affair
15. Oh Oh I Love Her So
16. Surfin' Bird (The Trashmen cover)
17. Beat on the Brat
18. Ready Steady Go (Generation X cover)
19. Blitzkrieg Bop

Phil X has looked back on a disastrous gig that left him without any effects after all his pedals died before taking the stage.

An overdrive dying mid-show is bad enough. Having your entire pedalboard fail before the show has even begun? Well, that’s just pure nightmare fuel.

Unfortunately, Phil X has experienced that exact nightmare. In a new interview with Guitar World, the Bon Jovi guitarist recalled the time he opened for Steel Panther, and had to play the entire gig with a clean tone because the batteries in his pedals all died.

“Everybody goes through a battery phase,” he says. “Then you have a guy that says, ‘Hey, I loaded all your stuff but I didn’t unplug the pedals,’ so the batteries are dead.

“You have an overdrive and a tuner, and you’re opening up for Steel Panther, and you’re like, ‘I have one battery. What’s more important, the tuner or the overdrive? Let’s be in tune.’

“Then [you say], ‘Guys, we don’t have an overdrive tonight.’ But it worked. The drummer was like, ‘Dude, you could park a truck between every note tonight.’”

Though speaking largely hypothetically, it’s likely Phil X was trying to shield himself from the memory of the event. But it’s not the first time he’s told this story.

“My guy who was putting my stuff away didn’t unplug the pedals,” he told Sweetwater. “I showed up at the show – we had 15 minutes to set up, opening for Steel Panther – and I’m like, ‘Everything’s dead!’

“As I put the tuner down, I looked at my hands and went, ‘It’s all about you guys today. You are the show.’”

Whatever the case, it was a learning curve for Phil X. Not only did he (probably) look at more reliable ways to power his pedalboard, it also reminded him of the need to stay cool under pressure.

“When you’re prepared, you’re good,” he tells Guitar World. “There was no panic. There was the discussion between mind and heart and hands, and I nailed it.”

Let this be a lesson to us all: if you do decide to use batteries, make sure you unplug your pedals. If you want something a bit more reliable, check out out guide to the best pedalboard power supplies.

Visit the Guitar World YouTube channel to watch the full interview with Phil X.

Billy Gibbons’ Pearly Gates is one of the most iconic Les Pauls of all time. Now it’s receiving a Collector’s Edition run from the Gibson Custom Shop – but getting one won’t be straightforward.

The Gibson Custom Billy Gibbons “Pearly Gates” 1959 Les Paul Standard Collector’s Edition is a faithful recreation of the ZZ Top legend’s 1959 LP.

Gibson leaned into “in-depth examination, cutting-edge 3D scans, and precise measurements” to reproduce a guitar that Gibbons hasn’t found a rival to, despite decades of searching.

That also means its body has been aged and relic’d by the Murphy Lab, and it features painstaking replicas of its original P.A.F.-style humbuckers.

Recalling in an interview how he got his hands on the original, Gibbons remembers, “[A friend] said, 'I know you were looking for another one of those Gibson guitars.

“'There’s a cowboy who’s got a ranch outside of town. He may have what you were looking for.'

“We had a girlfriend named Renee Thomas,” he continues. “She said, ‘I’ve got an invitation to go audition for a part in a movie, but I have to get back to California.’ We decided that she should have this 1936 Packard automobile.

“Next thing you know, the phone rang, and she said, ‘I got the part. I blame it on Pearly Gates,’” he continues. He asked the inevitable question: What’s Pearly Gates?

“She goes, ‘Oh, that’s the name I gave the car. That do you want me to do with the car?’”

On Gibbons’ advice, they sold the car for $250. The money, he says, landed in his pocket the very day he was heading off to the ranch to check out the Gibson.

Gibbons says, “He opened the case and said, ‘Can you give me $250?’ I whipped out the check then and there. The word got back to Renee, and she goes, ‘It’s going to make divine music.’”

The name transferred from car to guitar, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As for this Collector's Edition reissue, there is a slight catch for those who want to get their mitts on the guitar.

It’s available exclusively as part of an event package, which includes an invitation to attend an exclusive evening with Billy Gibbons at the Gibson Garage Nashville.

The evening is being described as “the ultimate fan experience” and includes a private Q&A with Gibbons, an intimate live performance, a personal meet-and-greet, and a photo opportunity.

There are only 30 spots available, and interested readers are encouraged to call the Gibson Garage Nashville at (615) 933-6000 to reserve a place. A price hasn't been listed.

Visit Gibson to see the guitar in more detail.

Billy Strings is a bluegrass virtuoso with three Grammys and a signature Martin acoustic to his name, but don’t put him into a box: he’s just donned a Charvel Superstrat to rip riffs with death metal veterans Cryptopsy.

The performance took place at Ionia Freak Air, a festival which Strings both curated and headlined. Held at the Ionia Fairgrounds in Ionia, MI, in Strings’ hometown, the two-day event featured bands as far-ranging as Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon, and the aforementioned brutal metal troupe. And Strings played with all three of them.

For this Cryptopsy cameo, Strings wielded a relic’d Charvel Pro-Mod SD1, and showed off his absolutely menacing right hand with some pretty relentless playing.

Open Face Surgery is fast approaching 30 years old, and remains a death metal cult classic. The song has just added a surprise new chapter to its legacy.

“I still can’t believe it happened,” Strings said after the set. “When we made the line-up, I threw it out there like, ‘Man, we should try to get Cryptopsy.’ I didn’t think it would happen.”

Yet the story from the other camp couldn’t have been different,

“I saw the email come in, and it was immediate shock and awe, and it was an automatic yes,” added the band’s vocalist, Matt McGachy. “Having him show up and play all of Open Face Surgery with us was mind-blowing; he was up there shredding, making it look so easy.

“I’m honored to play with them. It’s one of my wildest dreams come true,” Strings develops. “They really are one of my favorite bands of all time.”

Those are big words from a man who once got to play All Along the Watchtower with none other than Bob Dylan. But it’s not the only time he’s flexed his metal guitar chops. Strings nailed an Ozzy cover last Halloween, while dressed as a werewolf, no less.

Recently, Strings stepped onto the stage wearing a helmet after being hit in the head by a lighter thrown from the crowd. He’s been taking health and safety more seriously after a skateboard accident saw him cancel a run of shows earlier this year.

Ibanez has unveiled a host of surprise electrics guitars, including new star signatures and a firm-first Iceman.

There’s a lot for players to get their teeth into here, so we’ve trawled through the listings to pull out the highlights.

Leading the signatures, Steve Vai’s visually updated PIA77BON2 features an intricately detailed design, including a hand-painted gold leaf body finish and an expansive PIA Blossom fretboard inlay.

Its DiMarzio UtoPIA pickups continue the aesthetic, and it otherwise conforms to the usual PIA spec sheet.

Joe Satriani, meanwhile, has the new JS2470 to his name. It follows a similar tonewood recipe with an alder body and three-piece maple/bubinga neck sculpted to his namesake profile.

At its heart, there’s a DiMarzio Satchur8 humbucker in the bridge and a Sustainiac in the neck, and it’s complete with a dedicated three-way switch, taking in Harmonic/Mix/Normal modes.

Nita Strauss’ latest signature is a Torch Red-colored shredder. The JIVA10R pairs an African mahogany body with a quilted maple top, a three-piece JIVA maple/purpleheart neck, and an ebony fretboard featuring a Beaten Path inlay design.

Aside from the signatures, the pick of the bunch is the newly modernized and weaponized Iceman.

It's a body shape favored by System of Down’s Daron Malakian, inverted by Paul Gilbert (to make the Fireman) and more recently adopted by Knocked Loose’s Isaac Hale.

Here, it gets a seven-string, multi-scale makeover. It’s armed with Fishman Fluence Modern humbuckers and has a five-piece Wizard II-7 maple-and-walnut neck, an Okoume body. It looks like it could do damage.

There are plenty of highlights elsewhere. Last year, Ibanez revived the forgotten (and pretty mad-looking) P Series guitar. Now it’s back in a more metal-minded fashion.

Available in White or Black, each model features what appears to be an aluminum pickguard for its exaggerated treble-side horn.

Building on a basswood body, five-piece maple/walnut Super Wizard neck, and 24-fret bound rosewood 'board with Sharktooth inlays, it is one of the most radical-looking Ibanez guitars currently around.

As we said, there’s a lot to absorb, but with the Iceman getting something of the Alpha treatment, three stellar shredders getting new squeezes, and the P Series continuing to reintegrate itself into the modern scene, it’s good news for Ibanez loyalists.

See Ibanez for more.

Bruce Springsteen has shared the story of his legendary Born to Run Tele as part of a new free-to-watch documentary celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Fender Telecaster.

To mark the guitar’s milestone, Fender assembled some of the biggest names in Tele history for a near-80-minute film that’s been published on YouTube.

The One That Started It All features interviews with Keith Richards, Sheryl Crow, Andy Summer, Jack White, Joe Bonamassa and many more.

Springsteen, whose own 1950s Telecaster is the stuff of rock ’n’ roll legend, also offers viewers an up-close look at the mods and mysteries of his most prized six-string.

“When I signed my first record contract I was going to get to buy a new guitar. I knew I wanted a Telecaster,” he recalls. “This is a guitar I found in Phil Petillo’s shop in 1972. It was hanging on the wall, it cost $185. It’s a mutt.

“It’s a Telecaster body from the early ‘50s and an Esquire neck. This is on the cover of Born to Run.”

It’s one of Springsteen’s most iconic instruments. It’s been by his side for more than 50 years, serving as both his main stage instrument and a de facto extension of his body.

As Springsteen notes in the Telecaster documentary, it’s filled with surprises. Chief among them is the various modifications that have been made over the years.

“This is your working man’s axe,” Springsteen says of the Tele. “It’s just a hunk of wood with strings and a neck. It’s your fundamental tool for rock ’n’ roll or soul music or whatever you want to use it for.

“This guitar was modified,” he explains. “There’s a little hole in the pickguard, and there was an extra jack [socket]. So, somebody at some point may have tried to make it stereo.”

Springsteen continues, “There is a preamp inside that was put in because I wanted to get all over the stage. I had a really long jack and the problem with it was it cut the highs off the guitar.

“I also had to insulate the entire inside of the guitar with rubber because I was sweating so much that halfway through the show the guitar would short out. I would lose all my highs and it would sound like crap.

“It was in the days when I was only using one guitar for the entire show. This guitar has had quite a few different manifestations.

“Jeff Beck played one. Pete Townsend played one. Steve Cropper played one. James Burton played one,” the Boss says of why he decided to pick up a Tele all those years ago.

“That covered everything from rock music to soul music to rockabilly. And it was just the guitar for me.”

It’s not the first time Springsteen has shared the story of his Born to Run Tele. Back in 2021, he took the guitar on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The Fender Telecaster: The One That Started It All is available to watch now on YouTube.

With the Labor Day weekend upcoming, Positive Grid has seen fit to slash the price of some of its most popular products. One of my top-rated guitar practice tools has a significant reduction, with the Positive Grid Spark Neo Core dropping to just $99.

It’s a huge 38% discount on a great silent practice option that will suit a big number of guitar players. It’s not wireless, so you need to plug a guitar cable in, but as it combines headphones and amp modeler into one unit, it makes practicing close to as simple as it can be.

I reviewed the Positive Grid Spark Neo Core last year and awarded it four stars out of five. The build quality of the unit is excellent, with the rubber coating providing a hard-wearing finish complemented by very comfortable ear cushions. They’re heavy-ish, but there’s adequate cushioning on the headband that makes them comfortable for longer playing sessions.

As you plug your guitar cable straight into the unit, you don’t have to faff around with wireless connectivity to get them up and running. Just plug one end into the headphones and the other into your guitar, and away you go. While some might prefer the wireless option, the Neo Core is actually even simpler to use than its more expensive sibling, the Positive Grid Spark Neo.

I did find it took some getting used to having the cable plugged into something that you then put on your head. A heavy-duty cable can pull a bit on it, and it took me a bit of time experimenting for optimal placement. Once I got there, though, it was easy to forget I was wearing them and just bask in the huge array of sounds available to me.

You’ll need to use the companion app on your smartphone to access all of the sounds available from the headphones. It’s worth it, because you’ll unlock a full 33 amp models and 43 effects, which can give you pretty much any tone you can think of.

They sound fantastic too, offering a really immersive experience that feels realistic and lifelike in your ears and under your fingers. The closed-back design makes it difficult for any external noise to get through unless it’s very loud, which helps you kick back and play without distractions like small animals or family members.

LR Baggs has announced it’s changing its name. Going forward, the acoustic guitar expert will be known as ‘Baggs’.

The name change comes as part of the firm’s 50th anniversary celebrations, leading the way for a new modernized brand identity.

The ‘LR’ in LR Baggs referred to company founder, Lloyd. Dropping the initials is said to be part of a new initiative to ‘expand the story’ of the brand, and the result of a year-long appraisal of the Baggs identity.

The new name has been announced alongside the appointment of Lloyd Baggs’ daughter, Jenny Luckett, as Baggs’ Creative Director.

“Removing the LR isn't about removing Lloyd from the story,” says Luckett. “It's about expanding the story. It takes something that began with one person and makes room for all the people who have become part of it.

“To us, Baggs is the family, and that family is much bigger than Lloyd's actual family. It includes all the people who have helped build this company and all of the people who will be part of where it goes next.”

Baggs adds, “I'm thrilled beyond words for Jenny to be joining the company and helping guide it into the future.

“Not only is she amazingly talented and driven to do the right things, but she's thoughtful, kind and joyful. She's a born leader and a joy for all of us to work with.”

Lloyd’s role in the company will not change. His work will remain focused on product design and innovation.

Baggs has positioned itself as one of the leading brands in acoustic guitar tone. It has developed a number of industry-leading amp systems and instruments, including the HiFi Duet pickup and revolutionary AEG-1, which reinvented the acoustic electric guitar.

Head over to Baggs for more.

Rush have just added more shows to their Fifty Something reunion tour, with extra dates in Houston (October 1), St. Louis (October 21), Cincinnati (October 23), and Pittsburgh (November 15).

Speaking about the unexpected additions, Lee and Lifeson commented, “When we initially booked this tour, we didn't know how well we would hold up to the rigors of the road – so we played it safe with lots of days off to recover – but life is nothing if not surprising and we're doing fine and having a blast, so why not try to hit a few more of the cities that have always treated us so well.”

Rush’s reunion tour kicked off on June 7 at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum and marked the return of the beloved prog legends, with drummer Anika Nilles stepping in for the late Neil Peart. It is now scheduled to end in April 2027, with the tour covering North America, Central America, South America, Europe, and the UK.

