REVIEWED! BLACKSTAR DEPT.

10 AMPED 2 GUITAR & BASS

TRANSCRIPTIONS

EXTREME
RISE
AC/DC
YOU SHOOK ME
ALL NIGHT LONG
JOE WALSH
HO
TTES ROCKY MOUNTAIN
WAY
THE

A M M
N
R

N
A

E W GE

Three decades after

his last GW cover,
Nuno is back —
with the solo
of the century!

B E T T E N C O U R T

THE BRILLIANCE OF
POST-BOWIE MICK RONSON
KIRK HAMMETT
WINERY DOGS
RIK EMMETT
COVET
 CON T EN TS
VOL. 44 | NO. 8 | AUGUST 2023

28 KIRK HAMMETT Xxxxxx

The Metallica man discusses the latest fruits of his
partnership with Gibson: two Greeny Les Pauls and
a reproduction of his original 1979 Flying V

32 RIK EMMETT
The former Triumph guitarist gets into everything from
those pesky Rush comparisons, the advantages of jumpsuits
and the uphill battle of cracking the U.S. market

36 THE BEST STUFF WE SAW AT NAMM

April showered us with some noteworthy new gear!

44 MICK RONSON AFTER BOWIE

Yep, he made his mark on David Bowie’s classic early
Seventies albums, but things didn't end there for the late
U.K. tone master

52 NUNO BETTENCOURT
The Extreme guitarist — who graces GW’s cover for the first
time since our December 1992 issue (Welcome back, Nuno!)
52
— tells us about Eddie Van Halen’s visit during the recording
of “Rise” and the guitar solo everyone and his/her cousin is
talking about. There’s also a Nuno style lesson, a closer look
at “Rise” and more. Even Brian May, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai,
Tom Morello and Steve Lukather chime in. It’s crazy!

TRANSCRIBED DEPARTMENTS
“Rise”
by Extreme 12 SOUNDING BOARD 80 COLUMNS
80. In Deep
PAGE
86
15 TUNE-UPS by Andy Aledort
81. Tales from Nerdville
Adrian Belew, Wishbone Ash’s
by Joe Bonamassa
Andy Powell, McKinley James, Yvette
82. Melodic Muse
Young, Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen and
“You Shook Me All Night Long” by Andy Timmons
Billy Sheehan, Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell
by AC/DC 83. Live from Flat V
(and her pedalboard), Chris Spedding,
by Josh Smith
DevilDriver and Sunny War — plus Playlist,
PAGE
85 PERFORMANCE NOTES
Introducing, some semi-vintage Glenn
94 Tilbrook and more.

“Rocky Mountain Way”

75 SOUNDCHECK 110 POWER TOOLS
Whereas most of the electric 12-string
by Joe Walsh 75. Blackstar Dept. 10 AMPED 2
guitars introduced in the Sixties were
77. Taylor AD12e-SB
basically six-string models with 12-string
PAGE 78. Fender Steve Lacy People Pleaser
necks, the Fender Electric XII was the first
100 Stratocaster model designed from the ground up as
79. Bare Knuckle Peacemaker Humbucker a 12-string.
B R I A N M A L LOY

COV E R PH OT O: J A I ME BA L L E ST E ROS

10 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 WOODSHED
VOL. 44 | NO. 8 | AUGUST 2023 EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Damian Fanelli
(damian.fanelli@futurenet.com)

...SAME AS THE OLD

SENIOR MUSIC EDITOR Jimmy Brown
TECH EDITOR Paul Riario
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Andy Aledort, Chris Gill

BOSS! PRODUCTION EDITOR Jem Roberts

MUSIC TRANSCRIPTIONIST AND ENGRAVER Jeff Perrin
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gregory Adams, James Beaugez,
Richard Bienstock, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Bosso, Andrew Daly,
AS THE COVER line suggests, this issue does Charlie Griffiths, Rebecca Lovell, Joe Matera, Mark McStea,
Ryan Reed, Amit Sharma, Josh Smith, Andy Timmons
indeed mark the first time in 31 years that Ex-
treme’s Nuno Bettencourt has graced the cover of ART
SENIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR Mixie von Bormann
Guitar World. That brings us back to 1992 — the IMAGE MANIPULATION MANAGER Gary Stuckey
ADDITIONAL PAGE DESIGN Damian Fanelli
same year I was stopped by a Pennsylvania state
trooper for somehow still having a four-year-old PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTRIBUTORS Future, Getty Images and other individually
inspection sticker on my ’88 Dodge Dakota! It’s credited photographers, public relations firms and agencies.
worth noting that Nuno was actually on two GW All copyrights and trademarks are recognized and respected.

covers that year: January, when we called him the ONLINE

DIGITAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Astley-Brown
“M.V.P.,” and December, when we called him the DIGITAL ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jackson Maxwell
“new boss” (as in, “Meet the...”). So sure, he’s the “older” boss now (although he still DIGITAL STAFF WRITERS Sam Roche, Matt Owen
magically looks the same-ish; what do you use on your hair, Bettencourt?!?), but he VIDEO
VIDEO EDITOR Alan Chaput
is definitely still the boss; he is definitely still the M.V.P.
I don’t want to rehash what’s already stressed in this issue — via two full-length CIRCULATION
HEAD OF NEWSTRADE Tim Mathers
features and a bunch of sidebars, mind you — but the guy is indeed “bringing guitar
PRODUCTION
back” in at least one way: as a conversation starter. To quote Tom Morello, “Let’s cut HEAD OF PRODUCTION Mark Constance
to the present with ‘Rise’ and the guitar solo that everyone’s talking about. It’s been SENIOR AD PRODUCTION MANAGER Jo Crosby
DIGITAL EDITIONS CONTROLLER Jason Hudson
a long time since people have been PRODUCTION MANAGER Vivienne Turner
talking about a guitar solo, frankly.” ADVERTISING
Amen to that. BTW, one thing that HEAD OF INDUSTRY: MUSIC Brian Preston
isn’t stressed enough in this issue is the brian.preston@futurenet.com
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Robert Dye
fact that our very own Jeff Perrin has 732-241-7437, robert.dye@futurenet.com
painstakingly transcribed “Rise” for ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jeff Donnenwerth
678-427-1535, jeff.donnenwerth@futurenet.com
your callus-inducing pleasure. You can
find it on page 86. CONSUMER MARKETING
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Sheri Taubes
Welcome back, Nuno!
MANAGEMENT
MANAGING DIRECTOR, MUSIC Stuart Williams
And speaking of Nuno… GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Scott Rowley
HEAD OF DESIGN (MUSIC) Brad Merrett

WIN A WASHBURN NUNO GUITAR! SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE

Guitar World Magazine Customer Care, P.O. Box 2029,
To celebrate Nuno’s return to GW’s Langhorne, PA 19047-9957, 1-800-456-6441
cover, Washburn and GW are hosting EMAIL: help@magazinesdirect.com, help@mymagazine.co.uk (renewals)
SUBSCRIPTION DELAYS: We rely on various delivery companies to get
a giveaway contest for one reader to your magazine to you, many of whom continue to be impacted by Covid.
win a USA-made Washburn N4. Visit We kindly ask that you allow up to seven days before contacting us —
at help@magazinesdirect.com — about a late delivery.
GuitarWorld.com starting June 13 so SINGLE-ISSUE SALES: www.magazinesdirect.com/guitarworld
you can enter to win!

