Say what you like about Dave Mustaine and his inability to consign his departure from Metallica to the dustbin of history, but it gave him the fire and the fury required to put together a band that would be have its own legacy as one of thrash metal’s pioneers – one of metal’s most-enduring acts.

With Mustaine announcing the end for Megadeth, Guitar World takes a trip down memory lane for a blow-by-blow account of one MegaDiscography.

Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! (Combat, 1985)

Guitarist: Chris Poland

Still bitter about being fired from Metallica, Dave Mustaine returned with a band fashioned from his own imagination. The songs were sharp and socially aware, while the music was surprisingly mature. Mustaine had immediately made his intentions clear – namely to take the thrash beast he’d helped create and give it a rounded metal education. It didn’t chart on the Billboard 200, but it was loved from the start.

Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? (Capitol, 1986)

Guitarist: Chris Poland

Originally recorded for Combat Records, this was switched to the much bigger Capitol label, with the band given the budget to completely re-mix. The result is a true landmark album.

Forget about thrash; here was Mustaine leading a charge through the whole spectrum of musical emotions. The title track itself is something of an epic, showcasing Megadeth’s startlingly creative process. Meanwhile, Chris Poland’s playing is nothing short of brilliant.

So Far, So Good.. So What! (Capitol, 1988)

Guitarist: Jeff Young

Two years after Peace Sells…, a new Megadeth lineup landed on their feet with a record that refused to conform to expectations. While the cover of Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the U.K. seemed somewhat superfluous, Mustaine was at his finest on the emotional In My Darkest Hour – a tribute to the late Cliff Burton of Metallica – and the haunting Mary Jane. We also don't mind Hook in Mouth and Set the World Afire.

Rust in Peace (Capitol, 1990)

Guitarist: Marty Friedman

The debut album from arguably Megadeth’s finest lineup, with Mustaine and long-time bassist Dave Ellefson being joined by guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza.

Trying to come to terms with his substance dependence, Mustaine became much more politically charged in his lyrical themes, exploring the implications and ramifications of war.

The music is, at times, breathtaking, with Friedman proving he could cope with the considerable demands put on the guitarist in this most exhaustive of metal bands. Hangar 18 is a striking moment of genius.

Countdown to Extinction (Capitol, 1992)

Guitarist: Marty Friedman

Max Norman, the man behind Ozzy Osbourne’s solo success, was brought in to co-produce with Mustaine, and his obvious commercial leanings can be heard in the way many of the songs here are structured. Gone were the sprawling epics, only two tracks – Sweating Bullets and Ashes in Your Mouth – were over five minutes in length, and many had an almost traditional arrangement.

However, Symphony of Destruction was a triumph and remains a Mega classic. Was this an attempt to challenge Metallica’s success with the Black Album? If so, it worked to some extent, as Countdown to Extinction came up just shy of the mark, making it to Number 2 on the U.S. charts.

Youthanasia (Capitol, 1994)

Guitarist: Marty Friedman

Now the band were really starting to alienate some of their diehard fans. Almost divorced from the qualities that had made their early albums so successful, Megadeth were moving inexorably towards melodic hard rock.

Norman’s guidance saw them become virtually one-paced, which meant that songs like Train of Consequences weren’t given the credit they deserved. While A Tout Le Monde provided a moving interlude, nevertheless it appeared that Mustaine had lost touch with his roots.

Cryptic Writings (Capitol, 1997)

Guitarist: Marty Friedman

Often dismissed as the worst album of the band’s career, Cryptic Writings actually saw Megadeth get back in touch with their thrash roots, on songs like FFF, She-Wolf and Vortex. And I’ll Get Even saw them re-igniting a creative spark. The problem was in the production.

Mustaine has in recent times expressed his regret at the decision to bring in Dann Huff, known for his work in melodic rock circles – far removed from where Megadeth should have been. And it cannot be denied that this record suffers from a somewhat tame timbre.

Risk (Capitol, 1999)

Guitarist: Marty Friedman

The last Megadeth album of the 20th century and Friedman’s farewell performance. Part of the problem here is that tracks like the single Crush ’Em are so smooth that they positively glide, rather than truly bombing along in Mega style.

Mustaine has claimed that the decision to take Megadeth even further into the jungle of melodically driven music was suggested by Lars Ulrich and, as the album title suggested, it was a real risk.

Again, the production from Huff was a problem, and the album suffers for it. However, it couldn’t be denied that Mustaine was still a formidable songwriter, as he proved on Prince of Darkness and Breadline.

The World Needs a Hero (Sanctuary, 2001)

Guitarist: Al Pitrelli

A new label, a fresh guitarist (Al Pitrelli) and a return to the hard stuff. After the hard-rock dabbling of the ’90s, the band got suited up in body armor and plunged back into the metal melee.

While this was not a complete return to the band’s original principles, the album had just enough rough and tumble to keep diehard fans satisfied.

The System Has Failed (Sanctuary, 2004)

Guitarist: Chris Poland

After calling time on the band due to a career-threatening arm injury, Mustaine intended this as a solo return. This was subsequently changed, although it was very much a Mustaine-plus-hired-hands effort.

A darker, more insidious record than The World Needs a Hero – it offered no solutions but highlighted current social and political problems and inconsistencies. However, what it did do was put Megadeth right back to the fore. They were once more metal heroes.

United Abominations (Roadrunner, 2007)

Guitarist: Glen Drover

Although Megadeth were once more a true band, it was obvious that the songs were the product of Mustaine’s mind. However, if The System Has Failed was a little inconsistent, this time it was clear Megadeth had found their range again.

A cover of Zeppelin’s Out On the Tiles and a re-visit of A Tout Le Monde (with a guest appearance from Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia) apart, it pulled no punches.

In keeping with modern cynicism, Mustaine showed himself to be as angry and agitated as he was in 1985. UA topped the GW readers poll for 2007’s best metal album.

Endgame (Roadrunner, 2009)

Guitarist: Chris Broderick

Endgame features yet another new lead guitarist entering MegaDave’s midst. This time around, it’s Chris Broderick, who came in hot, adding bouts of old-school thrash meets new-school edginess.

The result is an album that felt like a true band effort that was still clearly spearheaded by Mustaine, who continued to run the gamut of lyrical topics, ranging from Lord of the Rings themes to the Great Recession.

Songs like Head Crusher and 44 Minutes showed that Mustaine wasn’t just back at it, but aiming to properly reinstate the Megadeth machine atop the proverbial MegaMountain. And once again, this barn-burner topped Guitar World's end-of-year poll for the best metal album of 2009.

Th1rt3en (Roadrunner, 2011)

Guitarist: Chris Broderick

For the first time since the halcyon days of Marty Friedman, Megadeth made an album with the same lead guitarist as the previous one. Also noteworthy is the return of founding bassist David Ellefson, whom James LoMenzo had previously replaced. The results were good, if not outstanding… in a way.

The Al Capone-inspired Public Enemy No. 1 was kind of weird, but also kinda awesome in that Mustaine continued to push his lyrical ideas past their limits. And then there’s a cut like Sudden Death, which found Mustaine and company pummeling away at full blast with intent to kill.

Super Collider (Universal, 2013)

Guitarist: Chris Broderick

Three albums in a row with a guitarist not named Marty Friedman? Madness! Sadly, this would be Broderick’s Megadeth swan song. Thankfully, he went out with a bang, as Super Collider was the band’s best since the vaunted Rust in Peace. This is not to say Super Collider is as good as Rust in Peace, but that Mustaine had harnessed some sort of latter-day resurgence, landing Megadeth back among the genre’s best and most consistent bands. Evidence can be found in songs like Kingmaker and Burn!

Though great things were to come, it’s a shame Broderick didn’t stick around to challenge the vaunted Friedman era for consistency and dominance. That aside, he did find his way onto GW's cover (our June 2013 issue), becoming the first Megadeth guitarist to share the cover with Mustaine since Friedman back in 1991.

Dystopia (Universal, 2016)

It’s not hyperbolic to say that Dystopia was the best Megadeth album since the band’s first few beloved records. But this time, this isn’t just because it’s good, but because it’s truly great.

With former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro aboard, Mustaine found the best foil he’d had since the ’80s, leading to the creation of a modern metal monster. Fatal Illusion, The Threat Is Real and Post American World are commentaries that pummel the listener into blissful submission. Dystopia is top-tier Mustaine, so it’s no wonder that it nabbed him a Grammy for Best Metal Performance.

Guitarist: Kiko Loureiro

The Sick, the Dying… And the Dead! (Universal, 2022)

Mustaine and co carried the momentum from Dystopia into the sessions for The Sick… leading to another late-career metal masterstroke. But there was more at play here, such as the Covid pandemic and Mustaine’s throat cancer diagnosis.

We’ll Be Back netted Megadeth another Grammy nod for Best Metal Performance, which was the icing on the cake given all that Mustaine had been through. On the downside, this record put a period on Lourierio’s tenure.

Guitarist: Kiko Loureiro

Megadeth (Frontiers, 2026)

Given the fact that Mustaine and his band of merry men had nabbed two Grammys after the release of the band’s previous two records, and that their live show is as hellacious as ever, it was a surprise to hear that Megadeth will be the band’s final album.

But it’s not all bad, as newbie Teemu Mäntysaari made like it was 1990, delivering a Friedman-ish performance across Tipping Point, I Don’t Care and Let There Be Shred. Mustaine is going out like he came in: kicking, screaming and delivering blood‑boiling rock just as he did in ’85.

Guitarist: Teemu Mäntysaari

• Megadeth is out now via Frontiers.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

When they surfaced from the darkened streets of Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1990, In Flames were among the pioneers of Swedish melodic death metal, combining the speed of fellow countrymen Dismember and Entombed with the guitar harmonies of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, injecting the genre with a newfound virtuosity that inspired scores of other acts, including American metalcore bands like Killswitch Engage and Unearth.

By the early 2000s, however, In Flames weren’t blazing quite as brightly. They slowed down their songs, curbed their aggression, incorporated more melody and drew from elements of alternative rock and industrial, causing many of their early fans to jump ship. 

In Flames didn’t care. They enjoyed playing death metal for about 10 years, then became more inspired by other, more experimental types of metal. That’s exactly what they delved into between 2002 and 2019 – and in the process, they attracted a larger fanbase.  

“We’ve always been lucky enough to do whatever the fuck we wanted,” says guitarist and main songwriter Björn Gelotte. “We don’t ever go into an album with anything in mind, but we decided early on that we never want to repeat ourselves, and we’ve had the opportunity to make so many records, so we’ve always tried to make the process interesting and challenging.”

The follow-up to 2019’s I, the Mask marks yet another departure – at least it’s a departure from the commercial metal they’ve written over the past 17-plus years; Foregone, the band’s 14th full-length studio album, is fast and frenzied – pretty comparable to the melodic death metal In Flames released in the late ’90s.

Foregone isn’t exactly a return to form, since there are still clean vocals and the songs are more structured than those on the band’s first five records. At the same time, fans who have missed the savagery and velocity of 1997’s Whoracle and 2000’s Clayman should be thrilled with the rapid tempos, buzzsaw riffs and fleet-fingered leads of Foregone.

“I don’t think that the difference in the songwriting is necessarily that extreme; it’s more a matter of how we packaged and arranged the songs,” Gelotte says. “I’ve always enjoyed fast songs, and as we were going along on this album, we liked the big, heavy stuff we were coming up with and decided we should make something heavier and more metal sounding than the previous couple of records.”

Foregone marks the In Flames recording debut of lead guitarist Chris Broderick (ex-Megadeth, Act of Defiance), who has played live with the band since 2017, when Niclas Engelin left. And while all the rhythm parts on the album were written and played by Gelotte, Broderick’s multi-faceted, neo-classical and technical thrash-based runs provide a welcome contrast to Gelotte’s slower, more hook-laden solos. 

As In Flames gear up for the summer festival season, Gelotte and Broderick discuss Broderick’s leap into the Flames, how his seven-string guitar blends with Gelotte’s six-string, the obstacles the band navigated while making Foregone, and why Gelotte hates being in the studio.

Did writing Foregone take you back to the late ’90s, when you released the Gothenburg melodic death metal classics Colony and Clayman?

Björn Gelotte: “Not much, because how I write and arrange are so different now compared to how I did things back then. I like to think everything through these days, and we didn’t do that in the beginning. It was full-on riff after riff without much thought about structure or even how to be able to recreate it live. 

“Chris [Broderick] is obviously a wizard, so it didn’t take him long to learn those older songs that we still play. But sometimes I don’t understand the arrangements anymore and I have to work hard to play them because they almost sound wrong to me now.”

Was this new level of aggression on Foregone a reflection of surviving the pandemic and creating music during a period of fear and instability?

Gelotte: “Perhaps it was. I didn’t think about it at the time. I was just writing what came to me. But I think I was fueled by the frustration not just of the world turning upside down, but of not being onstage. 

“Playing live is my absolute favorite thing – not recording. Recording sucks. It’s hard work, and I’m not in a band for the hard work. I’m there to enjoy myself doing shows. And that was all gone for two years. So, in hindsight, that might have been part of the reason for the level of intensity in the songs.”

Chris, were you an In Flames fan before you joined?

Chris Broderick: “I grew up in this hole in Colorado, so I wasn’t exposed to a lot of different kinds of metal. I just heard what they played on the radio. But when I was touring with Jag Panzer, [the label] gave us access to the warehouse and I was looking at all these shelves full of CDs. 

“The first one I picked up was In Flames. That was my first exposure to Scandinavian metal. And from that, I discovered At the Gates, Meshuggah and Scar Symmetry, and that all became a big influence.”

Were you able to incorporate any of the chops you learned from Swedish metal into Megadeth?

Broderick: “I think everything you like can’t help but influence you. It was never an intent, but you internalize it, and it becomes part of your personality.”

When did you first meet In Flames?

Broderick: “They toured with Jag Panzer and Iced Earth in 2002. To me, they were the cool guys on the tour. I was a dorky nerd playing my guitar and they were this happening band. We got to know each other, and then when they would come through town, I’d go see them and we hung out and became friends.”

Did they ask you to join or did you call them when Niclas Engelin left the band?

Broderick: “In the beginning of 2019, I heard through a friend that In Flames needed a guitarist to fill in on tour. They asked me if I’d be interested. I thought it would be awesome. I would get to tour with my friends who I haven’t seen in a long time. It came together very fast, and everything took off from there.”

Vocalist Anders Friden told Sticks for Stones that Engelin “had to stay home to deal with some personal things” and called you “48 hours before [you] had to leave, and he went to the hospital.” More recently, in June 2023, bassist Paul Bryce Newman, who joined in 2017, quit and was replaced by ex-Dillinger Escape Plan’s Liam Watson. Why so much turnaround?

Gelotte: “In Flames has always been an awesome band to tour with when people are at 100 percent. But as soon as that feeling is not the same anymore, it starts to deteriorate. There’s obviously so many layers to everything, but I’ll just say that you can’t force somebody to tour, right? So even though the situation was shitty, we came out stronger in the end because now we don’t have any negative feelings about anything anymore. We’re all out there knowing we’re doing this together.”

You seem level-headed about the situation, considering how Niclas left you in the lurch. Do you think he’s as accepting of what happened?

Gelotte: “I will not speak for Niclas, but it was a difficult situation because not only is it something involving a work colleague, it’s something with a friend. You share so much together when you’re in a band. That part will always be really, really hard to think about. But if you look at it from a musical perspective, I would say we’re in a better place, playing-wise. Vibe-wise, everything is for the better.”

Did you have a lightning round of auditions to find a full-time replacement for Niclas?

Gelotte: “There wasn’t time. We were really in a weird place because the tour was not only announced, it was already on. Our crew was in the U.S., and we were getting ready to fly over. We didn’t know what to do since we are a two-guitar band. We talked to management, and they gave us a couple of names of people that were available. 

“As soon as we heard Chris’ name, I knew we were good. ’Cause I know of nobody who works harder and has the ability to learn songs quicker than Chris. And that developed into a really cool relationship for me because it was like I had my teacher with me, and I learned so much from him every day.”

What has Chris taught you?

Gelotte: “Just stuff about technique, warmup routines, different ways to do things. I’m not a natural lead guitarist and he’s a master. He picked up the songs so quickly, we developed our own versions of them live. He would say, ‘Okay, you play this. Can I do this instead?’ Even though we’ve known each other for so long, we never really played together, so to be able to work together like that was incredible.”

Broderick: “It has been fun for me because I’ve always loved dual guitars and trying different things with the melodies and the harmonies. A lot of times, I’ve been pigeonholed as a solo lead player, so it’s fun to work with Björn, especially on harmonies. Even if we don’t use them in the songs, we’ll work on them backstage and incorporate them with little things that we write.”