Asked by Chile’s Radio Futuro how the two Rush icons feel about this tour so far, Lifeson said, “I don't know that we were quite prepared for the reaction. We thought that coming back after 11 years, being away, there were a lot of Rush fans that were maybe unhappy with the way things sort of ended, and never thought they'd see us again. And then we started the tour, and the response has been – you go online, and it's crazy. People are so excited and so happy.”

Lee noted that he’s “having a ball” and admits that preparation for this tour was “intense” and “years in the making”.

“People think you can just walk up on stage and play three hours' worth of those songs. I've got news for you – even the guys that wrote those songs have to work really hard to perfect them.” The two noted that there were roughly 14 months of preparation, with a tough rehearsal schedule.

“I think the last month, as Alex alluded to, we played a full show 24 nights out of 27 days. We've never worked that hard in our entire lives. And I'm thankful for it because opening night, we were all a bit of a nervous wreck. And all that rehearsal paid off.”

Tickets for the new dates go on sale on September 4 at 10 a.m. local time, with pre-sales beginning today (September 1) at 10 a.m. local time.

The new dates are below. Head to Rush's official website for more details.

• October 1, 2026 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
• October 21, 2026 – St Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
• October 23, 2026 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center
• November 15, 2026 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena

Footage of Les Paul’s historic home and recording studio, taken before the property was demolished allegedly without warning, has emerged online.

Earlier this month, Gene Paul, son of Les, broke his silence after his father’s home in Mahwah, New Jersey, was quietly bought for $990,000 then leveled by bulldozers.

The property was one of modern music’s most significant birthplaces. At this address, the late guitar inventor and recording pioneer made huge leaps in studio technology, innovating multi-track recording and electric guitar design along the way.

Its workshop was also visited by greats such as Mary Ford, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen.

However, the home was unexpectedly razed after it was sold to private developers. The Les Paul Foundation stoked further controversy when Executive Director Michael Braunstein publicly downplayed the loss.

Braunstein’s comments, which labelled the historic estate as “four walls”, were met with scrutiny. Gene was among those to speak out against the destruction of the property, which he says took place without warning.

“I’m not an attorney. I’m a son. And right now, I’m a heartbroken son,” he says. “A few days ago, I saw my father’s home, our family home, gutted. It made me sick. That house was not just where Les Paul lived. It was his workshop. It was his laboratory. It was his journey of dreams.”

Gene says the Paul family were shut out of the process, and received no advance opportunity to visit the property one last time before it was razed. It was reportedly a “scramble at the last minute” to save historic artifacts from the property.

“My father had children and a family,” Gene adds. “Was that ever considered? Nobody talked to us about it. And now that the house is gone, where is the historical marker at the entrance to Deerhaven Road telling future generations that Les Paul lived here?

“I think my father's family, his friends, his fans and everyone whose life has been touched by his work deserve some answers.”

Footage from the property’s final days has been shared by guitar collector Perry Margouleff. It shows the iconic building in a state of disarray, the rooms in which Les Paul worked on his earliest guitar ideas left in a state of disrepair.

Margouleff visited the home to document it after receiving a tip-off regarding its fate.

“I figured this place would be maintained as a site on the National Register of Historic places,” he narrates. “Surely nobody would be careless enough to let it deteriorate.

“But what we found, and the footage we gathered, was horrifying – a house needlessly in disrepair only a decade or two after its fabled owner had passed. This was a travesty of American popular history and culture.”

Braunstein and the Les Paul Foundation issued two statements in response to the backlash.

“While the loss of Les Paul’s former home is understandably emotional for those who associate the property with an important chapter of Les’ life and work, it is important to distinguish the loss of the structure from the preservation of Les Paul’s artistic and technical legacy,” Braunstein said in the first.

“Claims that Les Paul’s legacy has been “erased,” and that this represents an “unforgivable failure to safeguard” it, or that the physical evidence of his work has been lost are completely inaccurate.

“A significant collection of Les’ original recording equipment… has been preserved, meticulously restored, and is actively in use at the Les Paul Recording Studio.”

In the second, the Foundation added, “While the loss of the Mahwah home is deeply emotional, Les Paul’s legacy was never confined to one building. It lives in his music, inventions, recordings, instruments, archives, and the countless artists and listeners he inspired.

“We remain committed to preserving and sharing that legacy with the care, respect, and reverence it deserves.

“As a final note, one should be very aware that the house was in a residential neighborhood that would not permit the traffic, zoning and/or establishment of a public exhibition. And we hope to hear from Gene at some point as many calls and emails have been sent to him over the past few weeks with no response.”

The Les Paul Recording Studio opened in Hollywood last year, and is home to much of Paul's revolutionary gear.

Pete Townshend has pulled out of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival due to injury.

The Who legend was set to share the lineup for this year’s annual Crossroads with an all-star cast of guitar heavyweights. However, complications surrounding knee replacement recovery have forced him to pull out.

"I'm so sorry to say that due to damage to my left foot, and subsequent issues with my balance, I cannot commit to travel to appear at the upcoming Crossroads Festival in Austin,” he said in a statement.

“I so desperately wanted to appear, and have battled to get in shape, and I am improving, but the long flights from London, and the jetlag on my return, would cause backtracking I really can't afford.”

It’s not the first time Townshend has had to pull out of Crossroads due to unforeseen circumstances. However, he’s holding out hope he will finally get to feature one day.

“I am making a $50,000 donation to the festival cause from my charity Double O,” he continues. “One day I hope I can accept Eric's invitation to appear with him. He has now asked me several times.

“There has always been some issue, in this case it is my recovery from my knee replacement in February of 2025, and some complications.

“I want to especially thank Derek Trucks and Susie Tedeschi for their offer to support me as my backing band. Wow! That is something I can only dream about, and maybe one day it will happen.”

In his statement, Townshend also quietly confirmed plans for a Who reunion are in motion, days after Roger Daltrey revealed the band were back in rehearsals.

“Meanwhile I will keep working on getting well so I can work with Roger and The Who in future,” says Townshend.

Crossroads Guitar Festival 2026 is set to take place in Austin, Texas, on September 26 and 27. The lineup will feature Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Tedeschi Trucks band and more.

To celebrate the festival, Guitar Center has launched a run of limited-edition acoustic and electric guitars.

Visit Crossroads Guitar Festival website for more info.

In this little world of ours, Guitar Center looms incredibly large.

It’s the biggest in-person guitar retail location by a country mile; the only guitar store with enough name recognition to be the punchline of a viral bit by one of America’s biggest comedians (it stung a little, we won’t lie).

But it hasn’t just been a punching bag for Bill Burr. I mean, I don’t have to get into it, do I? If you or a guitarist in your life has been to a Guitar Center in the past, odds are there was something for you or them to complain about. Lack of premium and mid-tier instruments, messy, disorganized stores, staff without the right knowledge...

Now, we didn’t pull those three points off of vibes and memory: they were the issues the company’s own CEO, Gabe Dalporto, identified as being the chain’s biggest problems when he was placed in the captain’s chair in 2023.

The man’s been admirably honest about what he thinks went wrong, recently telling Modern Retail, that in the past, “We made a lot of decisions that, maybe, in isolation made sense – cut a little cost here, cut a little cost there – [but] in aggregate, really pissed off our customers.”

Since he took the reins, Dalporto has been on a mission to, in his words, “re-establish trust with musicians.”

And he’s got some success to point to, to be fair. According to Modern Retail, foot traffic in the company’s stores is up for the first time in a decade, and time spent in them is up 16 percent year over year. A decade into America’s retail apocalypse, that’s no small feat, regardless of what you think of the store.

But, what do you think of modern-day Guitar Center? Have you been to one in the last year or two? If so, how was your experience compared to past visits? Has the company delivered on its CEO’s promises of improvement? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

• On Apple News? Head here to join the discussion.

Hello there, and welcome to Guitar World Editors’ Picks – our monthly guide to the guitar tracks that have captured our editors' attention over the past four weeks or so.

With the aid of our Spotify playlist below, we’ve rounded up all our favorite new releases from August and noted our personal highlights – the playing, tones, and songwriting that most set our six-string (or seven- or eight-string) senses a-tingling.

Highlights this month include a tongue-in-cheek single from a certain Rivers Cuomo, a dash of microtonal pop, a centuries-old nautical ballad about Napoleon (yes, the Napoleon Bonaparte), Tele trills for days, and jangly riffs from a very charming man.

All that and much more in our playlist below.

Michael Astley-Brown – Editor-in-Chief

Track of the month: Weezer – C.E.O.

Rivers Cuomo has always been a deceptively gifted guitar player, but I am particularly obsessed with the opening chord on Weezer’s latest tongue-in-cheek single. It’s one of those inversions that’s optimistic, melancholy, and pure magic. I’d happily hear it in an indie rager or a post-rock weepie.

Fortunately, Cuomo has opted for the former, and while there’s a cheeky air of resignation about it – heck, the opening line is “cranking out another '90s jam / wish I could do something new” – C.E.O. sits neatly in the mid-section between Blue and Green. Oh, and I figured out that chord: 2x434x (in standard tuning). A Bmaj7 with an F# on the bottom? Rivers, you sly ol’ dog.

Also playing:

• Russian Circles – Seventh Seal
• Grace Bowers – Eat Shit and Live
• Sarah Longfield – Wrath

Matt Parker – Deputy Editor

Track of the month: Jake Xerxes Fussell – Boney

Fussell is my favorite kind of folky – someone who makes new from old, and does not regard an electric guitar as heretical. Hence why this centuries-old nautical ballad about Napoleon Bonaparte is somehow rendered fresh as a spring morning in his hands. And it is his hands and ears that make the difference here.

Fussell’s reverberating, finger-picked Tele lines cascade and luxuriate in the space of this sparse arrangement. It is confident and not showy, relaxed but not lazy, blending moody palm mutes on the lower strings with almost tropical color and a hint of tremolo in the upper registers. He is the sort of guitarist who can knock you down with a feather.

Also playing:

• Paerish – Vapor Cloud
• Lily Seabird – The Afterglow
• Devil Master – Death Anthem

Jackson Maxwell – Operations Editor

Track of the month: Bloc Party – Pigwig

Man, until a week or so ago, I had no idea that my pick this month was going to be such a contrarian one. The reception to Pigwig, the latest single from UK alt-rock heroes Bloc Party’s forthcoming record, Anatomy Of A Brief Romance, has been… less than stellar, one might say. And yeah, the lyrics aren’t Kele Okereke’s finest, sure – but that’s not why we’re here, is it?

Russell Lissack’s got his Tele trills going again! His rapid-fire interplay with Okereke is as good as it’s been in a looooong time. Perhaps I’m an unsophisticated lout yearning for the days 20 years ago, when Bloc Party stood on Mount Rushmore overlooking the ten trillion other two-guitar bands of the era that were practicing some form of the angular, terse ping-pong riffing taught in the school of Television. Sue me, I guess – I like this tune a lot.

Also playing:

• The Tallest Man on Earth – Deliver Me From Trying
• beabadoobee – Memories
• Tommy Lefroy – Thief

Matt Owen – News Editor

Track of the month: Johnny Marr – It’s Time

Just like Johnny Marr was taken aback by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham jamming The Smiths in Kyiv with Ukrainian soldiers, I have been equally enamored with the Britpop icon’s latest solo single, It’s Time.

Marr – who was on the cover of the most recent issue of Guitarist and has a bumper celebrity guitar auction coming up – is gearing up to release his new album in October. It’s Time is an exceptional appetizer, with a crystalline Smiths guitar tone and jangly riff that wouldn’t have felt out of place in the band’s heyday.

Also playing:

• Nothing But Thieves – Baby Kool (Evelyn)
• Hermanos Gutiérrez – Los Andes
• Phoebe Bridgers – I Can’t Wait

Janelle Borg – Staff Writer

Track of the month: Maddie Ashman – Amber

Turns out, you do get a good song recommendation from Instagram every once in a while…

When Maddie Ashman’s Reel (specifically, this Reel) popped up on my feed, I was instantly transfixed, and it’s easy to see why.

I mean, who doesn’t like off-kilter, avant-garde, guitar-based pop that not only uses alternate tunings but is also microtonal? Ashman is tearing up the pop playbook – all while playing a Mustang – and Amber is the perfect introduction to an artist who’s quickly becoming this generation’s Imogen Heap.

Also playing:

• Slayyyter – brand new chanel$
• Protomartyr – Feed the Sewer
• Grace Potter – Main Street U.S.A

This month, Squier threw us a curveball with the new Paranormal Precision Bass Thinline SJ – a lightweight, semi-hollow take on the classic Fender P-Bass that looks every bit as fun as it sounds. Squier’s latest also promises to play like a dream, too. The kind of dream you have when you eat cheese at bedtime.

We also welcomed the Spector Rex Brown Euro Bass, and saw the worldwide arrival of the Aria Cliff Burton Signature Bass, bringing the unmistakable spirit of Metallica’s legendary bassist to players around the globe.

If you’ve ever wanted to channel Burton’s thunderous low-end – preferably at irresponsible volume – now is looking like a good time to start.

Kiesel also expanded its bass lineup with the Antares Bass, a low-end counterpart to the company’s guitar model. And because no modern bass launch is complete without some serious signal-chain wizardry, it features Darkglass Electronics circuitry for a suitably aggressive range of tones.

From semi-hollow P-Bass twists and legendary metal-inspired signature models to high-performance basses loaded with modern tone-shaping technology, here's our pick of the best bass gear from August 2026.

Spector Euro 4 Rex Brown Signature

Pantera bass icon Rex Brown uses Spector for a reason: because they play like nothing else on Earth, and presumably also because he likes the colour.

The Spector Rex Brown Euro Bass features a neck-through body, pairing a three-piece maple neck with empresswood body wings topped with flame maple.

The Desert Gold finish takes inspiration from the New Mexico landscape, where Brown now lives, while an Indian rosewood fingerboard features smoke crown inlays. Gold hardware, a classic script Spector logo and Brown’s own logo on the back of the headstock complete the look.

For electronics, Spector has equipped the bass with a set of EMG PJ-X pickups alongside its TonePump active preamp.

“It has been a labor of love,” says Brown. “We took our time with every detail, from the balance of the pickups to the backplate design. It features the same neck profile I’ve used on my Spectors for years. It all comes together in a bass I’m incredibly proud of and one I think players will really enjoy.”

Aria Pro II SB-CLB Cliff Burton Signature

First unveiled at the 2026 Winter NAMM Show, the Aria Pro II SB-CLB Cliff Burton Signature Bass is now shipping worldwide – meaning fans of Metallica’s legendary bassist can finally get their hands on this detailed recreation of one of heavy music’s most iconic instruments.

