“John said to me, ‘When you hear a solo, you can tell how well that guy knows that guitar.’ I went, ‘He's so true’”: Keith Urban and John Mayer agree – having fewer guitars can make you a better guitar player
Urban on the valuable lesson he learned from John Mayer
(Image credit: Left-Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images; Right-Robin Little/Redferns/Getty Images)
There are two types of guitarists in the world: those who stick with one, maybe two guitars, throughout their entire career, and others who simply can't get enough. Keith Urban has given his take on why having fewer guitars can actually work in your favor, with a little insight from John Mayer.
“I had this conversation with John Mayer recently. He said to me, ‘You can tell when you hear a solo, how well that guy knows that guitar.’ I went, ‘He's so true.’ More than the sound and or whatever, more than anything, you can just tell that dude knows that guitar inside out,” he says in an interview with Rick Beato.
“And I said to him, ‘I kind of miss that.’ I think I played better when I had two guitars. And I'd like to get back to a little more of just one dominating the show, which has happened recently with this Telecaster I've had forever.”
Urban admits that he usually tends to fall into the latter category, as he uses specific guitars to achieve the tones he wants to incorporate into his songs.
“I've made a lot of records, and I've reached for certain things because I want that sound on that song. And so now I have this Danelectro.
“I didn't want a Danelectro, but I just wanted that for that one song. Then I wanted this old Gretsch for this song. Before you know it, you have all these guitars. I wasn't sort of going, ‘I want this in the collection, that in the collection.’ I don't do that.”
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