Chris, what was the biggest adjustment when you joined In Flames?

Broderick: “Seeing the relaxed nature of everybody, because I’m used to being in an environment where you’ve got to… How do I put this? I’ll just say it was great to be in a position where there was no real pressure on me to make sure things were done right. 

“I adjusted my playing based on what I knew I needed to work on. Björn has a really good right hand for rhythm, so I’ve had to up my game in that area. But he just let me do my thing and handle anything I needed to do to integrate what I do into the band. And that has left us with more time to develop friendships, and now we really get to have a lot of fun onstage.”

Gelotte: “I love it because I don’t need to think about anything onstage but what I’m playing, and that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve had to worry about what other people were going to do. I’ve never worried about Chris.”

Chris, you play a seven-string guitar and Björn plays a six-string. How do you make the two work together?

Broderick: “Björn will tune down to C standard. I actually take my seventh string, the B, and tune it up to C and tune the rest of the strings in C standard.”

Gelotte: “It’s really cool that he can use his first string to pull off a lot of super high-pitched notes that I could never do with C standard tuning. It’s refreshing to hear his solos.”

When did you start working on Foregone?

Gelotte: “We did the majority of the early stuff in a four-week session before Christmas 2021. Then after a break, we got back together in mid-January and sat down and started making actual demos. We don’t make 30 songs and then pick 12. It’s always about getting the right stuff all the time and making a record we’re super comfortable with – something you want to hear from track A all the way to the end. 

“We worked again with [producer] Howard Benson for four to six hours a day. The sessions were really intense, but super-productive, and I still had the energy afterwards to go back home and continue writing to get ideas together for the next day. We did most of the recording in two and a half months.”

You recorded at West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Was that enjoyable for you?

Gelotte: “We’re really comfortable with Howard and the way his team works. We bounced ideas off each other really well and he was really into the new songs. But it was intense. I worked for all those weeks and months, and I rarely did anything else. 

“I sat in front of a computer with a guitar in my lap for hours and hours. But that just means we can finish everything quickly and we don’t have to spread it out over two or three years. 

“Also, the fact that bands started playing a little bit after the pandemic made us feel like we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and it was not an oncoming train. The world was opening up a little bit, which was extremely inspiring for me because I could see live shows, and then, all of a sudden, there was a real reason to make another record.”

Chris, did you plan to play on Foregone?

Broderick: “When Björn told me they were starting to work on an album, I thought, 'I hope he asks me to play a solo or two.' Then, all of a sudden, he brought me into the studio and put me to work. I laid down a decent amount of soloing on the CD, so I was really happy about that.”

Gelotte: “We’ve had some guest solos before, but having Chris doing that as an integral part of the band was really special.”

Did working quickly help you make a more spontaneous album?

Gelotte: “No, it just helped us finish everything, in like, three months. We didn’t cut corners or anything. We just worked really, really hard. But right now, we’re sounding so great and it’s such a joy to walk onstage.”

Has self-belief and motivation kept In Flames going for 30-plus years through lineup changes and shifting metal scenes?

Gelotte: “I’ve always done this because I love it. I never had a backup plan. I never went to college. After grade school, I did two years as an electrician, but I never wanted to end up as an electrician.

“I want to be in a band, and it’s incredible when I think about how long I’ve been able to do this with my friends, who have been like my family. There’s so much more that we can do, what we can achieve, and how we can sound. The sky’s the limit.”

• Foregone is out now via Nuclear Blast.

Sweden is a country well-known for producing world-class metal acts, but few if any have been as globally influential as Gothenburg’s melodeath originators In Flames. 

Guitarist Björn Gelotte reveals how he achieved the huge tones on new album Foregone – and how he’s playing better with ex-Megadeth shredder Chris Broderick at his side.

This new album feels more thick and metallic, and arguably less experimental than its predecessor...

“I think mostly that comes down the production. We never really know what’s going to happen, the writing sessions turn into demo recordings and then we end up in the studio, where we’ll carry on writing. It’s a very organic thing.

“I think our last album I, The Mask was more rock-sounding because of the mix. This time we wanted to sound big and sound metal, and it ended up being possibly the best-sounding record we’ve done.“

You’re known for using Gibson Les Paul Customs and prototype Marshalls in the studio. Is that still the case?

“For these sessions, we were open to trying different things. I can’t play a lot of amps I use in the studio live because I need a lot of gain. I don’t want that typical Marshall sound, with mids that sound like tossing Lego on a tiled floor! I hate those frequencies. 

“The prototype Marshalls I own do not have that sound. I mixed them with other things, from 5150s for that beefy aggression to stuff like Oranges and Wizards. For leads, ever since [1996 album] The Jester Race I’ve always loved using a rack-mounted SansAmp, maybe some wah or delay. I’m not a gear nerd! I just know what sounds right for me.“

So what was your main guitar?

“I used my prototype signature Epiphone Les Paul Custom, which I recorded the last few albums with. It’s one of the first ones they made and such an awesome guitar. Before, I had been using my Gibson Custom. I refretted it once and it was time to do it again. I realised it wouldn’t make it much longer. 

“A while back Gibson asked if I wanted to do a signature. I was flattered but it made no real point – most people who listen to our music won’t pay $4,000 for a guitar. I wanted something affordable. Epiphone said they could make it happen with a few adjustments. Basically, the coating is not the same and the headstock is different, but everything else is exactly like my Gibson.”

You hired ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick for a tour in 2019. Now he’s a full member of In Flames.

“I don’t know how Dave Mustaine does it, finding these incredibly talented guys. Chris is insane, as is his replacement Kiko [Loureiro] who is doing a killer job right now. We’ve known Chris for over 20 years, since he was in Jag Panzer and Nevermore. He’s extremely hard-working. If he can, he’ll play eight hours a day... in between workouts! It’s been so inspiring. 

“I’ve never played as much guitar as I do now... my fucking calluses! It’s a bit like having a guitar teacher with me on the road. For this album, he didn’t do any rhythms, but I asked him if he wanted to do solos and was happy when he said yes. He was super-prepared. He probably had it all written down on sheet paper. He’s funny that way, but very organised!”

• Foregone is out now via Nuclear Blast.

Jackson has launched its new Chris Broderick signature Pro Series Soloist electric guitar.

Available in both six- and seven-string configurations, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Chris Broderick Soloist features a mahogany body with an arched poplar burl top, through-body maple neck with a scarf joint and graphite reinforcement, and a 12"-radius, 24-fret bound laurel fingerboard.

Electronics include a pair of direct-mounted DiMarzio Chris Broderick Signature humbuckers, which promise “powerful clear harmonics with accentuated pick attack and tight lows for versatile tone."

Controls include volume and tone knobs – each with push-pull functionality for coil splitting and the enabling of the guitar's in-built tone circuit, respectively – a three-way selector switch, and a mini-toggle killswitch. The latter allows players to produce a modern metal-esque stuttering effect. Other features include a Jackson AT-1 headstock and black hardware.

The guitar is also available in either hardtail or tremolo configurations, equipped with a Jackson Single-String hardtail bridge or a Floyd Rose Special double-locking system, respectively.

In a press release, the former Megadeth and current Act of Defiance guitarist noted his desire to see skilled and aspiring guitarists alike take the guitar for a spin when they see it in a guitar store.

“I really want them to notice the playability, the features and the sound," Broderick said. "You always want to play music from the standpoint of inspiration and not duty. Always remember why you play the instrument, that it was fun and how amazing it was to just get something like your first pinch harmonic.”

Each configuration is available in two colorways: Gloss Black and Transparent Blue. The six-string models are priced between $900 and $1,200, while the seven-string models are priced between $1,000 and $1,300.

For more information, head to Jackson.

Former Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick has shared a clip of himself playing Perpetual Burn – the unbelievably technical title track from Jason Becker's landmark debut album – wielding Becker's original 22-fret white Moridira Hurricane electric guitar.

The six-string – which was used during the recording of Perpetual Burn and can be seen on the cover of Cacophony's debut full-length, Speed Metal Symphony – is currently up for grabs via Guernsey's Auctions.

As part of the ongoing mammoth Jason Becker fundraiser organized by DragonForce guitarist Herman Li, the guitar is one of several Becker-related items included in the 'A Century of Music' lot.

Other items include Becker's blue, 24-fret Hurricane guitar – which features the guitarist's thumb print, has been used both live and in the studio and is pictured on the cover of Perpetual Burn – a one-of-a-kind Peavey "Numbers" prototype guitar that has been played by Eddie Van Halen, Tosin Abasi, Steve Vai and more, and the red leather jacket worn by Becker on the Perpetual Burn album cover.

Chris Broderick played with Megadeth between 2008 and 2014, appearing on 2009's Endgame, 2011's Thirteen and 2013's Super Collider. 

Says Herman Li: “Working with Guernsey's Auctions has been wonderful. They understand how unique these guitars are and how inspirational and important Jason is.

“Jason played so few guitars in his life, so these instruments are incredibly special. Whoever buys these guitars will not only own a piece of history, they will be directly helping Jason battle ALS.”

The Jason Becker fundraiser – which has seen contributions from the likes of Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Kiko Loureiro and more – has so far raised over $200,000 for Becker's ongoing care.

“In America, having a chronic condition such as ALS can be unbelievably expensive,” explains Li. “Our goal from the beginning has been to make sure Jason never has to worry about money again, so he can put his energy toward music and his health.

“It has been great to see the guitar community rally around Jason. He has given us so much inspiration – I'm glad we have the opportunity to give back.”

Says Becker: “I am so grateful for all the love and support everyone has given to me and my family. As far as selling my guitars being sad, and that I shouldn't have to do it, I just want you to know that isn't how I feel. It makes me happy to see others playing my music. 

“I feel good about passing on my guitars, thinking they mean something to others. I can't play them now, but other folks can. That's a good thing. And, I want myself and my family not to have to worry about money, if possible. Thank you for all the love, I send it right back to you.”

The Jackson Guitars Custom Shop is hitting the big 4-0 in 2020, and to celebrate this four-decade anniversary the company unleashed some truly mind-blowing new models at this year’s NAMM.

In addition to exotic woods, wild body shapes and eye-popping graphics and finishes, there’s also a 27-fret Randy Rhoads, a multi-scale seven-string and bass, several one-off artist electric guitars and, particularly cool, an Jackson/Charvel double neck.

As the company puts it, “There is no build too big or too nuts for the guys at the Jackson Custom Shop.”

We agree. Just check out some of the insane new builds below.

Jackson Custom Shop J0001 40th Anniversary

The original J0001 was entered into the Jackson Custom Shop’s log book as belonging to ex-Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing, although Downing reportedly never received or played the guitar.

Custom Shop Master Builder Mike Shannon says he had Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson “verify with Downing that he actually never had or played this guitar. How it got in the log books that way, I’m not sure. But the player, as far as I know who has it, is a guy named Jay Reynolds.” No word, however, if this is the same Jay Reynolds that played guitar for Malice and, for a brief time, Megadeth.

Specs on the J0001 include an alder body, quartersawn maple through-body neck, 12” radius rosewood fretboard, Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker TB-5 humbucker in the bridge and Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker in the neck and an iridescent Snow White Pearl finish.

Jackson Custom Shop Randy Rhoads

The Randy Rhoads boasts an alder body, quartersawn maple neck with a 12”-16” compound radius and a flame maple 22-fret fingerboard. Pickups are a Seymour Duncan TB-6 at the bridge and a Seymour Duncan SH1N at the neck, both with chrome covers. Other features include a White Sparkle finish with chrome hardware and pickguard, Floyd Rose Original tremolo system and Jackson-sealed die cast tuners.

Jackson/Charvel 40th Anniversary Double Neck Hot Rod Flame

This insane double-neck combines Jackson Soloist and Charvel San Dimas body styles. The Jackson half features a quartersawn maple neck-through-body design, 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and classic Jackson sharkfin inlays, There’s also a Seymour Duncan TB-4 at the bridge and SH-1 at the neck and a Floyd Rose Original tremolo system.

The Charvel half, meanwhile, features a bolt-on maple neck topped with a 12”-16” compound radius fingerboard and 22 jumbo frets, DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge pickup and a DiMarzio DP117 HS-3 neck pickup, Charvel brass tremolo and Gotoh tuners. It’s all topped by a custom Hot Rod Flames finish.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Phil Collen PC1 Black Walnut

The PC1 sports a caramelized Dinky mahogany body capped with a 1/8” claro walnut top, a caramelized bolt-on maple neck and a 12”-16” compound radius 24-fret ebony fingerboard. Pickups are a DiMarzio Super 3 humbucker in the bridge, DiMarzio HS-2 single-coil in the middle and PC1 Sustainer Driver in the neck. Other features include a Floyd Rose Original double-locking tremolo system and Gotoh sealed die-cast tuners.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas

The limited edition Adrian Smith San Dimas features an alder body, bolt-on quartersawn maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius 22-fret fingerboard. There’s also a single DiMarzio DP100F Super Distortion pickup and a Floyd Rose Original bridge. The graphic, meanwhile, references Iron Maiden’s 1984 song, 2 Minute to Midnight. Said Smith about the model, “I call it my hooligan guitar because it is stripped down – no nonsense, one pickup. Sounds great, actually plays great. “I just love the guitar – apart from the fact that it looks really cool.”

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Mick Thomson Carbon Fiber Soloist

This limited edition Mick Thomson signature model recreates the carbon fiber finish of one of the Slipknot axman’s stage guitars. In addition to the finish, there’s a mahogany Soloist body, through-body maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius 24-fret ebony fingerboard with block side markers. Other features include Thomson’s signature Seymour Duncan EMTY Blackouts in the bridge and neck, a custom Jackson MTB HT6 bridge and a reverse pointed headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Misha Mansoor So-Cal HSS 2PT

Features on the Limited Edition Mansoor So-Cal include an ash body with a heavily relic’d Daphne Blue finish, caramelized flame maple bolt-on neck and 20” radius caramelized flame maple fingerboard with maple inlays outlined in ebony and 22 jumbo stainless steel frets.

There’s also a Bare Knuckle Ragnarock humbucker in the bridge and Misha Mansoor single-coils in the middle and neck, a Gotoh 510 2PT tremolo system, Luminlay side dots and white pickguard.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Chris Broderick CB2 Diabolic

The Broderick CB2 Diabolic boasts a mahogany body with 1/8” flame maple cap in a Trans Black finish with flame maple binding and pinstripes. There’s also a quartersawn maple neck with a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard fitted with 24 jumbo stainless steel frets and boasting ziricote reverse sharkfin inlays.

Pickups are Broderick’s signature DiMarzio humbuckers, and there’s also a reverse Jackson AT1 headstock, seven-string Floyd Rose Pro tremolo system and D’Addario Planet Waves locking tuners.

Jackson Custom Shop RR27 HS FR Galaxy

This 27-fret behemoth boasts an alder Rhoads body with buckeye resin top, through-body quartersawn maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard. Pickups are a Bare Knuckle Aftermath humbucker in the bridge and Bare Knuckle Trilogy Suite single coil at the neck. There’s also a Floyd Rose Original bridge, Sperzel tuners and a magnetic truss rod cover to avoid the use of screws.

Jackson Custom Shop Warrior HT 7-String Multi-Scale

The seven-string Warrior Multi Scale HT sports an alder body, through-body quatersawn maple neck and 24-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl reverse sharkfin inlays. Oh yeah – it also comes in a retina-searing Neon Pink finish.

Other features include DiMarzio The Tone Zone 7 and DiMarzio Air Norton 7 pickups, Hipshot multi-scale fixed bridge, phenolic nut, Jackson sealed die-cast tuners, master volume and five-way toggle switching and reverse headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Hellion Bass

The five-string, multi-scale Custom Shop Hellion boasts a reversed and elongated Demon shape and custom-carved ash body, through-body quartersawn maple neck and 16”-20” compound radius maple fingerboard with 24 jumbo stainless steel frets, classic black piranha teeth inlays and blue Luminlay side dots. Other features include a single Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Jazz Bass bridge pickup, Hipshot triple lock single saddle bridge and J Hipshot bass tuners. The bass comes in a Neon Yellow finish with reverse pointy headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Soloist SL2 Exotic

The Custom Shop Soloist SL2 sports a cooked ash body with a ziricote top and titanium hardware. There’s also a flame maple set neck, ebony fretboard, Guitarmory Orion Pickups with curly maple bobbins and a Floyd Rose titanium bridge. Additional stylish touches include an inlaid maple Jackson logo on the headstock and ziricote reverse sharkin inlays on the fingerboard.

For more information, head to Jackson.

As part of the 2019 NAMM show, the Observatory in Santa Ana, California hosted Dimebash, a tribute to late Pantera and Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, on Thursday, January 25.