Aria says the limited-edition model has been painstakingly recreated to capture the tone, feel and appearance of the SB-1000 Burton played during Metallica’s early years.

That includes the distinctive SB body shape, a high-output active circuit and neck-through construction, all designed to deliver the punch and sustain that made the original SB series so revered.

Other features include a seven-piece maple and walnut neck, the original QHB-1 brass bridge, and Aria’s BB Circuit, a low-pass filter with six presets that dramatically reshape the bass’s tonal character.

Squier Paranormal Precision Bass Thinline SJ

As the name suggests, this isn’t your standard P-Bass – don’t play, or even look at, this bass if you’ve got a hangover.

The Squier Paranormal Thinline SJ reimagines Fender’s original bass guitar with a semi-hollow body and a pickup combination that boasts a single-coil ’51 P-Bass pickup in the neck position and a single-coil Jazz Bass pickup at the bridge. The two pickups are wired to a three-way blade switch.

The semi-hollow body is designed to bring added acoustic resonance while reducing the overall weight, which should make those longer sessions a little easier on the shoulders.

Available in Vintage White, 3-Color Sunburst and Olive, the Thinline SJ features a nyatoh body and maple neck. The Olive and Sunburst models come with Indian Laurel fingerboards, while the Vintage White version gets maple.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a C-shape neck profile, a four-saddle vintage-style bridge with slotted barrel saddles and vintage-style open-gear tuners.

Kiesel Antares Bass

With its pronounced upper cutaways, elongated horns and deeply offset body, the Kiesel Antares Bass certainly isn’t trying to hide its metal credentials. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s available exclusively as a 5-string.

Built around an alder body and a carbon-fiber-reinforced maple neck, the Antares Bass has also been designed to address one of the potential drawbacks of its extreme body shape: neck dive. Kiesel has fitted a removable 1.3lb stainless-steel counterweight to the body to help keep the bass balanced.

Essential for any true onstage exhibitionist, the angular design is also complemented by a Darkglass Electronics preamp to add some suitably serious tone-shaping capabilities.

There are two pickup configurations to choose from. A pair of JVA single-coils offers traditional J-Bass-style tones, while a JVA single-coil paired with an HB humbucker provides a thicker, more powerful voice.

Fender Bends V2 Compressor & Pelt V2 Fuzz

Fender has given its pedal lineup a refresh, unveiling V2 versions of The Bends Compressor, The Pelt Fuzz, the Santa Ana Overdrive and the Pugilist Distortion. While all four can find a home on a bass pedalboard, Fender is particularly keen to point bassists toward the Bends V2 Compressor and Pelt V2 Fuzz.

The Bends V2 combines compression and boost in a single pedal. Its controls include an Attack switch, Release and Input knobs, plus a Blend control that lets you mix your clean signal back in.

There’s also a rear-mounted Vintage switch for re-voicing the circuit, a Comp pre/post switch and a Compression LED that shows the amount of compression being applied in real time.

The Pelt V2, meanwhile, is built around silicon transistors and a buffer-friendly input stage, taking Fender’s fuzz formula well beyond the usual Tone, Fuzz and Level controls. Sag and Bloom knobs let you shape how the fuzz breaks up, while an Octave (Chaos) footswitch adds an octave-up effect.

Fender has again included a Blend control, allowing bassists to retain their clean signal – because sometimes you want your fuzz to sound completely broken without losing the bottom-end.

Origin FX EQDELUXE

Origin Effects has taken one of the most celebrated pieces of studio hardware in history and squeezed it onto a pedalboard with the new EQDELUXE Studio Equalizer and Drive, a tribute to the legendary Pultec EQP-1A.

At the heart of the pedal is the “Pultec Trick,” which allows you to simultaneously boost and cut the low frequencies. For bassists, that means more low-end heft without simply turning everything up and hoping for the best.

But the EQDELUXE isn’t just about the bass frequencies. Alongside the Low Frequency Band, there are dedicated Mid and High Frequency Bands that offer more comprehensive tone sculpting when you need it.

The UK-based company has also recreated the Pultec’s distinctive output stage using solid-state circuitry, delivering the tube-like saturation associated with the original 1950s hardware without requiring a vintage studio rack to achieve it.

Harley Benton PB-62 & JB-62 Aged Series

Harley Benton has jumped aboard the relic train with its Aged Series, bringing roadworn looks to a range of budget-friendly instruments without requiring decades of gigging to get there.

The lineup includes two basses: the P-style PB-62 and the JB-62. The PB-62 is available in Black and Ocean White, while the JB-62 comes in 3-Tone Sunburst and Lake Placid Blue over Sunburst.

And because not everyone wants their brand-new bass to look like it’s survived 30 years of questionable tour vans, both models can be ordered with either light or heavy aging. In other words, you can decide how much road wear you want.

Baboomin Q-River Air

Yes, we know headless basses were cruelly mocked back in the '90s. You don’t have to remind us – we were there. Still, we think the design has proved its staying power, and Baboomin is a brand that has fully embraced the headless format.

Available in Standard and Pro versions, the Q-River Air comes in 4- and 5-string configurations, with the 4-string weighing in at an average of just 6.8lb.

The Standard model is equipped with two single-coil pickups, while the Pro adds a dual-coil pickup in the bridge position, offering '60s Jazz, '70s Jazz and humbucker-style tones.

Fender American Vintage II 1966 Jazz Bass Lake Placid Blue

Fender has given its American Vintage II series a fresh lick of paint, adding a new Lake Placid Blue finish to the 1966 Jazz Bass. The iconic colour joins the model’s existing Sea Foam Green, 3-Color Sunburst and Olympic White options.

The company first began using Lake Placid Blue in late 1959 after adapting it from General Motors’ automotive paint catalog, before making it an official option on Fender’s first formal custom colour chart in 1960.

Beneath that new finish, the American Vintage II 1966 Jazz Bass retains its period-correct specifications, including a nitrocellulose lacquer finish, vintage-style neck profile and year-specific pickups designed to deliver the feel and tone of the original-era instruments.

Eastwood The Sandman Deluxe 4-string

Last year, Eastwood Guitars introduced “The Sandman,” a 2-string bass inspired by the modified Premier Scroll Bass played by Morphine’s Mark Sandman. Now, in collaboration with Sandman’s estate, the company has expanded the series with the Sandman Deluxe 4-String.

The new model retains the distinctive looks and character of the 2-string Deluxe while adding the range and versatility of a traditional 4-string bass.

Features include a mahogany body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard with white double-dot inlays. It’s equipped with a pair of custom D-Style pickups, vintage-style tuners and a satin finish.

Yes, it looks a bit nuts – so what? We like crazy-looking gear…

For Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, coming back as Rush – and playing some of the trickiest songs in the prog-rock legends’ playbook – meant getting back up to speed. Musically and physically. That proved to be a mammoth task in itself.

“It’s a tough show,” Lee says in a recent Rolling Stone interview. “Each night has its own difficulties. But we’re all professionals and that’s why you do all the work. My day and my off days are not fun. I sleep late because now I’m on a late schedule. I have to see my physio person.

“Coming back at this age, your fear is that you can’t do it anymore, and you’re going to be a compromised version of yourself. And I don’t want that.”

Lee goes on to reveal that that was one of the main reasons why Neil Peart retired – specifically, because “he refused to show anything but his very best in public”.

He continues, “And that’s why, according to my daughter, I didn’t smile for a year and a half before appearing onstage. My daughter came up to me and she was so happy. She said, ‘You look so happy up there. I haven’t seen you smile like that in a year and a half.’ I’m like, ‘Really? Am I really a grump?’”

As for the most challenging song on their setlist, the duo is quick to point out that most of their worries centred on A Farewell to Kings, which they included for the first time since 1979.

It’s the first track from their fifth studio album, which bears the same name. “It’s a weird song,” describes Lee. “It sounds like a walk in the park with a minstrel, but it’s not.”

The inclusion of what the two deem to be the “hardest song” of them all points to their determination, even at their age, to “be better than we’ve ever been not just be as good as we were,” as Lifeson insists, “and challenge ourselves with songs that we haven’t played in a long time.

“All of them were challenging after 11 years, anyways. But to bring back A Farewell to Kings, that took a lot of work.”

In related news, Alex Lifeson separately discussed the struggles he faced leading up to the Rush reunion.

Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly gear round-up, your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay in the loop with every new launch.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.

Below you'll find my personal highlights from the week, along with plenty of honorable mentions for the new gear you might have missed. Agree with my picks? Have a highlight of your own? Let us know in the comments.

PRS Dany Villareal Astryx Limited Edition

Dany Villareal of The Warning’s first-ever signature guitar is something a little special – and one for the PRS collectors out there, with the Maryland high-end electric guitar brand only making 200 of them.

Still, you will have little trouble picking out the the Astryx on the wall of your local guitar store. Its Ocaso (Sunset) finish is a purple-red-orange-amber burst of color, like a toucan’s beak digging into a packet of Takis Fuego.

Fundamentally, it’s a Custom 24, so you have the DMO (“Dynamic Musical Open”) humbuckers, the Gen III tremolo unit, the mahogany and figured maple build, Pattern Thin mahogany neck and 25” scale – and the PRS Phase III tuners.

But the Astryx’s 24-fret fingerboard is ebony, not rosewood, and those don’t look like bird inlays to us.

Villareal says it feels like an extension of her body.

“Ever since I tried my first PRS guitar, it’s been an inseparable relationship. With PRS, I feel powerful and confident – and that’s a feeling that once you find, you don’t want to let go of,” she says. “It has such a beautiful sustain, which I really like.

“The neck also feels so comfortable, and it’s not that heavy. As the only guitar player in the band, I love how my PRS takes up a lot of space sonically. It did wonders for our three-piece band.”

Each instrument comes with a signed backplate and a thought in the back of our minds that the higher-uppers at PRS Guitars should send an email to their colleagues at Cor-Tek, in Indonesia, to float the idea of an SE version sometime in the near future. That finish – bright, yes – is a keeper.

Friedman Jose 20 head and combo

If you consider that a Marshall amp modded by the late great amp guru Jose Arredondo is what most tonehounds would consider a holy grail proposition – and good luck finding one on the used market – then what can we say about the Jose 20 Series from Friedman Amplification?

Dave Friedman, in collaboration with Marisol Arredondo, Jose’s daughter, has just put that tone inside a 20-watt all-tube head and a combo amp, too. Now, some might hold out for his 100-watt Arredondo tribute amp. But these are more compact, much more affordable, and for most players, more amp than you could ever need.

Hot-rodded Marshall-style sounds are its stock in trade, and there are all kinds of little features to get that sound.

Arredondo helped start the arms race for more gain, and these Jose 20 amps offer a 3-way gain styling switch, a Plexi/Drive switch for a “true additional gain stage,” a Fat switch for adding low-end oomph, and the channels are internally bridged with dual volume controls for each to mix and match those Bright and Normal channel voicings.

There’s a master volume, series effects loop, and, it promises the same dynamics and super-juicy harmonic overdrive sound as the original amps that had the likes of George Lynch, Mick Mars, James Hetfield, Steve Vai and more seeking out this maverick guru’s services.

Sleep Token's blockbuster signature collab with Jackson and Charvel

Sleep Token’s first-ever signature collaboration did not disappoint, and certainly not if you were looking for something completely different from a metal guitar – or your taste in five-string bass guitars has grown, shall we say, exotic.

Jackson and guitarist IV dreamt up a novel take on the baritone guitar, an octave-down 30” scale behemoth single cut. Guitar World’s review of the Pro Plus Series Signature Sleep Token IV Monarkh SC is overwhelmingly positive.

There are aspects of this design that are quite stunning, and daring, too. It’s very much 21st-century metal guitar – EverTune bridge, multi-voiced Fishman pickups, and a pale moon ebony fingerboard that looks like it was carved from some ancient tree from the prelapsarian era. It might put your bass player out of a job, too.

But not if your bassist’s name is III. Maybe this is why the the Charvel Sleep Token III Signature Pro-Mod San Dimas Bass V is such a gnarly affair – with the multi-voiced Fishmans, powerful active EQ, a 34.4” to 35” multi-scale design and so on. It’s a whole lotta modern bass.

The aesthetics might be a bit much for some players, but for Sleep Token fans, for players seeking out a state-of-the-art high-performance platform for low-end audio adventurism, this is where it's at.

ALSO LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

Neural DSP CorOS 4.1.0 update for Quad Cortex and Quad Cortex Mini

This is the way of it now. Some of our biggest gear releases come via update, downloadable over wi-fi, and this week Neural DSP delivered big-style for its Quad Cortex and Quad Cortex Mini users, bringing more Virtual Devices to the party, expanding plugin compatibility and transforming workflow.

The new Device Presets feature could be a game-changer for QC players putting together tones. And it's a free update.

For more: Neural DSP

Harley Benton SC-Special Hybrid

These $195 single-cuts are quite possibly the coolest beginner electric guitars on the market. Plain-color tops, glued-in necks, the P-90/humbucker pickup configuration and rosewood fingerboards. Super-budget rock 'n' roll machines.

For more: Harley Benton

Hotone Pulze Jr.

Is it possible to get more amp for $300 than with the Hotone Pulze Jr.? That's what we've been asking ourselves ever since they dropped. You'll find all mod cons here – amp models, effects, Bluetooth and of course AI.

What Hotone has done is just gone full AI, offering AI-powered tone creation and track separation. Could be a great practice option.

For more: Hotone

EMG Tom Morello

Tom Morello and the active pickup specialist EMG have teamed up for a signature pickup set plucked straight from his "Arm the Homeless" guitar, which means an 85 humbucker at the bridge, and the EMG H single-coil pickup at the neck. And for all you long-time EMG fans, note that these have the old-school logo.

For more: EMG Pickups

Gibson Victory Baritone

Gibson’s first baritone guitar in over a decade comes strapped with an all-new pickup, the ELEV8 humbucker. These are an Alnico VIII design. Can you believe that? (Alnico has had more instalments than the Friday the 13th franchise).

These are a fascinating proposition – proof positive that the Victory has finally arrived as a mainstay of the lineup?

For more: Gibson

Fender George Harrison Bass VI

The Electric VI has always been an enigma. Setting aside the taxonomical quandary of whether to call it a guitar or a bass, the spec itself, and where this offset design sits in Fender history makes it a fascinating instrument, so difficult to pigeonhole.

This meticulous Custom Shop replica of George Harrison’s 1967 model adds layers to that story. It’s a stunning instrument, and, wowzers! It is expensive, too. But watch the demo video above for some great Fender trivia, and one great-sounding guitar – sorry, bass… Bass guitar. Whatever.