LIL MAGGILL (GW HUMAN)

PRINTER Fry Communications
— Damian Fanelli
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guitarworld.com 11
 SOUNDI NG BOARD
Got something you want to say? EMAIL US AT: GWSoundingBoard@futurenet.com

“Why not a guitar
table?”
Since retiring as a letter carrier,
I’ve been woodworking and espe-
cially crafting live edge wood
slabs. I’m always looking for new
creative ideas, so I thought, “Why
not a guitar table?” This is my
third one, and so far there’s a lot of
interest. It’s an exciting project!
— Peter Bender
Some Carl Perkins
and Jerry Reed,
please
While I have great love and admi-
ration for Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray
Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie
Van Halen, I can’t help but wonder
why you have not — and do not —
showcase some major and incred-
ible guitar players such as Jerry
Reed and Reggie Young. Reed’s
“claw” style of playing was intense
— just listen to his version of “Ala-
bama Jubilee” or the work he did
for Elvis on “Guitar Man.” Reg-
gie Young’s work on Dobie Gray’s
“Drift Away” and Elvis’ “Suspicious
Minds” (and the entire 1969 ses-
sions at American Sound) alone are
worthy of anything done by James
Burton, Carl Perkins and Brian
Setzer. In fact, why haven’t you
showcased Carl Perkins, who has
as many admirers as Chuck Berry?
Please consider doing an issue with
transcriptions from these icons.
— Chris Belena
A Sweet idea hero. He’s the first Defender of
for a story the Faith that responded to “gear I
want most” by saying, “Nothing, I
You asked for ideas of Eighties have what I need.”
guitarists to feature. How about — Robert Coleman, Gary, Indiana
Michael Sweet and Oz Fox from
Stryper? I just saw them live and Time to expand
they crushed. I didn’t realize how Sounding Board?
many Stryper solos Michael Sweet
actually plays. So good! And a I think you should have a Sound-
transcription would be great — a ing Board entry for one or all of
classic such as “Calling on You” the following: new band you’ve
or “Soldiers Under Command” just heard of (not necessarily a
or a new one like “Transgressor.” “new” band), new song or new
Thanks! album. For me it’s (new
— Peter Beck band) George Lynch &
Jeff Pilson, (new song)
A wanton Bruce Kulick, “No Friend
lack of Mine” and (new album)
of want Alter Bridge, Walk the Sky.
Also, someone really needs
Hello, faith to explain guitar strings
defenders. I — small to large, brass to
just wanted to nickel… What does it mean
say Dan Mor- for sound? Something that
rison from the breaks down the differences,
October 2021 etc., would be great.
issue is my — R. Sherman

DEFENDERS of the Faith

Craig Siegelbaum Nick Pruiksma Andrew “Ziggy”

AGE: 50
HOMETOWN: Port Jefferson Station, NY
GUITARS: Gibson Les Paul Standard
(’58 reissue), PRS CE, Charvel San Dimas
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: My own,
plus Tool “Descending,” Alter Bridge
“Blackbird,” John Stafford Smith “The
Star-Spangled Banner”
GEAR I WANT MOST: Pretty much every-
thing from the Gibson line (SG, Explorer,
Flying V) and more PRS guitars
AGE: 50
HOMETOWN: Dunrobin, Ontario, Canada
GUITARS: Epiphone SG 310, Epiphone
Les Paul Studio Gothic
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Mercy-
ful Fate “Satan’s Fall,” Judas Priest “The
Sentinel,” King Diamond “Welcome Home,”
Celtic Frost “Visions of Mortality,” Metallica
“Ride the Lightning”
GEAR I WANT MOST: Schecter Omen
Extreme and more pedals!
Zaghloul
AGE: 35
HOMETOWN: Lower Mainland, BC, Canada
GUITARS: 2001 Slash Gibson Les Paul gold-
top, 1998 Fender American Telecaster, 1988
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Black Beauty
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: B.B. King “The
Thrill Is Gone,” Guns N’ Roses “Estranged,”
Gary Moore “Parisienne Walkways”
GEAR I WANT MOST: Gibson Custom Les
Paul 1958 VOS Lemon Burst or Tobacco Burst

SEND LETTERS TO: Sounding Board, Guitar World, 347 W. 36th St., 17th Floor/Penthouse, New York, NY 10018, or GWSoundingBoard@futurenet.com.
All subscription queries must be emailed to guitarworldmag@icnfull.com. Please do not email the Sounding Board with subscription matters.

12 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 STAY CONNECTED WITH GUITAR WORLD ON

AND GET THE LATEST GUITAR NEWS, INSIDER UPDATES, STAFF REPORTS AND MORE!

READER
ART
OF THE MONTH

If you’ve created a drawing,

painting or sketch of your
favorite guitarist and would
like to see it in an upcoming
issue of Guitar World, email
GWSoundingBoard@
futurenet.com with a
JPG or PDF of the image!

DARON MALAKIAN BY SYRI CHRISTENSEN KEITH RICHARDS BY JOHN EAGLESHAM

Brian Heaney
AGE: 54
HOMETOWN: Portland, OR
GUITARS: PRS Hollobody II, 1993 MIM Stra-
tocastor and Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Frank Zappa
“What’s New in Baltimore,” Pat Metheny
“Kathelin Gray,” Mahavishnu Orchestra
“You Know, You Know”
GEAR I WANT MOST: PRS Silver Sky
and Mesa Boogie California Tweed
Mark Oddo
AGE: 68
HOMETOWN: Groton, CT
GUITARS: 1968 Gibson SG, 2005 Gibson
SG Supreme, Fender VG Strat, Ovation 1866
Legend 12-string
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Aside from
original compositions, CSNY “Almost Cut My
Hair,” Mountain “Theme from an Imaginary
Western,” ZZ Top “Just Got Paid”
GEAR I WANT MOST: Nothing comes to
mind. I just hope I can maintain my ability
to play regularly and continue to record.
(Music is my favorite hiding place.)
Brandon Dow
AGE: 29
HOMETOWN: Tucson, AZ
GUITARS: Fender ’50s Road Worn, Fender
Telesonic, Fender John 5 Triple Tele Deluxe
SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Cream
“Sunshine of Your Love,” White Zombie
“Thunder Kiss ’65,” ZZ Top “Sharp Dressed
Man,” Amon Amarth “Guardians of Asgaard”
GEAR I WANT MOST: Marshall JCM800,
Fender Custom Shop Lake Placid Esquire

Are you a Defender of the Faith? Send a photo, along with your answers to the questions above,
to GWSoundingBoard@futurenet.com. And pray!

guitarworld.com 13
 ANDY POWELL COVET'S LARKIN POE CHRIS SUNNY WAR
YVETTE YOUNG 20 SPEDDING 25
21
17
19 WINERY DOGS 22 DEVILDRIVER
26

Room
for Vroom
THE FORMER FRANK ZAPPA AND
KING CRIMSON GUITARIST KEEPS
PUTTING HIS DECADES-OLD
KNACK FOR INVENTING
NEW SOUNDS TO GOOD USE
By Ryan Reed
BY HIS OWN description, Adrian
Belew’s 25th solo LP draws more
from “quirky pop” than the proggy acrobat-
PHOTO BY STEVE JENNINGS/GETTY IMAGES

ics of his former band, King Crimson. But

these two creative roles — the Beatles-y
hook writer and the experimentalist — al-
ways balance each other out in the long
run, eternally linked by his uncanny gift for
summoning strange noises. “[That’s] been
my most important contribution,” Belew
says. “I’ve always had a knack for emulat-
ing sounds or creating new ones.”
In the emulation category, Elevator has
plenty of choice moments, like a frenetic
sedan-horn guitar solo on the bluesy “A Car
I Can Talk To.”
“It harkens back to the very early days of
my career, back to right before Frank Zappa
discovered me,” Belew says, reflecting Adrian Belew
on the period before his life-changing big performs
September 5, 2021,
break in the late Seventies. “I was beginning in Napa, California
to realize how to make different sounds