The event was MC’d by SiriusXM radio host Jose Mangin and featured a slew of rock and metal artists paying tribute to Darrell by performing his songs.  

Above, check out fan-filmed footage (via Metal Injection) of a jam on Pantera’s 1992 classic, “Walk,” featuring former Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, former Megadeth and current Act of Defiance guitarist Chris Broderick and, on vocals, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor.

The show also featured full performances by Kill Devil Hill and Fireball Ministry. 

Act of Defiance—the Los Angeles metal band featuring former Megadeth members Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover—have announced an American tour. The trek will begin on March 1 with a show at San Diego's Brick by Brick, and will continue throughout the month of March.

The tour will mostly keep the band west of the Mississippi, taking them through the Midwest, with a number of dates in the West and the Southwest. The band will be supporting their newest album, 2017's Old Scars, New Wounds.

“The first [Act of Defiance] record was great,” Broderick told Guitar World in an October interview, “but it was really Shawn and I going, ‘We need to get this out! We’ve gotta make this happen right now!’"

"With this CD, after all of the touring we had done, all the hanging out and living with each other, it was much more about, ‘What are we as a unit? How do we voice our musical ideas?’"

“I’m in a band full of guitarists and songwriters,” he continued. “But this band is all about being able to express ourselves, and I think the music really benefitted from our multiple voices.”

For tickets and more info, stop by metalblade.com/actofdefiance.

Act of Defiance 2018 Tour Dates

• March 01 - Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA
• March 02 - Slidebar - Fullerton, CA (free show!)
• March 03 - Club Red - Mesa, AZ
• March 04 - The Dive Bar - Las Vegas, NV
• March 06 - The Green Room - Flagstaff, AZ
• March 07 - Rockhouse - El Paso, TX
• March 08 - Rock Box - San Antonio, TX
• March 09 - BFE Rock Club - Houston, TX
• March 10 - Curtain Club - Dallas, TX
• March 11 - The Ruins Live - Oklahoma City, OK
• March 12 - Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
• March 13 - Fubar - St. Louis, MO
• March 14 - Token Lounge - Westland, MI
• March 15 - The Forge - Joliet, IL
• March 16 - The Outpost - Kent, OH
• March 17 - Back Bar - Janesville, WI
• March 18 - The Drinkery - Omaha, NE
• March 20 - Black Sheep - Colorado Springs, CO
• March 21 - Mesa Theater - Grand Junction, CO

Over the course of 20 years with Jag Panzer, Nevermore, Megadeth and Act of Defiance, Chris Broderick has developed quite the reputation for serious seven-string shredding—so it comes as something of a surprise to learn that he’d actually intended to “tone down” his solos for Old Scars, New Wounds, Act of Defiance’s second and latest album.

“I wanted to have absolute control over every aspect of my technique for this CD,” he explains, “so I initially thought it would be best if I didn’t push it too hard.”

Thankfully, for fans of Broderick’s dazzling playing, things didn’t quite work out that way. Old Scars, New Wounds features his most adventurous soloing yet, utilizing everything from dispersed-octave arpeggios and classically influenced counterpoint to locked tremolo bar accents and two-handed tapping runs.

“I had all these techniques that I’d always wanted to work into my playing,” he says, “and through the course of developing them, they organically—and kind of inadvertently—worked their way into my playing.”

Broderick cites the second solo in “M.I.A.,” the album’s lead-off track, as an example. “I do this octave-dispersed arpeggio technique in it where I use P.I.M.A., my classical right-hand fingering, and then I pair that up with sliding into melodic notes on the top and bottom end with my left hand. So, basically, I’m doing this kind of counterpoint between the upper melody and the lower melody, that develops between these octave-dispersed arpeggios. I thought it came out really well!”

Broderick used only two guitars on the album—both of them his signature Jackson seven-strings. “One was red, and one was transparent black,” he says.

“One had the action put up a little bit higher for the rhythms, and had slightly heavier gauge strings on it; and the other I used for my leads, which had the strings I normally play live. I like to play .010 through .046; when I record, I’ll typically go with a .065 on the seventh string and a .062 when I’m playing live.”

Rather than use amps for the recording sessions, Broderick played all his Old Scars, New Wounds guitar tracks through a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ preamp/effects processor, which he also uses onstage. “I love recording that way, because it makes experimentation with different amp models and effects so accessible,” he says. “I went with a more upper-midrange-focused cabinet for my rhythms on this CD—one that had a good punch on the bottom end, but sounded like it was going to tear your head off on the top end.”

For his lead tone, Broderick says he’d primarily used the Fractal’s Friedman HBE simulator in the past; this time, however, he made a last-minute decision to switch things up.

“I just went digging around one day and stumbled across the Diezel Herbert simulation,” he recalls. “Every note I played, no matter where it was on the fretboard, seemed to have a thunk to it on the bottom end, this punch that I just loved! I wound up using it for my lead tone, and I love the way it sits in the mix.”

Broderick formed Act of Defiance with drummer Shawn Drover in late 2014, shortly after the pair left Megadeth. While bassist (and former Shadows Fall guitarist) Matt Bachand and ex-Scar the Martyr vocalist Henry Derek joined too late to have any songwriting input on the first album, 2015’s Birth and the Burial, all four members contributed songs for Old Scars, New Wounds, and Broderick feels the album is much stronger for it.

“The first record was great,” he reflects, “but it was really Shawn and I going, ‘We need to get this out! We’ve gotta make this happen right now!’ With this CD, after all of the touring we had done, all the hanging out and living with each other, it was much more about, ‘What are we as a unit? How do we voice our musical ideas?’

“I’m in a band full of guitarists and songwriters,” he laughs. “But this band is all about being able to express ourselves, and I think the music really benefitted from our multiple voices.”

AXOLOGY
● GUITARS Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist HT7
● AMPS Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+
● STRINGS Ernie Ball Slinkys .010–.046, with a .062 or .065 for the seventh string

Earlier today, the gang over at ultimate-guitar.com premiered "Disastrophe," a new playthrough video featuring Act of Defiance guitarist Chris Broderick.

The song is from Act of Defiance's debut album, last year's Birth and the Burial.

It's packed with seven-string guitar, plus a blazing solo by the former Megadeth guitarist. Enjoy—and be sure to check out the band's tour dates below the video.

ACT OF DEFIANCE TOUR:
5/24/2016 The Pin - Spokane, WA #
5/26/2016 Dickens Pub - Calgary, AB #
5/27/2016 Brixx - Edmonton, AB #
5/28/2016 Louie's - Saskatoon, SK #
5/29/2016 The Exchange - Regina, SK #
5/31/2016 The Park Theatre - Winnipeg, MB #
6/01/2016 Rockhouse - Thunder Bay, ON #
6/03/2016 The Asylum - Sudbury, ON #
6/05/2016 Corona Theatre - Montreal, QC ***
6/06/2016 Opera House - Toronto, ON ***
6/07/2016 Mr. Small's Theatre - Milvale, PA ***
6/08/2016 Upstate Concert Hall - Albany, NY ***
6/09/2016 Higher Ground - Burlington, VT ***
6/10/2016 Lupos - Providence, RI ***
6/11/2016 Toad's Place - New Haven, CT ***
6/12/2016 Blackthorn 51 - Elmhurst, NY #
6/13/2016 Amityville Music Hall - Amityville, NY #
6/14/2016 Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, PA #
6/16/2016 Oddbody's - Dayton, OH #
6/17/2016 The HiTone Cafe - Memphis, TN #
6/18/2016 Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK #
6/19/2016 Backstage - Lubbock, TX #
6/23/2016 The Co-Op - Albuquerque, NM #
6/24/2016 The Green Room - Flagstaff, AZ #
6/25/2016 Whisky-A-Go-Go - Los Angeles, CA #
# - ACT OF DEFIANCE headlining shows
*** - supporting Hatebreed, DevilDriver

What's it like when two master shredders get together to exchange ideas, talk technique and more?

We caught a glimpse in our first,second and third "Chris Broderick and Gus G shred fest" videos—and now we're back with a brand-new clip!

It's the fourth and final video in the Shred Fest series.

This time, Guitar World's September cover stars discuss the art of creating quality guitar solos. Of course, they also trade licks! You can check out the video below.

A few things while we have your attention:

• Check out the September issue of Guitar World (with Chris and Gus on the cover) right here.

• Check outGuitar World's new interview with Broderick, Chris Broderick Discusses His Years with Megadeth, Act of Defiance's Debut Album.

• Enjoy Gus G's latest music video, "Brand New Revolution."

• Read this lesson on Killer Vibrato: How to Master Five Essential Performance Techniques.

For more about Chris Broderick, head here. For more about Gus G, head in this general direction. Stay tuned for the next exclusive GW video featuring these two shredders!

What's it like when two master shredders get together to exchange ideas, talk technique and more?

We caught a glimpse in our first and second "Chris Broderick and Gus G shred fest" videos last month—and now we're back with a brand-new clip!

This time, Guitar World's latest cover stars trade more shred licks, discuss how they learned to play guitar and more. Check it out below!

A few things while we have your attention:

• Check out the new issue of Guitar World (with Chris and Gus on the cover) right here.

• Check outGuitar World's new interview with Broderick, Chris Broderick Discusses His Years with Megadeth, Act of Defiance's Debut Album.

• Enjoy Gus G's brand-new music video, "Brand New Revolution."

• Read this story about Five "Modern Throwback" Artists Who Put a Unique Spin on Revivalist American Music.

For more about Chris Broderick, head here. For more about Gus G, head in this general direction. Stay tuned for the next exclusive GW video featuring these two shredders!

Being a hired gun has its advantages for a guitarist that just wants to play and doesn’t need the responsibility of writing songs, choosing what gets recorded and dealing with record label bean counters.

But for ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick, rocking out to someone else’s tunes night after night wasn’t enough. So on November 25, six hours after drummer Shawn Drover left the band, Broderick told Dave Mustaine he, too, was quitting.

“The decision was a long time in the making,” Broderick says, sitting poolside at his Los Angeles home. “Being in Megadeth was great for my career, but I wanted to have some creative freedom and some freedom in how I presented myself.”

Broderick replaced Megadeth’s guitarist Glen Drover in 2008 and played on three of the band’s studio albums, three live releases and never missed a tour. For almost six years he dedicated most of his time to Megadeth and had no fallback plans.

Then, during a conversation with Drover, the two decided to use a batch of material they had written for Megadeth as the launching point for a new band, Act of Defiance. The two quickly wrote 10 songs that were considerably heavier and more musically intricate than anything they had played for years.

To complete the lineup, they hired Scar the Martyr vocalist Henry Derek Bonner and ex–Shadows Fall guitarist Matt Bachand on bass. Then with the help of Chris “Zeuss” Harris, Act of Defiance assembled Birth and the Burial, a crushing technical metal album that offers more musical diversity than Broderick revealed in Megadeth.

“Thy Lord Belial” is fast and unrelenting, pausing only for a call-and-response chorus, “Refrain and Refracture” starts with an acoustic arpeggio over a neo-classical lead and features a melodic rhythm redolent of Killswitch Engage and “Poison Dream" builds from classical piano and strings into an epic multi-faceted thrasher.

“The sound of Act of Defiance is kind of like if you invited every genre of metal together to go to a concert and mosh in a pit, whether it’s old-school thrash to death metal to Scandinavian black metal and everything in between. There are elements of all those types of metal. And I love that about it.”

In a candid, articulate interview, Broderick talks about his years with Megadeth, the rules of being in that band, how he and Drover assembled Act of Defiance, why he hired a guitarist to play bass and the unconventional recording process for Birth and the Burial.

Shawn Drover recommended you to Dave Mustaine in 2008 after his brother Glen left the band and Glen, who left Megadeth on good terms, endorsed you. How did you know the Drovers and did either of them call you to let you know you were being considered?

They knew me from Nevermore, but I didn’t hear anything from them until I was in the band. Management called totally out of the blue. I didn’t know what to make of it. I almost thought it was a prank at first. They wanted me to meet with Dave first and then audition.

Had you been a Megadeth fan?

I had no idea where they were at their career at that point, so I had no expectations. I just thought it was a great opportunity so I jumped at it.

Did you think you’d be able to provide creative input into the band?

I knew I wouldn’t be able to demand anything. I saw it as a great job and I allowed my employer to dictate the terms. It’s not like when you’re a teenager and you get together with your friends and you’re like, “Ahhh, partners for life!” I wish it was like that, but it definitely wasn’t. There is a hierarchy after a band is established and has a legacy.

Were you comfortable in that role?

I loved playing for the crowd. When you walk onstage and the crowd is having a good time, it’s great.

Did Mustaine tell you what to play and how to play it?

When we did songs from the back catalog I was playing another guitarist’s parts, whether it was Chris Poland, Marty Friedman or Jeff Young. So I played like they did and Dave did his part. That always worked out really well. As far as the albums I played on, Dave designated the solo spots and he had some input in what I could or could not do.

Was there a dress code in Megadeth?

There definitely was a dress code that he wanted to maintain for a Megadeth look. For me, with everything in this camp, I saw very early on that Dave is the owner of the company and he is the one that has the right to say how the company is presented and how it should look. The only time we had any issues was when I didn’t know a specific thing about how he wanted my appearance to be, and then I would find out as we went along. I saw it very early on as a job requirement and I felt that if the job is worth it to me then I would make those changes.

On the first tour you did with Megadeth you played a seven-string guitar, which is what you play now. But for the rest of your tenure with the band you played a six-string. Did that work better for the music you were playing?

Dave felt a seven-string guitar wasn’t an original thrash metal instrument. Therefore he felt it would be better if I used six strings.

Had you considered leaving the band in the past?

I was constantly weighing the positives against the negatives. I likened it to a lawyer that’s working for a firm and finally wants to break out and start his own firm or a chef that wants to open up his own restaurant. You have to deal with the corporate mannerisms from the company you’re working for. And once it gets to a point where you feel like you would be happier on your own, that’s when you finally to cut the cord. I had been thinking about what to do for a long time, but up until I decided to leave, I always felt the positives outweighed the negatives.

When did that balance tip?

Not until the last quarter of 2014. I was dwelling on my lack of musical creativity in the band. Dave was getting ready to go in and do another CD and my heart just wasn’t in it because I knew I wasn’t going to have any artistic say in the definition of the album and the music. He was calling saying, “Hey, I want to get you guys down there.” The last thing I wanted to do was go down there and work on a partial CD and then say, “Hey, this isn’t for me.” It was just the right time to leave.

Had you and Shawn talked about leaving Megadeth and forming a new band?

It’s funny. Shawn and I felt exactly the same way, but we didn’t think about putting together a band together until after we had both left. When Shawn told me he was going to quit I was a bit shocked and surprised. [Bassist] Dave Ellefson called me right away and went, “Dude, Shawn just quit!" I talked to him for a while, and then I thought about my own situation. I bounced it off my friends and family and decided it was the right thing for me to do as well.

Did Dave try to convince you to stay?

No, no. Once a decision like that is made, it’s best just to move on.

When did you and Shawn decide to start working on Act of Defiance?

Obviously, Shawn and I stayed in contact, and not long after we both left we realized there was all this great music we’d written for Megadeth that didn’t get used. So we thought, Why don’t we put something together and get it out there?

Are any of these songs about experiences you had In Megadeth or ways you felt about leaving the band?

Just like with anybody, they draw on all of our experiences. They’re about my experiences in life, in Megadeth, in my guitar playing. Everything I do reflects in my lyrics.

Did you want to write songs that didn’t sound anything like Megadeth?

No, we just wanted the writing to be natural. I like to write complex parts and keep them in that heavy, thrashy realm, but I also really like extreme Scandinavian black metal. And Shawn listens to Cannibal Corpse all day long, so we wanted to get some of that in there, too.

Did the music come easily?

Some songs came together quicker than others. There were nights where I was spending much more time in my studio than anywhere else. But it was really satisfying to work with material that I had created. When I worked on Shawn’s songs we used mostly his riffs, which was fine. It was a real collaboration, which was exciting. And for the album we ended up using five of his songs and five of mine.

Did you work with Shawn’s drum parts?

Not for my songs. I used Toontrack Superior Drummer. It makes demoing extremely easy and gave Shawn a clear idea of what I was thinking. But there were a lot of times he would say, “Hey, I was thinking this other kind of beat would work better,” and most of the time a drummer’s going to have a better idea of what the drums should do than a guitarist. His songs had guitar parts, too, because he can hold his own as a guitarist, and he got his brother Glen to help out with some of the guitar tones at first, and definitely with the production.

The album is cohesive, which is impressive considering you incorporated so many styles of metal in there and wrote and recorded the songs hundreds of miles apart from one another.