For more: Fender

Marshall 60th Anniversary Hendrix Collection

Marshall continues its 60th Anniversary Hendrix celebrations by adding a special edition Studio Vintage JMH half-stack to the collection, refreshing it in cosmic purple-and-black swirl, with a purple LED power lamp FTW, and that "third eye" badge is pretty cool too. If the hand-wired anniversary Hendrix Plexi was Too Much Amp, this 20-watter, switchable to five, might just be the ticket.

For more: Marshall

JHS Pedals Andy Timmons

JHS Pedals shrinks down the Andy Timmons signature amp-in-a-box drive pedal into a smaller housing but still keeps the same tones you know and love. Our heaving pedalboards thank you, Josh Scott. Keep up the good work, sir!

For more: JHS Pedal

Ernie Ball introduces three new string gauges – meet Silky Slinky, Nova Slinky and Titan Slinky

Sometimes options can be a pain in the backside. Restaurant menus need not be so long that you could read Ulysses in the time it takes to get to the sides. Movies, music, TV... streaming is a hellscape.

But with electric guitar strings it’s different. Even in our age of abundance we still find ourselves mixing and matching sets, which is why the good folks at Ernie Ball keep on expanding the Slinky series with more gauge combinations, launching the new Silky Slinky (9.5-48), Nova Slinky (11-54) and Titan Slinky (11-56).

For more: Ernie Ball

The late Jose Arredondo was an icon of pimping tube amps. After Friedman paid tribute to him with the Jose 100 last year, the firm is continuing to honor his tone-tweaking legacy by unveiling two smaller versions.

The Jose 20 delivers 20-watt head and 1x12 combo versions of the amp for those who want the same magic without triple-figure wattage. Arredondo’s amp modifications have long fascinated Dave Friedman, an esteemed amp builder in his own right, and for these, he’s teamed up with his daughter, Marisol.

Straight off the bat, it’s clear to see that they’re very well spec’d. Beneath their hoods are twin EL84 power tubes, a quartet of 12AX7 preamp tubes, and in the combo, a Celestion G12M-65 Creamback speaker.

But the real showstopper is the internally bridged Volume I and Volume II configuration. It channels the spirit of Arredondo builds, with “dynamics, sustain, harmonic complexity, tight low end, and highly responsive feel” on tap. That means, in classic Plexi style, players can make the most of the classic channel-jumping technique.

Other features to get excited about include a Plexi/Gain switch between traditional Plexi and Jose-styled saturation, and a Fat switch for extra body and punch. It’s like instantly feeding it 10,000 donuts.

There’s also a three-position Gain Style switch that offers a trio of gain-stage structures, from hot-rodded Plexi to “crushing” rhythm tones and a harmonically rich lead tone. A transparent series effects loop makes it ideal for pedalboards.

Each amp is hand-built in Los Angeles, with custom-made transformers a key part of the recipe.

“The Friedman Jose 20 Series is a faithful interpretation of one of rock’s most influential amplifier voices,” says Friedman, who adds that these builds are crafted “for today’s player,” and thus are not straight-up nostalgia pieces.

The 20-watt Jose 20 head comes in at $1,799, with the combo costing $2,099.

See Friedman Amplification for more.

Elsewhere, Dave Friedman built a pedalboard for Steve Stevens, and it taught him a lot about tone.

Guitar Center’s illustrious Rockwalk in Hollywood honors guitarists who changed the game. But manufacturers, and the people who make those brands iconic, often get the nod, too. Paul Reed Smith is the latest figure to be honored.

Smith, who founded PRS just over 40 years ago and has won over the hearts of everyone from Carlos Santana and Alex Lifeson to Ed Sheeran and Jeff Beck (apparently), is now being recognized for his contributions to the instrument’s legacy.

It’s his old pal and PRS artist John Mayer, with whom he crafted the best-selling Silver Sky, who’ll be inducting him. He’s giving back to a man who’s given him so much.

“The first time I saw a RockWalk induction, Ted McCarty was getting inducted, and Eddie Van Halen was one of the people in attendance to witness it,” Smith says.

“I was very pleased for Ted. That I’ll be in the middle of another induction is an honor and leaves me without words.”

Mayer will deliver a speech at the ceremony on September 26. It’s set to take place at the Dell West Plaza Rockwalk Stage at the Moody Center during the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Texas. The completed handprint will then be transported to Sunset Boulevard. Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto will also attend.

“There are very few people in the history of the electric guitar who have pushed the design and perfection of the instrument forward more than Paul,” Dalporto says. “He has inspired generations of musicians and instrument makers and is a living legend in our industry.”

Smith will be in prestigious company alongside 2024 inductee Gary Clark Jr., and a host of heavy hitters, including Steve Vai, Robert Johnson and Les Paul.

It’s two inductions in quick succession after Billy Idol and his foil, Steve Stevens, dipped their hands into wet concrete in June.

Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi is returning with his first solo album in over two decades, From the Dark, teased by the thunderous World Alone. Alongside his band for the project, which includes bassist Becky Baldwin, drummer Karl Brazil, and vocalist Jørn Lande, there’s a guest performance by longtime friend Brian May.

The two have been friends for over five decades, making them perfect collaborators. “He's my best friend,” he tells Loudwire.

“And of course, Eddie Van Halen was. We always stayed in touch a lot. They were the only two I really did stay in touch with ... [Brian] came to my house, and we always have a little fiddle about.

“He brings a guitar or I've got one here, and he'll use that. I said, 'Oh, bring your guitar when you come,' he brought his guitar, and I said, 'You're going to be playing on this track here.' He's great.”

However, May was reluctant to add his own flavor to too many tracks, as he wanted Iommi to shine, given that it’s his first solo album in such a long time.

“I said to him, ‘Play on some other tracks,’ but he went, ‘Oh no, it's your album.’ That's the relationship we've had with each other for all these years.”

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Iommi detailed how the two met.

“In the very early ’70s, he was in one studio, and I was in another. We just hit it off,” he said matter-of-factly.

May contributed to When Death Calls, from Black Sabbath’s 1988 album Headless Cross. Additionally, he lent his chops to Iommi’s solo track, Goodbye Lament, in 2000.

More recently, the two continued to solidify their friendship through the shared language of guitars, as May gifted Iommi a left-handed version of his Red Special for Christmas.

From the Dark, which includes the May feature on Death Wake, is set to be released on October 23 via BMG Records and available to preorder now.

The Guitar Hero video game was a cultural sensation in the late ’00s, so its return under a new guise has been widely welcomed by the guitar and gaming community.

The songs set to be playable on the game have now been released alongside preorders opening, and its developers aren’t messing about with the setlist.

Stage Tour is Guitar Hero’s spiritual successor and has been developed by many of the same people who made the franchise’s previous 25 games a roaring success. Now operating under RedOctane Games, the developers believe its revamp is taking rhythm games to a whole new level, and the project already has Gibson’s backing.

Nuno Bettencourt’s Extreme (Get The Funk Out), Slipknot (Psychosocial), Weezer (Island In The Sun), and Paramore (For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic) will all be returning, having been fan favorites in the past.

A new trailer for the game, meanwhile, name-drops other generation-spanning string slingers, including Muse, Mötley Crüe, Ed Sheeran, Ghost, Radiohead, Castle Rat, and blink-182. The Rolling Stones are set to serve up Foreign Tongues track In The Stars (although the Paul McCartney-propelled Bite My Head Off feels like a missed opportunity).

Prog legends Genesis, Black Eyed Peas, and Metallica – who got their own dedicated game in 2009 – will also feature. That’s a lot of riffs.

Interestingly, there’s no mention of Van Halen yet, but Eddie’s offspring, Wolfgang, is to feature with Mammoth’s The End. It’s a song practically made for a game like this. OG Guitar Hero darlings DragonForce are another big omission (so far), given that the game helped the band explode, while the Beatles are also currently absent.

There’ll be over 90 playable songs in the game, and over 180 collectible items that look set to make the most of its tie-in with Gibson. Plenty of the firm’s classic builds, from Les Pauls to SGs, Firebirds, and what looks to be an Epiphone ES-335, can be spotted in the trailer.

Yet the game comes with a Kramer-branded controller, not a Gibson or Epiphone. Pre-orders start at $129.99 for the game and the wireless Kramer controller, rising to $349.99 with a drum kit controller included. It should have been named the Dave Grohl special.

See Stage Tour for more.

Stage Tour Setlist (confirmed so far)

• The Rolling Stones - In the Stars
• Smash Mouth - All Star
• Muse - Starlight
• BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy – RATATATA
• Extreme - Get The Funk Out  
• Ghost - Square Hammer  
• Good Kid - Mimi's Delivery Service Good Kid
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California  
• Static-X - Terminator Oscillator  
• Weezer - Island In The Sun  
• Avril Lavigne - Bite Me
• Honey Revenge - Airhead  
• Paramore - For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic  
• The Paradox - Do Me Like That  
• The Long Faces - Jane!  
• Jfarrari - The Unknowing  
• Castle Rat - Siren  
• Rise Against - Broken Dreams, Inc.  
• Slipknot - Psychosocial  
• Mastodon - The Motherload
• Mammoth - The End  
• Beast In Black - Blind and Frozen  
• The Cure - Just Like Heaven  
• Radiohead - Just  
• Bad Omens - Just Pretend

John Mayer has paid tribute to Dolly Parton with an instrumental guitar cover of the country music legend’s enduring hit, I Will Always Love You.

The Queen of Country died at the age of 80. News of the hugely influential artist and pop culture icon’s passing was met with an outpouring of tributes from all corners of the world.

The inimitable musician rose from humble beginnings to conquer the music world, with a unique guitar style and generational songwriting ability that led to some of the biggest hits of her time. Among them was her epic ballad, I Will Always Love You.

In honor of Parton, Mayer included the 1974 cut in his SiriusXM concert at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York, last night (August 26). A clip of the tribute has been shared online.

Armed with his Dead Spec Silver Sky, Mayer made his way around the song’s progression, imitating Parton’s main melody while throwing in some blues-y inflections of his own. At around the minute mark, Mayer then spring-boarded into his own song, Gravity.

Notably, Mayer was flanked by his Dumble and Two Rock amps, meaning he ran through his usual gig rig as opposed to a Neural DSP Quad Cortex loaded with his signature Archetype plugin. Whether we’ll ever see Mayer play a Quad Cortex live for a headline show (he has played one for guest appearances in the past) remains to be seen.

Mayer’s full SiriusXM set will be broadcast on Life With John Mayer this Saturday (August 29) at 8pm ET. The special will begin with a 25 minute conversation between Mayer and Andy Cohen, leading into the full set.

Previous artists to play at the Stephen Talkhouse for SiriusXM shows include Dave Matthews, Coldplay, Metallica and The Killers.

Keep your eyes peeled on SiriusXM to catch the full set.

A newly released Beatles demo, Day Tripper (Songwriting Work Tape), from the upcoming expanded special edition of The Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul, offers a rare glimpse into the early stages of the song’s creation.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney are captured working on the song at Lennon’s home in Surrey, highlighting their unique dynamic, as they can also be heard laughing while they’re chipping away at the track.

Intriguingly, despite having the chords, lyrics, and most of the key harmonies, the demo shows that the iconic riff that came to define the song only came later.

The final version of Day Tripper was eventually finished during an eight-hour studio session, but this Songwriting Work Tape gives listeners a direct window into the workings of the duo that wrote some of the most enduring songs of all time.

The iconic riff was later laid down by George Harrison, though Lennon maintained he wrote it, along with the vast majority of the song.

First released on December 3, 1965, Rubber Soul marked a turning point in The Beatles’ career, as it arrived at the end of a year that included many career and artistic milestones.

Despite the time constraints that came with back-to-back touring, the Fab Four leveraged several new instruments – including George Harrison’s 1965 Rickenbacker 360-12, Lennon's matching Sonic Blue 1961 Fender Stratocasters, and McCartney’s Rickenbacker 4001S bass – to write timeless classics like Norwegian Wood, Michelle, In My Life, and Nowhere Man.

The Rubber Soul sessions also spawned We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper – the latter of which drew upon the influence of American soul music. In the UK, the double A single became the seventh highest-selling single of the 1960s and the Christmas number one of 1965.

Rubber Soul Special Edition, newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell, opens the studio doors on the making of the iconic album.

It brings together 24 early session recordings – including 20 previously unreleased takes and three previously unreleased home demos – alongside a new stereo mix, original mono mix, original Capitol US album version and the contemporary Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out single.

The extended album will be released on October 2 and is available to pre-order now.

Joe Bonamassa has paid tribute to Tim Curry, the renowned English actor and singer who has died at the age of 80.

Curry was best known for portraying the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 movie musical The Rocky Horror Show, as well as for playing a wide range of dynamic roles both onscreen and onstage.

Shortly after the movie was released, Curry launched a music career, releasing his debut album, Read My Lips, in 1978. Among the tracks on the record is Sloe Gin, which Bonamassa later covered on his 2007 album of the same name.

“Rest in Peace Tim Curry,” writes Joe Bonamassa on social media. “Many do not know that Tim cut the original version of Sloe Gin on his debut album Read my Lips in 1978. The song was composed by Bob Ezrin and Michael Kamen.

“20 years ago, [producer] Kevin Shirley rang me and said he found the perfect desperate blues song for me. He was right and our version changed my career trajectory forever. Tim's version was bold, beautiful and featured the mastery of Dick Wagner on guitar.”

Wielding one of his many Les Pauls, against a backdrop of Fender stacks, Bonamassa gave a heartfelt rendition of Sloe Gin – a song which remains one of his biggest hits to this day.

“That song initially came to me via [producer] Kevin Shirley who was born in South Africa,” Joe Bonamassa previously told Total Guitar. “It was a hit there but nowhere else.

“I have to give a special shout out to Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who played on the original version. They were basically Bob Ezrin’s ringers… What you hear on the record and how we play it live are two different things. That song’s got a life of its own. I’m thrilled with that… sometimes we just have to play it!”

Bonamassa’s solo on Sloe Gin, played with incredible restraint and intensity, is one of the bluesman’s signature solos, coming 42nd in Total Guitar’s 2020 poll of the greatest guitar solos of all time. It perhaps comes as no surprise, then, that it remains part of his setlist to this day.

“The first time I played it, people applauded like they knew the song. And they didn’t know the song, it just sounded familiar. That was a very cool thing. That song has been with me for 20 years now.”

Guitar Center has unveiled its Crossroads 2026 guitar collection, which includes exclusive Eric Clapton and John Mayer models.

