The foundation of virtually every genre of modern, guitar-driven music is the blues. I’m known as a blues-rock player, and even within the rockier side of my music, I always start and end with the blues.

For example, if I’m playing in the key of F, I will very often rely on melodic single-line figures that originate from my love of and time spent listening to single-note blues guitar improvisation.

Figure 1 illustrates five bars of improvised soloing that are very vocal-like. I begin in the 6th-position “B.B. box,” which positions the index finger on the F root note on the B string’s 6th fret. The surrounding notes – D, G, Ab, Bb, and C – make reference to both the F major pentatonic (F, G, A, C, D) and F minor pentatonic scales (F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb).

Bars 2 and 3 shift up the board to focus more on F minor pentatonic, but at the end of bar 3 into bar 4, I move from F major pentatonic back into F minor pentatonic. Switching between these two scales is a staple of blues guitar that I learned from listening to all of my heroes: B.B. King, Otis Rush, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and many others.

With that familiar ground firmly established, it feels like a natural transition to broaden the harmony into other modes. In Figure 2, I add the notes Gb and Db to F minor pentatonic while substituting the major 3rd, A, for the minor 3rd, Ab.

The result is the F Phrygian-dominant mode (F, Gb, A, Bb, C, Db, Eb), which is the fifth mode of the Bb harmonic minor scale (Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, A), made up of the same seven notes. In bar 3, I move back into blues territory with a phrase based on F minor pentatonic.

I’ll begin most solos with lines rooted in the blues, even if it’s not a blues song. I learned that from Eric Clapton; I saw an interview where he said, “I always start with the blues.” You will certainly hear great examples of this in his recordings with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and Cream.

To my mind, it’s not just about the scales; it’s about the phrasing and how tactile you are in your articulation and execution. The thought process is, which notes should sting, which notes should moan, and how can I effectively express emotion.

Figure 3 picks up at the fourth bar of an improvised phrase, kicking off with an F major triad (F, A, C). This is a good example of how a triad can function as a “stepping stone” when moving from one phrase or area of the neck to another.

In bar 5 and into bar 6 of the figure, I lean a bit heavier into the gas pedal with fast phrases inspired by another one of my big influences, Eric Johnson.

I’ve found it very useful to have built a foundation in the blues, which helps me to move into broader musical territory. Next month, we’ll explore this further.

• The Spirit of Rory Live From Cork is out now via J&R Adventures
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Pedals Week 2026: Looper pedals are undoubtedly one of the best writing tools a guitar player can have in their arsenal, but they’re also invaluable for anyone looking to sharpen their skills as a soloist, both technically and theoretically.

You could take the chord progression from one of your favorite songs, for example, and start testing out new ideas – which will help you find your voice and identity on your instrument.

As any Guitar World reader already knows, it can be highly rewarding to learn your favorite solos note for note, but studying the chord progression underneath them will help you put your own spin on things. And this is precisely where a looper will come in handy.

Some of the world’s greatest solos were written over movements that allowed the players to create something truly astounding and unique. The more attention you pay to chords and rhythms, the more impactful your solo might end up sounding.

Play the chords into your looper and start experimenting with different sounds and feels. You might notice how some tracks stay in one key and allow you to build your story a scene at a time without any radical harmonic departures.

In other situations, you might notice that some of the chords you’re playing over allow you to add in other tonalities and venture outside of the key, with options for more ear-catching notes from a different scale – from the introduction of Dorian, Aeolian or Mixolydian flavors to more dramatic-sounding harmonic and melodic minor scales.

So, even if you feel like music theory isn’t a strong point, just a little bit of due diligence can go a long way to impress listeners and help you learn how to deliver a solo that truly soars and sings. Your ear is the most important thing here.

Here are 10 tracks that are great for looping, with repetitive progressions that give you plenty of opportunities to conjure up something extra special.

1. Eagles – Hotel California

It’s one of those songs that’s always in the running for the greatest guitar solo(s) of all-time, with Don Felder and Joe Walsh going head to head before joining forces for some lavish harmonized arpeggios at the end.

The minor chord progression underneath is what gives ample opportunity to create something dramatic, with the V chord being changed to dominant (F#7 instead of F#min) and the IV chord alternating between major and minor instead of staying minor.

This is what allows soloists to switch between B pentatonic and Aeolian to harmonic minor, especially on the substituted chords Ultimately, the goal here is to not stick with one scale – make your solo more fluid and unpredictable to catch listeners off-guard.

2. John Mayer – Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

If you’re looking for the perfect song to master your C# minor pentatonic chops, as well as its E major relative, this could very well be it. Unlike Hotel California, the progression is completely diatonic and therefore feels like it’s all in one key, so it’s more about phrasing and delivery than note choices when targeting chords.

With a laid-back tempo and slinky feel, it’s the kind of musical scenario that calls for big pentatonic bends, and therefore works as a practice tool for pitch accuracy. It’s worth asking yourself what note are you trying to bend up to and how close are you getting.

3. Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb

Often cited as one of David Gilmour’s greatest moments, this final single from Pink Floyd’s 1979 rock opera The Wall is an absolute masterclass in how to speak B minor pentatonic.

Pay attention to your vibrato and note choice, because these are two areas where Gilmour is known to excel, and see if you can find your own lines that feel natural and avoid over-complication.

The bar where the chords drop from G to F#min and Emin calls for something extra special – think about what you can play to emphasize the movement underneath you and have some fun with it.

4. B.B. King – The Thrill Is Gone

Anyone trying to master the art of 12-bar blues will undoubtedly come across this Grammy-winning hit from 1969. This is another B minor progression that’s all about the bends – know exactly what you’re aiming for and see what happens when you undershoot or overshoot to unlock “the in-between notes” on the fretboard, like the original blues masters.

The minor pentatonic will be your friend here, but if you’re looking to spice things up, try introducing B melodic minor or A# half-whole diminished scales over the dominant chord (F#7) to create tension before the progression returns to root. This resolution from the V chord to the I is often referred to as a perfect cadence.

5. Metallica – Wherever I May Roam

Arguably one of the most famous heavy metal tracks written using the Phrygian scale, the fourth single from Metallica’s self-titled landmark album of 1991 is a great way of introducing yourself to more outside ideas.

For his solo, Kirk Hammett chose to use a mixture of E minor pentatonic and E Phrygian Dominant – which is the fifth mode of A harmonic minor – to great effect. The big jump from a minor second to a major third is a surefire way of capturing people’s attention.

Use it too much, however, and it loses its effect. So try switching between Phrygian, which has a minor third, and its dominant sibling to mix things up – essentially swapping a G for a G# wherever you think it feels right. Follow your ears and have fun.

6. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven

Maybe don’t try this one while testing looper pedals in your local guitar shop, but if you’re hoping to explore the world of natural minor, this hit provides a perfect backdrop.

The A minor pentatonic scale will do the trick for most of the chords, but highlighting the F chord with an F note will add a sense of sophistication to what you play, showing everyone how you understand the song’s inner workings by targeting the sound of a minor 6th at exactly the right time.

If you listen to the last note of Jimmy Page’s opening line, you’ll hear how it creates an atmosphere of tension after the familiarity of more bluesy sounds.

7. Free – All Right Now

Some of the world’s greatest guitar solos aren’t strictly major or minor, with the player blending ideas from both worlds into one seamless package. This 1970 hit is one of those, thanks to Paul Kossoff’s iconic fretwork halfway into the song.

Maybe start off in A major pentatonic and work your way into A minor pentatonic as your solo builds towards its grand crescendo, or try using both in a ‘call and answer’ fashion. Kossoff’s vibrato also played a huge part in his solo’s overall feel, so experiment with how you shake the notes you’re choosing to let ring – there’s plenty of space to get creative and express yourself here.

8. Joe Bonamassa – Sloe Gin

The New York blues maverick is one of the undisputed titans of the long-form solo, and the title track from his 2007 album is the perfect example of why that is. Once you’ve recorded the chords into your looping pedal, begin with some simple phrases in D minor and slowly build your ideas in terms of intensity and dynamics.

The original solo is almost three minutes long and never outstays its welcome. Holding back is an art form in itself – and playing along to a progression like this is a great way of learning how to flow naturally through control and discipline, keeping the listener on the edge of their seats every step of the way.

The chords to Purple Rain by Prince would also work very well for this – look at it as telling a story with a beginning, middle and end, rather than going in all guns blazing.

9. Joe Satriani – Flying In A Blue Dream

If you’re mainly used to pentatonic scales, Lydian – which is the fourth mode of the major scale – can present some serious challenges when it comes to phrasing.

Jamming along to the chords from this title track on Joe Satriani’s third full-length, released in 1989, is a great way of familiarizing yourself with these shapes and sounds. You can look at C Lydian from a G major perspective, which is its parent scale, or think of it as C major with a sharpened fourth, or even C major pentatonic with the inclusion of a B and an F.

Ultimately, different ways of visualizing a scale can help you explore new sonic horizons. Experiment with every possibility, even the ones that feel more confusing and less natural, because they might push you in a completely new direction.

10. Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways

Much like Moore’s most famous track Still Got The Blues, this late ’70s hit is a great way of getting used to cycle-of-fifth progressions, also typified by songs like Autumn Leaves and I Will Survive.

Parisienne Walkways is in the key of A natural minor but at the end of the main progression, the perfect cadence of a V chord (E7) into the I chord (Amin) provides an opportunity to use the A harmonic minor scale for extra tension, which is then released by resolving back to the root.

Like Stairway To Heaven, it’s a great way of learning how to change just one note over the right chord and provide more depth for the listener to appreciate, taking them on a journey that travels further and therefore exceeds expectation.

Teenage blues prodigy Rhys John Stygal has been reunited with his electric guitar after it was stolen in Austin, Texas, last month.

Stygal, who has been hailed as the next Stevie Ray Vaughan for his uncanny ability to channel the late blues legend, reported the theft of his guitar and pedalboard in an Instagram post. It was also confirmed his bandmate Nico Little had also had a guitar stolen.

He received support from Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Gary Clark Jr. and Jared James Nichols, with Joe Bonamassa issuing a public plea for the gear to be found and returned.

Now, a follow-up post from Texas Rebels, a band based in Austin, has confirmed the safe return of Stygal’s prized Fender Stevia Ray Vaughan Stratocaster.

“Shoutout to the community, we got them back,” the band’s guitarist, Jacob West, said. “Especially shout out to James Levin with Elmore Pedals. None of this would have been able to be done without you.”

Details surrounding the guitar’s recovery have not been shared, but West did add in the caption: “We’re not gonna put the person who returned them on blast.

“Whether the long story he gave was real or not, doesn’t matter, the instruments are returned to their homes where they belong.”

“I cannot believe I am so lucky, to be surrounded by the best community in Austin,” Stygal wrote in the comments. “Thank you so much to everyone who helped bring our treasures home. You’re the best ever.”

It’s not been confirmed whether Stygal’s pedalboard has also been recovered.

Stygal burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old prodigy, winning over a legion of fans thanks to his beastly blues chops that pay homage to his hero, SRV.

He has previously credited music and the guitar with saving his life, using the blues to help cope with extreme anxiety that was brought about by his autism. The return of his Number One guitar, which has been by his side for the whole time, is fantastic news indeed.

Visit Stygal's Instagram page to keep up to date with his playing journey.

As a guitarist that plays a lot of blues, I find myself performing many different kinds of shuffles, from slow to medium to fast. One of my all-time favorite blues recordings is Steppin’ Out, as covered by John Mayall on Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. (The original version is by Memphis Slim and features Matt “Guitar” Murphy, of The Blues Brothers fame, on guitar.)

Steppin’ Out is a hard-driving medium-up shuffle in the key of G, and Clapton’s guitar playing on that track is just incredible. He plays with so much fire and creativity, as well as this distinctly youthful British exuberance.

Figure 1 is a two-bar phrase along the lines of the signature lick in Steppin’ Out. It’s played in the key of G and is based on the G minor pentatonic scale (G, Bb, C, D, F), with an abundance of quarter- , half- and whole-step bends on the G string.

I love the way Eric draws from his Freddie King influence, in terms of his melodic phrasing and articulation, as demonstrated in the pickup bar and bar 1 of Figure 2, into the Freddie-style reverse-rake “slurs” at the end of bar 2 into bar 3. Throughout the example, notice all of the subtle, expressive bends on the top three strings.

In bars 8-12, the melody and phrasing is so simple – just swinging eighth notes – but the lines are delivered in a way that is also a nod to the great T-Bone Walker, in the use of hammer-ons from the minor 3rd, Bb, to the major 3rd, B, as well as the inclusion of the 2nd, or 9th, A.

In bar 12 into bar 13, I switch to G major pentatonic (G, A, B, D, E), moving back into G minor pentatonic in bar 16. In bar 17, I play a series of D notes on the B string, all on the eighth-note upbeats, that are bent in increasing increments, ending with a one‑and-a-half-step bend that is shaken. In bars 19 through the end of the example, I move freely between G minor and major pentatonic ideas.

Clapton also loves to go up high on the neck and hit you with aggressive unison bends on the top two strings, a la the phrases that kick off Figure 3. This lick begins with F, at the 18th fret on the B string, bent up a whole step to G while a G note at the 15th fret on high E string is strummed together with the B string, ultimately adding aggressive vibrato to the unison bend.

The remainder of the example is played in the 15th-position G minor pentatonic box and features fast hammer-ons and pull-offs as well as vocal-like, wide and fast vibratos.

When soloing over a shuffle like this, it’s wise to hold back some ideas at first, so that you don’t play everything you know in the first chorus! Take your time, hold and shake some notes and let the solo build in a musically natural way. Follow your stream of consciousness and use dynamics to tell a musical story.

Just about every blues show I attended in the ’80s and ’90s started with an uptempo shuffle like Steppin’ Out, and the Mayall-Clapton version is a great vehicle for learning what blues soloing is all about.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

As the ultimate gear aficionado, Joe Bonamassa and tube amps go hand in hand – with his legion of Dumble amps, 1950s Fender tweeds, vintage Marshalls, boutique builds and even Gary Moore’s Soldano gracing the halls of Nerdville West and East.

And while Bonamassa is largely analog through and through, the blues maestro may very well be changing his tune, or, at least, warming up to the possibility of incorporating more digital gear in his roster, as he was recently spotted brandishing a Fender Tone Master amp on tour.

Bonamassa even went as far as sharing a photo of his signature Fender ’59 High Powered Twin alongside a tweed-covered Fender Tone Master Twin – part of the Fender range that aims to bring its classic amps into the digital realm.

So what spurred this change? “I’ve got to be honest with you and admit when I’m wrong,” Bonamassa tells MusicRadar.

“I still have my other tube amps behind me. It’s just that the high-powered Twin is now a Tone Master. When I first plugged into it, I realised this shit’s good. I wanted to dislike it, I really wanted to dislike it! But I couldn’t.

“My production manager, my sound tech, even my other guitar player Josh Smith – they were all telling me it sounds better and feels right. And I was like, ‘I know!’”

While Bonamassa admits defeat, he does mention that there’s one thing that convinced him that going digital still fits his ethos. Turns out, it’s a deal breaker…

“I think the trick at this point is to be physically pushing out sound,” he says. “You have to be moving air. By having the right speakers, the Tone Master works. It’s not like I’m plugging into a direct box, which I could, but I don’t think that would sound good.

“That’s where a lot of this digital modeling stuff can start sounding a little generic. With a lot of the things out there, you’re not moving air, and the dynamic range is limited. For me, moving air is essential, just like playing loud,” he concludes.

At nearly 90 years old, Buddy Guy is still carrying the torch for the blues and remains a guiding force for current and future generations of blues players.

Fresh off his cameo in Ryan Coogler's highly lauded film Sinners, Guy’s legacy is continuing to be celebrated, as Blackbird Presents and Live Nation are teaming up to organize Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration.

The event, taking place on October 1 at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York City, is set to be a one-night-only event with collaborations, performances, and heartfelt tributes from artists influenced by Guy’s work.

The all-star lineup includes a veritable list of legends and blues virtuosos: Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, Jon Batiste, Aloe Blacc, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, Billy F Gibbons, Ivan Neville, Robert Randolph, Bobby Rush, Isaiah Sharkey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jimmie Vaughan, Ally Venable, Willie Weeks, and Kim Wilson.

More artists and special guests are set to be announced soon, and the man himself, Buddy Guy, will (of course) also perform, proving that he's still got the blues.

Current Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan serves as the musical director.

Speaking about the event, Guy says, “Can't wait to celebrate 90 years of living, loving, and playing the blues with all my friends. We’ll make it a night not just for me, but for the folks who taught us, the friends we’ve played with, and the ones coming up behind us.”

In a recent interview with Guitar Player, the blues icon has explained why he’s not giving up touring just yet, as he prepares to hit the road on July 15, starting at Massey Hall in Toronto.

“I thought about retiring twice,” he says. “But, y’know, I thought about all those great blues players who are no longer with us – B.B. King. Lightnin’ Hopkins, all those guys – and they used to tell me, ‘You need to keep playing and keep representing the blues,’ ’cause they don’t play it on radio or anything anymore.

“So I said to myself, ‘Well, Buddy, you better hang on a little longer. My health ain’t doing too bad, so I’m still doing what I’ve always done. Every time I get onstage, just try to play the best I can.”

Tickets go on sale to the general public on June 26 at 10 AM ET. Head to Buddy 90 to find out more.

Guy is set for a very busy rest of the year, having also been announced for this year's edition of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival.

Rhys John Stygal, the teenage blues sensation who’s been hailed as the next Stevie Ray Vaughan, is appealing for help after his Number One electric guitar and pedalboard were stolen.