It’s amazing what you can do these days by trading files digitally. Shawn and I have a really good working chemistry from years of playing together. We each wrote five songs on our own, then we bounced them off each other. Sometimes we made minimal changes, like switching a chord or two to make it sound a little bit darker, but that’s about it.

You wrote and recorded on a seven-string?

I have my signature series Jackson Soloist that I used along with a couple of prototypes that I had Jackson build for me. They were all seven-strings. I’ve always been a traditional seven-string guitarist so it was great to be able to get back to that and get the sounds I love.

Did you want a different guitar tone than what you had in Megadeth?

Just like every other musician, I am very opinionated about what I think is the perfect sound. So it was awesome to have the freedom to use the tones that I really love. I have a number of amps that I use, whether it’s Engl or the Fender 5150 III, but in the end I wound up recording this entire album with my Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II.

Why did you decide to use an amp simulator when you have the equipment to record with mikes and amps?

The Fractal sounds amazing to me. That technology has come such a long way and the ability that it has to give you such a clean and clear recording, and the convenience just made it a hands-down win. I liken it to photography. Do you see anyone shooting film these days?

Did you pre-write your leads?

Well, I actually start with the rhythm. I like rhythms that support leads really well. If you’re going to have a solo, you might as well not be soloing over some random rhythm. So I constructed rhythms in a way that supported either a melodic or harmonic depth. Then I would listen to it and imagine what I wanted to hear. That’s when it would start to come to life for me.

Once you have an idea in mind do your solos tend to come quickly and spontaneously?

No, I spend a lot of time on my leads, but there are times when I spend a lot of time on a lead because I want it to sound spontaneous and off the cuff. If you want it to sound more anxious you rush ahead of the beat a little bit. And if you want it to sound more lackadaisical and you want it to seem like you were just thinking about getting to that note and you barely got to it in time, you play a little bit behind the beat. So for me it’s a very musical process because it starts with what I imagine, but then when it comes time to execute, it becomes a very thoughtful process.

Birth and the Burial features guitar harmonies and there’s always a rhythm guitar playing along with the solos. Did you consider working with a second guitarist?

I really enjoy working with another guitar player, but this band came together so quickly and was so much about writing the music and then getting a vocalist and bassist that we never considered hiring a second guitarist. Depending on how touring goes, I’m thinking of bringing a second guitarist out with us, but we’ll see.

Did you know Scar the Martyr vocalist Henry Derek before you hired him to sing?

We didn’t. We put together a list of 30 singers we thought might work for us and then narrowed them down to five. We contacted everyone to see if they were interested and then sent them a demo and had them add vocals. Henry was hands-down the one whose vocals suited the music the best. He’s very talented at screaming and singing. So he came to my studio and we tracked all the vocals there, along with all the guitars, cello and piano.

It’s odd that you hired Shadows Fall guitarist Matt Bachand to play bass.

Shawn reached out to Matt when we got to the point where we were thinking about having a permanent member onstage. Matt’s a great vocalist, a great guitarist and he showed us that he can lay down great bass lines as well. He did a lot of songwriting on all of those Shadows Fall records and in reality, Matt’s probably got as much or more touring experience than any of us.

Did Matt play on Birth and Burial?

He recorded bass lines for all 10 tracks at his place. I laid down some of the initial bass tracks on the demo versions and sent them to him and he substituted them with these great parts that sound like real bass lines. They’re not just doubling the guitar line.

What was the greatest obstacle you’ve faced with Act of Defiance?

Time. We all thought we’d have all the time we needed. We even thought we were ahead of the game because we started with the stuff we didn’t use in Megadeth. But once you bring a record label into the picture then you have to commit to a release date that’s not too late in the year and all of a sudden your back is against the wall.

We started working on the songs at the beginning of December. I demoed vocals with Henry in January and by February Shawn was tracking his drums. That left March and April to record all the guitars, vocals and bass. We had the album finished at the end of April, ready to be mastered. So we did the whole thing in about five months.

You recorded tracks in three different studios, then handed all the songs to Zeuss to mix and master. Did he change the sound of the songs?

At first, Shawn and I were both concerned that the songs might not sound so cohesive. When Zeuss recorded Shawn’s drums, he provided input to make the parts even better. And then he took all the rest of the tracks we did and mixed them so well that it sounds like we all wrote and recorded everything in the same room.

Is it scary going from an established band to being back in a position where you have to prove yourself?

It might make me a little anxious if I knew I had any control over it. But I don’t, so it’s not worth wasting my time thinking about it. The only thing I can do is promote the band and do the best I can performing these songs. Anything else is wasted energy.

What's it like when two master shredders get together to exchange ideas, talk technique and more?

We caught a glimpse in our first "Chris Broderick and Gus G shred fest" video last week—and now we're back with a brand-new clip!

This time, Guitar World's latest cover stars teach each other a host of shred licks, discuss their new projects and more. Check it out below!

A few things while we have your attention:

• Check out the new issue of Guitar World (with Chris and Gus on the cover) right here.

• Enjoy Gus G's brand-new music video, "Brand New Revolution."

• Check out this Chaos Theory lesson by Chris Broderick, Adapting Keyboard-Style Arpeggios to Fretboard Tapping, Part 1 (with tab and video).

• Watch this video of guitarist Eva Vergilova playing instrumental versions of Prince's "Purple Rain" and Scorpions' "Sails of Charon."

For more about Chris Broderick, head here. For more about Gus G, head in this general direction. Stay tuned for the next exclusive GW video featuring these two shredders!

What's it like to sit around with Chris Broderick and Gus G?

It's probably a lot like this!

Check out this new video featuring Guitar World's latest cover stars, Chris Broderick and Gus G. It's fun (and a little intimidating) to see these two insanely talented guitarists trade licks, talk inspiration, influences and more.

A few things while we have your attention:

• Check out the new issue of Guitar World (with Chris and Gus on the cover) right here.

• Enjoy our premiere of "The Quest" from Gus G's new solo album, Brand New Revolution.

• Check outone of the most insane "Betcha Can't Play This" videos, ever, featuring Chris Broderick.

• Read this random story about Stevie Ray Vaughan jamming with Carlos Santana in 1988.

For more about Chris Broderick, head here. For more about Gus G, head in this general direction. Stay tuned for the next exclusive GW video featuring these two shredders!

Guitarist Chris Broderick has left Megadeth.

Around 1 a.m. EST, Broderick posted the following statement via Facebook and Twitter:

"Due to artistic and musical differences, it is with great reluctance that I announce my departure from Megadeth to pursue my own musical direction.

"I want all of you to know how much I appreciate the amount that you the fans have accepted and respected me as a member of Megadeth for the last seven years, but it is time for me to move on.

"I wish Dave [Mustaine] and everyone in Megadeth all the best. I am working on a few things of my own and hope that when they come out, you will all dig it."

It is interesting to note that drummer Shawn Drover quit the band yesterday (Tuesday, November 25) "to pursue [his] own musical interests."

Broderick, who is 44, joined Megadeth in late 2007 as the replacement for Glen Drover. Before joining Megadeth and while still in Jag Panzer, he was also a touring guitarist for Nevermore between 2001 and 2003 and then again between 2006 and 2007.

The guitarist, who used to write and film the popular Chaos Theory lesson columns for Guitar World, also is responsible for one of the most popular "Betcha Can't Play This" videos in the history of the series. You can check out THE video below.

Guitar World wishes Broderick success in his future ventures.

This month’s column focuses on an original composition of mine that acknowledges the influence of classical pianists on my playing style, specifically the way in which pianists will play arpeggios across several octaves very quickly (see FIGURE 1).

In order to emulate that sound on the guitar, I’ve devised a few fretboard tapping techniques. In fact, much of my two-hand tapping technique is based on that goal and approach.

The idea is to break down the arpeggios into different sequences, such as four-note groups, and play them in a way that would be quite difficult, if not impossible, to play conventionally. This example is also cool because it has some unusual, “advanced classical” chords in it, such as a Neapolitan chord, an augmented III (three) chord, and some diminished seventh chords.

Let’s examine the first half of FIGURE 1. I start with a second-inversion G minor arpeggio (G Bb D). “Second inversion” means the arpeggio begins (and ends) on the fifth, which in this case is D (see bar 1, beats one through five). On beat six, I switch to a root-position G minor arpeggio, which means that it starts (and ends) on the G root note.

All of the phrases in bar 1 are executed with sweep picking. On beat one, I begin with a pull-off from the pinkie to the index finger, and then I reverse rake (or reverse sweep) by dragging the pick in a continuous upstroke across the top five strings through beat two. Beat three begins with a hammer-on and is followed by a forward rake (or downsweep) as the pick is dragged in a continuous downstroke across the strings. The same sweeping techniques are utilized throughout the remainder of the bar.

In bar 2, I begin with a G natural minor (G A Bb C D Eb F) legato scalar run across beats one and two, then switch to down-up alternate picking, using notes from the G harmonic minor scale (G A Bb C D Eb F#). Bar 3 features a reference to the VI (six) chord, Eb, and then the II (two major) chord, A, followed in bar 4 with a first inversion (third “in the bass,” or positioned as the lowest note in the chord voicing) Gm/Bb voicing and a second inversion (fifth in the bass) D7/A chord.

Bar 5 initiates the section of the piece wherein all of the phrases are executed with tapping, hammer-ons and pull-offs. One can analyze the rhythmic subdivisions of these phrases in a variety of ways, but the prevailing sound is that of an eighth-note triplet feel, with a 16th-note triplet played on each (or the majority of) the eighth notes. In other words, the overall feel is “ONE-trip-let, TWO-trip-let, THREE-trip-let,” etc. This triplet rhythm disguises the fact that the notes are actually phrased in four-note groups, in terms of the line’s melodic contour.

The highest note in each four-note melodic group is tapped. This results in two tapped notes per octave, which is a little different than the tapped arpeggios played later in the piece, which include only one tapped note per octave.

Beats one and two of bar 5 cover the first octave, and starting on beat three the pattern is repeated an octave higher. Once we reach the highest note in the phrase—D, first string, 22nd fret—at the beginning of bar 6, we descend through G harmonic minor on beat one and then shift to the Neapolitan chord, Ebmaj7, and descend through a series of four-note arpeggios based on the chord tones Eb G Bb D. We then ascend back through the same arpeggiated shapes. This phrase can also be analyzed as G natural minor because these notes all live within the G natural minor scale.

This is definitely a complex piece that will require a great amount of practice to get a handle on. The hardest thing of all when playing a piece like this is to keep the idle open strings from ringing. The best advice I can give is use the palm of your pick hand to mute the strings as much as possible, keeping it over the strings that aren’t being played as consistently as you can.

Jackson guitars have enjoyed a reputation for outstanding quality, beginning with the company’s late-Seventies custom-shop origins and continuing to its present-day status as a major manufacturer.

Usually, that quality came at a price higher than most of Jackson’s direct competition, but pros and players who refused to compromise, and who were willing to pay a little extra, allowed the company to thrive without cutting corners.

When two new Jackson guitars arrived for me to review, I found the quality exactly what I expected. The unexpected part was their very affordable retail prices, which were two, three, maybe even four times less than I thought they were going to be. Having reviewed the Chris Broderick Soloist 6 a few years ago, I expected that the Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 would actually be more expensive, due to its stealthy matte-black finish. I was blown away to discover that it costs less than a third of the previous model’s price. The JS32 Dinky Arch Top was an even bigger surprise, as it sells for an insanely low price that simply hasn’t been seen before with a guitar of this quality.

Features: The Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 features the same sleek body shape, 24-fret neck-through-body design and dual-humbucker configuration as the high-end Broderick Soloist 6. However, it has a few differences, including the matte-black finish, materials and pickups. The most noticeable variance is the fretboard, which is rosewood rather than ebony. The Pro Series Soloist 6’s body and neck, however, are all mahogany.

The pickups are direct-mounted DiMarzio CB 6 humbuckers, but the Pro Series Soloist 6 still features the same versatile push-pull controls that provide coil splitting when the master volume control is pulled up and tone circuit bypass when the master tone control is pushed down. In addition to a standard three-way pickup selector switch, the Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 has a mini toggle kill switch. The tremolo is a recessed Floyd Rose Special FRT-2000 double-locking two-point model.

The JS32 Dinky Arch Top is a dead ringer for the original Jackson Dinky model that was a best seller during the height of the late-Eighties/early Nineties shred phenomenon. It has the same slimmed-down, contoured basswood body with an arched top and a slim-profile maple neck with rosewood fretboard, pearloid shark-fin inlays, 24 jumbo frets and compound radius. Electronics consist of a pair of Jackson high-output humbuckers, master volume and master tone controls and a three-way blade pickup-selector switch. A licensed Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo mounted in a deep cavity that permits extreme upward bends completes the package.

Performance: I was very impressed with the feel of the neck on the original Broderick Soloist 6, which remains exactly the same on the Pro Series Soloist 6. With its matte-black finish covering the body and neck alike, the guitar feels like one solid piece, and the entire fretboard is easy to access, thanks to the neck-through-body design. Like the original version, the pickup-selector switch is located within easy reach of the picking hand, which is ideal for players who switch pickups often during songs. And since the switch’s throw is parallel to the strings, you never have to worry about accidentally switching pickups. But the absolute coolest feature of the Pro Series Soloist 6 is its entirely black cosmetics, which gives it the high-tech look of a custom hot rod.

As for the JS32 Dinky Arch Top, it’s the best solidbody bargain available today for players who prefer a modern Super Strat design. Whereas many guitars in its price range have substandard electronics and hardware and need more than a few setup tweaks to play well, this Dinky was gig-ready from the second I took it out of the box. The pickups sound bold, clear and punchy, and the tremolo has a smooth, reliable action. The fretwork feels comparable to that of a much more expensive guitar, with perfectly smooth edges. In a blindfold test, most players would be unable to distinguish it from any of Jackson’s previous Dinky models, both in terms of playability and tone.

List Prices: JS32 Dinky Arch Top, $359.99; Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6, $1,199.99
Manufacturer: Jackson Guitars, jacksonguitars.com

Cheat Sheet:The Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 is a more affordable version of the original Chris Broderick Soloist 6, offering similar circuitry and playability.

The Soloist’s push-pull controls provide access to coil-splitting (master volume) and tone-bypass (master tone) functions that expand the guitar’s tonal spectrum.

The JS32 Dinky Arch Top has the classic slimmed-down Jackson Super Strat design, featuring two humbuckers and a recessed Floyd Rose tremolo.

This Dinky’s 24-fret neck has the same compound radius, slim profile and deep cutaway that have made the original Dinky a shredder’s favorite for decades.

The Bottom Line:The world-famous quality of Jackson’s Custom Shop is now available on two production models that sell for insanely low prices, yet offer uncompromising quality ideal for gigging pros.

Hello and welcome to my new Guitar World instructional column, Chaos Theory.

• Over the next several months I’m going to show you a variety of the techniques that I consider essential to my approach to the
• electric guitar.

The exercises in this month’s column emphasize pick-hand techniques that are intrinsic to my style: sweep picking, alternate picking and multiple-finger fretboard tapping. Specifically, I wanted to create a convergence of these different playing techniques within a musical-sounding piece. All the examples demonstrated in this column are played on seven-string guitar in standard tuning (low to high, B E A D G B E).

Let’s start with bar 1 of FIGURE 1: I begin with an ascending run based on a Gmaj7 arpeggio (G B D F#). All the pick-hand-tapped notes in this bar are sounded with the middle finger (indicated by m). There is no picking in the first two bars of this figure, and some of the notes are sounded by firmly hammering the fretting finger down onto the string.

Although the run is phrased mostly as sextuplets and septuplets, it ascends in four-note patterns, with each successive four-note group starting one note higher within the arpeggio: the first four notes, G B D G, are all sounded on the fifth string, with the D at the 17th fret as the tapped note. The next four-note group is B D F# B, followed by D F# G D and then F# G B F#; the pattern then starts with the first four notes again, G B D G, but one octave higher.

In bar 2 I descend and ascend straight through the Gmaj7 arpeggio in two octaves. On beat four, I employ multiple-finger pickhand tapping to play a scale fragment on the high E string, moving from the index finger (i) to the middle-finger (m) to the pinkie (p) and back down, followed by fret-hand pull-offs. I switch to sweep picking in bar 3, descending and ascending through a C major arpeggio (C E G) in two octaves, followed in bar 4 with a primarily alternate-picked descent through the G major scale (G A B D C E F#).

