Sophie Burrell advances to semifinals of the Martin No Limits Challenge
The British guitarist's soulful unplugged take on Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine beat out Nili Brosh's dazzling cover of Van Halen's Jump
This week, Martin – in partnership with Guitar World – kicked off the third quarterfinal round of its No Limits Challenge competition.
The third quarterfinal round of the competition – which sees eight guitarists face off against one another, covering tunes you wouldn't normally associate with an acoustic using a Martin SC model – saw Nili Brosh and Sophie Burrell take on two of the most recognizable rock songs of the 1980s.
Burrell took on Slash's yearning solo on Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine, while Brosh covered Van Halen's synth-powered, chart-topping smash, Jump.
We asked Guitar World's readers – with the help of GW's editors – to weigh in, and vote for their favorite of the two covers. Both were killer, but ultimately, the people spoke in favor of Burrell's toneful lead acoustic guitar work, advancing her to the semifinal round.
Each round of the competition revolves around two guitarists covering standards of a certain genre. There will be two genre-based face-offs in the semifinals, and the winners of those, of course, will advance to the finals.
Be sure to check back on Monday to watch the next quarterfinal match-up, which will see Jay Leonard J and Gretchen Menn put their own, Martin-powered spin on two of the finest rock songs of the 1990s.
For more info on Martin's SC acoustics, visit the company's website.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
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