guitarworld.com 15
 NEWS + NOTES
with the guitar using the volume and a
couple of notes squished together in the
right way. I’ve had that car sound in my
menagerie for decades.”
And in the creation category, there
are the eerie, droning tones that decorate
hypnotic acoustic reverie “The Power of
the Natural World.” “There’s a very small
guitar called a Loog that costs a couple of
hundred bucks,” he says. “The idea is that
you build it together with your child. It
has three strings; I tuned it to three open
D’s, and they’re rather floppy that way
too, because I thought they would make a
really interesting chorused sound on their
own. I was searching around for a way to
make it sound like some kind of Eastern
instrument, and I realized that, by using a
piece of wood like a drum stick and rolling
it up and down across the strings to change
the note, I could achieve that effect. Then
we triple-tracked it, and it just worked out
beautifully. It’s a haunting sound, and if I
heard it, I would say, ‘What instrument is
that?’ Because it’s not an instrument —
it’s a sound I made up.”
Belew had plenty of time for such
tinkering on Elevator, writing most of
the material at his home in Mt. Juliet,
Tennessee, amid the early Covid lockdown.
“It was the first time when there wasn’t
a deadline or something else coming
around the corner,” he says. “I was able
to completely craft exactly what I wanted
without worrying about going on tour
or having other commitments.” (As the
live music realm has returned to normal,
INTRODUCING
Mick Rossi’s Gun St.
Mick Rossi’s Gun St. (Secret Records)
SOUND First-generation U.K. punks Slaughter
and the Dogs mainman Mick Rossi looks to his
Seventies glam roots, channeling elements
of Ronson, Bolan and Thunders into a heady
mix of Les Paul-fired rock ’n’ roll. Making his
vocal debut, it turns out Rossi’s a natural, with
attitude-laden vocals that perfectly comple-
ment the upbeat, hook-filled anthems.
KEY TRACK “Love Life”
16 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
“It harkens back
to the very early
days of my career,
back to right
before Frank Zappa
discovered me”
he’s resumed his typically all-over-the-
map itinerary, playing and announcing
shows with his regular band, the all-star
Celebrating David Bowie tribute, and the
Talking Heads Remain in Light celebration
alongside guitarist Jerry Harrison.)
While it’s far from a pandemic-themed
album, Elevator is certainly a reaction, at
least in spirit, to the onslaught of bad news
everyone seemed to be experiencing at
that time: “I wanted everything to be really
ZAC
ZAC II (Wild Honey)
SOUND Featuring guitarist Lorenzo Moretti in
collaboration with Tiziano Tarli, ZAC’s music
is worlds away from the Italian street punk
of Giuda, the band with whom Moretti made
his name. Instead, think a mix of Sixties pop,
Eighties electro and New Wave. Lush, textured
layers of keyboards underpin insidious guitar
lines and disarmingly infectious vocal melodies.
KEY TRACK “All Is Said and Done”
clean and upbeat. I felt like when the clouds
were lifted, so to speak, I’d want to have an
uplifting kind of record to bring everyone
back to normalcy, back to love.”
No song illustrates that longing for
escape better than “A13,” a rollicking open-
road rocker about “getting away from
Covid” via “some fantasy train to nowhere.”
The music, he notes, tips its hat to the Fab
Four and, with its “big separation” between
vocal harmonies, Simon & Garfunkel. But
he was also hoping to evoke a vibe that’s
even older: some kind of nostalgic romance
that might have highlighted a 1950s film.
“I had a very clear roadmap,” he
says. “The running, fast piano figure is
actually played on an [electronic] Japanese
instrument called the [Yamaha] Tenori-On,
which has a lot of different sounds in it. The
song came from making that loop, and that
led to me writing the chorus. I wanted some
of those edgy, almost out-of-phase guitar
sounds that were on early Sixties records,
so I used an Epiphone that has a five-way
selector switch. I also used a Stratocaster
that’s been modified with six switches on it,
so it will do all 35 sounds you can possibly
get out of a Stratocaster. Many of them are
really edgy.”
Detailing these tones, Belew comes off
positively childlike — enthusing about
the nuances of every instrument, whether
they already existed or he invented them
himself.
“I basically never really stop,” he says
with a laugh. “It’s just always flowing out
of me.”
A N DY F O R D ( V E X E D )
LARA RONGONI (ZAC)
Vexed
Negative Energy (Napalm)
SOUND U.K. alt-metal that combines intense
lyrical themes with uncompromising, bruising
sonics. Jay Bacon mixes intricate, complex
7-string arpeggios with thunderous groove-
D AV E G L E AV E ( R O S S I )
based riffs. Megan Targett’s schizophrenic vo-
cals cover every range from satanic to soprano
— often within the same song.
KEY TRACK “Panic Attack”
— Mark McStea