The run wraps up in bars 5 and 6, starting with a tonal shift from G major to its relative minor triad, E minor. On beat one I play a quick descending and ascending Em arpeggio, followed on beat two by some legato scalar movement, with all the notes sounded on the high E string with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Beat three brings multiple-finger tapping back into play, as I roll on the high E string from index to middle to pinkie and then back down, followed by fret-hand pull-offs. The phrase ends with a three-octave descending Em arpeggio, played across beats four and five of bar 5, followed by a big, low B5 power chord.

Guitarists often ask me, “How do I develop my pick-hand tapping ability so I can execute multiple-finger tapping techniques?” The first thing is to observe your fret-hand technique and imitate it. My multiple-finger tapping technique is still developing, so if there is a pick-hand tapping figure that I’m having trouble with, I’ll play it with the fret hand first and watch the motion of the fingers. Then I’ll try to imitate those mechanics with my pick hand.

It’s good to start with something simple, like the ascending three-notes-per-string scale shown in FIGURE 2. Once you become comfortable playing scales this way, try moving on to arpeggios, as shown in FIGURE 3, which are more challenging.

This technique also lends itself well to pentatonic scales, as demonstrated in FIGURE 4. To help me move seamlessly between normal playing and multiple-finger tapping, I invented a “pick clip,” which affixes my flatpick (I use a Dunlop Sharpie) to my thumb.

This device conveniently allows my index finger to let go of the pick without dropping it so I can use all four pick-hand fingers to tap. I initially tried using thumb picks, but the design and shape never worked for me. With the pick-clip, I can use any type of pick. It would be much more difficult, if not impossible, for me to play the multiple taps in FIGURE 1 without it. I’m looking to patent it so I can make it available to others.

This first lick [FIGURE 1] is an arpeggio etude [musical-sounding exercise] in A minor that integrates tapping, multiple hammer-on and pull-off combinations and a little bit of economy picking into a steady stream of 16th notes.

It pretty much stays within the realm of the A minor pentatonic scale [A C D E G], with the flatted fifth, Eb, added in the last two bars.

Playing in this kind of way—with wide fret-hand stretches, taps and an occasional finger slide—helps you cover a wide swath of fretboard territory and yields a smooth, flowing sound.

This etude is an attempt to make the pentatonic scale sound more like an arpeggio. With this in mind, I include the chord symbol Am11 in bar 2. Notice in bar 1, however, that I purposefully avoid the note D, in effect creating an Am7 arpeggio [A C E G].

Notice that, when moving to a different string during the Am11 pentatonic section that begins midway through bar 2, I’ll initiate the first note on each successive string with either a pick-hand tap, an upstroke with the pick or a fret-hand tap. This latter technique, which is sometimes referred to as a ‘hammer-on from nowhere,’ is indicated by a capital H above the tab.

Try to articulate each note as clearly and loudly as possible; make every tap and hammer-on firm, and when pulling off, pull the string slightly in toward your fret-hand palm to keep the string vibrating. Also, try to mute the strings not being played to keep them from ringing sympathetically. This is accomplished primarily by lightly resting the palm of your picking hand on the strings whenever possible.

FIGURE 2 is a four-bar 16th-note run based on an exotic-sounding Cmaj7#11 arpeggio [C E G B F#]. Some people refer to this as a five-note scale—a ‘haiku,’ or something like that—but I like to thing of it as an arpeggio because it gives me a better concept about what I can do with the notes. For example, knowing that it is a maj#11 arpeggio tells me that I can play it over a IV [four] chord in a major key—in this case, G major—or over the VI [six] chord in a minor key—in this case, E minor.

Technically, this run is pretty straightforward, incorporating conventional picking with hammer-ons, pull-offs, finger slides and some string skipping. I would advise you to pay extra attention to picking clarity and efficiency, especially when string skipping. Try not to move the pick any more than you have to—just clear the strings, as opposed to ‘leaping’ or ‘bouncing’ over them.

If you check out the video for this lesson, you’ll notice I use a thumb pick. This is an attempt to bring together all the techniques I’ve worked on in my playing career, namely, classical, country finger picking, tapping and, of course, flat picking, in which case I press my index finger against the bottom side of the pick so that it feels like I’m holding a regular plectrum.

I have written some riffs that incorporate fast picking and strumming as well as two-hand tapping, and using a thumb pick enables me to quickly and conveniently transition from one technique to another. Using a thumb pick like a flat pick can feel a little weird, though, so I’m still experimenting with it.

He's the virtuoso lead guitarist in Megadeth and holds a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance. But what Guitar World readers really want to know is…

I’m psyched for the new Countdown to Extinction: Live DVD. What was it like having to learn all those Marty Friedman leads and then perform them nightly? —Tim Riggles

Countdown to Extinction was my most enjoyable experience of doing a tour that’s based on an entire CD. Two years prior, we had done Rust in Peace, which happened to be the album that really got me into Megadeth in the first place. I loved it because of Marty Friedman’s playing.

When I learned Rust in Peace, those songs had the highest learning curve for me, because I was learning a lot about how Marty would phrase things and how he crafted his solos. For Countdown, it was much more enjoyable because I had a better grasp on Marty’s playing. So during that tour I wasn’t as much worried about what was going on technically, and I could focus more on the phrasing and musical expression.

Are you using the Fractal Axe-Fx [preamp/effect processor] because of convenience issues when playing live, like easy shipping or being able to run it direct to the P.A.? Or do you honestly prefer it to an amp? — James Thomas

I prefer it over an amp. But I don’t just use it out of convenience, even though that is part of the equation when you’re in a touring band. You need to know your gear is gonna work for you and sound good in any situation. And the Fractal meets those criteria. It also has so many ways you can configure its outputs.

One way that I like to use it is having output 1, left and right, which typically has a cabinet simulator on it, go straight to my ears. It’s always consistent. If you go to different venues and put the mics in your ears, the cabinets will be at a different volume each night. So by using the cabinet simulator in your ears you take those different variables out of the mix.

It’s obvious you take physical fitness seriously. What age did you get into working out, and why? — Alex Kling

I got into working out when I was 19 or 20. It was purely out of necessity. I weighed about 250 pounds…and it was not muscle. [laughs] I actually got into guitar around the same time I started gaining all the weight. When I was in elementary school, I hung out with all the jocks. Then one summer I watched way too many cartoons and ate too much. When school started again, all my jock friends were like, “Who are you? See you later.” So I met some new friends who played guitar, and that’s when I picked up the instrument.

Anyway, I was pretty badly out of shape, and my sister got me into running. So by the time I turned 25, I went from 250 down to 155 pounds. That’s pretty thin for my height. I noticed one day that I could see my chest bones, so I started lifting weights. But I’ll always feel like that fat kid inside. And I’ll never quit working out because of that. I’ve tried dieting in the past, but it was a temporary solution. It wasn’t until I made a lifestyle change and decided that I was gonna work out for the rest of my life that it made a difference.

Is it hard to keep up with your fitness routine while touring? — Roland Morgan

I’ll do whatever it takes to stay fit on tour. Typically I’ll get up in the morning and practice guitar for a few hours. Then I’ll hit the gym or go running outside. If there’s no area to work out in, I bring these heavy stretch bands to make sure I get my workout in. I’ll also run the stairs in a hotel if I have to, which is actually great for your cardio. Then I’ll come back, and play more guitar until we hit the stage.

What was the worst day job you ever had before you became a professional musician? — JJ Holcomb

I would say insulating ductwork and pipes on construction sites. It wasn’t a horrible job, but it was very time-driven. You had to be there at a certain time and had to get a certain amount done so the people coming behind you would be able to put up the drywall or whatever. Then there were the working conditions. You’d be up in crawlspaces or attics, hanging off beams and dealing with all that fiberglass, or whatever the insulation was made out of.

When you finish a tour, how do you enjoy your well-deserved time off? — Anita Gongola

Well, I can tell you that I just got back yesterday from a wakeboarding trip at Lake Don Pedro, which is in the Central Valley of California. I was beating myself up trying my first inverted heel-side back roll, which is basically when you flip the board over you. And in the wintertime it’s all about snowboarding for me.

Which previous Megadeth guitarist is the most difficult to emulate, and which guitarist wrote your favorite Megadeth solos? — Anthony Leyvas

Chris Poland is the hardest to emulate, but not necessarily because of the difficulty level. His playing style is just way more foreign to me than Marty Friedman’s. He does a lot more chromatic, tonic and interesting quarter-note bends that you have to pick up on. And my favorite solos are by Marty. He’s been an influence of mine since the Cacophony days and from when he released his solo album Dragon’s Kiss.

Over the years you’ve played Ibanez, Schecter and now Jackson. Why was Jackson the right company to make your signature guitar? — Gar Griffith

The truth is all manufacturers are capable of producing a great guitar. But Jackson was the only company that stepped up to the plate to do the guitar I had always envisioned in my head. Everyone else said, “We’ll endorse you. Just pick one of our models and we’ll slap your name on it.” There was no difference or reason to have a signature model with that in mind. But Jackson was willing to do the 12-inch continuous radius across the fretboard, with stainless-steel frets and my asymmetrical body, which I designed to sit ergonomically against the player’s body. And the guitar has a lot of nice weight that gives it that Les Paul–kinda tone.

Who would you consider to be your biggest guitar inspiration, teacher or mentor? — Bitia Schweinsteiger

The one individual that I really want to give kudos to is Jason Becker. Obviously he was a great inspiration to me as a guitarist but also as a person. He’s been through stuff that I couldn’t even imagine, and he’s still active and producing music. He’s a got a great personality and is still very upbeat.

It seems like all the biggest shredders say they practice for 10 hours a day. How did you manage to stay focused and motivated? Are you an obsessive dude by nature? — Paco

[laughs] Yes, I am an obsessive dude by nature. And that’s probably how I stayed focused! For me, it’s always about focusing on concepts or ideas. When I pick up the guitar I don’t think, Oh it’s time to practice. It’s more like, I haven’t explored these chord moves that I found in Beethoven’s songs and I want to write some studies around them. It’s all about finding what interests you and keeping that at the forefront.

You’re known for your epic guitar skills. Can you implement them in full force when writing music with Megadeth? Or does the band limit you in terms of your own technical explorations? — Pavel Selivanov

You can always explore all kinds of different styles, but the main thing is knowing whether it’s appropriate for a given song or style of music. For me, it’s not the band that limits me; it’s more about what’s appropriate for the songs. It’s not gonna work if I break out some country licks in the middle of the heaviest thrash song ever written.

I read that you have eight siblings. Do you find that that experience helps you now when you’re dealing with different band personalities…say a certain temperamental lead singer? — Julie P.

[laughs] It is true—I did come from a family of eight children. But I have no idea if it helps me dealing with different temperaments. But I can tell you it made me very aware of how to read people. I’m very conscious about how other people are feeling.

Photo: Travis Shinn

If you count yourself among those music fans that never thought a band as volatile as Megadeth would still be around to celebrate turning 30, you’ll find yourself in good company. Dave Mustaine didn’t imagine they’d make it either, back when they formed, in 1983.

“To be totally frank, I didn’t even think I’d live this long, let alone have a career this long,” the singer and guitarist admits. “I remember Junior [bassist Dave “Junior” Ellefson] and I had this crazy pact back then that if the band didn’t make it, we’d go out in a blaze of glory together. It was childish at the time, but it’s weird when you look back and think, 30 years, man! Wow! Did we really do all that?”

In fact, Megadeth did do all that, from helping to spawn thrash metal to creating landmark genre albums like Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? and Rust in Peace to joining their fellow founding fathers on the triumphant Big 4 festival jaunt a couple of years back. They’ve also continued to churn out top-notch new material, and at a healthy clip, too. The band’s newest, 14th studio album is Super Collider, their first release on Mustaine’s own label, Tradecraft, which is distributed by Universal.

It’s another strong addition to Megadeth’s catalog and might also be their most diverse. Some of its songs, like “King Maker” and “Built for War,” are the type of knotty speed-metal workouts at which the band has long excelled. But the new album also veers into more melodic territory on tracks like “Forget to Remember” and even flirts with country-inflected rock on “Blackest Crow,” which features banjo-style licks from lead guitarist Chris Broderick and, for the first time on a Megadeth record, slide guitar playing from Mustaine.

Then there are the album’s two standout tracks. One is the multipart “Dance in the Rain,” which begins in the midtempo style the band has explored in more recent years, and then moves into a pummeling second half that recalls the ferociously caustic Megadeth of Killing Is My Business… and Business is Good!

The other is “Super Collider,” which is perhaps the most bright-hued song in the Megadeth canon, with an uncharacteristically optimistic lyric and a chorus built on open, ringing major chords. “It’s one of those songs that makes people happy, like ‘A Tout Le Monde,’ ” Mustaine says, referencing the 1994 Youthanasia track.

“You’ve gotta have some songs like that that everybody can come together on.” But, he’s quick to stress, not too many. “I’d be lying,” he admits with a slight laugh, “if I said I would dig having a whole set of songs like that.”

Fresh off recording Super Collider, and with additional mixing and mastering still to be done, Mustaine and Broderick sat down with Guitar World to discuss the new album, their gear and how they work together as musicians and bandmates. Mustaine, now 51, also took time to reflect back on 30 years of metal madness with Megadeth. Regrets? He’s had a few …

GUITAR WORLD: Super Collider is a fairly diverse record. The title track, in particular, signals a new sound for the band. How did that one come together?

DAVE MUSTAINE That song kind of came from that “Symphony of Destruction” corner of my mind. You can’t always play aggressive, thrashy stuff. Sometimes those aren’t even songs; they’re like musical rams. But because I’m not a pop guy, I’m also not really comfortable playing sing-along songs. To me, “Super Collider” made sense like a normal song—a verse-chorus-verse-chorus kind of thing. It’s written the way a real songwriter would write the song, instead of just taking all these musical twists and turns.

CHRIS BRODERICK Typically, Megadeth is a guitar-driven band, and we’re super fast and tight. But it was obvious from the get-go that this song was going to be a variation of that. It’s not like I probed into Dave’s mind when he wrote it, but I really get the distinct impression that the song is based on the huge influence AC/DC had on him. I think he wanted just a big, open thing that sounded colossal. So to a large extent with that one, we wanted to keep it not so busy. I definitely had to put the reigns on some of the soloing.

MUSTAINE The funny thing is, when we started working on this record, I didn’t have any songs at all. I was just digging through demos I had made over time. And “Super Collider” was one that was just sort of hanging around.

From how long ago?

MUSTAINE It was kind of old. Parts of it were very old. I think I had just done the MD.45 record [in 1996]. The majority of it—that kind of “Baba O’Riley,” “Highway to Hell” kind of thing—is from that era.

It’s an upbeat song musically as well as lyrically.

MUSTAINE I tried to do that. It’s kind of like a “come with me on this ride” sort of thing, which could have all these spiritual connotations to some people. And a lot of that comes from the fact that I’ve been through so much stuff. Even more recently, from when all the reconciliation and everything started. That stuff was hard, too. The hardest part is sticking your toe in the water. But you have to do it. If you’re not willing to reconcile, you’d better be digging two graves—because you wanna kill that person, and the jealousy and hatred is gonna get you too.

Are you talking about musical or personal relationships here?

MUSTAINE I’m talking about everything with Junior and having him come back; I’m talking about becoming friends with the guys in Metallica and Slayer again…this whole process for me that really started after Darrell Abbott [Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell] was shot. That changed a really big part of me. It made me realize, Wait a minute, man, these are my brothers. The competitive thing that goes on…anybody who says they don’t compete is just bullshitting you. We all want to be the best. That’s why we do this. We want to be as good as our heroes. And at some point, the bravado clicks in and you realize you’ve become really good and the only thing that’s keeping you from going further is you. And why wouldn’t you want to keep getting better?

Speaking of getting better, you’ve stated publicly that you feel Chris is the best guitarist you’ve ever played with.

MUSTAINE He’s such an enigma. What Chris is capable of doing and what he does are two totally different things. He could do a mind-blowing, over-the-fretboard seven-string solo for six minutes. But he can also play something incredibly melodic. You need to be able to play what fits the song. And that’s the cool thing about the journey we’ve been on together: we’ve learned a lot about each other as people and learned a lot from each other as players. And when it comes to solos, especially for a band like this, you gotta think about it. You gotta really think about where you’re going. You can’t just do scales and sweeps. That said, the guy can do 800 notes in four bars if he wants to.

Chris, how does it feel to hear Dave say things like that?

BRODERICK It’s always very humbling, because he’s worked with a lot of incredible guitarists. Every past player in Megadeth has brought something great to the table, and I think I’m lucky to be counted among them. But as far as how I work with Dave, in a way he makes it easy. The type of personality I am, I like to have a direction and a path and to know what I’m doing. And Dave has such a clear idea of what he wants that I don’t have to deal with a lot of decisions. I just pick up my guitar, put it on and play the songs.

Dave, is there any spot on the record where you feel Chris really shines?