As is tradition, Guitar Center has celebrated the annual Crossroads guitar festival with a capsule of limited-edition electric guitars and acoustic guitars. And there are some absolute stunners on the menu.

Like previous editions, Clapton’s guitars get the spotlight. The headline is a recreation of his Blind Faith Telecaster, the famed hybrid-esque model he played alongside Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker in the rock supergroup in 1969.

A regular sunburst Tele at first glance, the Blind Faith guitar famously combined a single-cut body with a Stratocaster neck for an oddball Fender mash-up. Along with the likes of The Fool SG, it’s one of Slowhand’s most visually distinct instruments.

To keep it as authentic as possible, there’s a 1956 “Brownie” Stratocaster neck replica and period-correct details, with an included “Woof Tone” wiring kit for more vintage Blind Faith sounds.

At $4,999 apiece, the Tele will be limited to 130 units worldwide, and was presented to Clapton in a launch video published by Guitar Center.

The other big inclusion is a PRS Silver Sky, finished in a one-off Incline Blue colorway and adorned with some never-before-used silhouetted Bird inlays, along with a custom Crossroads Sun design at the 12th fret.

Only 70 will be made, and Mayer himself will use the Incline Blue Silver Sky when he plays at the Crossroads Festival next month.

The two electrics are joined by a list of ultra-premium Martin acoustic guitars, the most expensive of which is the $25k 000-42 Eric Clapton Brazilian.

Inspired by his MTV Unplugged 000 model, it represents “the pinnacle of Eric Clapton’s relationship with Martin” – thanks in part to the rare Brazilian rosewood back and sides.

It’s joined by a Ziricote 000-42, which is available in Sunburst and Clear Natural and starts from $9,699, and the 000-13E, which is the most affordable guitar of the drop at $1,899.

“Music has always been my most reliable source of inspiration, or salvation,” says Clapton. “These guitars are sacred things to me.”

To cap off the launch, Ernie Ball has produced some special edition string sets. They are regular Slink 10-46 strings, but they come in a collectible tin – which is a rather nice touch.

The Crossroads 2026 collection will be available at Guitar Center stores and on the retailer’s website. They’ll also be available for purchase at The Guitar Center Experience during the festival.

Visit Guitar Center to find out more.

Crossroads Festival 2026 will take place on September 26 and 27, and the lineup features an all-star cast of guitar greats.

Gibson has continued to make moves in the extended range market by releasing its first baritone guitar in a decade.

Back at NAMM, the company teased it would be exploring heavier territory when it confirmed seven-strings and baritones were on the cards. More recently, it surprise-launched the Gibson Les Paul Long Scale. Now, it’s continued that momentum with the Victory Baritone.

It becomes Gibson’s first production-run baritone since the early 2010s, when it had the SG Baritone, Explorer Baritone and Les Paul Studio Baritone on its books. There was also Buckethead’s cult classic signature model, which was available around 2011.

Since then, it’s been all quiet on the extended range front. But with the rising popularity of these models, Gibson is clearly keen to get in on the action.

Tuned B to B, this new model has a 28” scale length and offers a mahogany body with updated Victory contours. There’s also a mahogany neck with a rounded profile, a compound-radius ebony fingerboard, and 24 medium jumbo frets.

The Explorer-style headstock is fitted with a Graph Tech nut and Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners, while the body is equipped with the classic Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece.

Sharing the spotlight with the extended scale length are Gibson’s new ELEV8 humbuckers. Newly developed for the Victory Baritone, they are said to be tailored for down-tuned riffing to retain a tight low-end and impressive note separation.

They have alnico 8 magnets and custom-gauge wiring, and are Gibson’s take on the modern heavy pickup. Both have push-pull controls for coil-splitting and inner/outer coil selection.

This becomes the latest addition to the Victory line since Gibson revived the oft-forgotten cult 1980s model in 2024. The range also includes a Floyd Rose version.

The Victory Baritone is available now in British Racing Green and Graphite Metallic for $2,499.

Visit Gibson for more.

Tom Morello has added an EMG pickup set to his ever-growing collection of signature guitar gear – and it brings the sounds of his most famous electric guitar into the hands of modders.

The TM set marries an EMG 85 in the bridge with an EMG H in the neck. It is the same pairing that has powered his ‘Arm the Homeless’ guitar for decades, and the first time this combo has been made readily available as a set.

They’re even stamped with the classic EMG logo to match the vintage ’80s gems they’re based on.

As you’d expect from ‘buckers with Morello’s name on them, the 85 offers growl and bite aplenty. The active pickup is said to still retain clarity, though, and promises an “expansive low-end body that sounds great for clean tones.”

Morello chose it for its “sustain for solos and power for big riffs” when he was modding his right-hand axe in the late 1980s. But the H is where things get a little more unusual, as it delivers a classic single-coil sound, despite being a humbucker.

In that, Morello says there’s a lesson to be learned.

“Some of the greatest riffs of all time are done with a single-coil pickup,” he observes. “To me, it was the springiness of that sound, and the way that [Rage Against the Machine drummer] Brad Wilk and I play together, that created a heaviness that was very unique.

“A lot of times, guitar players think they have to have the most manly, alpha, distorted sound in order to be heavy,” he continues. “That’s not the trick. It’s the tone, and the chemistry of the people you play with. This pickup has made fields of people bounce up and down over the course of the last three decades.”

Interestingly, Morello’s ‘Arm the Homeless’ guitar was actually a disaster to start with, but then it changed rock history in a dramatic turn of events. Fender has since recreated it as a signature model, arriving after Morello put his name to a Neural DSP plugin in 2023. He also has a namesake overdrive with MXR.

The EMG TM signature set for Tom Morello is available now.

See EMG for more.

Polyphia have shared details for their fifth studio album, Be Not Afraid, which will land October 23.

The highly anticipated album was previewed by lead single Can You Feel It? in June. It saw Tim Henson and co invent a new genre as they leant into heavier territory to explore rave riffs with eight-string guitars.

Be Not Afraid’s second single, Power In The Blood, has also now been released, along with news that Polyphia will be delaying their North American tour dates from 2026 to early 2027.

Power In The Blood continues down the proto-electro-riff territory that was first introduced in Can You Feel It?, though it swaps edge-of-the-seat riffing for breakneck technical virtuosity.

It’s a clear sonic extension, though, and with it we get a better picture of what we can expect from Polyphia in Be Not Afraid.

After all, Henson hasn’t been shy to tease that the record will be heavier than previous Polyphia outings. If these two singles are anything to go by, the band are going to comfortably live up to their word.

“During the making of this record, we went down some pretty dark rabbit holes,” Henson says. “We kept coming across things that were so depraved they sounded insane when you said them out loud. Then some of the very things we had been talking about started appearing in documents released to the public.

“You can read that stuff and feel disgusted, demoralized, and completely powerless. BE NOT AFRAID is our response to that. Rather than allowing the ugliness of the world to paralyze us, we put everything we had into making something beautiful.

“We weren’t afraid of whether something was too different or whether people were going to understand it. We just followed what excited us and made what I believe is our best record to date.”

He continues: “The album takes you through the extremes of two different worlds and moods: one being very uplifting and triumphant, the other being spine-chilling and terrifying. There are moments on the record that legitimately scare me when I listen to them.”

The progressive metal pioneers have been at the cutting edge of guitar music for the past 10 years, since the release of their acclaimed debut record, Muse.

Since then, Tim Henson and Scott LePage have continued to push the boundary of modern guitar music and technique, exploring uncharted fretboard territory and guitar design along the way.

All of that is to say, Polyphia 5 has been a long time coming. We don’t have much longer to wait.

For a full list of tour dates and to pre-order Be Not Afraid, visit Polyphia’s website.

Orianthi-fronted power trio The Power of 3, featuring acclaimed drummer Cindy Blackman Santana and bassist Rhonda Smith, have announced their self-titled debut album and debut double single, War in the Streets and Treat Me Like a Lady.

The album, out on December 11 via She2Music, was produced by legendary Jimi Hendrix and Davie Bowie collaborator Eddie Kramer and features a special guest appearance by Carlos Santana.

Recorded entirely in analog, the record promises to capture “the raw chemistry of three world-class musicians whose collective careers have included collaborations with Michael Jackson, Prince, Jeff Beck, Alice Cooper, Beyoncé, Lenny Kravitz, Santana, and Pharoah Sanders.”

The Power of 3’s origin story harks back to a suggestion by Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis, who encouraged Orianthi to assemble a power trio inspired by Hendrix collective Band of Gypsys.

Orianthi reached out to Blackman Santana, known for her work with Lenny Kravitz and Carlos Santana. The two went on to recruit Smith, who held down the low-end for Prince, Jeff Beck, and Beyoncé.

Speaking about the new ensemble, Orianthi says, “I know people all over the world want to see us, and we can't wait. It'll be so much fun to get out there. Playing together with Cindy and Rhonda, this is like a powerhouse. It's not just me... this is a real band.”

In a recent interview with Guitar World, the guitarist also spoke about working with a producer who has a fair few legends under his belt, including Jimi Hendrix.

“He definitely has brought out something that other producers haven’t with his energy alone,” she said.

“Eddie focuses on getting the right microphone placement and works his magic... It’s very old-school and interesting. I love watching Eddie in the studio when he’s panning and doing wild shit. We did a 25-minute jam, which will be on the record, and he had to mix that. He was sweating afterward!”

She continued, “Because I’m such a huge Hendrix fan, I respect him so much. He suggests things like, ‘Why don’t you try this amplifier, this setting, this pedal, or this guitar?’ I’ll try whatever he calls for, you know? My heart is open. Being in the studio with Eddie Kramer and Kevin is an honor.”

The trio has already made its live debut, having played at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium twice, most recently before the Raiders-Cowboys game last November.

Orianthi confirms that they’re now preparing to bring the project to audiences worldwide.

The Power of 3 is out December 11 via She2Music and available to preorder/presave now.

Marshall is continuing to celebrate 60 years of one of the world’s greatest guitarists with three new Jimi Hendrix-inspired drops.

Few players have rewrote the guitar rule book quite like the late Jimi Hendrix. 60 years on from the beginning of the pair’s partnership, Marshall is paying tribute to one of its greatest champions.

The three new releases, which include Major V headphones and an Emberton III Bluetooth speaker, are headlined by the Studio Vintage JMH, a smaller version of that purple-splashed $3,400 half-stack that arrived last year.

Guitar World had raved about the JHM amp, saying it “provides purist-satisfying 1959 Super Lead tones and feel,” and stands as a must-have for collectors. Here, 100 watts of tube amp glory has been condensed into a tighter 20W package.

The all-valve head also has a 5W power-reduction mode for smaller venues and happier neighbors. Saddled with ECC83 preamp valves, an ECC83 phase splitter, two EL34 power valves, and a switchable series effects loop, it’s vintage charm galore.

Its shell is handmade from plywood and wrapped in black Tolex, but it’s the aesthetic on top that stands out. Drawing on Hendrix’s fascination with the third eye and expanded vision, plus a splash of cosmic goodness, it gives the amp an absolutely killer look.

The amp face swaps Marshall’s black-and-gold look for black, silver, and purple, and serves up a Presence dial, three-band EQ, an additional High Treble dial, and a Normal control. Its voicing is based on the classic Studio Vintage amp.

It is, Marshall says, “the sound of the plexi era,” delivering everything from “warm blues to biting leads.” The head pairs with an equally pretty JMH 2x12 angled cab, featuring two Celestion V-Type speakers.

Ally Venable has been chosen as the face of the amp’s promo.

“Marshall gave Hendrix the power, and Hendrix showed the world how to use it,” she says of their iconic partnership. “The sound you can get out of it is incredible; it has different options to get different kinds of overdrive in your playing. It’s not just something you can hear, but something you can feel.”

The purple oil-on-water design continues across the drop, and can be found on Major V overhead headphones and an Emberton III Bluetooth speaker.

The Marshall Studio Vintage JMH is priced at $2,499.99, making it $1k cheaper than the previous release.

See Marshall for more.

Labor Day doesn’t arrive until September 7th, but that hasn’t stopped Sweetwater from being first out of the gate with its up-to-50%-off sale. It’s the first of the major music retailers to start slashing prices, making for a great opportunity to save early and put your feet up for the long weekend.

There are hundreds of deals available on Fender, Marshall, Line 6, JHS, Electro-Harmonix, and loads more. There’s no end date set for the sale, but it’ll likely run at least through Labor Day, and probably a few days after that.

It’s my job to keep tabs on all the biggest and best sales across all the major music retailers, so of course I dived into this one as soon as it landed in my inbox. The first deal to catch my eye is a stonking $330 off this futuristic Strandberg Boden Prog NX 7. One for the shredders out there, it’s a supremely balanced, lightweight, and fast-playing instrument that can deliver some of the heaviest riffs imaginable.

If you’re looking to stock up on essential accessories, then there’s a great deal on Ernie Ball Slinky electric guitar strings. Buy a 3-pack, and you’ll get another set of strings completely free of charge. That’s a saving of $8.99! The deal is available on both the Regular Slinky and the Super Slinky sets.

JHS’ limited-edition, bulb-driven Uni-Vibe-style pedal, Good Vibrations, has a huge $100 off in the sale. It’s quite a big unit, I’ll admit, but I absolutely love the preamp in this thing. It adds loads of extra punch to your tone. It’s a warm-sounding, fully analog pedal that can cover surf, psychedelic, or even ambient styles of playing.

Jackson and Charvel have unveiled a historic Sleep Token launch, honoring one of the biggest progressive metal bands of the modern era with two signature guitars.

Few bands have experienced the meteoric rise that Sleep Token has over the past few years. Their arena-filling, melting-pot sound – along with their mysterious anonymity – has given them legend status in as little as three albums.

They are one of the most talked about bands of our generation, widely credited for redefining contemporary heavy music with a sound that traverses cinematic pop, sultry hip-hop, crushing djent, smooth R&B, and everything in between.

Such success has also given rise to theories over everything from their obscured identities to the guitar gear they use.

For guitarist IV and bassist III, Jackson and Charvel guitars have been the beating heart of their arsenal. Now, the brands have taken that partnership to the next level, unveiling signature models for both.

IV has been partial to Jackson baritones – namely, a custom shop, EverTune-equipped 30” single-cut that has been used on stage and in studio.

That has been the source material for IV’s first-ever Jackson signature guitar, the Pro Plus Series Monarkh SC. Built for the guitarist’s whole-octave-down tuning, it’s one of the most mesmerizing extended range instruments you will come across.

The bound mahogany body has a quilt maple veneer, with a matching three-a-side headstock. The three-piece caramelized maple set neck flashes a compound radius pale moon ebony fingerboard, with 22 stainless steel frets, Luminlay side dots and pearloid teardrop inlays to boot.