NEWS + NOTES
INQUIRER
ANDY POWELL
WHY THE LONGTIME WISHBONE ASH
GUITARIST HAS BEEN BRUSHING UP
ON HIS RAGTIME CHOPS
What was the first guitar
you ever had?
It was a borrowed Höfner Colorama when
I was about 12. There was a fad in the
Sixties for guitars to be covered in a kind
of vinyl material that we called Fablon,
which this guitar had, in red. But the first
guitar I bought with my own money was
an acoustic for £3. I used to make my own
guitars, too, as I couldn’t afford them.
When I was 15, I made a sort of Strat,
which was pretty good, and I used that in
the bands I was playing in at the time.
What was your first gig?
I was around 12. We used to have
something called Saturday-morning
pictures in the U.K., at a cinema that was
in the town I lived in at the time. Movies
were big back then, so I was playing a
matinee show between movies, like Bambi
or some other Disney thing. I got on stage
with my friends, and we stood on what
was really a shelf because the screen
was behind us. We had about six feet to
stand on and to put our little amps on. We
performed for kids, because it was in the
summer holidays, and I was absolutely
crapping myself, but it was my first taste
of performing.
Ever had an embarrassing
moment on stage?
We weren’t averse to being a bit high on
stage sometimes. I remember this one
time in Zurich where I walked out in front
of the monitor speakers to take a solo.
And as I stepped back and leaned back,
the monitor wedge was right behind me
and it got right behind my knees and I
went flat on my back, but I continued play-
ing, so I kind of made it part of the show.
A building is burning down; what
one guitar from your collection
do you save?
This happened to me. We were not in a
building, though; we were in a van, and I
was with my fiancée, who’s now my wife.
It was before Wishbone, in a band called
the Sugar Band, one of the soul bands I
was in. We were coming back from a gig
and the van caught fire, so I rescued the
guitar I had, which was my homemade
guitar, before I went back to help her out
of the van. She never lets me forget it! But
Andy Powell
in the early
Seventies
“I rescued the
guitar… before I
went back to help
her out of the van.
She never lets me
forget it!”
if I were in a burning building, it would be
my ’67 Gibson Flying V.
What’s the last time you prac-
ticed and what did you play?
I’ve been touring so much of late that I’m
practicing every night, as on stage we do
a lot of jamming. The last time I practiced
was when I watched some videos by a
lady called Mary Flower, a ragtime guitar
player. I was learning one of her tunes.
When I’m off the road, I have this love
affair with ragtime guitar, old style. I’m a
lead guitar player in a rock band, but in
my downtime, I like to get out of my zone
by trying to figure out ragtime pieces.
What aspect of the guitar would
you like to be better at?
Picking. I just love that complete way of
playing the guitar. I mean, lead guitar is
fabulous and great fun, and you get your
rocks off, and I don’t ever tire of it. But
I like that whole picking thing; but I am
only a dabbler at it, as I’m not doing it
every night. I would love to be more of a
consummate guitar player in that way.
What’s your favorite piece
of gear?
My 1959 Fender Bassman. I’ve always
used Tweed-type Fenders for recording,
so in terms of gear, that would be it, as it
is a juicy, lovely amp. — Joe Matera
WHAT'S ON MY
PLAYLIST
THALIA BELLAZECCA
OF ANGUS McSIX
1
“Sixcalibur”
Angus McSix
I love all the songs from our debut
album, but this one is really energetic
and makes me feel the real power of
the sword Sixcalibur! The riff is easy but
catchy and really fun to play — in par-
ticular for the low tuning we’re using.
2
“We’ll Be Back”
Megadeth
Every time I listen to this song, I feel
like I’m ready to go to war and destroy
all those who want to stop me. The
guitars are real weapons of mass
destruction; they sound like proper
guns, and this is what I’ve loved about
this band for years.
3
“Once More ’Round the Sun”
Mastodon
I know it will sound weird and funny,
but thanks to Mastodon, I learned that
you can actually dance to metal music —
or at least that’s how I feel when I
listen to them. The rhythm guitar is
essential in Mastodon, and the guitarists
are gods at it.
4
“Greedy Bastards”
Hypocrisy
I feel like I’m being abducted by aliens
when I listen to this band! Learning their
songs is challenging but satisfying once
you get there. I let go of my anger and
bad thoughts when I listen to Hypocrisy.
5
M A R KO R I S T I C ( T H A L I A )
“Neuromancer”
Septicflesh
There’s nothing I don’t love from this
band. Different influences of doom,
black and death metal mixed with a
theatrical and brutal approach. The riffs
display all these aspects perfectly — and
F I N C O S T E L LO/ R E F E R N S ( P O W E L L )
the fact that you can have different feel-
ings with just one song, from wanting to
destroy everything to little tears from
your eyes. It’s amazing and something
that can’t be described, rather just felt.
ANGUS McSIX AND THE SWORD
OF POWER WAS RELEASED APRIL 21
VIA NAPALM RECORDS.
guitarworld.com 17
 NEWS + NOTES
“What you don’t play
is as important as
what you do play,”
McKinley James says.
“You need the space,
as it makes the small
things that you do
seem bigger”
FIVE QUESTIONS
McKINLEY JAMES
THE SOUL / BLUES / ROCK ’N’ ROLL AFICIONADO ON HOW
HE FILLS OUT A DUO — AND WHY YOU’LL PROBABLY NEVER SEE HIM
FEATURED IN OUR “MY PEDALBOARD” SECTION By Mark McStea
McKINLEY JAMES IS at the forefront of
the current crop of new, young blues
players. Named after Muddy Waters (born
McKinley Morganfield), it was a no-brainer
that he’d gravitate toward the blues,
although for James, there’s a hefty dose of
vintage Stax soul in the mix. Eschewing the
predictable, over-the-top flash and bombast
of so many ax-slingers, James’ playing is all
about tone, touch and taste, with a mighty
injection of hard-rocking energy in the mix.
You started out on Hammond organ.
When and why did you move to
guitar?
I switched to guitar when I was about 11.
I was never really super serious about the
Hammond, but I was hugely into Booker
T. We had an old video of Booker T. & the
MGs backing a whole bunch of Stax artists;
watching Steve Cropper playing on that
was what made me want to switch. Then I
got into Link Wray and the great blues guys
ALEJANDRO MENENDEZ
like Magic Sam and Otis Rush.
You’ve gone from a three-piece to a
two-piece — just you and Jason
18 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
Smay (JD McPherson, ex-Los Straitjack-
ets) on drums. What prompted the
change?
Our Hammond player left in October 2022.
We thought we should see how things
panned out as a duo, and we really liked
the way it sounded. It caused me to change
the way I play as well. I thought it might
be easier to cover more sonic territory if I
tried to play with a fingerstyle approach,
with the thumb covering some of the bass
range. It’s all about the size of the guitar
tone to make things work without a bass
player; I used to only play on the bridge
pickup, but now I’m playing much more
[on the] neck pickup.
You have an economical style. Do you
find that you deliberately stay away
from over-playing?
Definitely. What you don’t play is as
important as what you do play. You need
the space, as it makes the small things that
you do seem bigger — and it makes it more
memorable too. If you play a whole bunch
of notes, it doesn’t resonate as much for the
listener.
“They have this big
pedalboard — but the
people they’re trying
to sound like never
used pedals”
What are your primary guitars
and amps?
I’ve got a TK Smith Roadmaster that I love
to use in the studio and live, but recently,
with the switch to the duo format, I’ve
been using a 1961 Gibson ES-330 that’s
been refinished. It’s fully hollow — there’s
no block down the middle, so when you’re
on the neck pickup it sounds huge. For
amps, I usually use a Fender Deluxe or
Princeton and a Fender Reverb tank in the
studio. Live, I have a Leslie, a Super Reverb
and a Bassman, which has all the high end
turned off for the extra low end it gives, to
help give more weight to the sound.
You’re not a big fan of pedals,
are you?
No, I don’t use any pedals. Growing up, I
never had pedals — and all the guitarists
I loved never used pedals either. There’s
a lot of people that’ll say they want to try
to get a particular classic sound and you’ll
see they have this big pedalboard, but the
people they’re trying to sound like never
used pedals. It’s like they’re shooting
themselves in the foot. [Laughs]
 NEWS + NOTES

Covet
YVETTE YOUNG MIGHT CALL IT A NEW
BEGINNING, BUT HER PLAYING ON
CATHARSIS IS AS BLINDING AS EVER
By Andrew Daly

FOR THOSE LEANING toward indie, a

life in music presents many challeng-
es. For Yvette Young, the Ibanez-wielding
leader of Covet, perseverance became a
mantra while writing her latest effort,
Catharsis.
“Without getting too much into it,
Catharsis is significant,” Young says. “I
went through a lineup change because I felt
unsafe within my project. I had to get things
out and purge; it was an emotional catharsis.
I spun that into a positive, and even though
it was tumultuous, it was healing. Catharsis
encapsulates my new beginning.”
No one would have blamed Young for
folding Covet’s proverbial tent. After all,
she’s released four discs under her name, so
she’s capable of making a go of it on her own
— but Covet holds a deeper meaning.
“I wanted to give Covet one last shot,”
Young says. “I have many avenues, but
Covet is an alternative outlet. It was impor-
tant for me to keep this alive because Covet
is mine. I’ve always written everything;
nothing changes there. It’s always techni-
cally been a “solo” project, but with my new
bandmates [Brandon Dove and Jessica Bur-
deaux], there’s a more cohesive, responsi-
ble feeling.”
With the release of Catharsis’ first sin-
gle, “Firebird,” one might liken Covet to a
stereotypical phoenix rising from the ashes.
And while Young feels that “it’s so cool that
people might get that feeling,” in reality, the
meaning of “Firebird” is entirely different.
“I chose ‘Firebird’ as the single because
it’s a celebration of joy,” Young says. “It’s
“I’m entirely self-taught,
so when I write, I’m chas-
ing what I hear in my
head,” Yvette Young says
the first step in this new chapter. I called
it ‘Firebird’ because the first car my mom
bought when she moved to America was a
Pontiac Firebird. I always saw it as this sick
flex car, and I can still imagine her driving
along the coast with the wind in her hair. It
represents me being in a new place, being
optimistic and joyful.”
Despite her success, Young often has
admitted to “feeling like an outsider.” And
even as she settles into a period of bliss bred
through peace, it seems the veteran math-
rocker still feels that way, but she’s come to
terms with it.
“I do still come from an outsider’s per-
spective,” Young says. “I’m entirely self-
taught, so when I write, I’m chasing what
“I’m obsessed with
getting as close to
my full potential as
possible but never
reaching it”
I hear in my head. My lack of education
leads me to no specific objective other
than wanting my music to be touching. I
want people to feel something, be it pos-
itive or melancholic. I have not made the
best music in my life yet, and when I die, I
hope I still haven’t. I’m obsessed with get-
ting as close to my full potential as possible
but never reaching it. I can get close, but
I’ll never get there.”
JACK LUE