MUSTAINE There’s one thing that totally made me do a double take. It’s in “King Maker.” It’s one of the little fills—a quick thing that ends with a dive bomb and then passes off to a solo of mine. And it’s just a fucking great lead. I was in the other room and I heard it, and I went, “Oh, my god. That’s the greatest thing I’ve heard you do in a long time.” Chris knows how to use his tremolo bar subtly. There are guys that excel at that—Adrian Belew, Allan Holdsworth—but not a lot of people in our world can really use the bar in a subtle way.

Chris, how did that part come about?

BRODERICK It’s really just like a 10-to-15-second thing. But I think what actually worked about that solo was that the musical intent matched the song so well. Some of the tonalities I tried to put in there were a little more off base than what someone would typically use over an E minor progression. And, actually, “King Maker” is one of my favorite tracks overall. I’m proud of some of the solo work in it, but I also love the rhythm part. It’s really driving, but it also has this laid-back triplet feel. That’s really unique to me. It’s very “Mustaine.”

Another moment of departure on the record is the song “Blackest Crow.”

BRODERICK The part at the beginning is me playing a “ganjo,” which is basically a guitar with a banjo body, and it’s strung up like a guitar. And it’s funny: if we had had a banjo in the studio, I probably would have just strung it up like a guitar anyway, to make it conducive to what I know. I think when you start working with a song, it’s almost like the song begins to develop itself. And “Blackest Crow” has an old country sound to it, so it called for that tonality. Then you just look for instrumentation to fit that tonality.

Dave is that you playing the slide parts?

MUSTAINE It is. I used my Dean VMNT, but it was on my lap.

Like a lap steel?

MUSTAINE Yes, sort of like what David Lindley does.

Lindley is a great slide player. Were you thinking of guys like that when you composed your lines?

MUSTAINE Not really. When I think of slide guitar, I think of guys like Dave Peverett from Foghat and Joe Walsh. Or Ronnie Montrose on “Bad Motor Scooter.” Learning that song was the first time I ever tried doing a slide thing. Before this record, I hadn’t used a slide in years. A lot of years—since I was in Panic [Mustaine’s first band before he joined Metallica in 1982]. I remember we played at this biker party out in the middle of a national forest, and everything went terribly wrong. That was the last time I tried it.

What gear did each of you use on the album?

BRODERICK I used my Signature Series Jacksons, which were great for not only for your typical metal moments but also for some of the mellower stuff, where I was able to get them to sound very Fender Strat-ish. My main amp was an EVH 5150 III. It has a nice grind to it, and it sits in the pocket so well. It never gets buried, but it doesn’t sound overly harsh either. Effects were pretty much all added in the box, though live I’m a total Fractal geek. I use the Fractal Axe-Fx II with a Matrix power amp. I love Fractal stuff. To me, it’s all you need.

MUSTAINE I played my VMNTs—a Silverburst one on the rhythms and a Korina on the leads. Both have my signature Seymour Duncan Live Wires. For amps, I used a Marshall JVM 410 and a white Randy Rhoads head [the Marshall 1959RR]. I played through that one wide open for the slide solo in “Blackest Crow.” My effects were pretty minimal, just my signature Zoom [the G2.1DM], an MXR Phase 90 and a Cry Baby wah.

As much as the band explores new territory on Super Collider, there are also some vintage Megadeth moments. Dave Ellefson has said that parts of the new record reminded him of Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!, and you can certainly hear that on something like the second half of “Dance in the Rain.”

BRODERICK Definitely. When I hear a rhythm like the one at the end of “Dance in the Rain,” I start thinking about songs like “Rattlehead” [from Killing Is My Business…] and all of that older stuff that has so much angst to it. I definitely draw from that. I think there’s a direct line to those parts. They have that same mood. That same aggression.

MUSTAINE But you know, when I’m writing stuff, I don’t think, This sounds like it’s from this era. I don’t have the ability to think like that. I wish I could. God, I’d go back to Rust in Peace and write another one! Because I was listening to it the other day and I thought, Man, what the fuck was I thinking when I wrote that? Because I know my limitations and shit, and I listen to the title track and I think, That was a lucky day!

Along those lines, you’ve been doing some of the old albums onstage for a few years now, first with the Rust in Peace 20th anniversary tour and more recently for a similar celebration for Countdown to Extinction.

MUSTAINE It’s like a big giant circle. We were actually mixing the Countdown live DVD at the same time we were doing Super Collider. And the interesting thing is, I was listening to those songs and thinking they’re just as relevant today. Take “Psychotron,” and think about all the stuff that’s going on now with drones [unmanned combat vehicles]. So I don’t feel that there’s such a big stretch between then and now with this band. The only time I experience the passage of time is when I try to sing some of those songs. My voice doesn’t go that high anymore!

Chris, did the process of learning Megadeth’s back catalog for those anniversary tours inform how you approach the new material?

BRODERICK I think so. Everything that I’ve learned from the past repertoire gives me more insight into the sound, the mood and how to phrase my parts within Megadeth. I think once a band is in the public eye, it’s almost like the music becomes the property of the public. And in some ways, you don’t want to stray too much from that sound. So every chance I get to listen to an old song that I haven’t played yet, or to work on something like the full-album tours, is an opportunity to understand more about this band.

In preparing for the Rust in Peace and Countdown tours, was there anything that you found particularly difficult to play?

BRODERICK Some of the material on Rust was a little more technically demanding, but the vibe of some of the stuff on Countdown was sometimes more of a challenge. The clean solo on “High Speed Dirt,” for example, has a really interesting feel to it. And matching that feel took a little bit of work.

Most people would automatically assume that Rust in Peace would prove the more challenging of the two.

BRODERICK Well, definitely I would say Rust is a more technical record. But there’s just something about the feel and the way Marty phrased those solos on Countdown. It’s a little different.

Speaking of the Nineties-era Megadeth, this is the first time since the Cryptic Writings album in 1997 that the same lineup has appeared on two consecutive records.

MUSTAINE Wise guy! [laughs] Really, though, it’s cool the way Dave, Chris and [drummer] Shawn [Drover] have assimilated into the group. It’s all working now. One of the things I love about playing with Chris is watching him go from being in that category of mind-blowing guitar players to developing into a songwriter as well. And with Shawn, it’s watching him learn to do things like play with brushes on “Blackest Crow” and doing things on the drums that he’s never done before.

I remember when Junior was gone, it was just kind of weird. It never really bothered me when we were swapping out drummers and guitar players, but something just felt out of balance without him there. You know, sometimes I think, Man, the times that we were with [former bassists] James MacDonough and James LoMenzo, it was like the lost years, like with Maiden when they had that Blaze [Bayley] guy or Priest when they had Ripper [Owens]. There was something that was just a little off.

Considering what’s gone on in the band over the years, is there anything that you regret?

MUSTAINE I do regret some stuff. I regret a lot of the pain that I caused people. I very much regret that. I regret a lot of the good times I missed out on because of the various feuds that we all had. I regret that Gar [Samuelson, Megadeth drummer from 1984 to 1987] died and I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. He was a friend of mine. Sadly, we met in addiction, and our relationship was destined to last as long as it did. And it ended the way it did. But I always felt it ended wrong.

His work on those first two records [Killing Is My Business… and Peace Sells…] was phenomenal.

MUSTAINE He had a really cool style. And I think it helped Megadeth sink its teeth into this big old elephant and just hang on. We had that really aggressive, peculiar jazz element to us because of him. He really understood music. Of course, playing live with that lineup, with Gar, Junior and [guitarist] Chris [Poland], was a crapshoot. [laughs] Because we were all really heavily under the influence, and it always depended on everyone’s blood-alcohol level or drug count at the moment.
I remember one time we played in McAllen, Texas, and one of the guys had gone down to Mexico and gotten some Mandrakes [Quaaludes], which were illegal in the States.

I had just gotten done telling Gar that we bought a bomb to light off at the show. And of course, being broke and on the road, he only had one set of sticks left. When the bomb went off, he freaked out and threw his drumsticks and the music stopped. It was as if you could hear his sticks hit the ground. That was the same show that Poland fell through the stage. He jumped back up and his arm was gushing blood, and he smiled at me. And you know, as much as I had my issues with the man, he’s got this smile that’s like a Dennis the Menace kind of thing; you can never stay mad at him. I think that’s probably why we had so much fun. But we also got in a lot of trouble.

It’s now been 30 years since you formed Megadeth. Given everything you’ve gone through to get to Super Collider, are you where you thought you’d be in your career?

MUSTAINE Really, I’m just so grateful that I’m still working and I still have fans. Because it’s a dog-eat-dog business, and it isn’t easy to survive. But I think the cool thing about people is that when you do something wrong and you apologize for it, they’re really forgiving. I’ve done some things wrong, but I’ve also done some things right. And we’ve managed to get through it. I’ve managed to get through it. [laughs] I don’t know, maybe it’s the redhead in me.

Photo: Travis Shinn

"My musical tastes don’t belong to any particular genre," says Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick. "The only requirement is that the musicians are proficient and the music meets the intent of the composer."

With his monolithic chops and die-hard work ethic, Broderick has emerged as the scariest monster shredder on the planet. As he makes clear in the above quote, Broderick has a deep respect for both music and musical performance and has pushed himself relentlessly in the pursuit of technical proficiency and musical freedom. No less an authority than Dave Mustaine calls Broderick “the greatest guitar player Megadeth has ever had.”

Now 40, Broderick started playing guitar at age 11. A fan of all things guitar-related, he’s studied rock, metal, jazz, fusion, classical and country, as well as advanced music theory and sight reading. Not surprisingly, his list of favorite guitarists is diverse, and includes rockers (Greg Howe, Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, John Petrucci, Marty Friedman and George Lynch), jazz players (Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Allan Holdsworth and George Van Eps) and classical guitarists (John Williams, Paco de Lucia, Scott Tenant and Pepe Romero).

Broderick joined Jag Panzer in 1997, replacing Joey Tafolla, and performed with the group for 11 years, during which time he also frequently played live with Nevermore. The guitarist joined Megadeth in 2008 and can be heard shredding his way through the band’s latest album, Endgame. Megadeth are currently on their Rust in Peace 20th anniversary tour. While the band was in New York, Broderick took some time off from his busy schedule to give Guitar World this glimpse into his virtuoso shredding technique. Watch for his new column, Chaos Theory, to begin appearing in these pages in our June 2010 issue.

How did you become interested in the guitar?

In early middle school, I was really more of a jock than anything else. Then one summer, I went away, and all I did was eat oatmeal and watch cartoons, and subsequently I became a very overweight kid. Back at school in the fall, I was ostracized by all of my jock friends, but I ended up meeting some cool new friends that didn’t care what I looked like or how I acted. It turned out that they were all really into metal.

Were any of these guys guitar players themselves?

Yes. In fact, one of them would always get annoyed with me, because whenever I was at his house I was always saying, “Come on, let’s go play your guitar!” because I didn’t have a guitar of my own. He’d say, “No, let’s go ride motocross,” or something like that.

How old were you when you got your own guitar?

When I was 11, I bought one of his friend’s guitars, which was a Sears guitar that was just horrible. You couldn’t even tune it. It had, I think, 18 frets, but it didn’t matter—I had to have it. It had been painted red with a can of spray paint, and I taped it with black tape so it would look like an Eddie Van Halen guitar.

Were you a big Van Halen fan?

Oh yeah. He was one of my first guitar heroes. I loved to do all the pick scrapes and simple repeated pull-offs to open strings. I remember all of that stuff amazed me so much, even though it was just the tip of the iceberg.

So what got me into the guitar in the very beginning was this big shift in my social life. And as soon as I had a guitar, I knew that I wanted to be a guitar player.

Did you take formal lessons or did you learn mostly by ear, on your own?

No, I took tons of lessons as my guitar playing progressed through high school. At one point, I was taking two classical guitar lessons, an electric guitar lesson, a violin lesson, a piano lesson and a vocal lesson every week! It was definitely way too much to manage. I was also taking some college courses while I was still in high school, so the workload was pretty heavy.

Did you consider going to college for music?

The ironic thing about that is, when I was in high school, I almost dropped out because I was so into guitar. All I wanted to do was play. I went to my mom one day and said, “I can’t deal with school anymore, and I know I want to play guitar.” My mom begged me not to drop out of school, so I stayed there for another week, and during that week I discovered that you could actually go to college for guitar. I never realized that was possible. So I went to University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and majored in classical guitar performance.

At the time, were you dedicated to classical guitar or were you more interested in becoming a rock guitar player?

When I first went into college, I don’t think I had the right mindset to study classical guitar. I was doing it with the idea that to become the ultimate guitarist, one would have to be a classical guitarist. I had heard a decent amount of classical music, but I hadn’t built up a real repertoire of standard classical guitar pieces. When I got to college, all of the other guitar players there had already done that, because they had been classical guitarists for quite a while. That was eye opening for me, and over time I began to see how much easier it is to play an instrument—or do anything, for that matter—if you have a real passion for it.

In the beginning, classical guitar was very hard for me, because it was so technically oriented and I didn’t have that love and dedication to the style that I needed to develop. I soon began to see the classical guitar as something very different from the electric guitar, and I think about the two as very independent of one another in terms of how you approach and consider them. I actually think of the electric guitar as being closer to the violin, in that it’s more adaptable to single-string melodies.

When you were starting out, what was your favorite style of music to play on electric guitar?

I was definitely way into metal in the beginning, and Van Halen was the guy all of my friends and I wanted to be. I remember hearing a song with fretboard tapping and thinking, Wait—he’s using both hands to execute notes on the guitar? That’s going to be way too difficult to learn to do! It was probably something along the lines of this [FIGURE 1], which of course is pretty rudimentary in regards to fretboard tapping.

Very shortly after that, I got into Yngwie [Malmsteen], and then that was the new ideal: everything is Yngwie! And so, I had to learn to play this [FIGURE 2], which is a typical, Yngwie-type classical-inspired lick. I learned everything I could from Yngwie’s albums, and then from there it went on to the Shrapnel artists, like Jason Becker, Marty Friedman and Greg Howe, who I really loved. Greg’s newer stuff is really great; I totally dig everything from Introspection onward. I also got into more eclectic people, like Scott Mishoe, who used to do all of this wild slapping and popping stuff on guitar, so I incorporated a little bit of that into my playing.

As time went on, my influences broadened, and soon I was heavily influenced by flamenco music and guitar players like Paco De Lucia, Paco Peña and guys like that.

Did studying the guitar in college help you get to where you wanted to go as a player?

It did, but what I found in college was that everyone was either a classical snob or a jazz snob, and unfortunately I was neither. But I did pick up influences from both of those styles of music. My most recent “new” influence is country guitar, which has been a little harder for me to fully get into. I’ve never dug country music that much, but as soon as I heard people like Chet Atkins and Danny Gatton, I was hooked. And nowadays, I’m really into Johnny Hiland. I love his playing.

At some point you realize that there are smoking players in every form of music. So, lately, I’ve started trying to incorporate little things from the country guitar players into my playing as well. I guess that’s why my influences are so broad—I can appreciate the effort that everyone puts into their craft.

From the tremendous amount of work that you’ve put into the guitar, do you feel like you’ve got a pretty firm handle on all of these different styles?

]No, because the funny thing is, as time goes on, the realization of how much you don’t know only gets worse! I only see more and more things that I need to approach on the instrument—more different techniques, more styles, more players.

I remember a time about 15 or 20 years ago when I’d sit down with the instrument and say, Well, I’ve already practiced my scales, I already worked on my arpeggios, I’ve worked on this and I’ve worked on that, and I don’t have anything else to practice. But today, there is just a minefield of things to work on. It’s too much! I finally came to the conclusion that you’ve just got to go toward whatever it is that interests you the most at any given time. Hopefully, you’ll zigzag your way through the patterns of everything you want to learn. Eventually, you’ll come full circle.

How did you come to join Megadeth?

I got a call from Dave Mustaine’s management company just before the end of 2007, and they asked if I’d be interested in auditioning for Megadeth and, of course, I said yes. So we set up a time for me to go to Dave’s house and talk with him. When I got there, Dave greeted me along with [bassist] James Lomenzo, and we just started to talk and see how the fit would be. From there I played for them a little and then it was straight to work. I had to learn 22 songs in a month for the first show, which was in Europe.

Now that you are in Megadeth, do you have time to work on your classical playing or are you playing mostly electric?

Lately, the pull has definitely been to the electric guitar, and, unfortunately, my classical guitar has been a little neglected. It’s got some dust collecting on it, and I really feel bad about that, because classical guitar is a passion of mine as well. But, like I said earlier, I know that, when I get the time, I’ll just be on a porch relaxing, playing classical and flamenco music on the guitar. I might even pick the violin back up and scare some cats away with it.