Joe Bonamassa helped the cause, asking fans and followers to keep an eye out for Stygal’s gear, which went missing in Austin, Texas. Jared James Nichols and Kenny Wayne Shepherd have all also shared Stygal’s plea on their own platforms.

“With an absolutely broken heart I need to let you all know that my Number One and my pedal board were stolen in Austin,” Stygal wrote on an Instagram post yesterday (June 17). “The police are aware and Nico [Little, whose band Stygal plays in] is doing his best to search every possible place in Austin while I am in Mississippi.”

Stygal’s Number One is a Three-Color Sunburst Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster. Distinctive marks include Buddy Guy’s signature on the headstock, ‘RJS’ stickers on the pickguard, tape around the middle pickup, and its mismatched bridge saddles.

It also has a picture of SRV behind the bridge springs, a ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ sticker on the back, and plenty of natural wear and tear on the body finish and neck.

Stygal’s pedalboard, meanwhile, comprises a Boss TU-3, Pedal Pawn Fuzz, Ruby Red Sparkle 40th Anniversary Ibanez TS808, MXR Loop Selector, and Walrus Audio Monuments.

Stygal has previously opened up on how the guitar changed his life, helping him overcome extreme anxiety brought about by his autism. His Number One guitar has been by his side for his whole journey.

“My Number One saved me from my own dark days,” he says. “There are 1000s of hours on that guitar, I learnt everything on it, please could I ask you all to share my post to help find it and get it home.

“I’d be forever grateful, I’ll update this post with all the information of my stolen things as soon as I can.”

In his own post, Bonamassa wrote, “Hey folks.. Let's be on the lookout for Rhys' guitar and pedal board that was stolen yesterday in Austin Texas. Rhys is an incredible guitarist from the UK and a world class bloke to boot.”

Steve Lukather, Gary Clark Jr., Susan Tedeschi and Tomo Fujita have all offered their support to Stygal. A GoFundMe page, which will raise funds for a reward or to replace the stolen gear, has been set up. $1,838 has been raised at the time of writing.

Anyone with information is being asked to email info@elmorepedals.com, or contact Stygal privately. A reward of $1,500 has been offered for the guitar’s return.

Stygal burst on to the scene as a 16-year-old, amassing a huge following thanks to monstrous blues chops that channeled prime SRV.

Visit the GoFundMe page and Rhys John Stygal’s Instagram page for more.

Joe Bonamassa may be coming around to the prospect of playing digital modeling amps after he seemingly took a Fender Tone Master amp on tour.

Bonamassa’s affection for tube amps is well known. He owns a legion of high-end Dumble amps, and has played everything from early 1950s Fender tweeds and even Gary Moore’s old Soldano.

He also partnered with Fuchs for a signature valve amp, and once worked with Fender on an artist edition ‘48 Dual Professional combo.

As a vocal critic of modeling tech, it seemed unlikely – nay, borderline impossible – that Bonamassa would ever warm to the idea of playing anything digital whatsoever.

Well, the tide may be turning. A few weeks ago, Bonamassa shared a photo on Instagram of a pair of Fender Twins. However, some eagle-eyed fans noticed the Tweed had a ‘Tone Master’ plate on the grille.

“Well, Well, Well! What do we have here?” Bonamassa wrote. “Fresh in from the Arizona territory of Scottsdale. Beta testing something new and exciting on this tour. @fender Spot the difference and you might win a prize (prizes will not be honored).”

Why is this a big deal? Because Fender Tone Master amps are completely digital – and if Bonamassa is confident enough to play a digital combo live on stage, then that’s a huge seal of approval for the range.

Fender rolled out the Tone Master lineup in 2019, presenting them as modeling amps that captured authentic tube amp tones associated with its most iconic designs, including a number of Tweeds and Twins.

JoBo is a through-and-through tube traditionalist, so the fact he’s playing a digital recreation of a valve amp (which he probably owns) is telling. He’s spoken in the past about his aversion for such tech, particularly modelers, previously reasoning why he’d never play one.

But it seems the tech has finally convinced him, encouraging him to U-turn and embrace modern amps. Replying to Jason Isbell on the post, Bonamassa offered further praise, writing: “It's honestly really amazing what they did digitally. I wanted to dislike it!”

Just how far Bonamassa will lean into the modeling amp world remains to be seen. Playing one at home is one thing, taking it on tour is another. But this doesn’t look like a one-time-thing. Bonamassa could be in it for the long haul – just don't expect him to play a Tone Master Pro any time soon.

Keep an eye on Joe Bonamassa’s Instagram page for sightings of his new Tone Master in action.

Joe Bonamassa has one of the world’s greatest guitar collections, but tracking down his iconic 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard, the so-called Bolin ’Burst, led to what he described as “the strangest guitar deal I ever did”.

The Bolin ’Burst got its name from its long-running association with Deep Purple and Zephyr guitarist Tommy Bolin.

Guitarist got to see (and photograph) the instrument up close when they were invited to ‘Nerdville, USA’ – the guitar icon’s given name for his personal musuem – for a guided tour of his awe-inspiring 500+ guitar collection.

It’s full of stories of valuable vintage finds, but it seems even an instrument as famous as the Bolin ’Burst still has a few surprises to offer, as Bonamassa reveals...

“Tommy Bolin never owned this guitar,” explains Bonamassa. “That’s the misconception. It was owned by a guy named David Brown who bought it in 1966 for $125 in Denver. His daughter actually sent me the receipt.

“When Tommy’s Goldtop got nicked in the early ’70s when he was with Zephyr, David was Tommy’s right-hand man and he loaned him this ’Burst. And so Tommy played it all through Zephyr and Deep Purple.”

Bonamassa notes Bolin did not use it on his album with Billy Cobham, Spectrum (on which he favored a Fender Stratocaster).

“They put the [Bigsby] vibrato on the Bolin ’Burst because Tommy was a Strat guy,” says Bonamassa.

The blues rock ace learned the art of buying vintage guitars by accompanying his dad (a vintage dealer) on guitar safaris, throughout his childhood. However, even he says tracking down the Bolin ’Burst was not an easy process.

“I looked for this guitar for about a decade,” explains Bonamassa. “I finally located David in Moab, Utah. I made a deal with him, paid him in cash, and he died two months later in a car accident. His last text to his daughter was, ‘I buried the money in the desert.’ Weird, weird story. It was also the strangest guitar deal I ever did.”

We presume the guitar’s had a more secure homelife since it’s been under the blues rocker’s careful custodianship, but it does get live airings – such when Joe Bonamassa brought the Bolin ’Burst out to cover Deep Purple.

A topic that’s near and dear to guitar players everywhere is pickups – what to use, what we love about them, and how to set them up for optimal performance. For our discussion, I’ll be using two examples of what is essentially the same guitar — a 1958 goldtop Gibson Les Paul Standard with PAF humbucking pickups and a 1956 goldtop Les Paul Standard with P-90 pickups.

Let’s first talk about setting up the pickups. I like the pickup height to be close to the strings, especially the bridge pickup. This results in the most output and brightness, which is the kind of attack I like to hear.

Pickup height is adjusted by using a screwdriver to turn the mounting screws clockwise or counterclockwise. With humbuckers, I like the front, or neck, pickup to be “wooly” – fat-sounding and with some distortion – but clear.

Be careful, however, not to raise it too close to the strings, as the magnets can start to interfere with the strings’ vibrations and cause notes to sound out of tune.

Figure 1 is an E minor pentatonic-based phrase played with the neck humbucker. When I switch to the bridge pickup, as I do in Figure 2, I like the output to be balanced with that of the neck pickup, so that the only thing changing is an increase in the amount of high end, which serves as a sort of solo boost.

In Figure 3, bars 1-5, I have both pickups on, which produces a nice blend between the fatness of the neck pickup and the “cut” of the bridge pickup. This example is played in the key of A, with lines based on the A minor pentatonic scale (A, C, D, E, G), with the inclusion of the major 3rd, C#, alluding to an A7 chord. In bar 5, I switch to the bridge pickup only.

With some P-90-equipped guitars, the neck pickup is too close to the strings and the bridge pickup is too far away. If you were to leave it that way, the instrument will never sound sonically balanced, so follow the same height adjustment guidance given for humbuckers.

P-90s are single-coil pickups, so their overall sound is more sparkly and clear than that of humbuckers, especially with a clean tone. But when overdriven, they will deliver a fat sound that’s killer. Being single-coil pickups, however, they can be prone to noise and hum, so you have to try and address that.

Figure 4 is played with the neck P-90, featuring lines based on the C# minor pentatonic scale (C#, E, F#, G,# B).

In Figure 5, I switch to the bridge pickup, and move from B7 to E7 with lines based on E minor pentatonic.

Both humbuckers and P-90s have their ideal applications, and for many players, including me, the variations in sound, feel and texture are indispensable.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Not all guitar auctions yield record sales. Blockbuster auctions like the Jim Irsay Collection that broke all the records – 23 of them, including for most expensive guitar sold as David Gilmour’s Black Strat fetched $14.5m – are exceptional.

They speak to the cultural significance of the instruments, and Irsay’s Collection was like no other. This was an auction that saw someone pay $6,907,000 for Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang, $11,560,000 for Jerry Garcia’s “Tiger” guitar and both would have been world records.

But these auctions also speak to the enduring strength of the market for vintage guitars, and dealers and collectors will tell you that the trend might have been ticking upward in the past two decades, yet some years the market struggles. The pandemic era was one of them.

Fender declared it a boom time for players picking up the instrument, as thousands of people with all this mandated stay-at-home time decided that it was time to learn guitar. Collectors remember it differently. Vintage guitar expert Dave Davidson, in his latest column in Guitarist magazine, said it was a tough time for auctions, and cited Neal Schon’s experiences in 2021 as evidence.

Schon had decided to part with a lot of 112 guitars, selling some of the most famous guitars in his collection through Heritage Auctions. He sold his Don’t Stop Believin’ 1977 Les Paul Pro Deluxe for $250,000, which ironically just sold again in March 2026 as part of the Jim Irsay Collection for only $4,000 more.

He sold 10 guitars that fetched six figures, most notably the Grainger Burst 1959 Les Paul Standard for $300,000 and another ‘Burst that went for $350,000.

But many didn’t sell, such as the exquisite 2005 double-neck PRS Dragon, valued at $37,500. And what about Schon’s 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom in so-called wine red, an all-mahogany single-cut finished in Cherry for the export market? Davidson says only six of these were ever made. “Very few people know that these exist and this one may be the only surviving version that is fully intact,” he says.

It sold for $112,500 in 2021 and Davidson says this was indicative of a “brutal” auction in which Schon took a bath on a number of guitars.

“Neal sold it in the Heritage Auction in the pandemic,” says Davidson. “It turned out to be the worst time to do an auction because his guitars really undersold.”

Davidson says he wasn’t alone in thinking that it was going to be tough. Blues guitar superstar and collector extraordinaire Joe Bonamassa was of the opinion that Schon should have held fire.

“I remember having a conversation with Bonamassa afterwards and he felt Neal should have waited,” says Davidson. “I was amazed he didn’t just get a storage place and put it off for a year or two, but nobody knew where the market was going to go at the time.”

But then if the market was always so predictable then investing and collecting would be easy. What is it that Bonamassa is always saying about market value: an electric guitar (or anything) is only worth how much someone is willing to pay for it.

If watching Schon’s guitars go under the auction brought Davidson and his fellow vintage traders out in a cold sweat, the fortunes of the market would swing around again.

“It was a brutal auction to watch because we were worrying that it would hurt the vintage guitar market,” says Davidson. “But it had no effect either way. Things just started popping like crazy a couple of months after the auction happened.”

It was too late for Schon. He had put a lot of work into the auction, too, presenting these guitars on camera, telling the stories behind them – and stories, as we know, can make them more valuable. So, the 1960 Les Paul Custom, a stunning instrument, in great condition (Davidson believes a “cowboy chord player” previously owned it because the only fret wear is on the first three frets), was a bargain.

“Neal just missed the boat, which is a shame,” he says.

You can read the full story about this remarkable Les Paul in the latest issue of Guitarist – get it, or better still, subscribe and save, at Magazines Direct.

Aside from carving out a space for himself in the contemporary blues-rock scene, Jared James Nichols also has a side hustle as a podcaster, with the No Cover Charge Podcast, co-hosted with Tyler Larson, promising guitar aficionados and gearheads an “all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar.”

And, one of Nichols’ most memorable episodes is having Joe Bonamassa test out one of Gary Moore’s most prized amps – his 1989 Soldano SLO-100 head – which the Nerdville owner recently acquired at the Final Encore auction last year.

“Joe must have balls of steel because when we got there, the amp hadn’t been serviced or even turned on,” Nichols tells Guitar World in an upcoming interview about the experience.

“It literally just showed up in a shipping crate. It was a bit like finding a classic muscle car, sticking some gas in, and firing it up. Joe was cranking it right away with a 1959 Les Paul.”

As Nichols explains, in the actual video, “you can see the power sizzle down, shut off, and then come back. It did that a few times. It’s like we were feeling Gary Moore’s spirit in the room.”

The podcast – and Nichols’ own reputation – means he gets to test out some pretty epic (and iconic) gear.

“I feel pretty spoiled when I think about all the cool shit I get to be around,” he says matter-of-factly. “I also did a video on Gary’s JTM45 Bluesbreaker, which another friend got at auction. I own Gary’s original Guv'nor pedal, so we used that with a 1959 Les Paul.

“Here’s the crazy shit: the power went out four times, which has never happened before,” he divulges. “ Then this horrible rainstorm came. Something weird and energetic happened. I got the chills and remember saying, ‘Dude, I think Gary Moore’s here.’”

Guitar World’s full interview with Jared James Nichols will be published in the coming weeks.

In related news, Nichols recently revealed why he stopped obsessing over acquiring more gear – and homed in on his playing instead.

Renowned bluesman, guitar expert and all-round gear guru Joe Bonamassa has taken Guitar World down a deep-dive into the differences between P-90s and humbuckers – discussing what makes the former sing and how best to set them up.

P-90s were big players for the best part of a decade before humbuckers came along and became the most common choice, especially in Gibsons. But what’s the difference between the two?

On the sliding scale of pickup tones, P-90s are said to be dead center. Generally speaking, while single-coils have snap and bite, humbuckers offer more warmth and size. P-90s sit right between them.

But how does that translate in application? Well, in a new Guitar World video, Bonamassa delivers the answer.

He’s armed himself with two Gibson Les Pauls that are as close in makeup as possible, save for their pickups. There’s a ‘58 Goldtop Standard with PAF-style humbuckers, and a ‘56 with P-90s.

“The difference with P-90s is they're a little bit more sparkly when you roll the volume down,” he explains. “They’re more like single-coils, but they’re pretty woolly when you roll the volume up.” It covers all bases.

Speaking with Gibson last year, Joe Bonamassa claimed that “most people who are real dyed-in-the-wool Gibson people will say behind closed doors when the internet isn’t watching that their favorite pickup is a P-90.”

“They're cleaner,” he believes. “There's a sparkle on top that a humbucking pickup doesn't get.”

And that’s why his Copper Iridescent Epiphone model is, like Warren Haynes' new signature, loaded with them over usual humbuckers.

But the pickup height makes a big difference, too. There are two schools of thought when it comes to pickup heights: keep them close to the strings for maximum output, or move them further away and push the amp.

Bonamassa falls in the former category when it comes to humbuckers, but P-90s require a change of tact.

“[With P-90s], I try to get the front pickup as low as I possibly can, and the back pickup as high as possible,” he states. “It creates more of a balance. Sometimes you've gotta use popsicle sticks and put it on some low-budget, de facto scaffolding to get it to work.”

P-90s are having a bit of a moment. Haynes had them fitted into his recent signature Gibson after discovering the benefits they offer. Former Ozzy Osbourne shredder, Jake E. Lee, has also been talking about the lesser-loved pickups.

“Humbuckers are great, but, to me, the P-90s were always the best of both worlds,” he tells Guitar World. “They have that articulation, attack, and aggressiveness that single coils have, but they’re also kind of smooth and beefy-sounding, like humbuckers.

The only reason he didn't play them during his Ozzy days was “because they didn’t make humbucking P-90s, so you’d have to deal with all that noise that comes with them, and at the volume I played at, it just was untenable.”

Haynes has also explained why he’s defected from ‘buckers, as P-90s find themselves in vogue once more.

Joe Bonamassa has issued a public plea to help Mason Stoops recover his guitar gear, after some of his most-prized electric guitars were stolen from the back of a truck.

Stoops, an LA-based touring and session guitarist, took to Instagram yesterday following the theft asking fans for information concerning the whereabouts of his missing gear.

In a series of Instagram stories, Stoops confirmed his “favorite” 1965 Fender Jazzmaster and 1961 Gretsch Corvette were both “long gone”.

“Pretty please keep an eye out for these stolen guitars,” Stoops wrote. “Last seen in Highland Park neighborhood, Los Angeles. Please contact me, Mason, if you see them anywhere. Thank you so much.”

As Stoops reveals, the Jazzmaster is Serial Number 110229, with neck stamp 40CT64B.

It’s been repainted in shellac in a ‘Snake-Fly Green’ finish. Other standout specs include a Mastery bridge, a broken-off rhythm switch, and an apple sticker on the headstock. Stoops says he’s used it on nearly every record he’s been a part of over the past five years.

The Corvette, meanwhile, is “mega rare and all original”. Stoops used it extensively on his recent tour with Mumford and Sons.

There’s a ‘Mason’ sticker by the control knob and an updated Fink Instruments bridge. The serial number is 42736.

Other gear that was stolen include a Guyatone wah-fuzz from the 1970s and a Highland Dynamics Delta 4-7 Mini Preamp.

Bonamassa shared Stoops’ story on his own Instagram, writing, “Los Angeles! Let’s help our friend Mason Stoops get his beloved guitars back.