guitarworld.com 19
 NEWS + NOTES

Two Dog
Knights
CATCHING UP WITH WINERY DOGS
RICHIE KOTZEN AND BILLY SHEEHAN
By Joe Bosso
RICHIE KOTZEN GAVE Winery Dogs
fans a bit of a scare back in 2017 when
he announced that the supergroup trio
(which also includes bassist Billy Sheehan
and drummer Mike Portnoy) would be
“taking a break,” a phrase commonly
uttered — along with “we’re going on
hiatus,” another good one — when a band is
close to kaput.
“I probably overstated the point, and it
caused some confusion,” Kotzen now says.
“We toured pretty hard on our first two
albums, and we just needed to catch our
breath. That’s really all there was to it. It
was a break — lots of bands take breaks.
The last thing you want to do is tour to the
point that you’re burned out.”
As it turned out, the band’s hiatus didn’t
last long, and by 2019 they were back on
the road while making plans to record
their third album. “We were feeling fired
up again,” Kotzen says. “But then the
Covid pandemic hit and everything pretty
much stopped. We couldn’t play anywhere.
Nobody could play. So we just decided to
take our time and work on the album.” He
pauses, then adds, “And I think it’s our best
one yet.”
He just might be right. The Winery Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen
Dogs already aced their way through their [left] and Billy Sheehan
sophomore album (2015’s Hot Streak),
and on album number three, which just so
happens to be titled III, they prove they’ve hooks and solid arrangements that go down songs on the record.”
got plenty of gas in the tank. Right from the easy. Interestingly, when the three bandmates
get-go, the band lets us know they’re not “Everybody in the band has achieved no- convened at Kotzen’s home studio in Los
messing about. “Xanadu,” a walloping hard toriety in musicians’ circles, but when we Angeles to start work on the album, they
rock chest-beater, busts out of the gate get together, we really try to concentrate had no songs at all — as in none. “It sounds
with an outrageous, almost absurd guitar on writing songs,” Sheehan says. “Each scary, but it’s my favorite way to work,”
and bass unison riff — and the energy stays one of us has a love of classic rock bands, Sheehan says. “There’s a certain amount
pinned throughout the 10-song set. But soul and R&B, and they all have one thing of tension when you plug in and look at
while the highly pedigreed chopsmiths toss in common: great songs.” He notes that the other guys; it kicks your ass on an im-
out ferocious licks as easily as they breathe the spunky, slinky groover “Mad World” provisational level and forces you to make
— the time-shifting barn burner “Pharoah” exemplifies his affection for Sixties and something happen.”
and the righteous blues-rock album closer Seventies Motown. “It’s got that feel, so I Kotzen agrees, saying, “Too many musi-
“The Red Wine” feature colossal moments was thinking of the Temptations and one cians freak out about writer’s block. I’ve
of warp-speed musical mojo — they wrap of my bass heroes, James Jamerson, when never really had that problem, because my
T R AV I S S H I N N

all the fancy-pants stuff around widescreen we cut that track. I think it’s one of the best general attitude is, if something wants to

20 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 NEWS + NOTES

“Everybody in the
band has achieved
notoriety in
musicians’ circles,
but when we get
together, we really try
to concentrate
on writing songs”

be written, it’ll get written. If you have to

beat yourself up on a song, it’s best to move
on to something else.”
Detailing the writing process for III,
Kotzen explains that Sheehan and Portnoy
would start jamming, which inevitably
sparked the guitarist to respond with
riffs and scat-singing. “Before you knew
it, we had skeletons of songs,” he says. “I
didn’t try to write actual lyrics for a while,
though. I like to live with the music, so
over a period of a few months I tried a
bunch of things out and thought about
what I wanted to sing. Then I did my thing
and sent the songs off to the boys for their
input.”
The manner in which Kotzen composed
lyrics and sang vocals differed dramatically
from how he cut guitar solos. “My general
attitude toward solos is always the same:
‘Let’s go for it and see what we get,’” he
says. “I like the fire and adrenaline rush
of being on the spot. You start with nothing Larkin Poe’s Rebecca
Lovell in action
and suddenly it’s like, ‘OK, something’s at NYC’s Beacon
there.’ Sometimes I’ll get a solo that’s Theatre, March 7, 2019
an immediate keeper; most of the time
I’ll keep the front and back, and I’ll say,

MY PEDALBOARD
‘The middle is garbage. Let me fix
that.’”
For all three members, aligning their
schedules hasn’t always been easy. Kotzen REBECCA LOVELL
maintains a thriving solo career and has WHAT THE LARKIN POE GUITARIST SEES
also enjoyed success with his ongoing col- WHEN SHE LOOKS DOWN

laboration with Iron Maiden guitarist Adri-
an Smith, while Sheehan and Portnoy busy
themselves with a host of musical activities
that include yet another supergroup, the
prog-flavored Sons of Apollo. Having not
toured in four years, the trio has cleared
the deck for 2023 and are concentrating
exclusively on the Winery Dogs.
“Whenever you have a band in which
By Rebecca Lovell
MY CURRENT TOURING pedalboard is
a workhorse! Designed and executed
by the wizards at XAct Tone Solutions in
Nashville, the brain of the board is a Line 6
HX Effects [multi-effects processor]. I use
the HX Effects library to cue up patches for
a fast tremolo, slow tremolo, noise gate,
R E B E C C A LO V E L L ( B O A R D )
song “Bad Spell” on Jimmy Kimmel’s show,
and the tone for that song is the Royal Jelly
with a slap echo. It’s a ferocious and
versatile pedal.
As a redundancy, and to provide sonic
options for our front-of-house engineer, I
also have a Strymon Iridium wired into the
TAY LO R H I L L / G E T T Y I M A G E S ( LO V E L L )

the members do other things, it can get a
little crazy,” Sheehan says. “Fortunately,
this band is a three-piece, so that makes
things a bit easier. We’ve got the first round
of dates right ahead of us, and we can’t wait
to take this record on the road. Thankfully,
there’s a lot of excitement from the fans, so
here we go!”
slap echo and boost — and also as a
switcher for the rest of the pedals on my
board. My main overdrive pedals are the
MXR Sugar Drive and the TB Drive [Tyler
Bryant Signature Shakedown Special] by
Rodenberg Amplification. My only fuzz is
the Royal Jelly [Overdrive/Fuzz Blender] by
Beetronics; we recently performed our
chain. The Iridium is an amp/cab simulator
— and it sounds absolutely amazing.
We’ve been touring nonstop for the past
year, and this board has stood the test of
time!
Wanna see someone’s pedalboard? Let
us know! Write to GWsoundingBoard@
futurenet.com.

guitarworld.com 21
 NEWS + NOTES
Full Spedding Ahead
BRITISH SESSION ACE CHRIS SPEDDING ON BEING ASKED TO AUDITION
FOR THE ROLLING STONES, PRODUCING THE SEX PISTOLS’ EARLY DEMOS
AND RECORDING HIS FINAL ALBUM WITH ROBERT GORDON
By Mark McStea
G U S S T E WA R T/ C O N T R I B U TO R / G E T T Y I M A G E S ( 2 0 1 9 )
OVER A CAREER spanning nearly 60
years, British session ace Chris
Spedding has worked with pretty much
everyone in the business. For U.S. audi-
ences, he might be best known for his long
association with latter-day rockabilly
legend Robert Gordon, who passed away
in October 2022. Gordon’s final album,
which was released weeks after his
untimely passing, Hellafied, sees Gordon
and Spedding team up for one final
go-around.
It was very sad news about Robert, who
was just 75 when he died.
PETER NOBLE/REDFERNS (1979)
I guess his health hadn’t been all that
great for some time. I had a call from him
when he told me he’d been diagnosed with
leukemia, which was a bit of a shock. I
think initially he thought he’d have a lot
more time left, but then he was gone a few
weeks later.
22 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
It’s interesting that Robert’s work wasn’t
self-consciously retro in the way that the
Stray Cats were; he was actually creat-
ing a modern take on rockabilly when he
broke through in the Seventies, with you
and Link Wray in particular bringing a
harder rock edge to the sound.
Well, me, Robert and Link were all first-
generation rockers; we weren’t reviving
anything, you know? I think the attitude
and the guitar sounds were much more
modern, and in the Seventies that sat well
with the punk and new wave audiences as
well as traditional rock ’n’ roll fans. It was
a real joy for me to play with Robert, to be
able to play that straightforward rock ’n’
roll that we both loved.
What was the situation with Hellafied?
Was it old demos, etc.?
Some were done way back in Denmark
where we had to abandon the sessions as
the studio wasn’t up to par, but Robert
recently listened back to them and thought
we could salvage them with some new
guitars and vocals. There were a few really
old demo ideas as well that we used, but
for most of the songs I ended up re-doing
my parts in the U.K. on Pro Tools and
Robert would do his new vocals in the
States.
Reeling way back to the earliest days,
was the intention always to work as a
session musician or was there never any
real gameplan?
There was no gameplan at all. I just
thought I’d like to be a musician. I’d been
listening to all sorts of music — there was
a period when I was really into jazz in
the Sixties, which was how I got into the
whole fusion thing with bands like Nucleus
and playing with Jack Bruce, but my first
love was really rock ’n’ roll, I guess.