And then there’s the monstrous 30” scale length and six-string setup, which puts the Monarkh on the upper end of the baritone spectrum and sits it alongside the Fender Bass VI guitar/bass hybrid.

Tone-wise, there’s a pair of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic humbuckers, designed to deliver every nuance of IV’s Sleep Token tone. The EverTune 6 bridge has custom saddles, and promises “unprecedented clarity and tuning stability in the lower registers”.

In other words, it’s everything you could hope for from a Sleep Token signature, and rather unlike anything Jackson has on its books.

III, meanwhile, has a new Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Bass V, inspired by his go-to Charvel. It features a poplar body, caramelized maple neck and fingerboard, and a 12”-16” compound radius fingerboard. There’s also a 34.4” to 35.5” multi-scale design, and custom red Fishman Fluence soap bar pickups.

Those pickups have three voices accessible via a toggle switch, and can be fine-tuned through the two-band EQ.

“Sleep Token’s sonic and visual identity is so distinctive, and the Jackson and Charvel signature models are a huge part of shaping that sound,” said Justin Norvell, Chief Product Officer, Fender Guitars.

“We’re always looking for artists who redefine what a signature instrument can be, and Sleep Token does exactly that.”

The Monarkh is available for $2,199, while the Bass V is up for $1,599.

Head over to Jackson and Charvel to find out more.

America’s Got Talent breakout star, guitarist and vocalist Nene Royal, stunned the judges at her audition round with her take on The Cranberries’ Zombie.

After yet another buzzy performance in the Judges Callbacks round, where she covered Muse’s Hysteria and sailed through to the quarterfinals, Royal delivered a searing rendition of Soundgarden’s 1994 hit Black Hole Sun – complete with a standout guitar solo.

Much like her previous performances, the 16-year-old from Phuket, Thailand, wielded her trusty Ibanez Musician Series MC300 for the occasion. Judging by the audience’s reaction, her take on Soundgarden proved that she’s one to watch in the competition and beyond.

“I know I'm not supposed to say this. NBC, give her the million right now,” judge Howie Mandel commented right after her performance.

“Nene, I think you could really win this competition,” added Sofía Vergara. “Because you can sing and you can play that guitar. I mean, insanely. The way you look. No wonder everybody in the street asks me about you. I think you can win.”

Judge Mel B also gave her two cents, “You are just like the most quietest, humblest, sweet young lady. And then you've come out on this stage and it's a different vibe.

“I have to say that I love really good vocals. I'm a ’90s girl. I'm into pop music. That kind of music is not my vibe. But your vocals are on point, your guitar is on point, your look, your energy, your vibe.”

The former Spice Girl proceeded to activate the Golden Buzzer, fast-tracking Royal into the final round of the competition.

Before the competition, the guitarist had already built a following on social, with her covers of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, and System of a Down’s Sugar and Chop Suey going viral.

While live dates haven’t been announced yet, her official website states that she is currently “focused on preparing new music and upcoming performances” – including the AGT final – and that “official public appearances and concert dates” will be announced soon.

Neural DSP has rolled out Quad Cortex compatibility for John Mayer’s Archetype plugin as part of what’s been dubbed the biggest CorOS update in the company’s history.

When Mayer’s internet-breaking signature Neural DSP plugin came out last year, players (this writer included) immediately began calling for compatibility with the firm’s two QC modelers.

Now, our prayers have been answered. But Neural DSP has gone one step further, incorporating it as part of the new CorOS 4.1.0 firmware update.

This one is a biggie. Neural DSP has also introduced Quad Cortex compatibility for a collection of other signature Archetype plugins.

That means every single current X-updated Neural DSP plugin has been added, including those belonging to Tim Henson, Misha Mansoor, John Petrucci, and Rabea Massaad.

This has been a long time coming. It’s almost hard to believe we’ve waited this long to get some of these plugins added to the QC. But, they are here at last, and with them comes a range of amps and effects that were previously unavailable on the floorboard platform.

Highlights include (but are not limited to) Mayer’s assortment of Dumble and Fender amps, Massaad’s uber-powerful synth engine, and Henson’s Multivoicer.

The update doesn’t end there. Neural DSP has also debuted Device Presets, “one of the most significant workflow improvements ever added to the Quad Cortex”.

This adds a number of factory presets for each virtual device (read: amp, cab, drives, effects and utility block), as well as space for players to create their own. Handy for those who spend ages dialing in each block to a specific setting every time they start a new preset.

Another key workflow improvement is Dual Footswitch Assignments, which allows for secondary functions independent of the usual bypass operation. Elsewhere, eight new Virtual Devices have been introduced, such as the Crystal Delay, Glitch granular delay, Ring Modulator and more.

“CorOS 4.1.0 represents a major milestone for the Quad Cortex ecosystem” said Francisco Cresp, Neural DSP CPO and Co-Founder. “With Plugin Compatibility now spanning every X-updated plugin in our lineup, alongside powerful new workflows like Device Presets, we’re giving musicians even more freedom to create, experiment, and move between software and hardware without compromise.”

CorOS 4.1.0 has been rolled out alongside Cortex Control 4.1.0. This also offers some workflow improvements, chief among which is Multiple Device Management for connecting multiple Quad Cortex pedals simultaneously from a single computer.

“Every CorOS release is about making Quad Cortex a more powerful creative platform,” said Douglas Castro, Neural DSP CEO and Co-Founder.

“This update is our biggest yet, not only because of the amount of new functionality we’ve added, but because it fundamentally changes how quickly musicians can build sounds, move between devices, and bring our entire plugin ecosystem into their hardware workflow.”

Visit Neural DSP to find out more.

The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has heaped praise on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham for his recent riffing, calling it a “victory for guitar.”

In his latest exhibition of his guitar chops, Manchester-born Burnham showed his support for Ukraine amidst their war with Russia by visiting Kyiv and jamming The Smiths’ Rusholme Ruffians with soldiers. It came after he jammed with another Manchester icon a few weeks ago.

It didn’t take long for word to get to Marr, who wrote the song for the band’s standout sophomore record, Meat is Murder, in 1985.

“I can’t quite get my head around it,” Marr told Absolute Radio (via Music Radar). “I don’t know if pride’s the word, but it probably is. I’ve only just been told about it, in great detail.

“I think it’s an amazing thing,” he added. “In all honesty, for me, it’s like a victory for the guitar.”

The song in question was indirectly influenced by Elvis Presley, with Marr drawing from Del Shannon’s cover of his 1961 hit, (Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame. In fact, the two songs collided in a medley on Rank, the band’s only live album. They recorded it at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, London, in 1986, and released it two years later.

“It’s kind of beyond me to process it, really, because it could be massive, that,” Marr continues. “But I just sort of go, ‘How great is the guitar? What an amazing tool the guitar is.’”

The guitar that Burnham played on – a silver-finished T-style from Kyiv-based brand WM Guitars – was used to entertain soldiers on the front lines of war and boost their morale. It shows the instrument’s magic.

Proving he’s still a man of the people despite his guitar hero status, Marr recently helped a session player get their guitar back after FedEx had a shipping nightmare.

Marr is also set to part ways with some illustrious Smiths-era guitars and beyond in a bumper auction next month.

Soundgarden have announced their live return, recruiting Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen for a one-off performance next month.

McCready and Momsen both previously joined Soundgarden onstage last year for the band’s star-studded Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Now, they are set to reunite with the grunge legends to perform the halftime show at the Seattle Seahawks’ NFC West season opener at Liumen Field against the New England Patriots – a rematch of Super Bowl LX.

The band have performed only a handful of times since guitarist/vocalist Chris Cornell died in 2017. Recently, it was confirmed one last Soundgarden album is on the way. It’s set to feature material they began writing before Cornell’s death.

The show on September 10 will be their fifth since Cornell’s death. A performance at the I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell show in 2019 was followed by appearances at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show, a charity show with Duff McKagan in 2024, and the Hall Of Fame showing last November.

The double-hire sees Cornell’s duties split between two musicians, notably reuniting the lineup that delivered an impassioned Rusty Cage at the Hall Of Fame.

News of the show has excited most of the fanbase, with many pointing to that Rusty Cage performance as proof.

Meanwhile, Kim Thayil has recently been talking about Soundgarden’s legacy and Chris Cornell’s unfinished tapes, describing it as “emotionally draining” but “exciting”.

Dolly Parton, the inimitable country singer/songwriter who rose from humble beginnings to become a chart-topper and cultural icon, has died at 80, her family says. The news was confirmed by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, in an Instagram post.

“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis, and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he said in a video.

In the video, Seaver speaks to her generosity, and enormous influence on generations of musicians, concluding with “Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly – Aunt, Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.” No cause of death was given, though just last week Parton disclosed that she had been struggling with various health issues in recent months.

Unmistakable in her endless parade of huge blonde wigs and loud outfits – an image she brilliantly cultivated herself, not at the behest of others – Dolly Parton was an illustrious figure in country music, and was one of the first artists in that genre to find equal fame and superstardom outside of it.

At the heart of it all was her songwriting. Led by that twangy, charming voice, her biggest hits were transcendent, and larger than life. The pleas of the Western-flavored Jolene, the epic ballad I Will Always Love You – made immortal by Whitney Houston – and the chicken-scratch rhythm of the chart-topping 9 to 5; all shattered norms and genre boundaries.

Born in 1946 in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children, Parton grew up in a small cabin with her many siblings. In her youth, she absorbed the gospel music and Appalachian folk songs she was surrounded by, and began performing as a singer when still in her pre-teen years.

Moving to Nashville in her late teens, Parton quickly became an in-demand songwriter, penning hits for prominent country artists like Hank Williams Jr. She was determined, however, to have a country career in her own right, and by 1967, she became a country chart presence both on her own and in tandem with her frequent duet partner, Porter Wagoner.

It wasn’t until 1973, though, that Parton really hit it big. The winning ticket was Jolene. Snaky and grooving, the song was inspired by a woman who flirted with her husband, and was written and sung from a place of insecurity – it sounded like no other country song that had come before it. The sublime fretwork that drove it didn’t hurt.

“The thing I remember most was all the musicians when I came up with the little guitar lick, the Jolene lick, saying: ‘Damn, that’s so good. That’s the coolest little lick,’” Parton told The Guardian in an interview last year.

“I was playing guitar pretty serious back then, before I had all the long nails. I remember all the guys learning to play it and everybody thinking how cool a rhythm it was.

“It was a little out of the norm for the things we’d been doing up to that time,” she continued. “I remember everybody in the studio just loving that song.”

The string of country hits would continue for the rest of the decade, but it was those aforementioned long nails that would produce the hit that made her a bona-fide, across-the-board superstar.

The theme song for the 1980 movie of the same name – which Parton starred in alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin – 9 to 5 topped the country and pop charts, and was a proud statement in favor of equality and fair treatment for women in the workplace.

The whole thing came from idle time during filming, when a rhythm came to Parton’s head, and – lacking a guitar – she clicked the rhythm out with those long nails.

Indeed, Parton’s brilliant musical instincts often went sorely under-appreciated. She was a skilled guitarist who could take a bluegrass-inspired solo, and whose ‘thumb and flick’ rhythm work was always on point.

Though she never again had a hit like 9 to 5, Parton’s stature only grew in the following 45 years – her independence and timeless songs remaining a touchstone for three, then four, generations. Just watch her hold Glastonbury in the palm of her hand a decade ago.

The tributes that have come pouring in in the wake of her death have come from every corner of the musical world: Jack White said simply, “Instant sainthood”, alt-rockers Garbage called her, “A sparkling rhinestone for all eternity”, and jazz/metal virtuoso Alex Skolnick cited her as “a true ambassador for the guitar”.

It was perhaps her country contemporary and friend Reba McEntire who said it best, rounding out her own tribute with the words, “There will never ever be another you.”

PRS has partnered with The Warning’s Dany Villarreal to release the riff rock guitar hero’s first signature guitar.

The Astryx is a stunning limited-edition take on the Custom 24 model, with a firm-first finish and custom inlays that replace the firm’s usual Bird fretboard markers.

The Warning, a power trio comprising three sisters from Monterrey, Mexico, have become one of the hottest new rock bands in recent years, with quirky alternate tunings a key ingredient in their success.

With their fifth album, Everything’s Falling, releasing this Friday (August 28), the Astryx’s arrival couldn’t be more timely.

PRS guitars, including an SE Mark Holcomb SVN, have been a valuable part of Villarreal’s arsenal, but this guitar has taken things down a more personal road.

First, there is that unique color fade finish, which is stunning. Then, there are Solecito (little sun) dot inlays across the fretboard, and a standout sun logo on the 12th fret that nods to her Mexican heritage.

Villarreal’s signature also appears on the truss rod wheel, and each of the 200 guitars that will be made will feature an autographed backplate.

Beneath the glitz, though, the Custom 24 formula remains unchanged. The mahogany body has a maple top, with a 25” scale length and Pattern Thin neck.

Hardware includes a no-nonsense PRS Patented Gen III Tremolo, while a pair of PRS’s DMO (Dynamic, Music, Open) humbuckers also feature. The Alnico 2 pickups debuted at NAMM 2025 and have since appeared across the PRS Core range.

Spec’d by Paul Reed Smith and the PRS New Products Engineering team, they arrived after extensive research into “coveted vintage pickup models and advancements in signal analysis”. Tonally, they’re voiced to sound wide open, with note definition and a vocal-like character.

“One of the most important things for me in a guitar is that it feels like an extension of my body and that I can trust it and just do my thing,” says Villareal. “Ever since I tried my first PRS guitar, it’s been an inseparable relationship. With PRS, I feel powerful and confident – and that’s a feeling that once you find, you don’t want to let go of.

“As the only guitar player in the band,” she adds, “I love how my PRS takes up a lot of space sonically. It does wonders for our three-piece band.”

Only 200 units will be available, so fans wanting a slice of the action better act fast.

See PRS for more.

In an interview with Guitar World last year, Villarreal broke down her unique alternate tuning approach.

Fender’s Custom Shop has just unveiled the Limited Edition George Harrison 1967 VI, celebrating one of the Beatles’ distinctive creative tools used during some of their most influential years.

The meticulous recreation is crafted in Corona, California. It promises to “faithfully capture the look, feel, and character” of Harrison’s original sunburst Bass VI, which was gifted to the band by Fender in 1968 and quickly became an integral part of their Abbey Road studio sessions.

Harrison’s bandmate, John Lennon, also wielded the Bass VI on multiple occasions. It can be heard on late-era classics such as Helter Skelter, Back in the U.S.S.R., Rocky Raccoon, Honey Pie, Birthday, and, of course, Let It Be. Keen-eyed fans will also recognize it from the iconic promotional video for Hey Jude.