“This 65 Fender Jazzmaster and 61 Gretsch Corvette were stolen in the Highland Park area. Please share because time is of the essence.”

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of any of the above, head over to Mason Stoops’ Instagram account for more.

Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley has started a new YouTube series to show off his electric guitar collection – and the first episode features a holy grail Les Paul that was once owned by Joe Bonamassa.

Whibley is something of a guitar aficionado. Over the past few years, he played Steve Jones’ Sex Pistols Les Paul, recovered the long-lost Gibson that was stolen in 2003, and was reunited with his beloved Iggy Pop Telecaster after it spent 20 years behind glass.

Now, Whibley has revealed he recently purchased one of the most storied Gibson Les Pauls in Bonamassa’s collection.

The Les Paul in question is Lazarus – the 1959 Les Paul Standard ’Burst that was brought back from the dead after a previous owner had treated it to a rather questionable mod job.

Whibley says he bought the guitar a few months ago, after he was given the opportunity to try out a few potential acquisitions from a dealer. Before that, it had been one of Bonamassa’s prized possessions.

Back in 2021, it was recreated as an Epiphone signature guitar. At the time, JoBo explained how he first crossed paths with it, and how it originally landed on his lap with a Cherry Red finish in 2019 after a “guitar geek” hang.

Despite the weird finish, there were telltale signs it was something special – including the frets and hardware – and after the finish was removed, Bonamassa realised he had stumbled upon a holy grail Gibson. It became one of his main guitars, and was played almost every night with him on stage.

Why Bonamassa decided to part ways with such a beloved Les Paul is unclear – he did imply he’d be winding down his collection, so maybe this is a symptom of that – but Whibley is now its rightful owner.

“I don’t even know where to begin with this guitar,” Whibley says. “This particular ’Burst has a name and a history all unto itself.

“After the last Sum 41 show in January 2025 I decided I was going to take a break from music and I was not going to buy any more guitars. A good friend of mine from Black Magic Guitars called me up and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a couple of guitars you might be interested in checking out.’

“One of them happened to be this guitar. Lazarus sticks out – it just felt great in my hands, it sounded great. A week later, I just couldn’t stop thinking about Lazarus. It was showing up in my dreams.

“It’s relatively new to me. I’ve only had it a few months, but no matter what I play with it, it just sounds incredible.”

Given the surprise sale of Lazarus, it will be interesting to see whether any other notable guitars from Bonamassa's collection find their way to new owners in the near future.

In an interview with Guitar World in 2024, Whibley discussed the making of Sum 41's final album and explained why he was ending the band.

Since its inception in 1999, Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival has featured the crème de la crème of guitarists who, in one way or another, have earned the blues-rock legend’s respect.

Now, the seventh edition of the festival will be held on September 26 and 27 in Austin, Texas, at the Moody Center, marking the 28th anniversary of the 1998 founding of the Crossroads Centre Antigua, the drug treatment facility spearheaded by Clapton himself.

Among the numerous Crossroads veterans returning this year will be Joe Bonamassa, Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Sonny Landreth, John Mayer, the Del McCoury Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan, as well as Clapton himself, who will be performing on both nights. Meanwhile, Trey Anastasio, Tommy Emmanuel, Julian Lage, and Pete Townshend will all be making their festival debut.

Guitar Center was also announced as the exclusive retail partner of the festival, and, in addition to onsite retail, there will also be a rare showcase of its Legends Collection. This includes Clapton’s 1956 Fender Stratocaster, “Blackie,” the 1964 Gibson ES-335 he played in Cream, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s iconic 1965 Fender Stratocaster, “Lenny.”

Speaking about the festival in a 2019 interview with Guitar Center, Clapton said, “My identity is always going to be linked to Crossroads. I can't walk away, so I've come back to do the thing I know how to do best, which is play, and also invite people that I have high admiration for in the music world.”

He continued, “I like to use the festival platform as a way of getting [musicians] to come and play to a big audience, maybe for the first time. I think it's quite nice for the other musicians to meet them, too. I like cross-fertilization. I mean, that was a fascinating thing for me, the fantasy. And it worked.”

Tickets for the event will go on sale on April 3 at 10 a.m. CDT. For more information, head to the official Crossroads Guitar Festival website.

Joe Bonamassa and his band had already cut the instrumental track of Watch Yourself, so I just brought my horn section into the studio and played it how I felt.

I mean, you can play B.B.’s licks, but it would be silly to mimic him, even if you could. So I didn’t play a Gibson semi-hollow, either, because what would that get me? Instead, I took my white Strat, and for my amp I played two of the new Fender Bassmans.

Watch Yourself [1968] is just one of B.B.’s many beautiful songs. I had all his ’60s albums as a teenager and he was a giant influence. The first one I bought was Easy Listening Blues [1962] and I basically learnt guitar from playing along to Live At The Regal [1965].

He was all over the guitar. I loved the way he would trill and vibrato the note – I’ve read interviews where he said he learnt that from Django Reinhardt. Later, I remember listening to The Thrill Is Gone when I was working as a garbage man in the city of Irving, Texas.

I was 13 when I saw B.B. for the first time, at the Central Forest Club in Texas, which was an old movie theatre. He was playing there all weekend. So I’m standing out front and the Sunday matinee show had already started, but I was too young to get in.

But then T-Bone Walker walked by with two little girls – his granddaughters, I suppose – and said, “Well, let me talk to ’em, son, see if we can get you in the side door.” So that was my first time seeing B.B. and he was absolutely fabulous that night.

I went on tour with him several times, and when we did the Austin City Limits tribute to my brother Stevie [in 1995], we had B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy. And just to watch B.B. playing close up was amazing.

I’ll always remember how nice he was, too. He was a fabulous guitar player and a great singer, but he was never stuck up. He would always go the extra mile. He would always talk to you, ask you what was going on.

Does it feel strange that B.B. King has been gone for a decade now? Well, he’s not gone to me. I still listen to him, all the time. He was my hero, y’know?

• B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

One of the standout tracks from my new album, B.B. King: Blues Summit 100, is a cover of the iconic tune When Love Comes to Town, which is a song King had recorded with U2 in 1988, an unlikely pairing that worked out phenomenally well and became very popular when it was released the following year.

Bono had written the song specifically with B.B. in mind, and they recorded it together at Sun Studios in Memphis. B.B. would subsequently perform the song live with U2 nearly 50 times.

There are many really cool guitar parts in this song, not only from B.B. but also from the Edge, who played a solo, which was delightfully surprising, as it is very unusual to hear him play in this type of blues context.

The Edge’s solo has his signature ethereal sound, so in approximating it, we plugged in a TC Electronic 2290, an AMS reverb – using anything we could find from that era at Sunset Sound in L.A. – and the results are sonically appropriate.

Using that sound, I played a solo in his style, along the lines of Figure 1. The solo is based on simple combinations of quarter and eighth notes, incorporating the open low and high E strings and the open B string, as well as a strummed E5 chord, with all notes allowed to ring into each other.

When it’s B.B.’s turn to solo, he gets right to classic B.B.-style phrasing, like Figure 2. Played in the “B.B. box,” the fret-hand is rooted in 5th position, starting with a big vibrato on an E root note and followed by succinct phrases that draw notes from both E major pentatonic (E, F#, G#, B, C#) and E minor pentatonic (E, G, A, B, D).

Figures 3 and 4 are based on the same approach, this time moving from the tonic chord, E, to the IV (four) chord, A, without changing positions. All of these improvised melodies are played in the same 5th-position box.

The original track offers a great lesson in the power of simplicity in the parts of both guitarists. The Edge played in his style and B.B. played in his, and the two work so well together.

When we set about to record our version of the song, we invited Slash, Miles Kennedy and Shemekia Copeland to contribute their talents, and they all did a fantastic job, putting their own stamp on this classic song.

There are many approaches Slash could have taken for his solo, and I thought it was cool that he did his own thing, utilizing his signature “rock” approach along the lines of Figure 5.

In this example, the first three bars are based on E minor pentatonic in 12th position, shifting in bar 4 up to 15th position then back to 12th position heading into bar 5. Moving into bar 6, the lines shift up to 17th position then back down to 5th position at the end of the bar.

The beauty of soloing over this song’s progression is you can stick with E-scale riffs the entire time, moving simply between the I and IV chords, as the tune never goes to the V (five) chord, B. I encourage you to make it your own, which is the approach Slash took quite effectively here.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Amp Week 2026: Gear-obsessive Joe Bonamassa has acquired guitars, amps, and pedals through some very strange means – but acquiring an amp via a Hollywood actor wasn't something that Guitar World had on its bingo card.

Over the past few years, Bonamassa has breathed new life into guitars collecting dust under staircases, carried out a bizarre exchange to get hold of a late guitar hero's axe, and even gone down the more traditional route of auctions, as was the case when he recently bought Gary Moore's Still Got the Blues amp.

Yet, one of his favorite amps, a Fender 5F3 Deluxe that “roars” in the studio, came with a touch of showbiz.

“It's actually the amp I bought from Steven Seagal,” he tells Reverb. “Yes, the actor.”

The 1950s combo – examples of which are valued between $4,150 to $6,680 on Reverb – packs just 20 watts. But Bonamassa says it shouldn't be underestimated.

“This one is my go-to studio amp, and I'll tell you why,” he continues. “A, I can just lug it around and not worry about it cosmetically. And B, it has a Celestion speaker in it.

“It’s gone through my friend Bob Dixon, who, to me, is the world's greatest amp tech,” Bonamassa states. “He gets so much clarity and headroom out of tweed amps by doing the minimal amount of work. But he knows what to do, and in the studio, it just roars. It sounds way bigger than it is.

“They take pedals really well. A lot of times with Tweeds, you don't want to crank them; they kind of give up around six or seven, that's about as much gain as you're gonna get out of them. When playing rhythm, you're barely touching [the gain]; three or four, and they give you this nice fat sound.”

Yet despite his gear-buying tendencies, Bonamassa recently announced he’s cutting back on his collecting after a major scare last year. That being said, he said his ninth Dumble amp purchase in June 2025 would be his last major buy, only to splurge on Gary Moore's Soldano months later – so take his words with a generous pinch of salt.

Elsewhere, Bonamassa has given GW readers an in-depth lesson on how to nail B.B. King’s greatest song, and discussed why a story involving a snowstorm and an unhappy mayor stands as his favorite anecdote of the King.

Few actors in modern pop culture have a voice, or, you know, 30, that’s as instantly recognizable as Hank Azaria. For more than three decades on The Simpsons, he’s been the guy behind some of Springfield’s most iconic misfits.

From perpetually grouchy bar-keep Moe Szyslak, to the ever-smug Comic Book Guy, to the lovably clueless Chief Wiggum, Azaria’s characters have delivered lines that live rent-free in the cultural zeitgeist. But step off the Fox soundstage and into a dimly lit club, and Azaria isn’t reaching for a script; he’s grabbing the mic, ready to front his band.

​In recent years, Azaria has been channeling another American icon, paying soulful, full-throated tribute to Bruce Springsteen with a reverence that goes far beyond impression. Backed by a powerhouse band lovingly dubbed the EZ Street Band, Azaria is careful not to parody The Boss and is quick to point out that this tribute comes from a place of passion.

​“I am an obsessive vocal geek,” says Azaria. ​“This is a new way to express that. I'm a mimic at heart. This is the first singing impression I've really worked hard on in my life, and all the more reason I'm loving it. I've had to sing often in my career, but I never cared enough to try to sound all that good. Usually I'm just singing comedically.”

With a grin, he seamlessly switches into the voice of Wiggum, “When Chief Wiggum sings, nobody really cares how nice it sounds as long as it's funny and it's fairly on key,” he says with a laugh. Shifting gears to Moe, he says, “Same for Moe, you know, nobody cares how nice Moe sounds when he's singing. For Bruce, you want it to sound nice, or at least soulful, so working on that has been really fun,” he tells us.

We’re breaking something of a golden rule for Guitar World here, as Azaria does not play. However, from his rock connections to his custom ‘Moe’ Petillo guitar and what it was like to share the stage with Slash and Joe Bonamassa at the same time, he has plenty of insight to keep guitarists entertained. Worst. Interview. Ever? Not a chance.​

We join Azaria in his home office, and having seen a photo of him holding a rather striking custom Petillo guitar, we ask about his own relationship with the six-string.

“I tried to play as a teenager and failed miserably at it,” he says with a laugh. “I discovered that my left hand and right hand can’t do two different things at once, which is a real detriment for any musical instrument!”

​He reaches off-camera and grabs a Telecaster-esque guitar. “The only reason I have this beautiful guitar is because I’ve been doing the Springsteen thing.” Transforming into a dead-on impression of Bruce, he continues, “Now, vocally, I can do a lot of things that I can’t do with my hands and feet.”

Holding the guitar to the camera, Azaria proudly shows off the sheer amount of detail that covers the entire length of the instrument.

“We played the Stone Pony, which you know is the Mecca of Springsteen fandom. Springsteen’s actual guitar maker, Dave Petillo, surprised me and gifted me with this unbelievable guitar, which is exactly Bruce’s guitar to his specifications. He just made it purple in honor of Moe’s Tavern.”

Looking at the guitar’s bridge and making his way along the neck, Azaria says, “He did all these incredible mother-of-pearl inlays.” Landing on an impressive inlaid recreation of the Simpsons bartender, he can’t help but slip into character, saying, “There’s Moe right there. Baked right in there.”

​Flipping the instrument over reveals a striking psychedelic symbol. “On the back, that design is Steve Van Zandt’s. I'm inspired by Steve Van Zandt [and that’s a] sign he uses a lot,” says Azaria. He also points out a line from the Bruce Springsteen classic, Thunder Road, ‘We got one last chance to make it real, trade in these wings on some wheels.’

Making the Moe guitar

Guitar builder Dave Petillo on the creation of Hank Azaria’s Simpsons-inspired custom build...

“The features are inspired by the Fender Esquire my father, Phil Petillo, sold and customized for Bruce Springsteen, helping shape his signature sound.

“These elements include Bruce’s actual neck-shape specifications, Petillo Triangle Frets, and a piece of the original Palace Amusement Park inlaid into the tone knob. The historic Palace is referenced in the lyrics of Born to Run.

“When I spoke with Stevie Van Zandt about incorporating the paisley pattern I created for his Petillo “Soulfire” guitar, along with his purple Om symbol, he was gracious in allowing Hank to feature an exclusive element inspired by one of his instruments.

“The rear pickguard design evokes a wheel rolling down the highway, referencing the lyric from Thunder Road. At its center is Stevie’s purple Om symbol, with his paisley motif integrated into the hubcap windows.

“The body is finished in a translucent purple nitrocellulose lacquer over a flame maple top. The color choice nods both to the nighttime palette of The Simpsons where Moe’s Tavern often appears in purple tones and to Stevie’s personal aesthetic. The maple’s top edge was carefully masked to create the illusion of natural maple perimeter binding, framing the body shape.

“On the headstock, within the Petillo & Buell oval logo, is an etched rendering of Danny Clinch’s 1949 Pontiac “Silverstreak,” complete with his signature red lightning bolt on the door, set against a Paua abalone background."

Head to Petillo Guitars for more information

As we continue to inspect the guitar, more and more details become apparent. “Look, it says ‘Down In Jungle Land’ right here,” says Azaria, pointing at the pickguard. There is even a duo of holograms of Bruce in concert that move as you angle the guitar.

“Those are Bruce playing to the crowd,” he says. Over at the tone controls, Azaria points out a curious little figure. “This little weird guy, that’s an icon that appears on the beach in Asbury Park a lot. He’s a little logo.”

​Now, as well as the Moe inlay, the actor’s Simpsons connection is also represented in more ways.

“The three-eyed fish is from The Simpsons,” says Azaria, flipping the guitar round to show off even more intricate inlay work. As well as Blinky, there’s even a burning pint glass to represent the Flaming Moe, from the fan favorite episode in season three of the show.

​“I wish I could play it,” declares Azaria. “Our guitarist, Alden Harris-McCoy, plays this on stage quite a lot. And it has a beautiful, authentic Bruce sound because it is, in fact, Bruce’s guitar.”

​When asked if he knew Petillo was making him the instrument, Azaria says he had no idea it was coming.

“[It was a] complete surprise to me. Dave Petillo, who builds these guitars for Bruce and many other people, takes tremendous pride in custom-making them and putting a ton of thought into the designs.”

Now, when quizzed if he thinks he’ll ever learn to play now that he has a guitar of this caliber, he’s quick to shut down the idea. “God no,” he says with a laugh. ”I’ve tried a lot as a teenager and failed. I’m fortunate I can sing; you know that’s where we leave it.”

Azaria’s journey into the world of Springsteen tributes began, like so many great stories, with a milestone birthday and a sense of mischief. Turning 60 and not wanting a grand, traditional celebration, he hatched a plan to do something a little different.

“I got this insane idea, and I honestly don’t know where it came from”, says Azaria. “I’m going to throw this huge party and create reunions, like a college reunion, a high school reunion, and a Broadway reunion, so that all my friends have each other and I don't have to really host.

“Most of them are huge Springsteen fans. So I told them that I had this incredible Springsteen tribute band coming that I found,” he says with a grin. “But I did not tell them that I had put together a band that I was working on for months to front!”

When the moment arrived, Azaria introduced the band, only to remain on stage, belting out Springsteen classics as his friends looked on in shock and delight.

“I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. I gave myself genuine joy on my 60th birthday, seeing all the people I’d loved all through my life and knowing what this music meant to them,” reflects Azaria.

What started as a lark for his birthday blossomed into an ongoing project. “Now I’ve fallen down a complete rabbit hole of being very obsessed with developing as a singer and sounding more and more like Bruce,” he admits. “It’s become a third-act career.”