[facing] Robert Gordon
[left] and Chris Sped-
ding perform in Canada
in 1979
Spedding on stage at
London’s Royal Albert
Hall, June 17, 2019
Was there a lot of competition for
session work when you started in the
Sixties?
I know that Jimmy Page and Jim Sullivan
were getting a lot of work, but I was always
getting plenty of calls — and that increased,
particularly after I did the Jack Bruce
sessions and Nucleus. I suppose people as-
sumed that if I was in a band like Nucleus, I
must be a proper musician. [Laughs]
What did you take to sessions in the late
Sixties/early Seventies?
These days I have about 20 guitars; back
then I was playing a 1964 Gretsch Country
Club, but I realized people didn’t re-
ally want the Gretsch sound, so I part-
exchanged the Gretsch for a Telecaster. I
didn’t realize at the time that I was really
taking a step down there. [Laughs] There
was no concept of thinking that maybe
I could have both guitars — back in the
Sixties you had one guitar. Eventually I got
a Les Paul and a Strat and took those two
guitars to every session.
How did you deal with a session where
you didn’t really like the song, the artist
or whatever?
You don’t know how something’s going to
turn out — it could be the best thing you’ve
ever done, you know? Sometimes you’ve
never heard of the artist but then they go
on to be huge. I’ve also done many sessions
where I had really high hopes and they
“It took [the Stones]
about six months to
call me, so I wasn’t
that flattered anyway”
turned out to be disappointing. You just
have to go in there with total commitment.
Early on, you were in a band called Bat-
tered Ornaments, who managed to get
the support slot with the Rolling Stones
at Hyde Park in London in 1969. How’d
you manage to pull that off, considering
you weren’t really very well known?
The show was put on by Blackhill En-
terprises, who also managed Battered
Ornaments, so we managed to score that
plum gig.
You were later asked by Mick Jagger to
audition for the Stones — in one of those
stories you probably got tired of discuss-
ing 40 years ago. Would he have thought
of you because of that Hyde Park show?
No. I doubt whether they were even
conscious of me being in that band. I doubt
I impressed anybody on that particular
show. I think it was just that my name was
getting around quite a bit by 1975. It took
them about six months to call me, so I
wasn’t that flattered anyway. [Laughs] I had
a load of work booked at the time, plus I’d
just recorded “Motorbikin’,” which I had
high hopes for — justifiably, as it turned out
to be a big hit single in a lot of countries.
The release of “Motorbikin’” really took
things up a level for you in 1975.
I wrote that after the band that I was in,
Sharks, broke up and I came up with what
was a new sound for me. I’d looked at the
pop charts at the time and there was noth-
ing there that I really liked, so I wondered
what it needed. I decided to try to do
something like the music that inspired me
— Elvis, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.
A retro kind of thing, which was also the
way I was looking at that time, so when I
did the U.K. music show, Top of the Pops, I
looked and sounded completely different
from everybody else — they all had blow-
dried hair, flared trousers and platform
shoes and I looked like I’d just got off a
Harley-Davidson, so it worked well for me.
I think that image was actually very much
in line with the way a lot of punk bands
looked a couple of years later, and — of
course — you actually produced some
demos for the Sex Pistols before they
scored their record deal.
I knew as soon as I heard the Pistols that
they were exactly what the music business
needed, and not a lot of people saw that
in their early days. People will often say I
played some parts on their demos, but that
isn’t true. They did use my amps, but it was
all them. People underestimate how good
they were as a band.
Hurt, released in 1977, was probably
your highest-profile release. The gui-
tar sounds were some of the best of your
career. Was that mostly the Flying V?
Chris Thomas, the producer, was a great
asset in helping to get a really good sound
on the album, and I think I had some very
strong songs as well. It definitely got the
most exposure of any of my albums. I think
it was a mix of my Flying V, a Les Paul and
an SG Junior into a Fender Deluxe Reverb.
I don’t think there were any Fender guitars
on that album at all.
What kinds of things do you play when
you’re sitting at home?
I never practice anymore. If I get a job to
do — if someone sends me a song — I just
wonder what the song needs to improve it.
I used to apply the thought, “What would
George Harrison do here?” until I real-
ized it could have been George, Paul or
John playing a part, so I guess now I think,
“What would the Beatles do here?”
Of course, you got to work with Paul
McCartney on Give My Regards to Broad
Street in 1984. Is there anyone out there
that you’d still like to play with?
It would be nice to get a call from
Bob Dylan!
guitarworld.com 23
 NEWS + NOTES “I don’t really utilize major
scales,” DevilDriver’s
Mike Spreitzer says. “Every-
thing’s in harmonic minor”

DevilDriver
LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR, DEALING WITH
DEMONS VOL. II IS AN ALL-OUT WAR
OF GUN-TURRET TREMOLO PICKING
AND DARKLY ANTHEMIC CHORUSES
By Gregory Adams
WHEN DEVILDRIVER FINALLY got back
on the road this past March — follow-
ing a three-and-a-half-year absence
reflective of the pandemic and vocalist Dez
Farfara’s near-deadly bout with Covid —
lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer got to take his
number one guitar out of its case for the
first time in ages. Spreitzer is quick to
point out he was still shredding at home,
but when it comes to his drastically
angular ESP V, some things just aren’t built
for riffing on the couch.
“They’re not the most comfortable
shape to play sitting down,” Spreitzer says
with a laugh, confessing that ESP Eclipses “Almost every time
are his go-tos in those cases, this also
extending to the guitar pool he turned to I go out on tour, I’ll
while tracking DevilDriver’s bombastically catch one of the
grooved Dealing with Demons Vol. I and came out in 2020 (Tiemann left the lineup other bands playing
II. In a live setting, though, he’s simply in 2021). Like its predecessor, Vol. II is an
awestruck by the attack of his custom V, all-out war of gun-turret tremolo picking [my custom ESP V]”
which features an inlay of DevilDriver’s and darkly anthemic choruses, the music
logo at the 12th fret. And he’s not the only matching Farfara’s raw-screamed salvos on
one. “There’s just something about that betrayals and broken relationships. Songs
one in particular… Almost every time I gained extra heft mid-session when Spre- finds DevilDriver as oppressive as ever, its
go out on tour, I’ll catch one of the other itzer pushed arrangements from their drop heaviest moments — take the relentlessly
bands playing it. When we were on tour C origins to drop A. And while “I Have chunked-and-trilled “Bloodbath” — also
with Static-X, Koichi [Fukuda] would take No Pity” offers some traditionally floored possess an overcast, mournfully melodic
that out of our guitar boat every day.” scale work from the guitarist, on the whole spirit. “Honestly, I think most of my riffs
Like DevilDriver’s return to the stage, Spreitzer says his lead style these days have that vibe to it,” Spreitzer says of his
Dealing with Demons Vol. II has been a focuses on keeping things uncomfortable, inkiest creations. “I don’t really utilize ma-
long time coming. Spreitzer and former via “less noodling, adding a lot of dissonant jor scales; everything’s in harmonic minor.
guitarist Neal Tiemann tracked their notes together and letting [notes] actually I would [also] say we use Phrygian mode a
JEREMY SAFFER

parts all the way back in the fall of 2018, sustain.” lot. Those kinds of scales and that kind of
concurrent to the 10-song Vol. I, which Though Dealing with the Demons Vol. II note selection lead to the melancholy vibe.”