For guitar players that have diverse musical interests such as yourself, what would you recommend as a good practice approach?

I think you need to focus on your priorities and realize that there are all of these different things that you want to learn, and as you go through all of the things that make you want to play the instrument, you will hopefully get to everything in due time. To me, having the desire is the best way to grow on the instrument. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to focus on learning all of my chord inversions, playing through all the chord voicings of, say, Fmaj7, like this [FIGURE 3]. I’d do all four inversions with the piano voicing, all four inversions closed voicing, and so on, and then a week later I couldn’t remember any of it. But if you apply that approach to a jazz standard and you try to utilize those inversions, it will stick with you, because you are studying those concepts within the context of a piece of music. That’s a much more desirable way to address it than just running through a series of inversions.

On your current tour with Megadeth, the band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Rust in Peace, which featured the guitar work of Marty Friedman. During the performances, how close do you stick to Marty’s original guitar parts and solos?

I’m sticking as close as I possibly can. When I’m working on learning a specific riff or part, the first thing I look at are the techniques involved in recreating some of the crazy things that happen on the fretboard, and I play these parts really slowly for a long time. To me, if you try to bring a difficult passage up to tempo in haste, that will only serve to build stress into your playing, which is something that I definitely do not want.

I am very meticulous about trying to get the solos that I transcribe, sonically speaking, as accurate as possible. I have never seen Marty play most of these solos, so I might play some of the licks in a different position than he did. But when I play along to the CDs, I try to make it so that it sounds as locked-in and as tight as it can be. From there, I just try to have some fun with it, too.

A great example is the first distorted solo from “Holy Wars.” I love the way the solo kicks off, in terms of the changes in tonality from G major to Bf major. Once I learned the phrases, it was my goal to find the best way to make those musical phrases come to life. It begins with 16th notes and then quickly shifts to 16th-note triplets or sextuplets. The solo then shifts to G minor pentatonic and a Gm9 reverse arpeggio, followed by ascending octaves and ending with a cool G blues scale riff.

Do you have a set practice routine that you adhere to these days?

As recently as two years ago, I’d start off with exercises, focusing on slurs and legato techniques within a chromatic framework. Then I would go through all of my scales, then through my studies and then through my repertoire. That’s almost a “textbook” approach to practicing. But nowadays, when I first put on the electric guitar, I’ll start with a piece of music, and then I’ll deconstruct it from there.

Can you give us an example?

Sure. If I’m playing a sweep-picking piece like this [FIGURE 4], which is a composition I’m currently working on, I’ll look for the “issues”—the trouble spots—in there. This helps me to focus on the particular areas in each of the arpeggios that I need to work on. Maybe it’s the root form [beat one] that needs work, so I’ll focus on how my pick hand is sitting against the face of the guitar.

These days, everything is about how relaxed I can keep both of my hands. That’s so much more important to me than how fast I can play something or how it sounds, because if all you think about is speed, you’re going to set yourself up for failure. Trust me, I know.

Describe your pick-hand sweep-picking technique.

I think of it as drawing a straight line from point A to point B, dragging the pick across the strings on an even plane. If it’s a small movement within one octave, I recommend a little bit of “wrist contraction,” meaning you should bend slightly at the wrist as you go across the strings. With larger sweeps across multiple octaves, I recommend keeping the wrist steady, and pulling or pushing the whole arm at once across all of the strings.

The range of the wrist is actually pretty limited, so, for all of the tight/fast picking, I rock it back and forth, without moving my hand out of place. When I need to use a larger picking movement, I’ll move the entire arm so I can change the position of the pick to suit the movement across the strings.

It’s no surprise that a signature model guitar designed by Megadeth lead guitarist Chris Broderick and Jackson Custom Shop master builder Mike Shannon is a lean-and-mean shred machine.

However, the Jackson Chris Broderick Soloist 6 is packed with so many ergonomic and performance enhancements that players who aren’t into Megadeth or even metal in general should check it out as well.

FEATURES

The Chris Broderick Soloist 6 is a solid and substantial-feeling instrument based on Jackson’s popular double-cutaway super-Strat Soloist design, but the cutaway horns are sleeker and the lower bout is slanted to give the guitar a more streamlined look as well as a more balanced feel.

The neck-through-body design provides a seamless transition from the maple neck to the mahogany body wings and quilted maple top, and a deep, semicircular scoop provides easy, comfortable access to the uppermost frets, even at the 24th fret on the low E string. The neck features an inlay-free ebony fretboard, 24 jumbo stainless-steel frets, a 25 1/2–inch scale and a 12-inch radius, which, combined with its shallow, flat neck profile, provides a smooth, fast feel.

The Soloist 6’s electronics circuit offers several enhancements, including push-pull coil-split switches for each of the two humbuckers (the bridge splits via master volume, the neck splits via master tone) and a mini toggle below the master tone control that functions as an on/off kill switch. Other pro-quality, high-performance features include a recessed Floyd Rose Pro low-profile bridge, Planet Waves locking Auto-Trim tuners and Ernie Ball strap locks.

PERFORMANCE

The Soloist 6’s custom-designed, direct-mounted Chris Broderick DiMarzio humbuckers deliver exceptional clarity and articulation that let chords sound big and chunky and single-note lines sing with bold, assertive presence. When the coils are split, the tone is very Strat-like but with a little more meat on its bones, and various combinations produce a wide variety of tones, from chunk to punk to funk. The three-position pickup selector is mounted under the bridge humbucker, making it very easy to access while playing, and the switch’s throw is parallel to the strings, so you never have to worry about switching pickups accidentally.

Although my example was somewhat heavy, it was very comfortable to play when strapped on. The neck feels like a dream, making it easy to blaze across the entire fretboard and hit each desired note cleanly and flawlessly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

You don’t have to be a Megadeth fan to appreciate the high-performance playability and first-class tones of the Jackson Chris Broderick Soloist 6, which truly offers something for players of all styles.

LIST PRICE $3,999.99
MANUFACTURER Jackson Guitars, jacksonguitars.com

Over the weekend, Megadeth posted another behind-the-scenes clip from their Super Collider recording sessions.

The video below, which was filmed in February, features David Ellefson (clad in an attractive Guitar World logo T-shirt), Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick recording tracks at Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California, which is in northern San Diego County. For those of you keeping count, this is Super Collider studio update No. 11.

Super Collider will be released in June on Mustaine's new label, Tradecraft.

Stay tuned for more Super Collider updates!

Jackson has unveiled a collection of 20 new models charged with new features designed for speed and killer looks. The 2013 lineup includes artist signature, Pro Series, Dinky and JS Series models.

Each product along with its most distinctive features is listed below:

ARTIST SIGNATURE MODELS

Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist 6 and 7

When Chris Broderick joined a revitalized Megadeth in 2008, fans were awestruck by his chops. Jackson now honors this metal stalwart with the Chris Broderick Pro Series Soloist, in six-string and seven-string models.

Both models boast an arch-top mahogany body and through-body maple neck, 12”-radius rosewood fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets, 25.5” scale length, stylish fingerboard and headstock binding, direct-mount DiMarzio Chris Broderick signature pickups, Floyd Rose® Special tremolo (Special seven-string tremolo on seven-string model), Jackson die-cast tuners and Dunlop® locking strap buttons. Available in Satin Black and Snow White.

Corey Beaulieu USA Signature KV6 and KV7

Trivium’s Corey Beaulieu is a true virtuoso and needs a guitar to keep up with his blindingly fast hands. That’s why Jackson is excited to honor him and Trivium fans alike with the Corey Beaulieu USA Signature KV, in six-string and seven-string models.

Both models feature an alder body (AAA flame top on trans finish model), bound through-body quartersawn maple neck, compound-radius, ebony fingerboard with old-school sharkfin inlays, covered Seymour Duncan® Blackout pickups with three-way toggle switching, single volume control, original Floyd Rose tremolo (seven-string tremolo on seven-string model), and Jackson tuners. Available in Gloss Black, Transparent Black and Transparent Red. Includes case.

Dave Ellefson Signature Kelly Bird Bass

Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson is expanding his arsenal of signature bass models with the addition of the new David Ellefson Signature Kelly Bird Bass. The four-string bass features a basswood body with Ellefson’s signature red pinstripe finish, bolt-on bound maple neck with 21 jumbo frets and block inlays, EMG® pickups, two volume controls and three-band active EQ, Jackson high-mass four-string HM-4 bridge, and Jackson die-cast tuners. Available in Red Burst with Black Center-Stripe.

PRO SERIES

Jackson’s 2013 Pro Series welcomes a collection of new models equipped for full-on assault. The models along with their most distinctive features are listed below:

Pro DKA Dinky 7 and 8

The limited edition Pro DKA Dinky, available in seven-string and eight-string models, features an arch-top alder body, bolt-on maple neck (flat-sawn) with graphite reinforcement, 16”-radius maple fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and offset position markers (12th-fret shark fin inlay on eight-string model), stylish fingerboard and headstock binding, 26.5” scale length, dual direct-mount DiMarzio D Activator 7™ pickups (8™in eight-string model) with five-way switching, single volume and tone controls, momentary kill switch (for stutter effects), recessed Jackson HT-7 seven-string hard-tail string-through bridge (HT-8 in eight-string model), Planet Waves® locking tuners and Dunlop locking strap pins. Pro DKA7 available in Satin White; Pro DKA8 available in Metallic Black.

Pro DK2HT, Pro DK2MHT, Pro DK2QHT and Pro DK2MQHT

The DK2HT Pro Series features an alder body, bound bolt-on neck (flat sawn) with graphite reinforcement, compound-radius rosewood fingerboard (maple in Pro DK2MHT and Pro DK2MQHT) with 24 jumbo frets, direct-mount Seymour Duncan JB (bridge) and ’59 (neck) humbucking pickups with five-way switching, single volume tone controls, stylish headstock binding, direct-mount Jackson HT-6 hard-tail string-through bridge, locking Jackson tuners and Dunlop locking strap pins. The DK2QHT and DK2MQHT Pro Series offer the same specifications, with the additional feature of a striking 1/8 4A quilt maple cap. The DK2HT is available in Metallic Black; DK2MHT in Metallic Purple and Blue Glow; the DK2QHT in Natural and Transparent Red; and the DK2MQHT in Chlorine Burst and Transparent Red.

USA SELECT

USA Select B7MG, USA Select B7MG Deluxe, USA Select B8MG, and USA Select B8MG Deluxe

The seven-string B7MG features a beveled alder body, bolt-on quartersawn maple neck with graphite reinforcement and oil finish, compound-radius ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and side-dot position markers, 27” scale length, direct-mount EMG® 707 (neck) and 81-7 (bridge) pickups, Jackson direct-mount HT-7 hard-tail string-through bridge, Jackson-branded Gotoh® tuners and Dunlop locking strap pins. The USA Select B7MG Deluxe offers the same specifications as the B7MG, but with a 1-piece neck-thru-body quartersawn maple neck with graphite reinforcement and scarf joint. Both models available in Walnut Stain, Au Natural, Satin Black, and Satin Grey. Models include case.

The eight-string USA Select B8MG features a beveled alder body, bolt-on quartersawn maple neck with graphite reinforcement, compound-radius ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and side-dot position markers, 27” scale length, direct-mount EMG® 808 pickups, Jackson direct-mount HT-8 hard-tail string-through bridge, Jackson-branded Gotoh tuners and Dunlop locking strap pins. The USA Select B8MG Deluxe offers the same specifications as the B8MG, but with a 1-piece neck-thru-body quartersawn maple neck with graphite reinforcement and scarf joint. Both models available in Walnut Stain, Au Natural, Satin Black, and Satin Grey. Models include case.

JS SERIES

JS22-7 DKA Dinky, JS32-7Q Dinky, JS32-8Q Dinky, JS3QM Concert Bass, and JS3VQM Concert Bass

The JS22-7 DKA Dinky JS Series seven-string features an arch-top basswood body, bolt-on maple neck, 16”-radius rosewood fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and “piranha” inlays, 26.5” scale length, dual high-output Jackson humbucking pickups, single volume and tone controls, direct-mount hard-tail bridge, and die-cast tuners. Available in Satin Black.

The JS32-7Q Dinky JS Series seven-string, also available with eight strings as the JS32-8Q Dinky, features an arch-top basswood body with a dazzling quilt maple top, bolt-on maple neck, 16”-radius rosewood fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and piranha inlays, 26.5” scale length, stylish fingerboard and headstock binding, dual high-output Jackson seven-string humbucking pickups (eight-string on JS32-8Q Dinky), single volume and tone controls, direct-mount Jackson HT-7 (HT-8 on JS32-8Q Dinky) hard-tail bridge, and die-cast tuners. JS32-7Q Dinky available in Natural; JS32-8Q Dinky available in Transparent Red.

The four-string JS3QM Concert Bass and JS3VQM Concert Bass feature a basswood body with a quilt maple top, super-stable bolt-on maple neck with 24-fret compound-radius rosewood fingerboard, stylish fingerboard and headstock binding, 34” scale length (35” on the JS3VQM), dual high-output Jackson pickups, two volume controls and three-band active EQ (mid/low/high), high-mass four-string Jackson bridge (five-string on the JS3VQM), and die-cast mini tuners. JS3QM available in Transparent Red and Transparent Blue; JS3VQM available in Transparent Amber and Transparent Black.

For more information and to find a dealer near you, visit jacksonguitars.com.

"You know,” says Dave Mustaine, “the other day I was trying to explain to a friend the story of King Midas, and how terribly lonely that must have been for him to have everything he touched turn to gold.

"After a while that’s gotta suck, don’t you think? Especially if you touched your loved one…” The Megadeth singer and guitarist lets out a big laugh. “Although given some of the people I’ve had in my life, I’d probably be better off.”

While it’s safe to say Mustaine’s career hasn’t been exactly 100 percent golden — he’s experienced his fair share of lineup changes, lawsuits, personality clashes, drug addictions, less-than-stellar records, career-ending injuries, breakups and reunions, for starters—he has been blessed with something of a Midas touch.

In the more than 25 years he’s fronted Megadeth, Mustaine has crafted a body of work practically unparalleled in the world of heavy music. Several of his group’s early albums — 1986’s Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?, 1990’s Rust in Peace and 1992’s blockbuster Countdown to Extinction — continue to have a great influence on metal bands.

Which is not to say that Mustaine’s best moments are behind him. By his own estimation, they’re staring him square in the face. The Megadeth leader recently put the finishing touches on Endgame, his band’s 12th studio album and, in his opinion, one of the strongest of his career.

“I don’t know that I could make a better record than this one,” Mustaine says proudly. “I know I have another record in me, and probably a few more good songs. But this one’ll be hard to top.”

He’s also energized about the current Megadeth lineup: Endgame was recorded with drummer Shawn Drover and bassist James LoMenzo, both of whom played on 2007’s United Abominations, and new guitarist Chris Broderick, who stepped in for departed lead player Glen Drover during the 2007-2008 Tour of Duty road jaunt.

Endgame marks Broderick’s first recorded appearance with Megadeth, and the former Jag Panzer and Nevermore guitarist not only holds his own alongside Mustaine but also against the impressive players who preceded him in the band. “Chris is an absolutely incredibly talented musician,” says Mustaine. “And I honestly gotta tell ya, if I compared the guys I have now to any of the ones from the past, it’d be really hard not to say that this lineup isn’t the best I’ve had.”

Which is saying something, given the fact that earlier in the decade it looked as if Megadeth itself had become solidly of the past. After suffering radial nerve damage in his left arm in 2002, Mustaine called it a day, abruptly disbanding the outfit he had led for most of his adult life.

He was, however, unprepared for what would come next. “There was a good 17 months there where I would talk to people and be like, ‘Hi, I play guitar…’ And then I’d stop myself and go, ‘Well, I used to play guitar.’ And that hurt,” Mustaine recalls. “Or I’d hear myself say, ‘I used to be in a band called Megadeth,’ and it was like, Oh my God, used to? Really? It felt like shit.” Following a year and a half of intense rehabilitation, Mustaine rebooted Megadeth in 2004 with a fresh lineup and album, The System Has Failed. United Abominations followed three years later, and now comes Endgame.

As for what the future holds, if Mustaine gets his way — and he usually does — there’s little doubt more golden moments lie ahead. But if there’s anything to be gleaned from the past, it could be said that the only constant in Megadeth is change. “I have fear about the born-on date on the bottom of my feet, and what that date is,” Mustaine admits.

“Like, when does Megadeth’s music actually lose its cool? Did we already go through that period and survive? I mean, I’m nearing the point where I’ll be viable to be a contender for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What’s gonna happen then? All I know is, every day there’s a new twist in my life that makes me excited to wake up and find out what’s gonna come next.”