Mimicry, of course, has long been Azaria’s calling card, but singing as Bruce presented a new challenge, as he realized that to do justice to Springsteen required a level of vocal commitment beyond anything he’d done as a comedic voice actor.

“The mimicry part came easily to me because I can sort of mimic anything. The singing mimicry part was harder,” he reflects. “I realized a few months into it, ‘Oh, I just need to develop as a singer,’ because you can’t sound like Bruce unless you're really singing.”

In true Azaria fashion, the edges of his influences blur and overlap. When asked if there are any Simpsons voices that are closely linked to that Bruce impression, he explains that most of the voices he is famous for performing are linked in some way.

“Like a lot of the impressions I worked up as a young man, they were out of hero worship,” he says. “I love Bruce, so I would listen to his talks in concert, and I tried to imitate him.

“Another hero of mine growing up was Al Pacino,” he continues as he slips into the unmistakable voice of a young Pacino, “his voice was kind of high, you know, from Dog Day Afternoon or Godfather,” he then quickly transitions from Pacino, to Springsteen.

“If you take young Al Pacino on one end and Bruce Springsteen on the other, in the middle there, that's Moe the bartender. He's a mash-up of those two voices.”

Next, Azaria slips into the voice of Kirk Van Houten, Milhouse’s awkward dad, to demonstrate that even this unassuming character is linked in some way to Bruce.

“You know, in some ways, my Bruce sounds sort of like Milhouse's father from The Simpsons, kind of,” he says with Kirk's signature downbeat tone. “Although Milhouse's father is much more nerdy and insecure, and less soulful, funky, and cool.”

Azaria’s circle runs deep in musical comedy, but he hasn’t sought advice from his Simpsons co-star Harry Shearer, bassist in Spinal Tap, at least, not yet. He laughs at the prospect of bringing Shearer’s alter ego, Derek Smalls, up for a guest spot with the band.

“That’s a very good idea, actually,” he muses, imagining future gigs in the UK where Shearer might join them on stage if they could get the stars to align.

“You know, Harry's really playing bass. I am not ever playing a guitar. I’m developing my own frontman moves,” he says, laughing. “But if Harry’s there, that is a very good idea, actually, to have Harry sitting on bass with us in a couple of songs.”

Now, sharing the stage with legends is already a reality for Azaria. At a recent Soho Sessions charity night in New York, he found himself singing alongside none other than two guitar icons, Joe Bonamassa and Slash, at the same time.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” he marvels, remembering the thrill of watching the guitar titans trade lead lines on Prove It All Night. “To look over and see Slash and Joe Bonamassa taking turns on the guitar solos, I kept grabbing my head, going, ‘I can’t believe this is happening!’”

Even more surreal was learning they’d arranged their parts according to the EZ Street Band’s specific live version.

“I think they knew the song, but did have to learn it,” says Azaria. “If you look at Prove It All Night, you'll find, I'm not exaggerating, 11 different live versions of that song over the years.

“Often, we’re mish-mashing them, but for this one were going off a very specific recording from like the late ’70s. They took our recording of that, Slash and Joe Bonamassa, and they arranged it exactly to it. It was really fun. It’s crazy,” he says, smiling ear to ear.

Of course, for a lifelong Simpsons star and Bruce devotee, inviting Springsteen himself onto the animated streets of Springfield remains the ultimate dream. Azaria admits to geeking out when meeting The Boss and hopes one day he’ll say yes to an appearance – although he has turned down offers in the past, revealing his role went to Sting in the episode Radio Bart in season three.

“I met Bruce twice, and I geeked out so hard twice that I barely got any words out. So I might not be the best advocate for this – but yeah, I hope someday he joins us.”

For now, he treasures a video message from Springsteen – perhaps recorded under duress.

“I have a buddy who's a dentist in New York and he’s a big fan of Bruce,” explains Azaria. “One day, I get a text from him, and it’s a video of him in his office. The camera pans over, and Bruce is in his dentist chair. He says, ‘Hey Hank, Bruce Springsteen. I got a pretty bad toothache, but while I'm sitting here, I've been fabulously entertained by your version of Prove It All Night, which I got to say, you do a pretty good job of it.’

​“So I was on an aeroplane when I got that, and I started crying. I was so happy. And the guy sitting next to me thought I was absolutely out of my mind!”

Azaria sees his tribute show as “almost a one-man show about how I feel about this music and how it affected me, plus us trying to recreate his songs as best we can.” It’s a loving homage, and the fact that Springsteen himself is flattered by it means everything.

Does he ever see a day when Bruce will share the stage with him? “That would be a dream come true for him to somehow join us. Maybe when we’re playing The Stone Pony again, one day, maybe Bruce will get word, or we’ll figure it out, and he’ll come up and do a song or two with us. That’s my hope.”

Ending our interview, we wanted to see which of the many, many characters he has given a voice to he would invite into the band. Azaria pauses and thinks, “That’s a good question – yeah, that is a good question,” he says with a grin. Cycling through voices in rapid-fire, he says in character, “It wouldn’t be Professor Frink, I don’t think he enjoys that sort of music. It wouldn’t be the police chief Wiggum”, he says in Wiggum’s trademark nasal tone.

Without missing a beat, he’s into the gravely, surly tone of Szyslak, “Oh, it would be Moe. You know, Moe had Aerosmith in his bar. I feel Moe understands the rock ‘n’ roll thing. It would definitely be Moe.”

If you're looking to catch Azaria and the band live, head over to ezstreetnyc.com for all their upcoming tour dates.

Joe Bonamassa and I go way back, so when he told me about the B.B. tribute, I was like, ‘Yeah, sounds fun.’ I used to cover How Blue Can You Get in the ’70s, so I was glad they suggested that song because it would have been my first choice, for sure. I heard it first on Live In Cook County Jail [1971], then Live At The Regal [1965]. You can hear BB’s connection with the audience on that song – it always brought the house down.

My favourite line is: ‘I gave you seven children, and now you want to give them back.’ And, of course, with our version we had to update the price of the dinner. In the original, it’s $10, which at this point would barely cover a McDonald’s!

When they sent me the track, it was complete other than my guitar and vocal. I was at the Power Station in Connecticut, so I overdubbed my parts. To tip the hat, I played with a little more homage than I normally would, so I busted out the one-note vibrato. But I also threw a few curveball licks in there, just to liven up the party.

Again, I wanted to honour his sound and personality, so I played my 1961 ES-335, and the amp was a combination of a Gibson Falcon and my Alessandro.

I saw B.B. for the first time aged 19, and he gave me a guitar pick that I carried in my pants pocket for years until it eventually got lost. Then when I joined the Allman Brothers, we played with him in Texas. During the show, B.B. invited Gregg to sit in, and he went up to the mic and asked, ‘Anyone else want to join me?’

More than anything, I wanted to go, but I’d never met B.B. and thought he’d look at me like, ‘Who the hell are you?’ So I just froze. It was years later that I finally got another opportunity to play with B.B., and I have to say that was an extremely proud moment.

My other memory was in Memphis. The Allmans and B.B. were staying at the same hotel. There was a fire alarm and we had to evacuate. So I rode down in the elevator with B.B. in his pyjamas, and we were stood next to each other on the street, wondering if this hotel is going to burst into flames!

• B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

When putting the tracks together for B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100 – my band’s two-disc, 32-track tribute to B.B. King in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday, on September 16, 2025 – we knew that the most essential track would be The Thrill Is Gone.

B.B. originally recorded this song back in 1969 for the Completely Well album, and it immediately became his signature tune and the most successful record of his career.

The Thrill Is Gone is so iconic, in fact, that no one wanted to cover it! I felt that I had two choices: one would have been to approach a young, budding blues artist with no fear about tackling the beast!

Luckily enough, we were able to get Chaka Khan for vocals and Eric Clapton for guitar. They are the crown jewels, two of music’s greatest icons, paying tribute to an icon.

When I listen to B.B.’s original version of The Thrill Is Gone, one of the most striking things is that every lick he plays sounds perfect, like it’s etched in stone. But I’m sure that he simply improvised everything you hear on the track right off the top of his head.

The eternal question is always, “How do I get into the tune?” For B.B., the answer is as simple as the riff shown Figure 1, which is along the lines of what’s heard on the record.

The phrase is based on B minor pentatonic (B, D, E, F#, A), with the 2nd, or 9th, C#, added here and there, as well as the major 7th, A#, when playing over the F#7 chord in bar 9. And the stabs on the high B note in bar 6 are elemental to B.B.’s signature style.

This figure is indicative of B.B.’s purely melodic and effortless approach, which is almost like jazz. His lines are so strong that they’re melodies unto themselves. Along with his distinctive touch, tone and phrasing, his solo lines are as integral to the tune as the chords and lyrics.

This is borne out by the fact that any time The Thrill Is Gone is covered, the guitar player will “quote” B.B. with a phrase like Figure 2. What you hear are long, sustained notes with heavy vibrato, followed by elegant melodic phrases.

When you listen to the great masters of this craft – B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Albert King – you realize that these phrases just flow naturally. There’s no thought involved. I very much doubt B.B. sat there and worked out a phrase like Figure 3.

On the recording, B.B. used a very clean tone, like a Fender Twin that’s barely turned up. Figure 4 is meant to be played in a subtle and delicate way. There’s no sustain coming from the amp, but there’s so much feel.

You can hear the tactility of his fingers, and you should aim for that feeling and mindset when playing a phrase like Figure 5. Notice the use of pull-offs, slides and quarter- and half-step bends, all of which make the lines that much more vocal-like.

The Thrill Is Gone is not just a beautiful piece of music, it’s a track that features some of B.B’s most iconic playing on that particular take. He never played the song the same way twice, but every version illustrates his brilliance as a true blues master.

• B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Eric Gales is no longer the underdog threatening to take the world by storm. He’s already done it, and is now enjoying recognition with Grammy nominations and sold-out performances across the globe.

But Eric is keen to acknowledge that it might have been a different story had his older sibling not shown him the musical ropes from an early age. Eric’s latest album, A Tribute To LJK, acts as a doff of the cap to his brother.

The record starts with a familiar voice saying, “All hail, a tribute to our brother Manuel Gales, also known as Little Jimmy King,” followed by 47 minutes of the most life-affirming blues.

As the leader of the Memphis Soul Survivors, Little Jimmy King enjoyed a successful career in blues, having cut his own records with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section, performed in Albert King’s band and toured with Buddy Guy, until Manuel’s life was tragically cut short by a heart attack at the age of 37 in 2002.

A Tribute To LJK was co-produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, and is the sound of Eric reimagining his sibling’s music and celebrating his memory through the medium of electrifying noise. A fitting tribute.

What was the vibe like in the studio while you were cutting this record?

Pretty straightforward. Just me plugging my Magneto guitar into my DV Mark amp, as well as one of Joe’s Dumbles. That was the bulk of the tone. I used one of Joe’s Les Pauls for a solo or two, maybe a rhythm here or there. It was my normal pedalboard running in front, nothing had changed. There’s no sense in messing with things when they’re working fine. So that’s what we did. We just kept the tape rolling.

Was it strange plugging into a Dumble amp that didn’t even belong to you?

It worked well with my DV Mark. It was a suggestion from Joe that he first floated when we did the Crown record; it’s good to have that sonic contrast.

I can’t remember which Dumble it was exactly, but we dialled in a tone, it sounded great and we got busy. There was no extravagant story behind it. We switched it on, turned some knobs, heard a good sound and started tracking.

Why do you think Alexander Dumble’s amps are so highly revered?

To be honest, I don’t know. There’s a bit of a taboo fascination with them. Obviously, they are highly respected and deeply admired for the sound they make, but I don’t see the big draw factor. Sure, they sound great, but I’ve heard other amps that sound great.

I’m very honoured and privileged to have plugged into one a few times, but it wasn’t like a ‘heavens opened up’ sort of moment. I’m not speaking bad about them, I’m just saying there’s nothing the Dumbles did for me that other amps hadn’t done before, you know? I was just going off a suggestion and I trusted Joe enough to go with it.

He has plenty of Dumbles and runs through them pretty rigorously. I had no reason to go against it. If it was the only amp that was there and my DV Mark wasn’t around, I’m sure I would have been fine.

I have some really nice amps, like my Two-Rock, and the Dumble did nothing less than that. If it wasn’t as good, then I wouldn’t have used it on the record. I remember it had great sustain and delivered every single nuance I put through it. At the same time, my DV Mark was doing the same thing. Both amps were standing tall beside each other, doing a great job in giving me what I needed to accomplish this record. That’s all I can ask for.

Your sound lives on the funkier side of blues. You have a cleaner and more spanky tone than most of your contemporaries.

That’s what I prefer. I am known as a blues-rock player, but I am probably less rock than other people. It all depends on the style of the song and the feel or vibe that I’m going for. I’m not a typical I-IV-V slow-blues kinda guy.

There are different variants in what I do. I like a crystal-clean tone for a lot of the music I write, especially if it’s more chordal. In those situations, I’m not looking for any break-up. When I need a little more grit, I’ll use my MXR Raw Dawg pedal or whatever other drive I have lying around to get the sound I’m looking for.

You’ve been very loyal to the Mojo Hand Colossus fuzz pedal over the years.

It’s my go-to because of its warm and milky tone. There are so many boutique pedals I haven’t even had the opportunity to plug into yet. I’m not one of those guitar players who sits there testing them all out. If one thing is working well, then I’m fine with that.

Opportunities for a big shoot-out are rare, so I have to apologise to all the people who give me pedals. I will definitely try them out at some point. The Mojo Hand is just what I’ve been going with.

The last one that impressed me was the Pedal Pawn Fuzz from the UK. It sounded really, really good. They make some nice stuff. A few weeks ago I was gifted a handmade pedal and the builder told me the schematics were exactly like Eric Johnson’s fuzz.

He even wrote ‘LJK’ on it, which made it awesome and memorable. I haven’t plugged into it yet, but I’m sure it’ll sound amazing because everybody knows I’m a huge Eric Johnson fan. I hope to be blown away by how beautiful it sounds.

Your current wah pedal of choice is a Buddy Guy Cry Baby. What do you like about the sound of that one?

I was running a different wah and having some issues. Then Buddy Guy’s tech Connor [Korte] happened to have a spare one fresh out of the box, so I put it on the ’board and it never left. All of the ones I’ve used come from the Jim Dunlop company and this one just happens to be the one I stick with. If it ain’t broke, there ain’t no need to switch it out.

I didn’t use my Whammy because it didn’t call for it. I guess there could have been room, but I decided to keep things traditional – if it’s even safe for me to use that word because I don’t consider myself that traditional. This record was a homage to my brother, who was more old-school.

Buddy appears on the final track of your album, titled Somebody. That must have meant a lot to you because not only is he blues royalty, but he’s a friend and also knew your brother.

When I heard what he played on that track, I was blown away. He knocked it right out of the park. I sent a reference track over with the general direction I was going for and he gave me exactly what I was looking for.

When I pressed play, I heard the work of a legend. He made the track what it was. It would not have sounded as good without him. My brother did a miraculous job on the original version and Buddy was the perfect person to help me recreate that kind of vibe all these years later.

Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram cited your brother as a big hero of his, and you invited him to play on Rockin Horse Ride.

That was intentionally done; I wanted to incorporate people who had a connection to my brother. I wanted to nod to the older generation and the younger generation, bringing it all full circle in memory of my brother.

I wanted to acknowledge the impact that he had on the blues world and try to keep some of that alive. Through Kingfish, his music still lives. Young people are taking notice of this style of music that was around way before their time. We can leave it in the hands of Kingfish and know that everything will be taken care of well.

Which Magneto guitar do you record with the most?

It’s my Magneto Sonnet RawDawg. The neck has a flat radius, so it feels great in my hands. It’s something I can play all day long and the tone is just immaculate. The owner Christian [Hatstatt] is an amazing guy who has always been in my corner, even at times when a lot of people weren’t.

I have great relationships with other companies who understand that I might play different guitars for different things. Nobody has forced their exclusivity on me. I don’t like being told what to play, especially if my heart is telling me to use something else. Magneto have always understood that and been very understanding. They’re a great company to work with.

I also have a new signature model through Kiesel that comes with all the bells and whistles in this lovely gold finish. It turned out really dope, man.

You used one of Joe’s vintage Les Pauls, a 1954 Goldtop, on the album. How different was that for you?

That guitar sounded great. I’ve never said I don’t like humbuckers or Les Pauls, SGs, Flying Vs, Explorers, Firebirds, Telecasters, Jazzmasters, Mustangs, 335s or whatever. They’re just not the normal go-to for me.

Joe said, ‘Check this out,’ and had the tone dialled in, so that’s what I used on my solo for Don’t Wanna Go Home, as did Joe. It worked great for that song. It just so happened to be a quarter-of-a-million-dollar guitar that got the job done.

Could a guitar worth 200 bucks have also been good enough? I think so. Equipment plays a part in things, but I’ve always been a die-hard advocate of ‘it’s all in the hands of the player.’ That’s what ultimately determines what you hear coming out of any instrument. So much depends on the human being.

Was it scary holding a quarter-of-a-million-dollar instrument that doesn’t belong to you?

No, not at all [laughs]. I wasn’t afraid.

How different did it make you play, though?

I find using humbuckers instead of the usual single coils can shift where I’m coming from, mentally. The approach, feel and tone can end up a little different. But at the end of the day, it’s all down to whatever comes out of my mind.

That’s what determines what comes out. I’m not uncomfortable playing anything, unless there’s an outrageous setup that prevents me from doing what I usually do – things like extremely high action or action that’s too low to get a good sound. I like my action as low as I can get it without buzz. Normally, it only takes me a few minutes to get myself acclimated to any instrument.