guitarworld.com 25
 NEWS + NOTES
Sunny War with
a vintage Harmony
Archtone H1213

Sunny War
FOLK FINGERSTYLIST GROWS HER
SOUND ON ANARCHIST GOSPEL
By Jim Beaugez

FOLK MUSIC HAS often been a quiet

form of rebellion, but on Sunny War’s
sixth and latest album, Anarchist Gospel,
the singer-songwriter transcended the
typical constraints of the genre. And it was
the virtually limitless canvas of DAW
home recording that inspired her to pursue
a more experimental approach.
“It really changed how I wrote, because
before I would just record me and my gui-
tar into my phone, and if I had an idea for
a song, I couldn’t really layer,” War says.
After spending time exploring Logic soft-
ware during tour breaks, though, and work-
ing with virtual instruments, she chased
her muse deeper into the music than ever “The thing about
before. “I spent more time [on pre-produc- guitar is that it
tion] at home, where I could record harmo- can be a new thing
nies and add bass and program drums, and watching family members and friends jam
really try to imagine what the song sounds forever if you — and that led to her thumb-and-forefinger
like.” let yourself be fingerstyle approach.
Where she landed is both familiar and experimental all the “My uncle and my dad’s friend were
new territory for War. On “I Got No Fight,” the main musicians I saw playing all the
subtle reels of guitar feedback weave time with it” time, and that was a bass player and a banjo
through the background while she drives player,” she says. “So I wasn’t around some-
the song with her unorthodox fingerpick- body strumming enough. I was just trying
ing. She collaborates with Americana gui- trio of songs, including the street blues of to make sounds, and I think it’s because
tarist and producer David Rawlings on a “Swear to Gawd,” but her acoustic guitar of the banjo players that I was like, ‘this
serves as the main support and lead instru- sounds cool.’ I was just doing what he was
ment throughout the album. doing.”
AXOLOGY War went from shredding Slayer tunes
with friends in middle school to being
Despite her more adventurous arrange-
ments on Anarchist Gospel, War still finds
homeless and busking with an acoustic gui- the simplicity of her Guild dreadnought
JOSHUA BLACK WILKINS

• GUITARS 1989 Guild True American,

Gibson SG tar in her late teens and early 20s, as she captivating. “The thing about guitar,” she
• AMPS Fender Twin Reverb (or direct to drifted with gutter punks in Venice Beach says, “is that it can be a new thing forever if
front of house) and San Francisco. But before then, she had you let yourself be experimental all the time
fostered an interest in playing music from with it.”

26 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 NEWS + NOTES
Green Energy
KIRK HAMMETT DISCUSSES THE LATEST FRUITS
OF HIS PARTNERSHIP WITH GIBSON — TWO GREENYS
AND A REPRODUCTION OF HIS ORIGINAL ’79 FLYING V
By Richard Bienstock
THE STORY OF Greeny — the 1959
Gibson Les Paul Standard made
famous by Fleetwood Mac founder Peter
G I B S O N B R A N D S ( G U I TA R S )
Green, later owned and played by blues-
rock great Gary Moore and, since 2014, in
the possession of Metallica’s Kirk Ham-
mett, who has used it onstage and in the
studio with the heavy metal icons — is
practically mythic in modern guitardom. In
addition to its esteemed lineage of owners,
venerated year of production and coveted
R O S S M A R I N O/ I C O N A N D I M A G E / G E T T Y I M A G E S ( H A M M E T T )
(if now faded) sunburst finish, the guitar’s
idiosyncratic tone — courtesy of a back-
wards-installed neck pickup and unique
out-of-phase middle-position voicing — has
made it a one-of-a-kind model.
Until now, that is. Brand new from
Gibson is the Kirk Hammett “Greeny” 1959
Les Paul Standard , available in Custom
Shop and USA Standard versions. The
storied guitar brand first partnered with
Hammett in 2021, and at that time it was
announced that the pair would collaborate
on a variety of models for both Gibson and
Epiphone. Now they’re delivering on that
promise, taking the original Greeny and,
28 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
caption
via MRI scans, X-rays and all manner of
precise measuring and testing, recreating
the guitar down to the most minute detail.
“Every contour, every line and every
angle is exactly like Greeny,” Hammett
proudly reports to Guitar World about the
new instruments. “And all the Greenys are
going to be following those specs.”
The top-of-the-line Custom Shop
Greeny sports premium materials and
details, including a lightweight mahogany
body and a figured maple top with a made-
to-order Murphy Lab-aged finish that cap-
tures every check, scratch and ding present
on the original in remarkable detail. The
more affordably priced Standard, mean-
while, comes equipped with a mahogany
body and an immaculate AAA-figured
maple top. And while the Murphy-aged
Custom Shop finish is, to be sure, a stun-
ning feat of recreation, Hammett also has
serious reverence for the non-vintaged
model. “When I received one of the USA
guitars, I opened up the case and the first Metallica’s Kirk Hammett (with his original Flying V)
thing I said was, ‘Wow, this is what Greeny in Royal Oak, Michigan, February 1, 1985
must have looked like when she was brand

The Gibson Custom Shop version
of the Kirk Hammett “Greeny” 1959
Les Paul [top] and the Gibson Custom
Shop Kirk Hammett 1979 Flying V
spanking new in 1959,’ ” Hammett
says. “And I thought, how cool is that?
Because it gives the player an op-
portunity to really bang the shit out of
Greeny and put all their own personal-
ized scratches and nicks and whatnot
on the guitar… if they so please.”
Both models also feature a plethora
of Greeny-appropriate specs, includ-
ing, on the Custom Shop, a mahogany
neck with a “custom Greeny profile,” a
one-piece Indian rosewood fretboard
with Reissue Trapezoid inlays and
period-correct nylon nut and Sperzel
tuners. The USA Standard, meanwhile,
boasts a 50s Vintage mahogany neck
with an Indian rosewood fretboard
and Acrylic Trapezoid inlays, a Graph
Tech nut and Grover Rotomatic tuners.
That said, as Hammett points out,
“the most distinctive feature of Greeny,
to me, has always been its sound.”
And to be sure, the Custom Shop and
USA models both have tone for days,
with the former loaded with a Custom
Greeny Bucker with an Alnico 2 mag-
net at the bridge and a reverse-mounted
Custom Greeny Bucker with a flipped
Alnico 2 magnet at the neck, and the latter
offering similarly voiced non-Custom Shop
Greenys. In both cases, the neck pickup’s
reversed polarity helps conjure the par-
tially out-of-phase sound — what Hammett
calls “dragon tone” — that has made Greeny
legendary.
Describing Greeny’s unique sonics,
Hammett points out that the bridge pickup
“has tremendous bite. It’s super-full, with
a lot of bark and presence, and there’s a
midrange that is just really lively. And then
the neck pickup is incredibly warm and
creamy — it reminds me of Billie Holiday’s
voice, which is a sound that is magical to
me. Then when you put those two pickups
together in the middle, the whole thing
turns around and it’s so freaking unique.
You can instantly recognize it on the Peter
Green stuff, and you can hear it some of
the Gary Moore stuff with Thin Lizzy —
it’s that sound on the guitar breakdown
in ‘Black Rose’ [the 1979 Thin Lizzy song
“Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend”].
“They're like Greeny
babies, you know?
And they’re ready
to go out and help
someone else create
their own great
music”
There’s this tone that comes in where I
thought Gary was playing a Strat or a Tele,
but it’s like, no, that’s the middle position of
Greeny. I was blown away when I realized
that.”
Hammett continues, “It was important
for me that we captured the magic of those
pickups in these new guitars. We went
through a few prototypes, and on the third
one Gibson nailed it. And then we were
able to move forward from there.”
For Hammett, the experience of recreat-
ing Greeny has been a long time coming,
and it’s one that he finds incredibly gratify-
ing. “That’s because the whole Greeny
experience in itself has been mind-blowing
for me,” he says. “I’ve never experienced
a guitar that’s had so much impact on my
life in general and that has opened up so
many opportunities for me. And now these
new guitars, they’re brand-new Greenys
prepped for their own little journeys with
other players.”
He laughs. “They’re like Greeny babies,
you know? And they’re ready to go out and
help someone else create their own great
guitarworld.com 29