Occupying the space between the guitar and bass, the Bass VI enabled Harrison and Lennon to flex their tonal and compositional capabilities. Decades later, it remains one of Fender’s “most versatile and inspiring designs” – not to mention a cult favorite among fans.

“George Harrison's Bass VI holds a unique place in Fender history,” says Chase Paul, Director of Fender Custom Shop. “It played a defining role in some of the most influential recordings ever made while showcasing the remarkable versatility of the Bass VI itself.

“With this Limited Edition release, our Custom Shop team has faithfully recreated George's original instrument with extraordinary attention to detail, honoring its legacy and giving players and collectors the opportunity to own an extraordinary piece of music history.”

The Fender Custom Shop clearly rolled out the red carpet for Harrison’s Bass VI. Highlights range from the Relic Bleached 3-Color Sunburst finish and handwritten switch plate markings, to the Custom Shop Hand-Wound Jaguar pickups.

Key specs include a two-piece select alder body, maple neck, and era-correct bound 3A rosewood fingerboard. The 30” scale length, 7.25” radius, 21 vintage frets, block inlays, and individual on/off slide switches for each pickup all match Harrison’s original.

Premium trimmings, such as a six-saddle vintage-style adjustable bridge with a “floating” tremolo tailpiece and Bass VI mute, a 4-ply brown shell pickguard, and vintage-style tuning machines with the Fender logo, further add to this Bass VI’s appeal.

Priced at $9,500, the Limited Edition George Harrison 1967 Bass VI is now available for pre-order from partner retailers.

For more information, head to Fender.

Eric Johnson has given Guitarist a fascinating insight into his vintage gear-loaded live rig, and in doing so, let slip the most important thing he looks for in a guitar.

The Cliffs of Dover fretboard burner is most often seen armed with a Fender Stratocaster – although he admits vintage isn’t always best. Vitally, though, he says finding the right guitar goes far beyond the make and model.

“Some guitars fight you when you play, and other ones kind of play with you,” he explains when asked why certain guitars in particular speak to him.

“I think it’s the breathing of the resonance of the wood – whether the envelope is matching your picking style, or if it’s kind of the opposite. You can kind of feel it when you pick.”

Of course, some players like a guitar that puts up a fight – something Keith Urban has been trying to put that philosophy in his signature PRS. Johnson, meanwhile, wants to feel like he and his electric guitar of choice are in perfect unison.

If you can find a guitar that works with you, rather than against you, you might have hit the jackpot. That’s probably a good place to start, and sage advice for everyone who might find themselves in the market.

“Some of them are kind of stiff and too in your face,” he adds of his search for the right instrument. “Other ones fold in and out like they’re breathing with your picking. So, I look for ones that do that. That’s probably my most important thing.”

Ultimately, what he craves isn’t something that can be remedied in the aftermarket.

“I can get used to the neck or change the pickups,” he adds. “But the most important thing to me is that it has that kind of envelope breathing thing – you know, that matches your picking.”

His wild PRS prototype is another insight into what Johnson looks for in a guitar. Sadly, though, it never went into production. For more nuggets of wisdom, see Johnson’s valuable advice for players “trapped in patterns”.

Last year, Johnson found a surprise new squeeze in Dave Mustaine’s signature Dean, which was a pleasantly bizarre watch.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has shown off his guitar chops yet again, treating Ukrainian soldiers to a taste of his hometown during a trip to Kyiv.

Weeks after jamming with Manchester indie icon Aziz Ibrahim, Burnham paid a visit to the country’s capital, where he pledged his support for Ukraine amidst its ongoing war with Russia.

To mark the occasion, he played a lovely silver T-style guitar alongside a number of soldiers.

The meeting took place in a mobile recording studio of Ukraine’s military and artistic unit. They regularly perform on the front lines, in hospitals, and at rehabilitation centers.

“It was an honour to spend time with Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv. Not sure if they regret handing me that guitar now,” the caption on Burnham’s Instagram post reads.

In the video, he takes the jack cable to play The Smiths’ Rusholme Ruffians.

The Smiths are from Burnham’s hometown of Manchester, where he was Mayor for nearly 10 years before becoming Prime Minister. The 56-year-old has yet to shy away from a chance to champion the music he grew up on.

The guitar he played was hand-built by WM Guitars from Kyiv. This model in particular brandishes a Cultural Forces emblem – a platform said to unite artists, activists, business, and international partners to boost the morale, cultural and educational level, and motivation of soldiers.

It seems to have been gifted to Cultural Forces, with a handwritten message partly visible on the guitar’s arm contour.

Burnham isn’t the only political figure to lend a few chords to the Ukrainian cause. Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken played Neil Young in a Ukrainian bar during an international visit in 2024.

Meanwhile, SWFT GTRS has turned the horrors of the Ukraine-Russia war into guitar art, with head luthier Nikita Zhemerenko making his first guitar out of materials recovered from his destroyed apartment.

Another luthier has also pulled off a miraculous restoration of a Les Paul left charred and blackened by a Russian drone strike. The Ukrainian guitar community is showing its resilience.

A GoFundMe has been started to support Television guitarist Richard Lloyd, who has been diagnosed with bile duct cancer.

Sean Seymour, who plays bass in Lloyd’s solo project, has set up the page. He’s raising funds to help cover Lloyd’s medical expenses, as he reveals the extent of his condition.

“He has tumors in his liver, including one located dangerously close to a major blood vessel,” Seymour writes. “Because of its location, doctors cannot safely operate to remove it at this time.”

He adds that Lloyd has been through “an extraordinary amount” in recent months, including seven spells in the ICU dealing with “serious complications, including sepsis twice”, and issues with his liver and kidneys. His health has also forced him off the road.

Seymour continues, “For a working musician, that’s devastating – not only because performing is what he loves, but because touring is his primary source of income.”

Lloyd’s wife has since become his full-time carer, and “unresolved royalty issues dating back roughly two years” have created mounting financial worries. A GoFundMe target of $80,000 has been set, and just shy of $69,000 has been raised at the time of writing.

Television’s 1977 debut album, Marquee Moon, is seen as a landmark moment in punk’s evolution, as Lloyd swapped power chords for jazz-tinted complexity and showed another side of the genre. It helped define a decade of post-punk, new wave, and indie rock bands, and is now hailed as a classic.

Away from Television, Lloyd befriended Led Zeppelin, sat in with John Lee Hooker, and become a celebrated solo artist, all of which he opened up about in a career-spanning Guitar World interview back in January. His relationship with Television bandmate Tom Verlaine was also discussed.

“I am usually a pretty upbeat person, and I am taking this in stride, but it has become very difficult on our own; financially, we are strapped,” Lloyd writes. “That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

Seymour concludes his post with a call to arms: “Richard has spent decades giving his music to other people. Now it’s our turn to give something back to him.”

Those who want to share the fundraiser or donate can find more information on GoFundMe.

Hotone has shaken up the AI-powered smart amp arms race, going up against the likes of Positive Grid and JBL with the Pulze Jr.

The practice amp market has been increasingly exposed to artificial intelligence advancements in recent years. Positive Grid pioneered AI tone generation. JBL turned heads at NAMM with its AI stem separation tech. Blackstar recently partnered with Moises to offer the same with its Beam Mini.

Now, Hotone has sought to offer the best of both worlds and put that all together in a pocket-sized amp that is gunning for the ‘best in class’ title.

But the competition is steep. So, to go up against the industry’s big guns, Hotone clearly hopes to stand apart by packing both AI Tone Creation and AI Track Separation into the Pulze Jr.

Both function as you’d expect. One takes a prompt via text or voice, and uses artificial intelligence to build the tone. It can then be refined or tweaked.

The other, meanwhile, is a bit more novel and rare among pint-sized practice amps, though it’s certainly becoming a more valued feature. On paper, it can separate parts from an imported song to create practice tracks, study or mute guitar parts, or help with transcription.

In the past, it has been said this feature could change the way guitarists practice. Add that to the AI tone generation, and this is one practice powerhouse.

Then there’s a third element in the mix, as Hotone has gone a step further to offer full Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) compatibility. That means it stays in keeping with one of the digital amp market’s most prominent trends, and can support open-source NAM files, opening up an enormous library of third-party tones.

All of which means Hotone is the first to nail the trifecta of smart practice amp must-haves – stem separation, NAM compatibility and tone generation – all in one box.

Elsewhere on the smart feature front, Hotone is rolling out Intelligent Backing Tracks, which is its version of the tech popularized by Positive Grid – creating accompaniments on demand that are responsive to a player’s style and tempo prompts.

Then there’s the generous 200 preset locations, a companion app that can control the customizable signal chain, eight-hour battery life, and the 20W stereo output. There are 52 amp models, 48 cab models, and loads of effects.

The amp itself – somewhere between the Beam Mini and Spark on the size scale – is also nicely proportioned, and looks sleek. It has ambient lighting, a multi-function encoder, a 240-second looper, and MIDI functionality.

The market is evolving quickly, but right now, the ball appears to be in Hotone’s court.

The Pulze Jr. is available now for $299, which makes it fairly and competitively priced against the $299 Spark, $229 12W Beam Mini and $249 BandBox Solo.

Visit Hotone for more.

Being Eric Clapton’s sideman is no easy feat. Around 1978, Albert Lee found himself in the unenviable position of being Clapton’s right-hand man for five years, following the release of two back-to-back albums, 1977’s Slowhand and 1978’s Backless – and just as Clapton was in the midst of firing his entire backing band.

“We’d met a few times,” Lee tells Guitar World in a recent interview. “When he was with Mayall, I was with Chris Farlowe; we’d play at the Flamingo Club and run into each other fairly often. We didn't hang out much, but he was really friendly; we saw each other a lot and admired each other’s playing.”

Lee was working on an album with Texan singer-songwriter Mark Benno when Clapton’s manager called.

“I did a week in the studio with Eric, and we had a great time. At the end, his manager pulled me aside and said, ‘Do you fancy going on the road with him?’

“My first album was just about to come out, but I thought, ‘I want to do this!’ So off I went with Eric. He fired the whole band at the end of that tour, and I managed to survive. Two years later, he fired another band, and I survived that time, too. So he liked having me around, which is nice! I enjoyed it.”

During this period, Clapton was going through intense mental health struggles while also grappling with substance abuse… which may gone some way to explaining why he was often firing and hiring different band members.

When it came to the music, however, the Clapton–Lee duo worked well, with their contrasting styles complementing instead of competing with each other.

“I thought it would work really well because we’re so unalike. A lot of guys who play with him have always been blues players. But that’s his job, you know? So I thought, ‘I’ll do what I do and try and complement him.’”

Lee was also involved in the 1979 show at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan, immortalized on Clapton’s live album Just One Night. Released in 1980 as a double album, it achieved astounding commercial success, especially for a live album, reaching No. 2 and No. 3 in the US and UK, respectively.

“[I was] in that building and seeing this huge Japanese flag with the rising sun and thinking, ‘Boy, what a place!’” he recalls. Lee goes on to reveal that he was encouraged to play his single, Country Boy, during the show, although it was not included on the live album.

“Eric wouldn’t play on that – he’d usually sit behind his amp with a cigarette and a glass of brandy, going, ‘Go on, Albert! Go on!’ It was great.”

During his time with Slowhand, Lee also wielded a Les Paul Custom that originally belonged to Clapton.

“At the first rehearsals I did with Eric, we were talking about guitars, and I said, ‘I used to have this Les Paul Custom.’ I think I had a picture of it. He said, ‘I’ve got one of those at home somewhere.’

He continues, “And the next day, Alan Rogan, the guitar roadie, walks in with this Les Paul Custom. That became my guitar for when I was working with Eric. That show at Budokan was with the Les Paul.”

Despite Clapton’s personal struggles, Lee notes that he was “very gracious. He let me play solos. I was stretching out towards the end… Maybe I was stretching out a bit too much! [laughs]”

Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly gear round-up, your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay in the loop with every new launch.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.

Below you'll find my personal highlights from the week, along with plenty of honorable mentions for the new gear you might have missed. Agree with my picks? Have a highlight of your own? Let us know in the comments.

Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash

When Oliver Ackermann and David Rainger gather around the breadboard to work on a pedal collab, expect the unexpected – and the Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash does not disappoint.

It’s a pedal, yes, gathering reverb, echo and chorus in one unit. But it’s also a guitar amp and a microphone, complete with a 2” internal speaker and an eight-ohms speaker output for hooking it up to a speaker cabinet. What’s the purpose of having an onboard mic and speaker?

Well, it allows you to blend the direct signal from the amplifier with the mic signal to create an all-new species of fuzz-drive, harmonically volatile with all kinds of strange overtones and, yes, feedback. It’s an all-new species of pedal. C’mon, we’re happy with an internal trim pot and a dual-mode footswitch and just consider what’s going on here.

“Unlike traditional distortion or amp simulation pedals, Amp Crash creates sound physically, not just electronically,” reads the blurb. “As the amplifier, speaker, and microphone interact, they generate harmonics, feedback, compression, and textures that only exist because air is physically moving inside the pedal.”

How you choose to use this is up to you. You could use it as a practice amp, an unorthodox recording device, or just something scare your bandmates.

It was Rainger’s idea to put a microphone inside the pedal. But trust DBA’s Ackermann to take things one step further.

“David from Rainger is who I always gravitate to at any event. His effects are bonkers in the best way possible,” says Ackermann.

“When he told me he was coming to NY to work on a collaboration, it was a dream come true. Like cities in the world, Rainger FX is Death By Audio's sister company: weird, wild, and totally extreme. Working on this project with Rainger pushed us to create something so extreme, and then we took it further.”

This wild puppy is priced $395 and is available now. See Death By Audio for more.

Epiphone Lzzy Hale

Say what you like about Lzzy Hale but you can’t ever question her commitment to Sparkle Motion – that is, like, the whole thing about this new Explorer Custom she has cooked up with Epiphone.

It arrives resplendent in the Black Diamond Holographic finish we saw on her signature Kramer Voyager, a look that is beyond KISS, beyond disco, and yet with the Explorer’s bold angles – Ted McCarty’s silhouette still radical after all these years – it’s even got a mirror pickguard which can come in handy if you’ve had spinach at lunch.

Fundamentally, it’s a slab of mahogany, with a mahogany SlimTaper neck, topped with a 12” radius ebony fingerboard with block inlays.

There are a pair of Epiphone ProBucker Ignite humbuckers at the neck and bridge, each served by its own volume control and a master tone (Speed Knobs, as per the fashion). You know the drill.