You, Joe and Josh Smith have such distinct voices on the guitar. It’s very easy to tell who is playing on It Takes A Whole Lotta Money – you might be more twangy, Joe might be more thick-sounding and Josh has more of a country-fusion feel.

Yeah, Josh definitely fiddles around in that world. On that track, it was all intentional. You’ve got three players who want to sound different to each other. I’ve heard that some people struggle with hearing the differences between me and Joe. There’s a lot of similarity at times, maybe in how we do runs or riff. Both of us are highly influenced by Eric Johnson, so that’s always going to seep through at points.

But I think on this record, the distinction of who’s who is made pretty clearly, especially with Josh because he chose to set himself apart purposefully. He went in a different direction to add something completely new. That guy can adjust, shift and shape into any kind of style. He always makes the right decisions.

What have you learned about the art of recording guitars since working with Joe and Josh?

Honestly, I don’t get too involved. I’m in a session right now and my engineer toys around with the mics and placements. I always have to ask him what we’re using. Right now, he’s telling me that it’s some new Roswell Cab Mic that we are trying out. I leave that whole world to the experts: I sit in the control room listening in, saying what sounds best to my ears.

I don’t really have much desire to change anything there. I don’t have the time to learn about this stuff, either. I hear things in my head and always try to get it as close as possible. That’s the goal for me. How it gets done is semantic, but working with good engineers and assistant engineers definitely makes the process a lot easier. I don’t even know what my mic preference is. If I’m by myself, I’ll just pick something up, put it in front of a speaker and take it from there.

Your guitars come with the five-way pickup selector that’s typical for an S-style design. Which positions do you use the most?

I use them all. It’s quite a subconscious choice, going back and forth between the different tones. It’s so random for me. It’s all done in the moment in real-time. If I have the gas pressed pretty hard, I might be on the back pickup because of the high energy and intensity. If I want something warm, I might be on the front. If I want a Stevie Ray sort of tone, I’ll go for the front two pickups, and if I want country and western it might be the back two pickups.

It just depends on what I hear in my head. Using your volume control is also an art form. You can go from full-on to something way cleaner without even thinking of your pedals or amp channels, you just roll that knob down and end up with a completely different kind of sound.

Do you mess with the tone knob much?

Not much, really. The only times I do, is if I’m trying to do some jazz stuff or emulate a warm, milky fuzz tone with a distortion or overdrive pedal that isn’t a fuzz.

So what do you think Manuel would say if he heard this record?

I think he’d say, “Great fucking job, little bro!” I really do. All of the songs came out really well. I love the ride-out solo in You Shouldn’t Have Left Me because it sounds really intense with this strong blues shuffle that had horns and everything. I like the flower power feel to Blues Been Too Good To Me. We had a lot of fun on that track.

I was really happy with Somebody, which I played a PRS parlour acoustic on. Baby Baby came out great. It’s hard to single out one song that I would leave off the album, to be honest. This record gave me the avenue to dive into many different areas of my brother’s career. Then I chose to give these songs a new vision through my own eyes.

• A Tribute to LJK is out now via Provogue.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

I played on Bad Case Of Love. You’re kind of spoiled for choice because I was in early, obviously, being part of the label. I knew of the project before they approached their wishlist of artists.

Thinking back to the first time I met B.B., it was actually one of the first gigs my parents took me to when I was really getting into blues. He played at the NEC in Birmingham, and he was handing out guitar picks at the end of the night.

My dad was like, “Go and get a guitar pick.” And I was quite shy, I was like, “No, no…” My dad said, “Look, out of all the people here: there aren’t many 13-year-old girls in the audience. Trust me, he wants you to have a guitar pick.”

So I legged it down to the stage as quickly as I could and, unfortunately, when I got down there he’d left the stage, but he happened to turn around. So I just waved at him and he came back onto the stage and knelt down in front of me.

I remember he had these massive hands and they’d got massive ruby rings on them. He said, “Howdy young lady, I’m B.B. King.” I said, “Mr King, my name is Joanne and I’m 13, and I think I’m going to be a blues guitarist. Do you have a guitar pick I could have?” But he’d run out of guitar picks. So he took his necklace off and put it on me.

Three years later, I was opening up for him. I did a few dates with him through Europe in 2001, I believe.

It’s a massive privilege to be able to say that, but that night, I kind of felt like that was a seal of approval in my little 13-year-old mind that I told B.B. King I was going to be a blues woman, and he gave me a necklace. So I thought I was the chosen one!

• B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Joe Bonamassa has paid tribute to the late John Hammond, who recently passed away aged 83.

The news of Hammond’s death was confirmed by his long-time musical collaborator Paul James.

“The blues world has lost a giant. I’ve lost my best friend,” said James. “I’ve just been going through the photos we’ve shared over the years – from the Horseshoe Tavern to Albert’s Hall in Toronto, from London to Montreal, to Edmonton to Ottawa – and each picture tells a story of great music, great people, and unforgettable nights. He was such an inspiration to me, I’ll miss him terribly.”

The prolific blues guitarist, Grammy-winning artist and legendary musical troubadour was a torchbearer of the Delta blues scene, releasing over 30 albums across his six-decade career and performing the music of Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry and more along the way.

A celebrated songwriter in his own right, Hammond – who was also known as John P. Hammond and John Hammond Jr. – won a Grammy for his performance on Blues Explosion in 1985, receiving plenty more accolades and nominations along the way.

In 2011, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame. Two years prior to that, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album with Rough & Tough. A handful of his other records also received nods from the academy.

As a performer, Hammond was a passionate player of barrelhouse blues, primarily favoring a steel-bodied National resonator guitar in later years – though he had a killer flair and touch with an electric, too, known for his high energy and raw sound. He earned the respect and admiration of his peers, with the likes of Duane Allman, Rory Gallagher, Mike Bloomfield and more all becoming fans.

Hammond also famously crossed paths with Jimi Hendrix, and can be counted as the only bluesman to ever have both Hendrix and Eric Clapton sit in on his band.

"I met Jimi Hendrix in 1966 when he was hanging out in New York without a gig and without literally anything,” Hammond once told Colorado Springs Independent. “He was stranded in New York and I got to hang out with him, and he asked me if I could get him a gig.”

The pair struck up a friendship, and years later Hendrix asked Hammond if he could sit in on his gig. The only ‘problem’ was that Hammond received another request from another blues guitar great.

“The next day Eric Clapton was in New York to do his tour with Cream," he continues. "He was off that week, so he came down to check me out. And there was him and Jimi, and they both wanted to sit in. And so for a week, they sat in with my little group at the Gaslight Café."

Joe Bonamassa has led tributes to the late blues great, and in a post to social media recalled the first time he crossed paths with Hammond.

“Rest in peace John. I will never forget how kind you were to me over the years,” he writes. “The first time I met him was on New Year's eve in 1991 when he was opening up for Buddy Guy at Irving Plaza in New York. I was asked to sit in with Buddy that night.

“John handed me his 1930's National guitar with 14 gauge strings on it and smiled while I struggled to get anything out of it. He was a musical troubadour, an ambassador of the blues, a brilliant musician, a documentarian, a legend and the son of a legend. This is a big loss for all of us in the Blues community.”

Bonamassa is one of many music heroes to come out and pay tribute to Hammond’s legacy, with Bonnie Raitt writing on Instagram, “Not only was he a virtuoso on guitar, harp, singing and choosing songs, to me it felt like he was totally possessed by the blues. I’ve never witnessed anyone as swept up and away as John playing his music live.”

George Thorogood posted a tribute of his own, writing, “For more than 50 years, John Hammond, Jr. was an icon, a professional role model and, most importantly, a friend. While we mourn his passing, we celebrate what the man and his music meant to us, and to so many.”

The double-CD and three-LP release in honour of BB King’s 100th birthday, BB King’s Blues Summit 100, was a labour of love for Joe Bonamassa. To say that the album features a who’s who of blues guitarists young and old is really only the tip of a very large iceberg.

Indeed, when Joe announced the project to the blues guitar world, it expanded exponentially, such was the clamour it created.

Artists including Marcus King, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, Larkin Poe, Jimmie Vaughan, Warren Haynes, Dion, Aloe Blacc, Kirk Fletcher and not forgetting Eric Clapton were eager to lend their hands – and guitar playing – to a selection of songs that B.B. had made famous throughout his long career. And what a joyous celebration of one man’s contribution to music and popular culture it is.

Joe met B.B. King 36 years ago, but the meeting holds such significance, to him it seems like it was only yesterday.

“I met him at the Lilac Festival in Rochester, New York, May 24 1990,” he tells us. “My band was booked to open up for him. I was a kid and he took an interest in my career, or just my playing. This was all pre‑internet, so it wasn’t like he had watched my videos on YouTube or Instagram. Back then you had to discover things as they were happening. We just started a friendship.”

Did B.B. offer you advice on how to develop your playing style in those early days?

No, but you couldn’t help but watch him and learn. He was always very encouraging, like, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t change.’ I can’t think of another guitar player that with a single note is that identifiable, you know what I mean? Maybe Albert King, but Albert King really would require a two- or three-note phrase.

But B.B. King could just play one note, and it’s like you know who he is, and those are the players you can’t help but pay attention to and understand and learn from.

Did you continue to play with him often?

Technically, the last run I did with him was about 10 years before he died. That was the last time. That was the last tour. We did a couple of shows in Europe, at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, and the last time I saw him was right before he came off the road in 2014 at the Canyon Club in LA and he literally picked up our conversation from where we’d left off.

He was just like, ‘Are you still dating that girl?’ He knew everything. He was so hip, and then he came off the road maybe a few months later.

Have you got any favourite B.B. King anecdotes?

Well, he showed me how to drag songs from a computer into an iPod when he was 80 years old! I didn’t know how to do that and he’s like, ‘Here, son, this is how you do it.’ How sad is that? I was 28 or something and he was 80. But he was a consummate professional.

I remember one time in Charleston, West Virginia, there was a big snowstorm, and the governor of West Virginia called specifically to ask B.B. King to postpone the show and he wouldn’t do it. He goes, ‘I told them I’m going to be here in March and I’m here.’ They’re like, ‘But Mr. King, it’s unsafe.’ He said, ‘Well, I made it!’ So that was him, man.

Did BB’s work ethic of always being on the road influence you?

Yeah, he was always touring. I mean, he would do those summer runs and then go right back on the road in theatres and he was very much a road dog and he loved it a lot. I mean, he always said, ‘I want to die on the road, doing what I love,’ you know? But he didn’t know any other life. You’re talking about somebody who started working that much in the early ’50s and never stopped for anything.

Thinking about B.B.’s use of ‘Lucille’ Gibson ES-355s, were you inspired to include that model in your collection?

I have a couple of 355s. They tend to be stereo, but I actually have a couple of mono ones, which are great because you get an ebony fingerboard, mono, no Varitone – it’s like the coolest 335 you’ve ever played.

It was the late ’70s when the first Lucille came off the line. Some of them were red, and they were like 1978 to 1979, and he was the one that said, ‘I don’t want the f-hole, make it more of a solid thing.’ And that was one of Gibson’s longest-running signature models, other than the Les Paul, which is a signature model guitar.

Did B.B. like to play loud on stage?

When I first started opening for him, he was using a Twin Reverb and a lot of times we would supply the backline. He liked my 1970 or ’72 Twin Reverb. It had mismatched speakers in it, but it was a great Twin. He liked it because it was loud and punchy.

Then as the years went on, he ended up graduating to the Lab Series L5, which is basically like a solid-state 100-watt Twin. So he played loud. It wasn’t quiet on stage; he cranked.

He had a big sound. All of the Kings had big sounds. Albert had a big sound, Freddie had a big sound – and they played loud, which was great.

How did you go about assembling the players that you’ve got on the new tribute album?

It escalated. We had a wishlist and we originally cut 20 or 22 songs and we thought that would be enough. Then as it escalated and things got more involved we ended up having to cut another dozen. We had cut 34 and we’re using 32.

Some of the collaborations you’re like, ‘Why did you have Michael McDonald, Derek [Trucks] and Susan [Tedeschi], do the one song?’ Well, it’s because they all called that song. So you get these happy accidents, you know?

Was the process of matching artists to tracks fairly straightforward?

We had to do When Love Comes To Town. I mean, it’s one of B.B.’s biggest songs. But you’re like, ‘Well, who’s going to sing it?’ You’ve got to split the vocal. So I came up with this idea of asking Myles Kennedy to sing it, Slash to play guitar, and Shemekia Copeland to do the B.B. bits. And it came out great.

Once you start getting into these things, you get Chris Buck with Pat Monahan [of Train] and it was just like, ‘Oh, Chris, you want to play on the record? We got a spot for you on this song…’ Then the crown jewel was having Chaka Khan and Eric Clapton on The Thrill Is Gone. Paul Rogers wanted to sing Night Life, and he wanted a very specific version; he wanted to sing the Blues Is King version. No problem. Got you covered.

To be honest with you, a lot of times we had this list of songs – because you’ve got to do these songs, you can’t leave them out – and a lot of times I was just going to these artists, I’m like, ‘Hey, man, I’m sorry. I know it’s a big thing. What key do you want it in?’ And they’re like, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’

We had heard Marcus King sing Don’t Answer The Door before, so we knew he was game for that. And Keb’ Mo’ did I’ll Survive and he did a great job. So some of this stuff plugged in fast, and then some of the stuff we ended up waiting around and retooling, but it got done.

So basically it was your band laying down the tracks with the guests recording their parts in different studios?

Yeah, this thing would not have been possible if we had done it Quincy Jones We Are The World style. It’d be physically impossible. As it was, from start to finish, with artwork and everything, it took eight months, which is like warp speed.

We were tasked as a band to go in and just cut tracks. Sometimes we had to change keys. And we were doing it on the road. I mean, we recorded most of it in Los Angeles, some of it in Buffalo, New York, some of it in Atlanta, and I think one song in Nashville. We just had to be flexible.

What’s your favourite B.B. King track these days?

My favourite track has always been The Thrill Is Gone. I know it’s cliché, but, to me, it was the perfect blues song and it was a hit. And B.B. got a lot of shit when it came out because [producer] Bill Szymczyk put strings on it and they thought it was too sophisticated and that they had sold out. He was so ahead of his time. You know, strings and blues? That was revolutionary.

With The Thrill Is Gone having been taken by Clapton, how did you end up contributing Playin’ With My Friends to the album?

I always said I’m going to take what’s left over because this is a guest-star record. There are probably five songs that I sang and did bits on, but finally I just said to [co-producer] Josh [Smith], ‘I’m sick and tired of this shit. Let me do mine right at the end when there’s a leftover. I feel like I’m cutting the whole album.’

Which guitar did you use for your contribution?

It’s all 335. They do that thing, you know? But B.B. had a lot of different sounds throughout his career because we covered stuff from the ’50s all the way through to his modern work. I mean, you could tell when he was using the ES-5 in the ’50s. Even some of the songs, you go, ‘Man, I think that’s the Esquire,’ because it’s really Fender-y.

By ’64, his sound was more like what you would have expected it to sound like – usually a 335 or some sort of archtop. But we didn’t want to do sound-alikes, either. We wanted to make them our own.

• BB King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Joe Bonamassa is one of the world’s foremost guitar collectors, but he looks to be in the process of wrapping up his collecting habit.

The modern blues great is a leading authority on all things gear. His home, Nerdville, doubles as a museum. In fact, there are two ‘Nerdvilles’ in the world – both of which are stocked with some of the most desirable and elusive guitar gear ever created.

Be it historically significant builds from Blackguard Teles to early-era tube amps, or culturally important instruments previously owned by the best players throughout history, Bonamassa’s collection is absolutely filled to the brim. Some reports suggest Nerdville has more than 1,000 instruments in it.

But apparently it might be reaching its peak, and Bonamassa is determined to pump the brakes on his collecting days before things get out of hand.

Speaking on the No Cover Charge podcast with Jared James Nichols and Tyler Larson, Bonamassa issued an update on his collection, and gave a few reasons as to why the end of his collecting days might be in sight.

“As far as acquiring stuff, I’ve really slowed down, because there’s a saturation point,” he says (via Guitar Player). “I’d like to get to the stuff that I own and discover the sounds that I can get out of those pieces, before it just starts piling up and piling up and piling up.

“You never want to go into a situation… where you’re pulling out cases and have no recollection of when, where, or how you acquired it,” he says. “And it’s probably starting to get to that point.”

But simply having an excess of guitar gear isn’t the only reason why Bonamassa is slowing things down. Last year, when the LA wildfires devastated the state and threatened to destroy his home, JoBo was faced with another stark realization: if it came to it, he wouldn’t be able to save it all – so he’d have to pick and choose.

“Obviously, you can’t evacuate everything, so you have to prioritize. And I thought about it for years. I said, ‘Well, if we gotta go, here’s what’s going.’ This being one of them, you know.

So, don’t expect to see Bonamassa buying a truckload of guitar gear anytime soon. Of course, future acquisitions aren’t completely ruled out. He’ll just be more selective when it comes to writing the check.

Some of the standout picks from Bonamassa’s gear collection include the Bolin Burst, acquired through what Bonamassa called the strangest guitar deal he’s ever done, as well as Lowell George’s old Dumble.

Elsewhere in his No Cover Charge podcast interview, Bonamassa also played through Gary Moore's iconic Soldano SLO-100.

Joe Bonamassa has never hidden the fact he’s lifted tips and tricks from blues legends like Eric Clapton and B.B. King throughout his career. Taking tone hacks from an Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, however, has proven more surprising.

Bonamassa is actually immortalized in the Prince of Darkness’s vast guitar canon (even if he couldn’t believe he was being asked to feature on a track back in 2005), but taking amp setup cues from Zakk Wylde? That wasn't on our bingo card.