GUITAR WORLD: Since you restarted Megadeth in 2004, it seems that each album comes closer to what many people consider to be the band’s classic sound. In that respect, Endgame sounds more focused than its predecessors.

I don’t think focus was ever a problem, but let’s put it this way: Things have become less distracted. The System Has Failed was a heavy record, and in that respect it was a return to form. But we weren’t 100 percent there as a band. That’s because System was basically recorded as a session album. I had left Megadeth; I hurt my arm, and as far as I was concerned, I was done playing guitar. When I got better and came out of retirement, it was with the understanding that I was doing a solo record.

But while I was in the studio recording System I got a call from [then record label] EMI. They said, Oh, sorry, we forgot to tell you—you owe us another Megadeth record. So you can go do your little solo project, but until you give us that album, we own you for the rest of your life. Long story short, I changed what was supposed to have been a solo record back to a Megadeth record and put together a band.

That’s when I met the Drover brothers. Having those guys in the band got me really excited again, and that’s when I decided I was going to do more than one record. So we did United Abominations, which was even more of a return to form. We just needed to settle in and get comfortable, get back in the saddle. Now, with Shawn, James and Chris on guitar, I feel we’re there.

As with almost every album since The System Has Failed, you wrote the majority of Endgame entirely on your own. What’s your process as a songwriter?

I can give you any number of answers to that question, and they’d all be correct. Because there really is no set formula for me. I just let the music tell me where it wants to go. For example — and this is a touchy subject for me right now — I wrote the Endgame song “The Hardest Part of Letting Go…Sealed with a Kiss,” after my wife said to me, “We’ve been married 17 years and you’ve never written a song for me.”

So I did. And…she doesn’t like it. [laughs] Because the second half of the song talks about me bricking somebody up in a wall. And she’s like, “You better not brick me up in a wall!” So I told her, “Honey, this is no more about you than ‘In My Darkest Hour’ is about [late Metallica bassist] Cliff Burton.” People have always thought that that song is about Cliff because I’ve said that I wrote the music when he died. And the music is about him, but the lyrics are about [Mustaine’s former girlfriend] Diana. It’s a similar thing with “The Hardest Part of Letting Go.” I wrote the music for my wife, but the lyrics were inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story, because I thought the song called for an interesting twist.

I assume that’s the first and last song you’re going to write for her.

At least for a while. But the thing is, music is totally for the listener to interpret. It’s understandable that I would write a song and expect her to get it, because she’s a musician’s wife. But as far as my expecting her to like it…well, she’s exercising her rights. She knows she’s safe with me, so she can say she doesn’t like the lyrics, and if she ever sees me with a trowel she’s going to kill me! [laughs]

When it comes to songwriting, in general you’re not a particularly collaborative guy.

I don’t mind writing with other people. The trick is in figuring out what each person is putting in: Is it like bacon and eggs, where the chicken made a contribution and the pig’s ass is on the plate? Or is it 50/50 and you’re both giving your all? What I’ve experienced over my career is that it can go any number of ways. There have been songs I’ve written with my guys where we’d all contribute. Then there are other songs where the band didn’t really contribute that much, but unfortunately when the credits go down on paper it says “Written by Dave Mustaine and so and so.” So there’s the problem. But would I mind collaborating with other people? No.

You seem pretty content with your current bandmates. How did new guitarist Chris Broderick come into the picture?

Glen Drover recommended him. When Glen first said he was leaving the band, I thought, let’s call up [Nevermore guitarist] Jeff Loomis or [Annihilator’s] Jeff Waters. Now, I certainly wouldn’t pick Waters anymore, but I did get in touch with Loomis, and he couldn’t commit because he was in the middle of doing a solo record. And I understood that, so I moved on.

That’s when I decided to take a look at Chris. I watched some of his stuff online, and I thought, He’s good. He’s really good. So we met, and I found him to be exactly what I needed. He’s really focused on his guitar playing…and his bodybuilding. So I told him, “The only thing you need to understand is that Megadeth fans are pretty particular about who we are. I mean, you’ve got a great physique, and it’s totally cool to be healthy, but let’s be real about it: you’re a guitar player. Instead of squeezing in Megadeth in between workouts, you need to understand you’re squeezing workouts in between being in Megadeth. Weightlifting won’t make you famous!”

Physique aside, you’ve stated that Chris is the best guitarist you’ve had in Megadeth. Taking into account the caliber of the guys who have come before him, that’s no small compliment.

There’s a difference between being a great guitar player and having that little extra something, that flair. And Chris has it. I’ve been saying that he reminds me of Randy [Rhoads], because finding Chris makes me feel like I know what Ozzy must have felt when he discovered Randy.

So we get along great. You know, people have heard me say that I “sang” solos to [former guitarist] Marty [Friedman] in the studio, and I did. I did it to [former guitarists] Jeff [Young], Chris [Poland] and Al [Pitrelli], too. But Chris Broderick? I only did it two times, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of notes on Endgame. Now that is a testimony to a guy who has studied his partner.

You’ve always been somewhat humble about your own guitar skills.

One thing I will say is that, recently, I’ve noticed myself being voted into so many of these “best-of” guitar columns, and that’s really awkward for me, because I’ve grown accustomed to never being recognized for my playing. I’ve always wanted to be great, but I think I became so used to being number two that I forgot there even was a number one. And the self-deprecating thing became a way for me to not get too caught up in it. I could say I’m not that good before someone else did.

A trademark of your guitar sound is the fact that you almost always play in standard tuning. You don’t drop-tune, which is de rigueur for metal acts these days.

I feel that the guitar needs to be tuned to A440 so you can get the correct response out of it. And I believe that if you play some of those low-tuned songs on a guitar in standard tuning, you’ll hear that a lot of them don’t have good melodies. It becomes almost atonal and percussive. But now everybody does it, and because everybody’s in a band and has a song, you hear it more and more. A study was done recently that said there’s something like seven or eight million bands on MySpace. Now, how many of those bands do you think suck?

I don’t know. Seven or eight million?

A lot of ’em, yeah! I’m a professional, and a lot of people I know who are professionals suck. There was a period when I kinda sucked.

You think so?

I think that the [1999 Megadeth] record Risk would have sold if it had been called the Dave Mustaine Project. I think people would have loved that. But they expected to hear Megadeth, and they heard the record and were like, You know what, Dave? We know you’re having problems with Marty, but you’re the leader, so tell him to shape up or ship out.

Well, I kinda did, and that’s why he shipped out. After Risk I told him, “Man, we need to go back to our roots.” And he had a nervous breakdown. I mean, God bless the little fighter, but I didn’t want the guy to have to have a day nurse with him. You know that footage of Michael Jackson walking to court in his pajamas? That’s kinda how Marty was showing up at the end. He would walk in and it was like, Oh my God. And I thought, You know what? This is because we worked him too hard.

Do you ever talk to any of the former members? In particular, do you have a relationship with Dave Ellefson, with whom you had a pretty public falling out after almost 20 years of playing together?

You know, Dave sued me for 18-and-a-half million dollars. [In 2004, Ellefson filed suit against Mustaine claiming, among other things, breach of fiduciary obligation, libel and emotional distress.] And he lost. That had to have hurt. And the fans—a lot of them turned on him. That had to have hurt. He lost one of his oldest friends. That had to have hurt.

There probably were a lot of changes, financial and otherwise, he had to make in his life after Megadeth. That had to have hurt, too. And I’m not the kind of guy to sit back and watch that happen to somebody who, at one point, I loved. So I met with Dave a while ago and we had dinner, and he said, “You know, [suing you] was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I wish I never did it.” So I forgave him. Bottom line for me is there’s this one little thing I’ll always be curious about: I just keep thinking, if he had won the lawsuit, what would he have done? Would he have taken 18-and-a-half million dollars from me? Or would he have just said, You know what? I was just trying to prove a point. Let’s get back together and you behave yourself.

Do you think he wants to be back in Megadeth?

I don’t know. I think a person would be nuts not to want to be with me. I have a successful enterprise here. The band is better now than we’ve ever been. And I think our success right now is probably more obvious than it’s ever been.

That must feel good, given that you’re a quarter-century into your career with Megadeth. Did you think you’d be going this long?

Well, one thing that I realize is that when I started playing, things were so different in terms of what we considered “excess.” Marijuana was a juvenile drug, cocaine was kind of like a sophisticated drug, and heroin was for the serious guys. And it got so out of control in the late Eighties and Nineties.

My god, how many people OD’d during that time? I was one of them. Nikki [Sixx] was one of them. Several people died. It’s just crazy what we were doing. But it was all in the name of rock and roll. A lot of it, I don’t even remember what happened. Someone would come up to me and say, ‘Yeah, you died yesterday.” And I’d go, “Really?”

Does it surprise you that you’re still standing?

Yes, but here’s the thing that I love — the way the story is coming to a climax. Retirement is looming, and I’m actually okay with it. It’s a lot different when you surrender the baton as opposed to having someone take it out of your hand. And I’m ready to pass the baton because there are so many guitar players that are better than me right now, and there have been all along. I think there’s a new generation out there that needs to have its shot.

When you say “retirement is looming”—just how close is it?

I’ve got one more record on my contract. Then I’m done.

What will you do after that?

I’ll probably move off into the private sector. I have a studio going [Vic’s Garage, in San Marcos, California] that I’m handling with my son, and we’re trying to do a little “metal academy” type thing there. Just something cool to give back to the community, because man, I’m so overpaid and underworked, I have to give something back.

So you’ll become more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy?

As I get older I have to. I have to go get surgery on my back in a couple days. I’m losing my mobility because of headbanging for all these years. So just by process of elimination I’m having some things taken away from me. And if I can’t do it onstage anymore, I don’t wanna do it at all. I’m too much of a proud person.

When that day comes, will you leave feeling you accomplished everything you set out to do?

I feel that way right now. So I very much could walk away. And I’m actually leaning more toward leaving then staying because of my own pride and concern for wanting to go out on top. It’s important for me to do the right thing, and I think it would be great, if I was going to stop, to do it on the right level. Especially in this business, because people are always clamoring for more and more. But like I said, it’s time for me to start getting into some philanthropy.

After some speculation from fans that 2011's Thirteen might have been the band's last record, Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine made it official last night via Twitter that the band had started work on their fourteenth studio album.

"Johnny made it in," wrote Mustaine. "Record 14 is officially underway. Clips to upload tomorrow. Thrashin' time!"

Based on that, it would appear that producer Johnny K is once again manning the boards for Megadeth after working with the band on Thirteen. It's unclear at this time how the album be released, as Megadeth recently ended a lengthy, if a bit rocky, relationship with Roadrunner Records.

"Today marks the end of an era with Roadrunner," Mustaine announced earlier this month. "Hopefully we can finish strong with a Grammy."

Megadeth are nominated alongside Lamb of God, Anthrax, Marilyn Manson, Iron Maiden and Halestorm for the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance award.

This lesson is taken from the August 2010 edition of Chris Broderick's Guitar World column, "Chaos Theory."

Last month I introduced an original composition that involved the use of quickly played arpeggios, as well as utilized two-hand tapping techniques to emulate the way in which classical pianists play fluid-sounding arpeggios across multiple octaves.

This month’s example, which is part two of the same piece, continues in a manner similar to last month’s excerpt, with sequences consisting of steadily ascending four-note groups, i.e., each successive group begins one note higher in the arpeggio.

Let’s begin by looking at what is essentially the second half of the piece, illustrated in FIGURE 1. In bar 1, all the notes are based on a Gdim7 (G diminished seventh) arpeggio (G Bf Df E). After playing the first three notes, G Bf Df, I turn this into a four-note Gdim7 arpeggio and then repeatedly invert it by starting one note higher in the sequence each time. Notice that as the sequences progress, I use fret-hand “hammer-ons from nowhere”—sounding notes by firmly tapping a fret-hand finger onto a given string.

While the melody ascends in four-note patterns, it is phrased with the “feeling” of eighth-note triplets, with a 16th-note triplet played on each eighth note of the eighth-note triplet. Across the last beat and a half of bar 1, for the sake of varying the contour of the phrasing, I switch from four-note patterns to four groups of three-note patterns.

I return to four-note groupings in bar 2, based here on a Dm arpeggio (D F A) with the highest note doubled an octave lower, and descend the fretboard. During these descending arpeggios, the pick-hand tap always initiates the shift to notes sounded on a lower string. Notice also that I always jump two strings when switching to the next pick-hand tap. These four-note groups continue to descend through bar 3, bringing us into bar 4, which initiates a recap of the tapped Gm9 arpeggios (G Bf D F A) played in part one of the piece.

On beat one of bar 5, I switch to a straight scalar descent down G harmonic minor (G A Bf C D Ef Fs) and move to Efmaj7 (the Neapolitan chord in D minor) and descend through a series of four-note arpeggios based on Efmaj7 (Ef G Bf D). I then return to the Gdim7 arpeggios at the start of this excerpt and repeat bars 1 and 2 of FIGURE 1, and move to the second ending, which continues the four-note arpeggiations of Dm, descending and then ascending, through four octaves.

In bar 8 I return to conventional picking with a Dm sweep arpeggio, followed by fast alternate-picked phrases based on the D Aeolian mode (D E F G A Bf C). I change things up harmonically in bar 9 by playing a D major arpeggio (D Fs A), which serves as a V (five) chord to set up a resolution back to Gm, which ends the piece in bar 10.

While sustaining the Gm chord, I sound “touch” harmonics by lightly placing the fingers of my picking hand on certain strings exactly 12 frets above the fretted notes, and plucking the string simultaneously.

Scratch that new Les Paul off your Christmas wish list and add this: Testament's Alex Skolnick and Megadeth's Chris Broderick have just announced the first annual Skolnick & Broderick’s Winter Guitar Retreat, which is set to take place at Full Moon Resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains from December 26-30.

What better way to cap off the year than taking part in jam sessions, open mic nights, master classes and even private guitar lessons with two of metal's most well-rounded players.

"I'm really looking forward to partnering with my friend Chris Broderick for our Winter Guitar Retreat,” said Skolnick. “Each of us has a unique, individual approach to guitar and it's always fun to share one's experience with deserving students. Therefore, we've decided to join forces and create the ultimate post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s getaway for amateur and pro guitarists alike."

Broderick adds: "Come join Alex and myself this winter for a comprehensive look at how we view the guitar. It will not only be insightful, but relaxed and fun as well. We will cover things such as stage performance, live jam sessions, and all kinds of helpful guitar playing tips that you can utilize. I look forward to seeing you at this incredible event.”

You can check out a special video of Chris and Alex talking about their Winter Guitar Retreat below.

Attendees who register and pay in full prior to October 31 are being offered a 10% discount, so head here to get all the info and make your plans now!

Full Metal Jackie, corresponding for Guitar World from the Revolver-sponsored 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, got the chance to catch up with Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick for an exclusive interview. You can check it out in the video below.

Megadeth are currently wrapping up work on their new album, TH1RT3EN, which is due out this fall on Roadrunner Records.

For more information on this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, including dates, tickets and exclusive media, click here.

After more than three decades, Colorado power metal band Jag Panzer have decided to disband.

"We are proud of every album we released and the support we've received from the heavy metal community," states guitarist and founder Mark Briody. "We've played so many places around the world and enjoyed every minute of it, but the time has come where we just cannot move forward as a band."

Guitarist Christian Lasegue left the band last month to pursue his degree full time.

"Christian did an amazing job on The Scourge Of The Light, and it was a pleasure working with him," continues Briody. "We wished Christian well but kept this quiet until we found a replacement."

Drummer Rikard Stjernquist says, "Several guitar players applied for the job. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many young guitarists with advanced chops. One player, 19-year-old Jake Dreyer, submitted videos of him nailing solos from both Chris Broderick and Christian Lasegue. We were ready to welcome Jake into the band, but, unfortunately, that will not happen. There is no doubt in any of our minds that Jake will go on to be a household name in his own right."

Bassist John Tetley adds a final statement:" In closing, we’d like to send out a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to metal fans throughout the world. You all rule!"

The band released their final album, The Scourge Of The Light, this past March.

After repeatedly coming across Top 10 lists of “Hot Female Guitar Players,” I thought it only fitting that we turn the tables. You might notice that there are 12 guitarists in this photo gallery, not 10 (I couldn’t help myself!). But I have to say, locating hot male guitarists is kind of a challenge. (No offense, guys! We love you anyway.)

So the following has nothing to do with actual guitar chops, style, technique or anything else remotely guitar-related.

It's just a highly opinionated list of hot-looking guys who -- oh yeah -- also play guitar.

Payback: It’s a bitch.

So, any that I’ve missed? If so, let me know in the comments!