But it’s the little details that get us, and once your eyes have adjusted to this retina-burning finish you’ll notice that the Epi logo on that six-in-line headstock is 3D and holographic, too. And the finish is reprised on the neck, which is cool. One to play loud.

Find out more at Epiphone.

Jam Pedals Tiny Amp Destroyer

Jam Pedals has always got something interesting bubbling in the pot but the Tiny Amp Destroyer, a signature pedal for Stu Mackenzie of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is really something different, and something quite special.

Those steeped in the lore of the Gizzverse will know just what it’s about. The secret weapon to Mackenzie’s electric guitar tone on record is a bunch of beat-up cheapo solid-state practice amps he bought down at Cash Convertors. That’s what you are hearing when you hear that warm, scratchy drive on albums such as Flight b741.

“Some of the tones are pretty crispy, and pretty hot, pretty spicy, but in my mind it was like the-first-couple-of-Black-Sabbath-records distortion,” Mackenzie told Total Guitar in 2024. “They weren’t using tiny amps but that was the sound. It’s different from stepping on a fuzz pedal. When you roll back the volume on your guitar you can really, really clean up in a way you can’t do with pedals.”

The Tiny Amp Destroyer will get you those kinds of sounds, and then some. There are two footswitchable gain stages, plus a boost section modeled after the Jam Rooster (a Rangemaster-style treble booster), and we want to get one of these on the pedalboard ASAP.

Okay, an outlay of $399 to make your amp sound like a $30 amp sounds a bit silly on the face of it but there's much more to this ingenious drive/distortion/preamp/miracle box.

Find out more at Jam Pedals.

ALSO LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

Walrus Audio Canvas Expression

Walrus Audio expands its Canvas range of utility pedal with an expression pedal that reimagines the concept with dual expression outputs that are configurable, plus MIDI support.

For more: Walrus Audio

Cort Guitars Exotic Series

Cort acoustics always present a lot of spec for the money, and you can be pretty sure of a pristine build. It’s latest augments its SFX and Grand Auditorium cutaway models by pairing solid spruce tops with ash burl, myrtlewood and walnut, and they look pretty sweet.

For more: Cort Guitars

Fender 75th Anniversary additions:

Fender is keeping the 75th Anniversary Telecaster releases coming and this drop caused some excitement in the GW office. We’ve seen these at first hand. They are all, y’know, nice.

But that 1951 Nocaster is pretty much what the American Vintage II was made for – and has real vintage mojo – and the return of the baritone Telecaster is a real cause for celebration.

For more: Fender

Gretsch Limited Edition Professional Collection G6134T-58 Penguin

Made in Japan, refreshed in a Light Blue Pearl finish, with a string-through Bigsby B3CP tailpiece and a pair of TV Jones Ray Butts Ful-Fidelity Filter'Tron pickups, this is a Gretsch guitar to throw fiscal responsibility out of the window for.

It ain’t cheap but has the arched-top singlecut ever looked better? Well, we say that every year when Gretsch releases one into the wild like this, and yet, still. Look at it!

For more: Gretsch

Charvel Pro Mod DK 24

The headline specs on these new DK24 models might include the Seymour Duncan Nazgul and Sentient humbucker pairings on the HH models, the Seymour Duncan Full Shred ‘bucker and Flat Strat single-coil pairing on the HSS – the latter with a quilt-maple top in lurid/gnarly Zombie Fade finish.

But what we love about the DK24 is the Jackson Dinky body shape – compact, ergonomic, and a reminder of the close history between the Charvel and Jackson brands.

For more: Charvel

Ibanez Wes Hauch

Wes Hauch’s new signature Iceman is a super-metal, super-cool and super-upscale take on the classic Paul Stanley and Tom G. Warrior-approved shape and it is 100 per cent a home run – except that $9,999 price tag somewhat cools our ardor.

For more: Ibanez

D’Addario XPND Voltage Booster

Reasons we love D’Addario No. 1,427,812: It makes stuff like this power booster that can turn your 9V output into a 12V, 18V or 24V output. Yup, accessories we can actually use, accessories that can be a total pedalboard life-safer.

For more: D'Addario

Godin Limited Edition 25th Anniversary Steve Stevens ACS Nylon

If you’ve been tempted to dive into the nylon-string acoustic electric hybrid revolution but were just waiting for that one instrument then this signature model for Billy Idol’s six-string lieutenant could be the one. It’s typically Steve Stevens, designed with a bit of flair, with its silver leaf maple top painted a deep high-gloss purple. Lovely stuff.

For more: Godin

Washburn Sonamaster Elite

Let’s round out the week with some S-style guitars from Washburn that offers us HSS and HH pickup configurations and figured maple veneers on mahogany bodies for what, $399? Oh and they’ve got roasted maple necks too, coil-splits, and 18:1 Grover tuners, too.

For more: Washburn

On May 7, 1964, a who's who of future blues guitar luminaries – among them Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones – gathered, with a number of other excited blues fans, at the Wilbraham Road train station in south Manchester.

Clapton, Beck, and co. had journeyed to the out-of-use station all the way from London to see a show unlike any other – the Blues and Gospel Train.

Staged dramatically on the station's platform – with the audience on one end of the tracks and the performers on another – and filmed for a Granada TV special, the show gathered together a mind-blowing lineup of blues giants: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Cousin Joe, Otis Spann, and the Reverend Gary Davis.

Though all of the aforementioned blues legends brought their A-game, it was Tharpe – brought to the stage in style in a horse-drawn carriage – who completely stole the show.

Inspired by the downpour that had lashed the station shortly before her arrival, Tharpe decided to open her set with a ferocious rendition of the gospel standard, Didn’t It Rain.

Armed with her beloved, three-pickup 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom, Tharpe treated those in attendance – and the estimated 10 million viewers who would later watch the broadcast at home – to a display of powerful, hard-driving blues guitar fire that was years ahead of its time.

You can draw direct lines, for instance, from Tharpe’s fluid but always in-the-pocket rhythm work to Richards’ later playing with the Rolling Stones, and hear the influence her lyrical slides would go on to have on Jones, already a huge fan of slide master Elmore James.

You can see Tharpe’s Didn’t It Rain performance above, and the full Blues and Gospel Train TV special below.

Tharpe’s performance has now been commemorated with a plaque at the Manchester Central Convention Complex – the former Manchester Central Railway Station – where Tharpe and those she shared the bill with boarded the train that took them to the Wilbraham Road station.

The plaque is part of a Manchester-based campaign by social historian and broadcaster Karen Gabay, to place plaques that honor Black musicians who influenced the city.

Of Tharpe, she told the BBC, “She was one cool sister; that swagger, that strut, the way she played the guitar – so many people who see it for the first time are instantly taken aback.”

Back in 2022, Lizzo guitarist Celisse and Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/guitarist Amythyst Kiah staged – as part of Gibson's Shout, Sister, Shout! mini-documentary on Tharpe – a tribute to the 1964 train station performance.

Wielding Custom Shop replicas of Tharpe's 1961 Les Paul SG Custom, the duo put their own, unaccompanied spin on Didn’t It Rain, while retaining the spirit and passion of the original.

“She [Tharpe] entranced audiences and inspired untold numbers of blues-loving players from across the pond, people like Eric Clapton and Keith Richards,” Celisse says in the film. “There’s an endless list of artists that borrowed from Sister Rosetta – folks like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, even me!

“Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born to be on stage and channel her joy of faith through her powerful voice and volcanic playing. She took audiences to church and her male guitar playing contemporaries to school.

“While it’s taken decades to finally give her her due,” Celisse concludes, “there is no debating that Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the unquestioned founding mother of rock 'n' roll.”

Though popular and commercially successful in her day, Tharpe – who died in 1973, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Philadelphia – has only recently begun to receive recognition as one of the formative figures in blues and rock electric guitar playing.

In 2018, decades after many of the guitarists whose style she helped shape received the same honor, Tharpe was finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in the “Early Influences” category.

A GoFundMe has been set up to support veteran session guitarist Chris Spedding as he begins treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Campaign organizer Eden Cale writes that Spedding – whose illustrious résumé includes credits with Paul McCartney, Brian Eno, the Pretenders, John Cale, and Jack Bruce – was recently diagnosed with large B-cell high-grade, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and is now undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatments.

“Chris’ genius as a musician, session guitarist, and producer has touched generations of music lovers. But to our family, he's just been Uncle Chris,” Cale says. “Now, at 82, Chris faces a tough new battle.”

“Because this fight will pause his ability to work and tour, Chris and his wife, Jody, need our support to help cover essential living expenses and additional medical expenses as they navigate this difficult period.

“Anyone who knows Chris knows he is a kind, generous soul who would step up for anyone in need. For decades, he has given us unforgettable music. Now, it is our turn to rally around him to show our appreciation of him during this challenging time.”

The campaign aims to raise £50,000, and is online now.

Earlier this year, Spedding spoke to Guitar World about some of the highlights of his amazing, 60-year career. Aside from his work with McCartney, Eno, the Pretenders, Cale, and Bruce, Spedding has also played with Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Elton John, Tom Waits, and Robert Gordon.

Back in 1969, a 22-year-old drama student, Albert Goodman, found himself face-to-face with Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock and managed to capture his iconic closing set.

Now, this rare footage has been unearthed in a new film, Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock – A Second Look, which premiered during a YouTube livestream on August 18 at 9 pm ET.

Goodman left his tent and managed to sneak onstage, shielded by a friend who was carrying a guitar. After securing AC power for his Sony CV ½” video camera, he set it up just 15 feet across the stage where Hendrix would grace the Woodstock revellers.

According to the official description, “Goodman was left alone, assumed to be just another member of the sprawling film crew who had surrounded the stage for the entire event. He settled in behind percussionist Juma Sultan and prepared to document history.”

While technical limitations caused occasional interruptions in the video signal, the more obvious glitches have been replaced by photos.

Goodman managed to capture Hendrix in his prime on August 18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. The newly available footage includes Purple Haze, Voodoo Child, Hear My Train a Comin’, Message to Love, and his history-making rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Wielding a Strat, Hendrix can be seen setting the stage on fire with his playing, alongside the newly formed Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, also known as the Band of Gypsys.

The lineup consisted of guitarist Larry Lee, bassist Billy Cox, Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell, and percussionists Juma Sulytan and Jerry Velez.

Following Woodstock, Goodman hitchhiked and was offered a ride by a driver who, coincidentally, said he was friends with people working at the house Hendrix was renting nearby. This eventually led to the legend himself screening Goodman’s footage and giving his seal of approval.

Goodman kept his tapes stored for the next three decades, before making them available to the Hendrix family.

Since footage from Woodstock is rare, these new videos offer new insight into a performance that not only captured the zeitgeist, but also cemented Hendrix as a guitar hero for the ages.

Johnny Marr has accumulated a fair few guitars since his time with British indie rock pioneers The Smiths. In fact, he's gotten to the point where he’s auctioning off his four-decade guitar collection at Christie’s in London this September.

Yet, among them all, there’s one guitar – a 1960 Cherry Red ES-355 – that harks back to a very exciting time for Marr. It was 1984, around the time The Smiths started generating enough buzz to be wined and dined by the industry.

So, when legendary music executive Seymour Stein of Sire Records approached the band, Marr took the opportunity to coax him into acquiring his dream guitar.

“[It was] one night in 1984. It was a done deal we were going to sign to Sire,” Marr tells Guitarist. “We’d have happily paid him: it was our dream label. But I was asking about The Stones in the ’60s, and he made the mistake of telling me he’d always take Brian Jones to get a guitar. So I saw my opportunity. I told him if he bought me a guitar, The Smiths would sign to Sire.”

Marr was committed to not letting Stein’s promise slide. “On a snowy day in New York, I hung around the Sire offices all day, so Seymour wasn’t going to escape,” he reveals. “We walked to We Buy Guitars on 48th Street and, as is often the way – and it’s a bit like this with pets – it already felt like I owned it when I saw it.”

Now estimated to fetch over $200,000 at auction, the Cherry Red ES-355 is one of the guitars that’s most associated with Marr’s Smiths era.

The veteran guitarist points to the “romantic notion” that many musicians, including himself, have: “that instruments have music in them”. And, in the case of the ES-355, it would deliver some pretty timeless hits.

Not only did he write two songs shortly after acquiring it, but he also used it extensively in the studio for the band’s sophomore album, Meat Is Murder. It was a fixture on stage throughout 1984 and 1985 as well – widely regarded as The Smiths’ golden era.

“As soon as I got that 355 back to the hotel, I wrote Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” he remembers fondly. “Which took about 10 minutes. Then I immediately wrote Girl Afraid.

“There’s a few guitars like that in the auction. If they end up in the hands of songwriters, they’ll definitely deliver songs.”

For more from Marr, pick up issue 541 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.

Def Leppard and Last in Line guitarist Vivian Campbell says that his cancer has returned.

Campbell was first diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2013, and announced in 2025 that he was “completely in remission” after undergoing a donor transplant.

Now though, in a new interview with Francisco Sigüenza of Radio YSKL FM in El Salvador, Campbell revealed that the transplant “didn't stick.”

“There’s only been one time that I felt it was gonna kill me,” Campbell said in the interview [transcribed by Blabbermouth]. “In the winter of 2023, I got really scared about what was happening and the pace at which it was happening. And I realized at that point that I had to do a donor transplant. It was my only hope to survive. And that’s what I did.

“I did that in January of 2025. I did a donor transplant. Unfortunately, it didn't stick. So the cancer has returned. And I’m continuing treatments to manage it.”

Campbell says he’s facing the development head on, and has no intention of pulling back from his creative endeavors.

“I’ll probably have to do another transplant within a few years with another donor to try and see if maybe that would cure me,” he said. “But in the meantime, I’m certainly not slowing down. I’m doing as much with my life as possible, not just with Def Leppard and Last In Line – I’m also rally driving, ’cause I always wanted to do that. So I’ve been doing that more and more, ’cause I love cars and I love driving.”

“Life is for the living,” he added. “And I encourage everyone to look after their own health – and if you are unfortunate enough to get a cancer diagnosis, to overcome the fear. Fear is inevitable when you’re first told those words. But once you get over that, you gotta realize just how to manage it and how to deal with it as best as possible, and just don’t give in.”

Asked about his cancer treatment in a 2019 Guitar World interview, Campbell struck a similarly determined note.

“It’s difficult with touring, but I’ve been doing immunotherapy for the last three-and-a-half years,” he said at the time. “Even when it was at its worst it was the least of my concerns. I’m stubborn and Irish and refuse to capitulate to cancer. I’ve never been so busy, and I fill every day with work. It makes me happy and my body responds to it. I believe that’s helped me survive it.”