In a conversation with Guitar World around his new signature combo amp with Fuchs alongside company founder Andy Fuchs, Bonamassa confessed to taking one particular idea from Ozzy’s former guitarist, even if doing so is “heresy.”

“I've had great luck doing the exact opposite of what the internet tells me,” he says. “The internet says, when you see a Marshall, you put a Celestion [speaker] in it. I put in Electro-Voice, or EV, speakers in the cab. And when you see a Fender, Fuchs, or Dumble amp on my stage, chances are it has Celestions [in it].”

“This is heresy,” returns GW's Paul Riario.

“It's about the sound you have in your head, and how it feels under the strings,” Bonamassa details. “Everybody's tweaked their way out of a good sound, so if I find a guitar that I like, I won't change it. I won't even solder it.”

But when it comes to amps, he’s far less precious.

“I nicked that from Zakk Wylde,” he says of his speaker/cab philosophy. “I believe he used to split the cabs [to mix and match speaker cones]. What I like about Electro-Voice [speakers] with Marshall amps in particular is that it takes the fizz away, and the bottom end is very true and bell-like.

“I chose Celestions for this amp [the Fuchs] because they were giving the harmonics and mid-range a human voice. These speakers have their roles in certain things; you'd see Stevie Ray Vaughan putting EVs in his [Fender] Vibroverb amp because he wanted a big bottom end. Eddie Van Halen split his cabs with JBLs and Celestions.

“If you have a dynamic range, you don't have to hit the guitar that hard to get it to bloom,” Bonamassa continues. “Those kinds of things make a big difference. If you're splitting the load so one thing is not doing everything, it helps. It's not gonna collapse as fast.”

It’s for this reason that impulse responses have become such a powerful tool in the digital amp modeling world. It's the same idea, just with less drilling. Sometimes, gear is perfect as is. Sometimes, one key tweak can make all the difference.

In related news, Bonamassa recently offered cost-saving advice for buying amps and explained why he is yet to become an amp modeler convert.

If you’ve seen recent footage of Eric Steckel in action, you’ll probably have noticed that his take on the blues is an aggressive one. It’s a new thing for him, he tells GW, having started his live career two-and-a-half decades ago at just 11 years old.

Months later, he was invited on stage to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, who ended up asking him to guest on their next album. It’s the more fiery fretwork on Steckel’s newest recordings, however, that have seen him build a formidable fanbase as a solo artist.

“Getting heavier brought a ton of people into my realm,” he says. “It started well because my dad convinced me to do a live album when I was 11, which was a great idea because you can’t fake something like that. Things slowed down for a while, but since the pandemic, I’ve seen a lot of growth with some of my videos going viral.”

It was the music of Gary Moore that convinced Steckel to play harder and with more gain. Given the Belfast titan’s background in Skid Row and Thin Lizzy, he certainly had a way of intensifying the blues with a surplus of potency and authority.

“Gary sits at the top of the pyramid,” Steckel says. “His style was like, ‘Fuck the rules, I’m going to play what I like!’ If people didn’t care for it, too bad for them. I wasn’t always like that myself.

“My Polyphonic Prayer album from 2018 is when I decided to go high gain. I remember the engineer asking me, ‘Are you really going to use that Diezel Herbert overdrive on your blues record?’”

It was around this time that Steckel invested in his first Knaggs six-string. The company was so impressed by online footage of his playing that he was soon approached to collaborate on a signature model, which also led to the manufacture of his own amp by Italian specialists Mezzabara.

Steckel, who has a new label deal for an album due later this year, is the first to admit that it all played out like any guitarist’s dream scenario.

“My signatures have that Tele/Paul singlecut thing going on,” he says. “My pedalboard is just a Boss DD-200, CAE wah and ISP Decimator. That’s all I need. I’m just playing blues, but I throw in extra notes to spice it up.

“Every modern guitarist from Joe Bonamassa to Jared James Nichols gets the same kind of haters who say, ‘Everything you play is pentatonic.’ But in reality we aren’t just playing five notes. People are so used to hearing Dorian and Mixolydian in blues; they’ve become the new pentatonic.”

• Eric Steckel tours Europe in April. See Eric Steckel Tour for dates and ticket details.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

After splashing the cash on Gary Moore’s legendary Soldano SLO-100, Joe Bonamassa recently brought it to the No Cover Charge podcast studio – where it was fired up for the first time in 20 years.

Bonamassa admits he's not usually partial to celebrity gear purchases, but when the chance to own Gary Moore’s Soldano SLO-100 landed on his lap, it proved too good to pass up.

Moore – famed for his time in Thin Lizzy, his prolific solo career, and for being the second notable owner of the “Greeny” Les Paul – toured heavily with the amp. It would also feature on his post-Still Got The Blues album, After Hours, with his Marshall JTM45 duly sidelined.

During the test drive, there's a moment of tension as Bonamassa goes to flick the standby switch for the first time, awakening the Soldano from its 20-year slumber. Though it works – and sounds effortlessly magnificent – it does showcase a habit for powering down.

“It wasn't happy going past six,” Bonamassa laughs. “I'm an idiot. This thing just came out of a crate from London. It’s scaring me a bit.”

There are some rather unhealthy gargles and crackles coming from the amp at points, with the guitarist admitting it needs to go to his amp tech, Bob Dixon, before he can really put it through its paces.

Still, the look of satisfaction etched on JoBo's face says it all. The amp more than justifies the £19,200 (approx. $25,100) Bonamassa paid for it. Plus the price of a much-needed health check.

It marks the end of a years-long Soldano hunt for Bonamassa, who has previously eyed up similar amps that once belonged to some other high-profile players.

"I've actually gone after three [Soldanos]," he says in the podcast episode. "Eric Clapton sold his Journeyman rig in the 2010 Crossroads auction, but there was a guy who literally bought everything. I was going after the Cornish rack and the Soldanos.

"The next time we went after a Soldano was Mark Knopfler's [from] the Money for Nothing era. Finally, the Gary Moore one came up. I'm like, 'Let's get it.' No regrets."

In other Bonamassa news, the blues guitar has paid tribute to B.B. King, explaining why the blues starts and stops with him.

Today, I’d like to talk about the legacy of the legendary B.B. King, as 2025 marked what would have been his 100th birthday. I met B.B. in 1990 when I was 13 years old, and we became lifelong friends. He was the nicest and most generous person I’ve ever known.

I recently recorded a tribute album in B.B.’s honor, Blues Summit 100. Sadly, he passed at the age of 89 on May 14, 2015, but he left behind a trove of the most essential and influential blues recordings of all time. Everything that I and most other blues and blues-rock influenced guitarists play, owes a tip to the hat to B.B.

The title of my tribute album references the guitarist’s 1993 release Blues Summit, which features duets with Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, and others. Following in that tradition, Blues Summit 100 includes appearances by Buddy Guy, Slash, Marcus King, Jimmie Vaughan, Kirk Fletcher, and a variety of other guests.

When you talk about legendary guitarists and their indelible marks, there are some who can be identified upon hearing them play a few notes. With B.B., all it takes is one note! That’s it! Just one stinging vibrato and you know it can only be him.

B.B.’s soloing style was built on killer melodic phrases, like the one demonstrated in Figure 1.

Played in the key of B and based on a combination of B major pentatonic (B, C#, D#, F#, G#) and B minor pentatonic (B, D, E, F#, A), this lick is played in 12th position, in what’s often referred to as the “B.B. box.” All of the notes fall within that four-fret span, with the 1st finger anchored at the B string’s 12th fret. In bar 1, notice the essential whole-step bend of F# up to G# on beat 2.

In bar 2, I jump up to accent a high B note followed by a slide down to 7th position and a quick descending lick based on B minor pentatonic, phrased in B.B.’s style.

In Figure 2, I again begin in the same box but then shift down to 7th position for faster phrases based on B minor pentatonic, ending with a nod to B major pentatonic with the inclusion of the 6th, G#.

King was faster than he’s usually given credit for, as he would blaze through licks like these in just about every tune.

He also had some jazz influences, most notably Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, which he’d reference with licks like that shown in Figure 3, which begins in the manner of a horn line.

To telegraph a key change, B.B. would suddenly play a lick in, say, Bb, and when the band fell in behind him, he’d play expressive lines starting with a chordal stab, as in Figure 4.

B.B. had such an original catalog of licks, and there are many phrases I’ve learned from him that pop into my playing. Figures 5 and 6 are prime examples.

For me, as a blues player, it always starts and ends with B.B. King. Among my favorite albums are Indianola Mississippi Seeds, with Changing Things, Completely Well, with The Thrill Is Gone, and, of course, the burning Live at the Regal.

B.B. was so original and so powerful a player; his influence can be heard everywhere. He could plug into anything and would always sound like himself. Happy 100th birthday to B.B. King!

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Now in his mid-60s, Larry McCray’s career has taken him all the way from new kid on the block to elder statesman of the blues.

With mentors such as Albert King, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins, McCray was schooled in the art of pentatonic conversation like few others and learned how to make his guitar speak as profoundly as any human voice.

This year the Michigan-based musician is back with new album, Heartbreak City, which was produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith and features a host of special guests including the producers themselves, along with Kirk Fletcher and Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans.

This is a very uplifting record that crosses over into lots of areas of the blues.

That’s the intention. Whenever I’m asked what kind of music I play, I usually say I play ‘feel-good music’. I like to sing songs that are soothing in any kind of situation. I always felt that blues was broader than how it was depicted. Whenever I meet people who don’t have the same appreciation for it, I realise they haven’t discovered the right presentation of it.

The opening track, Try To Be A Good Man, kicks everything with some Albert King-inspired lines that really wail.

He was one of my biggest mentors. I loved Albert King. He would notice if you were trying to be good. You always had to show a bit of respect to Albert because that’s just what he was like.

He’d come around saying stuff like, ‘Hey boy, what you playing? Quit doing all that skipping and gimme something from the gut!’ like an antagonistic coach [laughs]. I’m lucky I got to meet people like him, BB and Koko Taylor. They made me fall in love with music in the first place. I used to be the youngest of all these players and now I’m the fuckin’ oldest!

The title track is a G minor blues that runs seven-and-a-half minutes long. What’s the secret to holding people’s attention like that?

It’s because I’ve listened to a lot over the years and incorporate other elements into my sound. Being a teenager in the ’70s, I was a big funk fan, listening to Larry Graham and Louis Johnson.

Then I left Arkansas and moved to Michigan and got exposed to heavy metal. I ended up becoming a big Def Leppard and Judas Priest fan. My criticism of blues at the time was that everybody was going for the post-war or Delta acoustic sound. Nobody was trying to take things to the next level, which is something I’ve always strived for.

You’re holding a Guild electric on the cover. Is that what we’re hearing?

That’s the one. It’s a Polara S-100 reissue with push-pull switches to split the coils. It’s a great-playing guitar, man. I wrote them a letter this morning trying to see if they would endorse me.

Because I love guitars like the Bluesbird, which is a bit like a Les Paul, and the X-175, which is reminiscent of the ES-175. The tones you hear are incredible.

I think Guild guitars sound in between a Fender and a Gibson. They are brighter than Gibsons, but still have the low-end punch of a humbucker. I’ve played Gibson my whole career – now I want something different.

And what were you plugging into?

I played through Joe’s rig. He has a nice collection of Dumble amplifiers. It was a little combo that was about the size of a Princeton, with a really warm tone. I plugged into Joe’s MXR FET Driver and a Klon clone. I have a real Klon, but I don’t take it anywhere because it’s worth so much. Effects are great, but the more you have, the more things can go wrong.

It’s amazing how lyrical your solos can be, almost most like a voice at times.

I use vocals for inspiration. I’m a baritone singer; I can only go so high, so I use my guitar to visit places I can’t with my voice. It’s like I’m singing through the guitar. I forced myself to learn all five pentatonic positions. Most people only tend to play in the 1st and 2nd [positions].

The best key to learn in is A minor: you can start with a G note on the 3rd fret and then climb into the 1st position, moving up the neck horizontally. You can mix minor with major for a blend.

You can transfer this knowledge to any key and find melodies naturally. We all know how the pentatonic scale sounds. It’s such a big part of the guitar, so it’s important to know how to play it across the neck.

Beyond that, what’s the secret to a good blues solo?

When I start playing, it’s usually with a slow bluesy lick. The second time I come around, I might throw in something a little jazzy. The third time, I might be all-out rocking and then the final pass is bringing it all back home.

It’s good to change it up. Try not to think in the same vein, whether it’s how you attack the notes, what notes you play or the rhythm. You have to tell your truth. As long as you’re speaking your truth and playing from the heart, people will listen.

This is your second time working with Joe. What have you learned from him?

I learned I’ll never be able to play like him and it’s best to stick to what I know. Joe is a one-in-a-million kind of player. He’s a special talent, and the same goes for Josh Smith, who wrote Bright Side and the title track. Even though I can’t play like Joe, I still use him for inspiration.

I have good dexterity for moments that call for me to play fast and step outside of the box. It was fun jamming together on the track I Know What I’ve Done. It reminds you to stay humble and be as good as you can be. Music isn’t a competition against other players. It’s a competition against yourself.

It really is an all-star cast on this album, especially with Reese Wynans involved.

I loved talking to Reese about his time with Stevie [Ray Vaughan], who I never got to hang with. The night he died, I was at Buddy Guy’s Legends club [in Chicago] waiting for Buddy, Stevie and Clapton because there was a rumour they were about to come and jam. All these musicians were waiting to see them.

Then we were told they’d all gone down. You’ll never see a house full of people get so quiet, it was pin-drop silence, and eventually we found out Buddy and Eric were okay. It was a terrible thing. I’ll never forget that day.

You’ve seen this kind of music rise and fall numerous times over the years. Where does the blues stand in 2025?

There are some great people trying to keep the blues alive. My biggest criticism is that the format seems to have changed. When we were coming up, there was always a structure; you’d know where the changes are. Nowadays, young people just change when they want to.

I know I’m getting older because I sound like my dad! I’m just happy there are people interested enough to preserve it. I love Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram. I have a 25-year-old son who’s a better singer and guitarist than me, so I have high hopes for him. And there’s another great young man in Arkansas called Josh Parks. He’s one to watch.

• Heartbreak City is out now via KTBA.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

The Soho Sessions is continuing to unite guitar greats, with Slash, Joe Bonamassa, and a host of special guests teaming up for some superlative blues cuts in New York.

The intimate live sessions, held in the Big Apple, have previously featured Keith Richards and Warren Haynes locking fretboards for charity.

This show was in aid of non-profit organisation Keeping the Blues Alive, which aims to preserve music education for the next generation, and the two guitarists steeped in blues history showed their class every step of the way.

Such an occasion meant only classics were on the menu, with Joe Bonamassa on the mic, and Slash on lead duty for a take on Bobby Bland's Further up the Road – previously covered by the likes of Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter – and guitar solos were oozing out of the pair's Gibson Les Pauls throughout.

They also took the opportunity to shine a light on the next generation of guitar maestros, with Grace Bowers invited on stage to wring breathtaking leads out of her preferred Gibson SG, playing with passion and fire. Commenting on a clip posted on the Soho Sessions Instagram, Sammy Hagar was quick to praise her talents.

“OK confirmation,” he says. “Does this young lady get it or what!”

Their other big – well, small, actually - guest was a boy JoBo has described as being “a little old for showbiz, he just turned 11” – Bay Melnick Virgolino. The shred-happy young star wowed America's Got Talent last year, and proved that no occasion is too big for him. His playing is as smooth as Egyptian cotton, and the smile twisting Bonamassa's face as he lights up his PRS says it all.

For Slash, it continues his roots-returning form, having dropped a blues album, Orgy of the Damned, alongside a host of guest stars in summer ’24. Then, so impressed was he at how “alive and fresh” the contemporary blues scene is, he took a slew of guitarists out on tour with him.

He’s also made some interesting blues-related comments in light of the record, including revealing the key lesson he got from B.B. King, and why he deems Eddie Van Halen a bluesman above all else.

Last time, I spoke about writing heavy-sounding riffs, which is what I’m tasked with when working with Black Country Communion, featuring Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Jason Bonham on drums and Derek Sherinian on keyboards.

The music of this band is very much inspired by the classic recordings of bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Free, Mountain and others.

When approaching writing a heavy riff, sometimes simplicity wins the day. Our namesake song, Black Country, was written by accident. I was at Glenn’s house – we’ve written all our songs in the same writing room so far, with me playing a guitar through an old Epiphone amp.

We were just talking and wrapping up the day, and without any thought I began playing the riff in Figure 1, which is based on the E Phrygian mode (E, F, G, A, B, C, D). I play 16th-note triplets with repeating E notes followed by a slide up one fret to F, a slide back down to E and a pull-off to D.

On beat 4, the riff ends with the notes A, B and D played in slower eighth-note triplets. Glenn heard it and said, “What’s that?” I said, “I don’t know!”

Next thing you know, he’s doubling that riff on bass, and the pieces started to fall together into a song. Figure 2 shows the big D5, E5 and A5 power chords we move into, after which the lick modulates up a 4th to A Phrygian (A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G), as shown in Figure 3, before reverting back to the riff in E.

As a heavy song, it coalesces when the band plays it in a tight, precise way. This is where, for my guitar part, palm muting (P.M.) comes into play.

Palm muting effectively reigns in the sound here; without it, the guitar riff would sound like a mess. It’s all about chiseling out the riff: I will alter the amount of palm muting as I play the riff, in order to change the feel and expressiveness of it, and I’ll also rotate my pick to a different angle for a sharper sound.

I take a similar approach with my tune The Ballad of John Henry, as illustrated in Figure 4. This riff is based on E minor pentatonic (E, G, A, B, D), and part of creating it was deciding where to play the open low E note in conjunction with the fretted E on the 5th string.

For the G5 and A5 chords in bar 2, I thumb-fret the 6th-string notes and include all of the strings in the voicing except for the G string, which I mute with my fret-hand fingers.

When playing the song live, I add an Em chord to the riff, as shown in Figure 6. In bars 1 and 3, on beat 3, I fret E and G notes on the A and D strings, respectively, and strum across all six strings to get the open top three strings into the voicing.

Bars 3-8 illustrate the pre-chorus riff, which alternates between B5 power chords and sliding octaves that move between C, B and A, with an Am(add2) chord sounded in bars 4, 6 and 8.

And – are you ready for this? – most of my favorite heavy riffs are played in standard tuning, although Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and others made things just a little heavier by sometimes tuning down.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Call it rumors, gossip, whatever, but there had been talk that Joe Bonamassa, blues guitar superstar and über-collector of vintage guitars, was going to one day buy his local store, Norman’s Rare Guitars.

It was a good rumor because it would have made perfect sense. He knows the product. He is in the store all the time, lured down to Ventura Boulevard by the heady scent of aged nitrocellulose lacquer that wafts from the many holy grail vintage electric guitars that hang upon its walls.

Heck, even the iconic LA guitar store’s owner and founder, the venerable Norman Harris, thought it was a good idea, telling Guitar World in March 2025 that Bonamassa would be a “good fit” for the job.

“He loves guitars, can play great and demo them great,” reasoned Harris. “He lives to promote young talent like I do.”

What Harris wanted was someone to take on the store and preserve what made it great, stay true to its legacy – stay true to the team that he has built up over the years.

“I would love for somebody to take it over who loves it as much as I do, keep my employees and try to run it in the same fashion that I tried to,” said Harris.

This week, Harris got his wish, when TNAG Global, the company that owns Carter Vintage Guitars, in Nashville, bought Harris’s store. Norman’s Rare Guitars and its thousand-plus inventory of guitars – plus Harris’s personal collection – would be included in the deal.

Harris could not be happier. He and TNAG Global’s CEO, Ben Montague, shared a vision for the future for Norman’s Rare Guitars.

“I’ve always known there would come a time when I needed the right long-term partner to carry Norman’s Rare Guitars forward,” said Harris in a statement. “I couldn’t imagine a better steward for the shop and its legacy than Ben Montague and TNAG Global.”

Like Slash, John 5, Richie Sambora et al, Bonamassa, for now, will remain just one of its many loyal customers –and he has given his blessing to the deal, saying the acquisition is a win-win for all parties, and for anyone who loves the store.

The fact that Harris will remain in situ for as long as he feels fit and willing, only makes the deal sweeter.

“I am extremely excited to see my Uncle Norm enter into this new chapter of his life and career,” says Bonamassa, writing on Instagram. “We all know that he will still be around being the master of ceremonies and dealing the coolest guitars in the world.

“Congratulations to my friend Ben and the entire team at Carters Vintage on securing the legacy of the greatest guitar store in the world. With that said, you all can stop asking me if I am buying it now. Muchas gracias.”

Would Bonamassa have made a good custodian of Norman’s Rare Guitars? Maybe. But where would he have found the time? He is has been holed up of late at Power Station at Berklee NYC, in the company of Kevin ‘The Caveman’ Shirley, presumably tracking the follow-up to 2025’s Breakthrough. His calendar is typically packed with live dates. Just last night he played The Soho Sessions with Slash.

Little wonder Bonamassa was getting tired at the very thought of adding retail work to his schedule.

As for the future of Norman's Rare Guitars, Montague says he wants to grow the business in Los Angeles and beyond. After taking ownership of Carter Vintage Guitars, sales increased by 233 per cent.

“Norman’s Rare Guitars is the most iconic guitar shop in the world, and we are honored to help extend its story into the future,” said Montague. “Our responsibility with this acquisition is simple: Protect what makes the shop special, ensure the business thrives beyond its founder, and give Norman the freedom to step back whenever he chooses, knowing the legacy is secure.”

Last year, Norman Harris sat down with Guitar World to discuss the unlikely rise of his eponymous vintage guitar empire.

A myriad of guitarists from different walks of life have paid tribute to Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, who has died aged 78, underscoring the scope of his influence and impact on American culture.

He co-founded the band, whose genre-fusing exploits earned them a status as one of America's greatest, amidst the burgeoning counterculture movement of the 1960s, and never slowed down. Just last year, his GD-adjacent group, Dead & Company, completed the longest residency at Las Vegas' immersive Sphere venue. There was also a cameo with Sammy Hagar’s band across town.

Weir was diagnosed with lung cancer in July, and continued to perform in light of the news, with his Dead & Company co-guitarist John Mayer leading the tributes.

“Okay, Bob. I’ll do it your way. Fkn’ A…” he writes on Instagram. “Thanks for letting me ride alongside you. It sure was a pleasure. If you say it’s not the end, then I’ll believe you. I’ll meet you in the music. Come find me anytime.”

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, meanwhile, has reflected on his interactions with the man and what his passing means.

“There were times when I was talking to him when I thought he was the last actual hippie,” he says (via the Guardian). “Bobby was completely allergic to compliments in the most endearing way. I’d say, ‘Man, that guitar riff you were doing on that song sounded really killer,’ and he’d respond, ‘Well, I’m sure I’ll fuck it up next time.’ I loved that about him.”

Steve Vai, who had the “great fortune” of playing with Weir at a 2017 charity concert, says, “for a few sublime hours we just sat around and jammed backstage, earthy and inspired, opening up my ears in ways I’ll never forget.

“Bob was a sharp listener, and his choice of chords, melodies, and tempos created an aura that was at once cosmic and playful…where the lines between sound and spirit blur in the best possible way,” he adds. “It was an absolute honor to share these moments with him, and I’m grateful for every note of light he gave this world.”

Country star Margo Price, meanwhile, who has grown close to Weir over the past decade, compared him to one of Dr. Seuss’s most famous creations.

“He always had a twinkle in his eye,” she says. “Like a barefoot philosopher or the Lorax, he was mystical. The records he made with the Grateful Dead are woven into the tapestry of American music forever.”

The Eagles’ Don Felder says he was “blessed” to have him sing on his solo track, Rock You, and Brandi Carlisle wrote that “Bob had time for all of us. He came to our shows, helped us write songs, and got so many of us out on stage to jam and just stand in his light.”

In a move indicative of Weir’s widespread influence, a truly vast cross section of guitar talent including, Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, Molly Tuttle, Alex Skolnick, Robb Flynn, Duane Betts, Scott Ian, Lee Ranaldo and Aaron Dessner have also expressed their love for Weir and his playing.

“I along with my friend James helped him find a bigsby equipped all gold parts 1956 Les Paul,” relays Bonamassa. “The guitar had a very old sticker of two aces on the original pick guard. He politely reminded me that his most successful solo album was called "Ace". Sometimes things are meant to be and the world works in mysterious ways.”

Meanwhile Bob Dylan simply posted a captionless image of the pair performing together, bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings looked back on his interactions with the guitar hero.

“I’ll always cherish the memories I have of Bob,” he says. “Of hanging out in his hotel room and him showing me his record collection and mobile recording rig. Sitting there listening to Kind of Blue in silence. Soaking in the frequencies. Of him busting into When I Paint my Masterpiece at my wedding, and in an instant, he turned the place into a joyous musical celebration.”

Bob Weir is survived by his wife, Natascha, two children, Shala Monet and Chloe, and a sprawling discography that has forever changed the face of American music.

Joe Bonamassa has explained what it is about guitar collecting that he finds so fascinating – and admitted to being addicted to buying vintage gear.

It’s common knowledge that Bonamassa’s home, Nerdville, is a museum in all but the fact that fans can’t buy an entrance ticket to oggle at the inventory of ultra-rare vintage guitar equipment.

“I do live in kind of like a museum situation where I'd make coffee in the morning next to a tweed amp,” he accepts, in conversation with CBS Mornings. “That's perfectly normal behavior for me.”

The bluesman's high-profile purchases are often documented on social media, with Gary Moore’s SLO 100 and Lowell George’s Dumble Super Overdrive two recent, and pricey, purchases. But each individual piece of gear has its own story to tell. And that's why Bonamassa is so committed to the collecting game.

“Every instrument is different,” he reasons. “When people ask, ‘Why do you need so many?’ they don’t get what it is to be a collector. As a collector, you're a custodian. You have the ability to preserve things; use them.

“That's why I love guitars and amps. They function. I play them live and in the studio. I love the fact that something that's that old, we're talking about almost three-quarters of a century with some of these things, is still cool and relevant today.

“When I look at a Gibson Les Paul Standard from 1959, or a Fender Stratocaster from 1954, I go, ‘Wow. Every single part of this, from the screws to the capacitors that wire the thing, was made here,’” he goes on.

Totting up how much he’s spent over the years would take a mathematician of heroic proportions. All JoBo knows is that he won’t change his habits.

“It's like primitive social media. Ever since I've been able to save up $200 or more, I've spent it all on guitars,” he continues. “Any guitar player or collector will sacrifice fiscal responsibility for the next thing; it's the chase. It is an addiction, but I live in it.”

Some of his gear-buying adventures make for quite the reading. At times, he's breathed new life into Les Pauls that have spent decades collecting dust under staircases, and carved the names of guitar legends into others. Each story, each piece of gear, is unique.

In related news, the guitarist has revealed his intriguing secret hack for writing heavy riffs and has just released a signature combo amp with Fuchs. It’s been built by a renowned disciple of Howard Dumble, with Bonamassa calling it “the worst-kept secret in the amp world”.

I recently got back off the road with my band Black Country Communion, which features Jason Bonham on drums, Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals – the “Voice of Rock!”– and the master of the keyboards, Derek Sherinian.

The conversation came up about the difference between what I do in my “day job” with my regular band versus when playing and writing for Black Country Communion. BCC is a “heavy” band; the songs are in a hard rock style, as opposed to the bluesier context of my normal band. Much of the difference, guitar playing-wise, comes down to the approach.

Contrary to what one might assume, with the heavier music and chordal work with this band, I don’t need tons of gain on my guitar because everyone else is distorted!

Glenn’s bass is distorted, and Derek’s Hammond organ sound is very overdriven, too (à la Deep Purple organist Jon Lord’s, which was routed into a Marshall amp). So my job is to find the spot in the middle and play cleaner, which results in a big, heavy band sound that also maintains clarity between the instruments.

A good example of this is the song One Last Soul. Figure 1 is played along the lines of the tune’s main riff, which is built primarily from power chords played on the bottom three strings in drop-D tuning (low to high: D, A, D, G, B, E).

In the realm of “heavy rock” guitar, I was very influenced by Paul Kossoff’s sound and playing with the band Free.

Figure 2 offers an example of this that moves through a series of chord voicings sounded on the middle four strings, shifting between A5, D/A, G5/A and Dsus4/A voicings in a manner akin to how Kossoff would craft his rhythm parts.

As you can see, just moving one note in the voicing “tells the story” as I move from chord to chord. I’ve discovered that the music will sound heavier and deeper if I scale back the voicings.

Leslie West’s riffs with Mountain, which are some of the heaviest ever, were often either single-note lines or two- and three-note chord voicings.

Figures 3 and 4 offer two examples of riffs played in Leslie’s inimitable style, exemplified by Mountain classics like Never in My Life and Nantucket Sleighride.

All of these types of chord voicings are really important in making the band sound a certain way. When writing this kind of music, I try to subtract from the chord voicings and eliminate any unneeded notes.

As shown in Figure 5, I mute the 3rd string when playing a low E5 chord, and also mute the 5th string on D/F# and Gsus2. You’ll find that your riffs can sound heavier if you approach your guitar parts from this point of view.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

The guitar world has come out in full force to honor the memory of Steve Cropper – one of the most influential figures in soul guitar, who has died aged 84.

Cropper’s passing was announced yesterday (December 3) via a statement posted to his official Facebook page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of Stephen Lee Cropper, who died peacefully in Nashville today at the age of 84,” the statement read.

“Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world.”

Joe Bonamassa, Mick Fleetwood, Tommy Emmanuel, Dave Davies and Dave Mason have led the tributes to Cropper, with Bonamassa writing, “Words fail me in describing his impact on music.

“He was on the session when history was made. He came up with guitar parts we all studied. He produced the records we all worshipped,” he continued. “He was my friend and a true great… This one really hurts.”

“Steve Cropper, one of the most influential guitar players of our time passed away today,” Emmanuel wrote in his own post. “Shake your tail feather, brother.”

“So sad to hear of Steve Cropper’s passing,” echoed Huey Lewis. “He was a giant. One of the architects of Memphis soul music, he wrote, produced and played on so many important songs. His music will live on forever.”

More tributes to Steve Cropper can be found below.

Joe Bonamassa, who’s currently out on tour, recently had to reschedule a show in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a result of a hearing injury known as Acute Acoustic Trauma.

“Last night during the latter half of the Austin show at @acllive ( Not their fault!! A really great venue and crew!) my right ear pretty much lost 80 percent of its high end,” explains Bonamassa on social media.

“For audio folks it approximately ranges from 600 hz to about 12k-ish. The advice the doctors both local to Shreveport and my trusted/ legendary ENT Dr. Joseph Sugarman in Los Angeles gave me was not to be around any loud noises until cleared to do so again.

“The diagnosis was Acute Acoustic Trauma. Given that..I feel fine and am I am in good voice and playing shape.”

According to the National Library of Medicine, Acute Acoustic Trauma (also known as AAT) is characterized by “sudden sensorineural hearing loss caused by exposure to intense impulse noise, such as blasts or gunshots, typically exceeding 140 dB for less than 0.2 seconds”.

However, according to Bonamassa, there was a silver lining to the injury.

“The silver lining was being able to spend a few low volume, non amplified, limited ‘right side hearing’ hours with a life long inspiration and friend and @rockhall member Mr. James Burton and his family in Shreveport this afternoon,” he continues. “A national treasure and a world class human being.”

Bonamassa has since recovered, and, thanks to a pair of trusty earplugs, is scheduled to play tonight’s (November 26) show in St. Louis, Missouri.

Touring aside, he’s also recently announced a tribute album to one of the three Kings of blues – B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 – alongside some pretty big names, including Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, George Benson, Susan Tedeschi, and Warren Hayes.

Joe Bonamassa has announced the latest addition to his ever-growing catalog of signature guitar gear with the arrival of the Fuchs JB-ODS combo amp.

As the suffix of that product name implies, the 100 watt JB-ODS is inspired by one of the guitar world’s most mythical amps – the Dumble Overdrive Special – though was originally intended to be a one-off custom amp built for Bonamassa’s studio and small local club gigs.

“And we are live!” Bonamassa wrote on Facebook to unveil the JB-ODS. “The worst-kept secret in the amp world is now available.”

Bonamassa goes on to explain that the project first came about a year and a half ago, when he reached out to Andy Fuchs – renowned amp designer widely considered to be “one of the most respected modern-day disciples of Howard Dumble’s amps" – to build him a run-around combo.

As Bonamassa remembers, “I called Andy and said, ‘Can you build me an amp? I'll send you a Celestion speaker – can you build me a 100-watt combo so I can drag it around New York City?'

“He built me one of these ODS models,” he adds. “And to be honest with you, it blew me away.”

The JB-ODS was born out of Fuchs’ existing Overdrive Supreme model, which is a spiritual extension inspired by original Dumbles with its own Fuchs-developed tweaks. Here, those include onboard reverb – something most OG Dumbles don’t have – and Bonamassa’s custom JB-85 Celestion 12” speaker.

Other appointments include selectable mid-boost frequencies, two gain boosts, a three-position Brite switch, an effects loop and a DC fan under the hood, which keeps the aluminum chassis “cool all night”.

“It's very much like an ODS, in the sense that there's so many different sounds that you can kind of elicit from it,” Bonamassa explains in a demo video.

“And it's not $175,000, which is a big deal. Not everybody has $175,000 for an amplifier.”

That’s not to say it’s cheap, though – the Fuchs JB-ODS is available from Joe Bonamassa’s online store for $3,999.

Despite his affinity for buying legendary vintage gear, Joe Bonamassa says he’s not a big fan of auctions. But when a host of Gary Moore's equipment went up for sale this week, the bluesman couldn’t resist getting a slice of the action.

Moore – the late blues rock heavyweight celebrated for his flawless 1990 album Still Got The Blues, alongside his work with Thin Lizzy – is widely considered one history’s great guitar players.

As such, yesterday's (November 20) Bonham's auction understandably caught the eye of Bonamassa.

“I have never been a fan of grabbing a paddle and slogging it out, buying guitars and amps at auction,” Bonamassa writes in an Instagram post. “There are exceptions, though. Gary's playing and that album Still Got the Blues changed my life as a kid.”

Bonamassa's prize pick was Moore's 1989 Soldano SLO-100, a 100-watt tube amp with some serious bite. Though Moore opted for a Marshall JTM45 on clean with a Guv’nor distortion pedal on the Still Got the Blues LP, he pivoted to the Soldano for the following tour.

Here, he used the amp's clean channel only, with the Guv’nor once again doing the teeth-baring. The rig would remain in place for his tours in support of After Hours, which was released two years later.

As per Bonham's website, Bonamassa bought the amp for £19,200 (approx $25,100).

“Gary’s approach to soloing was like placing a brick on a car’s gas pedal,” JoBo said of his hero during a Guitar World lesson on his iconic playing style. “Like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, he had infinite passion and musical ideas.”

However, while ‘Joe Bonamassa buys gear’ isn’t necessarily breaking news, it goes against his recent word that he was done splurging on big amps.

Bonamassa has bought some illustrious items over the years – the acquisition of the Tommy Bolin Les Paul is a personal favorite – but he surprised us all in June when he admitted to buying his pedals from Sweetwater.

Now, he’s teamed up with his favorite guitarist for a stunning tribute to B.B. King.

Joe Bonamassa's mammoth tribute project to B.B. King was announced in September, with the unveiling of a star-studded list of collaborators.

However, Bonamassa has managed to squeeze two more music legends into the credits list, as he's now set to team up with Eric Clapton and Chaka Khan on King's timeless classic, The Thrill Is Gone.

The highly anticipated collaboration between the two blues guitar greats will arrive alongside the full album, B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, on February 6.

It's set to be a momentous link-up, both for fans and for Bonamassa himself. After all, in one of his Guitar World columns last year, JoBo named Clapton as his favorite singer/songwriter and guitar player of all time.

In a separate piece posted to his own website, Bonamassa said of Clapton's influence, "I find that the higher you go up the ladder sometimes, the more humble and nice people are.

"That's truly the case of Eric Clapton; he's my hero and the reason I play the way I play, just basically one of those guys who plus the guitar straight into an amp and it sounds like him."

The two had previously traded licks on Bobby Bland's Texas shuffle Further On Up The Road at Bonamassa’s career-shifting Royal Albert Hall performance in 2009 – immortalized on the Live From The Royal Albert Hall album.

In the meantime, fans can take a deep dive into more King classic covers with the recently released B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, Vol. III.

This volume sees Bonamassa link up with Buddy Guy on Sweet Little Angel, Larkin Poe on Don’t You Want A Man Like Me, Trombone Shorty and Eric Gales on Heartbreaker, Jimmie Vaughan on Watch Yourself, and Larry McCray on When It All Comes Down (I’ll Still Be Around).

Produced by Bonamassa and Josh Smith, B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100 continues to unfurl in monthly installments up until its February release date, when the full 32-track album will officially be released.

“When B.B. was alive and active, he was the blues – he was the sun which all planets rotated around,” says Bonamassa. “You only get one shot to do this correctly. And I think we nailed it.”

As for what we can expect from the Bonamassa–Clapton–Khan collaboration, the Nerdville owner remains tight-lipped.

The Klon Centaur is one of the most sought-after overdrive pedals ever created. If you're lucky enough to own one, taking it out on tour – or leaving it lying around a venue waiting to be stolen – is probably not the best idea.

That's why Jared James Nichols – who was gifted a Klon Centaur by Joe Bonamassa – takes appropriate measures to ensure his prized pedal remains in his possession.

“The Klon is its own beast, there’s something slightly different in the sauce,” Jared James Nichols – a proud Klon owner – says in the latest issue of Guitarist.

“Taking Klons on the road isn’t fun,” he continues. “I always have to pull it off the ’board after soundcheck and bring it with me because a Klon sitting in a club is an easy nick. But nobody is going to steal your Tube Screamer, you know?”

Nichols' prized Klon was a gift from another blues titan – Joe Bonamassa. Nichols initially borrowed a Klon from a friend for around two years, but, lo and behold, someone tried to steal it while he was out on tour.

After that incident, Nichols didn't want to tour with a borrowed Klon, so he embarked on a quest to buy his own. After hitting the Nerdville owner up for some advice on whether a Klon he was eyeing was the real deal or not, the veteran guitarist offered to sell him one of his own.

Shortly after, one of Joe’s friends dropped off a Klon at Nichols’ doorstep – and it turns out Bonamassa wasn’t expecting any payment.

“I was about to go on the road myself, and he goes, ‘Hey, dude, listen, the money that you'd spend on a Klon will do better for you actually having your tour be a success,’” Nichols recalls in an episode of the No Cover Charge podcast. “‘The Klon is a gift from me.’ And I couldn't believe it. What a guy. So I love you, Joe, thank you, Joe.”

In his recent Guitar World lesson, Nichols gives the lowdown on how to use open strings and Drop D tuning to bulk up your blues fingerstyle.

For more from the blues rock guitarist, plus new interviews with Kiki Wong and Joanne Shaw Taylor, pick up issue 531 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.

Legendary pickup builder Maricela “MJ” Juarez has recalled the time Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith brought her to tears of joy as the two blues guitar greats gave her the ultimate shoutout on stage.

Today, Juarez heads up the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. Over the course of her career she has designed and built electric guitar pickups for some mega names, including Eddie Van Halen, Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, and Peter Frampton.

During Sweetwater's recent Guitar Fest summit, Juarez was taking part in a panel event when she was asked to name her proudest achievement. Her answer was incredible.

“I was going to say making my 40th anniversary [set] with Peter Frampton,” she jokes in the newly shared footage. “But no, something [else] happened. Last Saturday, I was on an Alaskan cruise with Joe Bonamassa [the Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea Alaska cruise, where JoBo traded licks with Marcus King]. I see Joe and the other guitar player, Josh Smith, and I go, ‘Oh, they’re both using my pickups.’

“Obviously, Joe Bonamassa uses my pickups. Then Joe comes and starts playing right in front of me, because I was in the front row. And Josh Smith goes to the pickups, [pointing] ‘Your pickups are right here.’

“At that moment, something clicked in me. I got emotional and I started crying. I'm going, ‘I never thought of myself in these 42 years, seeing my work on stage and and saying, ‘Yes, it's part of me up there.’ I started crying. I'm going, ‘Damn it, Joe, Peter hasn't made me cry, but you make me cry!’”

One of Juarez's most notable recent creations was her painstaking recreation of the Frampton Comes Alive! humbuckers, a key component in one of the most celebrated live albums in rock history. The release came in recognition of her 40 years of service at the company, and was joined by a set of Strat single-coils that paid tribute to Steve Miller Band's 1973 album, The Joker, and Tele pickups for journeyman guitarist Pete Anderson.

She was also likely to have been involved in Joe Bonamassa’s latest Seymour Duncan collaborations, which have brought the pickups of Tommy Bolin’s famous Les Paul to the masses, as well as those featured in the bluesman’s revered Greenburst Strat.

The firm has also reconfigured its famed JB pickup for Telecasters, at long last. It's huge news for Tele fiends.

Meanwhile, Joanne Shaw Taylor has detailed how JoBo's gear-haggling skills landed her the signature model of her favorite player.

Larry McCray was one of the great new-generation blues guitarists of the ’90s, emerging out of Saginaw, Michigan, with 1993’s excellent Delta Hurricane.

He was a regular at blues festivals and clubs around the world, touring with Gary Moore, Albert Collins and many other guitar legends. McCray also released several albums grounded by his stinging playing – which was reminiscent of Albert King – and soulful, gospel-infused singing.

By the time of the pandemic in 2020, however, McCray had not released new music in years and was barely touring outside of Michigan. That’s when Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith drove up to his rural home and proposed working together.

The resulting album, 2022’s Blues Without You, was a fantastic, assertive return to form. The album put him back on the national blues map, and his profile was raised further on annual tours with the Allman Betts Family Revival.

Now he’s back with Heartbreak City, his excellent second album, produced by Smith and Bonamassa, who also appear on the record alongside the California blues master Kirk Fletcher.

“I totally trust those guys behind the board. When you have that, it’s fun and easy to work together,” McCray says. “I was intimidated on the first one because we were just meeting, and I had lost a lot of confidence after having down days in my career. I kind of lost my mojo for a minute, but they propped me back up.”

McCray’s mojo is definitely working again. In addition to his two outstanding solo albums, he also appears on Devon Allman’s The Blues Summit album and the associated Blues Summit tour.

“I’ve had a personal rejuvenation,” McCray says. “When you’re starting out, you want to be the brightest star ever. But after you get your feet wet, you know success doesn’t always mean being the biggest fish in the pond. I appreciate what I’ve accomplished, and now I feel like I have another shot – and I am all in on it!”

Axology

Guitars

2003 Gibson Les Paul V with Burstbucker pickups; ’57 Gibson Les Paul goldtop with ’57 PAF Classics; 2001 Gibson Blueshawk with noise-canceling P90 pickups, three-way toggle and six-way Varitone selector (“It can sound like a beefed-up Telecaster or a big jazz box similar to a Gibson L5”); DeArmond M70, M75 and Jetstar

Amps

1971 and ’73 Fender Deluxe Reverb, both modified with solid-state rectifiers, rebiased and tubed with 6L6 power tubes. Red Plate 50W Sonic Mist 1x12 cab with Warehouse guitar speakers. Peavey Classic 50 with 1x12 speaker

Effects

Klon Centaur, Joe Bonamassa FET Driver, Dunlop Cry Baby Classic

• Heartbreak City is out now via KTBA Records.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Though obviously not thought of in this way, the Gibson ES-350 is a great instrument to use for rock rhythm guitar playing.

With its hollow body and two-pickup design, it’s similar to the Gretsch 6120, which Pete Townshend used nearly exclusively for the guitar parts on the Who’s seminal Who’s Next album. Those gigantic rhythm guitars you hear on Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley were, surprisingly, recorded by Pete on a 1959 Gretsch 6120.

I will often use the ES-350 in the same manner. The necks on these guitars are skinny and narrow, so the strings are actually a little closer together, as compared to other Gibsons, and it features “narrow-spaced” PAF pickups, wherein the screws are closer together.

These guitars may not be for everyone, but they’re great “power chord” guitars, and I will often use them in the studio for that purpose.

As shown in Figure 1, I put the guitar in the bridge pickup position and play through a series of single-note licks based on the E blues scale (E, G, A, Bb, B, D) before moving into three- and four-note chords played in a syncopated rhythm against the open low E string.

These guitars are great for rock rhythms because they have a great sparkle to them, and the larger hollow body allows a little bit more bass to come out, as compared to an ES-335. In Figure 2, I embellish E5 power chord accents with single-note phrases, switching to sliding 6ths in bar 2, and then move between A5 and D/A chords in bars 4 and 5.

If you turn up the amp and use distortion, these guitars will howl with feedback due to the hollowbody design, so you have to mute the strings as necessary.

Figure 3 offers a long, 13-bar example that begins with power chords in bars 1-7. The single-note riff in bar 1 gives way to syncopated chords played against the open A string in bars 2-6, as I move freely between various voicings of A5, D/A, Gsus2/A, G/A, Dsus2 and Esus4 up and down the neck, pounding out the open-A pedal tone in steady eighth notes.

Pete Townshend was a master of devising rhythm parts played with this kind of “pedal tone against shifting chords” approach.

In bars 7-9, I switch to single-note lines based on the E blues scale, and then in bars 10-13, I move into fast, solo-type phrases based on E minor pentatonic, (E, G, A, B, D), and the E blues scale, with the inclusion of the 2nd/9th, F#, in bar 10.

These guitars are so lively and have a lot of “pop” to the sound, but they also have a lot of body and low-end that fattens up the single notes in a great way.

These guitars are not just for blues lawyers – you can rock with one of these! They may not be thought about that much anymore, and this is why I wanted to bring your attention to the rock ’n’ roll magic of an ES-350.

• Breakthrough is out now via J&R Adventures
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Arkansas troubadour Jesse Welles may have carved a niche as a modern-day voice of resistance, with his slew of viral videos and original songs tackling grenade topics such as ICE raids and opiates. However, the singer-songwriter, who always seems to have an acoustic guitar at hand, is now taking head-on what may or may not be a less controversial topic: buying guitars.

In a video filmed at the legendary Chicago Music Exchange, Welles delivers his ode to the instrument, with lyrics such as, “Ever since I was a boy, my mom and my pop couldn't keep me away from the old pawn shop by trading this and selling that, got me a Peavey amp and a Chinese Strat,” and “God made the critters in the oceans and trees, and then he got done making Adam and Eve, and Adam said, ‘Hey, God, just do one more thing.’ God said, ‘What?’ And Adam said, ‘I need a guitar, please.’”

He even name-drops Joe Bonamassa, which doesn't go unnoticed by the bluesman, who comments, “Thanks for the shoutout! You are better than me though.”

Another name-drop comes in the form of Billy Strings – “If I can pick a guitar like old Billy Strings. Well, I can't today, but I'm practicing” – which led the bluegrass virtuoso to comment, “Fucking YESS dude!!! This is the jam.”

The witty, blues- and folk-inflected song is winning over a host of guitar aficionados, with some people in the comment section declaring it “the ultimate anthem for guitar.”

Indeed, the feel-good track is a world away from the themes Welles usually digs into. However, as the fast-rising singer-songwriter and guitarist explains in an interview with Westword, “As far as people digging it for the guitar or whatever, it’s like if someone was using the Tao Te Ching as a doorstop, and in that respect, they’re getting a practical use out of it.”

“So where’s the harm in that? It’s there. If someone were to come to the house and remove the doorstop to read it someday, then it would have served two purposes. There are songs that I’ve listened to my entire life that I probably didn’t really understand until last year, you know? You come back to it and have a whole new understanding of it. If you’re listening at all, that’s just a wonderful thing.”

In a 2018 Guitar World interview, well before his viral era, Welles waxed lyrical about his relationship with the guitar – and what he hopes to get out of it every time he picks one up.

“People pretty up the guitar too much,” he said matter-of-factly. “I kind of fight when I play, and I want people to hear that struggle of my fingers getting gnawed up on the fretboard. I like to use amp overdrive to get a warm guitar buzz, and sometimes I’ll go straight into the board and crank it.

As he aptly put it, “When the guitar sounds big and fuzzy, I know it’s right.”

It might not come as a surprise that Joe Bonamassa – the man who dedicates his spare time to hunting down ultra-rare vintage gear – isn’t going to be jumping on the digital amp modeler hype train any time soon (read: ever).

The decorated bluesman’s current live rig includes a huge array of different tube amps, a smorgasbord of pedals, and, of course, some pretty monumental electric guitars, headlined by – but not exclusive to – the likes of his "Royal Albert" Les Paul and Bonnie Strat.

One could safely assume that the day JoBo's live rig includes a Quad Cortex or Line 6 Helix would be the day the apocalypse arrives. Still, he’s shed more light on his decision to veer away from these next-gen products, which are dominating the market.

“The cost of being in the guitar business and being in a band and out there on the road has gone up exponentially in the last 36 to 48 months,” he tells the No Cover Charge podcast.

“Amp modelers are so popular for this reason. You can take a Neural DSP, Line 6, or whatever, and a little Seymour Duncan power amp, and all you have to rent is a 4x12 cabinet. And that's a whole rig that fits into the front pocket of a backpack, and fits in the overhead [locker of a plane].”

He adds that there are “fragility issues” when it comes to transporting amplifiers, and fixing them can “eat into your money to the point you don’t cut a check.”

As such, Bonamassa is, unsurprisingly, in tune with the benefits that modelers bring to touring musicians, and especially those on a tight budget. So why won’t he follow suit in making the jump?

“Here's my thing. I'm terrible with technology,” he accepts. “I have this Tesla coil effect on digital electronics. I could shut my phone down with just my aura. And I have very little patience.

“If I'm going into a machine like a Fractal or whatever, I have to make decisions of what mic I want to use, what position of the mic I want to use, what cabinet, what version of the AC30 or Fender Twin, and all these parameters,” he continues. “I could just go up to a [real] Fender Twin and set it in three seconds.”

He is, though, self-aware enough to admit that these pieces of gear are impressive. He just doesn’t resonate with them.

“I'm a very one-dimensional type of artist,” he says. “I do what I do. I'm the bull in a china shop. I play too many notes. It is what it is.

“If you're a sideman or woman, then you have all the tones, but you have to be prepared to spend hours and hours and hours programming.”

Elsewhere in his podcast appearance, Bonamassa revealed that his viral Guitarist lesson was completely improvised. All he wanted was to end the day and drink a Martini.

In 2014, Joe Bonamassa recorded a guitar lesson for Guitarist that went viral. Reflecting on that clip 11 years on, he's now revealed he was totally unprepared for it.

Bonamassa is the latest guest on the No Cover Charge podcast, which is hosted by YouTuber Music is Win (aka Tyler Larson) and Jared James Nichols. Across a conversation that spanned his insane live rig and the rise of amp modellers, he was also asked about that viral lesson – his ultimate guide to getting more tone out of Gibson Les Pauls. As of today, it’s racked up 2.5 million views.

“It was one of those European press tours that you do, and we had a long day,” Bonamassa recalls. “I was there with my tour manager, Clay, and we're at John Henry's [gear hire warehouse] in London, and they're [Guitarist] like, ‘Okay, now that we're done with all this, we were promised a half-hour guitar lesson on camera.’ And I'm like, ‘Nobody told me that.’”

He then says he replied, “I could teach you everything I know in like 15 minutes, I just can't teach you how to apply it. That's a personal thing.”

Still unsure of what he was going to say when the red light was on, he was handed a Les Paul and a Lazy J amplifier, and improvised.

“What stood between me and a martini was this 30-minute lesson,” he then says with a grin. “I’d checked out. I completely blagged the whole fucking thing.”

That Bonamassa was able to 'check out' yet share some guitar-playing wisdom that has been received by millions of players over the span of just over a decade is probably a testament to his tutoring skills.

It may have been last minute, but Bonamassa's lesson – which, among other things, detailed how to optimize use of a Les Paul's volume and tone controls – clearly struck a chord.

It wasn't by design, though. The angle of his lesson came from the setup Bonamassa found himself thrown into. The amp was set “way back”, so he focused on how to extract a multitude of sounds from a Les Paul using only its on-board controls.

“It was one of the first videos of mine that went viral... I was just using the volume,” he explains. “I said, ‘You realize that all of the sounds in your head can come out of this little thing right here.’

“Forget these [strings/humbuckers], it's how you tweak [the knobs] and [knowing] how what you hear in here is being channelled through the guitar.”

In related news, Joanne Shaw Taylor recently looked back on the time JoBo helped haggle a deal for her dream guitar. Bonamassa also looked back on his surprise at being asked to join Ozzy Osbourne's band for one song only.