music.”
It should be noted that Greeny is not
the only impactful guitar in Hammett’s
collection. Nor is it the only one he and
Gibson have chosen to recreate. In addition
to the two new Greeny models, Gibson
has announced a Custom Shop version of
what is arguably one of the most significant
six-strings in heavy-metal history, the black
1979 Gibson Flying V that Hammett wield-
ed throughout Metallica’s early days, and
that he played extensively onstage and on
the band’s seminal first five albums, from
1983’s Kill ’Em All through 1991’s landmark
self-titled effort, a.k.a “The Black Album.”
Like the Greeny, the Custom Shop Kirk
Hammett 1979 Flying V captures the sound
and spirit of his original model in painstak-
ing detail, beginning with a Murphy-aged
Ebony finish on a one-piece mahogany
body. Other features include a three-piece
mahogany set neck shaped with a “Kirk
Hammett V Profile,” a one-piece Indian
rosewood fingerboard with Pearloid Dot
inlays and a pair of uncovered T-Type
humbuckers that capture the sound of the
guitar’s original pickups, prior to Ham-
mett replacing them with EMGs in the late
1980s.
“It’s modeled on how my V was pre-
GIBSON BRANDS
EMG, in 1983,” Hammett says. “Because
the OG guitar, when I first joined Metallica
30 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
and recorded Kill ’Em All, had the Gibson
pickups that were in there when it was
built.” Other features on the Kirk Hammett
1979 Flying V include a Custom Replica
Bridge, a Corian nut, Hammett’s preferred
M6 Schaller tuners, a stopbar tailpiece and
black speed knobs. In a nice touch, Gibson
even recreated “the pickup selector donut
that I put around the input jack to rein-
force it,” Hammett says. “Because the one
thing with the V was if you put a straight
cord in there, you’d step on the cord and
it would break off. But having the pickup
selector donut around the input jack made
it stronger. That was an idea I got from
K.K. Downing.”
As for how the new V sounds? “It’s
freaking amazing, bro,” Hammett says
matter-of-factly. “I mean, just recently I
A/B’d my OG guitar against one of the new
ones, and it totally sounded like Kill ’Em
All. That was so wild to me.” He laughs.
“And also a little perplexing.”
At the end of the day, the word that
Hammett consistently returns to, both with
the Greeny and the Flying V, is “inspira-
tion.” Which is his goal with each one of his
collaborations with Gibson.
“That’s the whole point of this,” he
says. “Because when I was a kid, I was so
inspired by players like Michael Schenker
and Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Hendrix.
The USA Standard version
of the Kirk Hammett
“Greeny” 1959 Les Paul
“The first thing I said
was, ‘Wow, this is
what Greeny must
have looked like
when she was brand
spanking new
in 1959’”
Clapton. Van Halen. All these guys meant
so much to me, and listening to them, it
was like a burning in my heart to be able to
play those licks and play those songs, and
then put together my own riffs and solos
that I hoped were at least kind of in the
direction of what they were doing.”
He continues, “And for me, having
a Gibson Flying V, that only made my con-
nection to a guy like Michael Schenker
that much stronger. So maybe now, some
13- or 14-year-old kid will grab a new
Greeny and sit with [Gary Moore’s] ‘Still
Got the Blues’ and just freakin’ pursue
it with a passion. And maybe something
really amazing will come out of that that
inspires all of us.
“I believe in the power of inspiration
and creativity,” Hammett says, “and these
guitars that I’m making with Gibson,
they’re beautiful instruments, but they’re
also tools to put more creativity and more
music into the world. And that’s an amaz-
ing thing.”
 NEWS + NOTES
QUOTABLE
KISS' TOMMY
THAYER:
THE 10 (OR 11!)
PLAYERS
WHO SHAPED MY SOUND
1. Pete Townshend
2. Peter Frampton
3. Davey Johnstone
4. Robin Trower
5. Mick Ralphs
6. Ace Frehley
7. Ronnie Montrose
8. Ritchie Blackmore
9. Alex Lifeson
10. Pat Travers
“In true Spinal Tap tradi-
tion, I chose 11 players, and
the 11th is Rick Nielsen. He’s
one of the greatest riff-
masters and tunesmiths
of all time. He’s got style and
attitude going back to when I
first saw Cheap Trick open for
Kiss at the Portland Memo-
rial Coliseum in ’77. I instantly
loved everything about them
— the look, the energy, the
songs, the Hamer guitars
and the tattered Sound City
cabinets.”
EDDIE
MARTINEZ
TALKS ROBERT
PALMER’S
“SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE”
“That was a fun track… Robert
[Palmer] was such a brilliant
composer. He knew how to
structure a song and leave
enough space for guitars.
Hearing his music was inspir-
ing, and he loved me pushing
the envelope, which I did on
the solo that he called ‘Large
Marge’ from the Pee-wee
Herman movie [1985’s Pee-
wee’s Big Adventure].
“I was able to incorporate
some things that were inter-
vallic, chromatic, quasi-bebop
and whole tone in my solo. I
came up with big guitar hooks
on that track as well. I used
Marshall JCM800s modified
by Harry Kolbe in New York
City. I then used a Kolbe box
converting speaker level to
line level and had a Yamaha
power amp to drive, I think,
six 4x12 cabinets. After the
tracks were cut, I also put a
guitar D.I. with engineer
Eric ‘ET’ Thorngren with a
Pro Co Rat to give a sonic
point to that massive 4x12
barrage.”
— Andrew Daly
From GuitarWorld.com
FROM THE
GW ARCHIVES
Glenn Tilbrook
on four classic
Squeeze solos
“Another Nail
in My Heart”
The placing of the solo is re-
ally odd because it happens
after one verse and chorus,
but it somehow works. I
used a Yamaha on that — I
forget the model, but I play it
in the video. It’s one of those
double cutaways; it looks
like an SG, but it isn’t.
“Pulling Mussels
(from the Shell)”
I think that’s an obstinate
solo — just to stick on one
note for half the solo. That’s
my personality all over. It’s
a delay, so I just play (makes
the sound of an E note
and waits … then again …).
[Laughs] It’s like a series
of false starts.
“If I Didn’t Love You”
[Pausing] Yeah, that’s right
— it is a slide, isn’t it? I don’t
know why I stopped doing
slide after a while — but I’ve
never done it since. That’s
one of the most rock solos
I’ve done, with an extra
touch of New Wave weird-
ness thrown in.
“Black Coffee in Bed”
It’s sort of a very Sixties,
Motown-influenced solo.
But I love the idea of a key
change for the solo — and
also for it to be quite jazzy,
which the song wasn’t.
— Damian Fanelli
From GuitarWorld.com,
May 8, 2012
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
The Velvet Underground perform as part of the New York Society for Clinical
Psychiatry’s annual dinner at NYC’s Delmonico Hotel, January 13, 1966. That’s
Nico (1938-1988) and lead guitarist Sterling Morrison (1942-1995), shown
with his Gretsch Tennessean. Morrison, who played on every Velvet Underground
release (except, of course, 1973’s Squeeze, which isn’t really a VU album —
although it is where U.K. band Squeeze got their name), also recorded with Nico,
Moe Tucker and John Cale on their solo projects and took part in the band’s 1993
reunion tour. When the VU were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1996, Sterling’s wife, Martha, accepted the award on his behalf. — DF
FRESH TUNEAGE FOR THE GUITAR-MINDED
Avatar, “Chimp Mosh Pit”
Sweden’s “metal circus” return in rollicking form.
A D A M R I TC H I E / R E D F E R N S ( V E LV E T S )
“Chimp Mosh Pit” is apt moniker for a track that
bounds around in full chaotic color. Extra metal points
are awarded for a video in which the guitar work gen-
erates lightning from the headstock. (Matt Parker)
Jason Isbell, “Cast Iron Skillet”
A melancholic acoustic turnout from Isbell, who flexes
his dynamic fingerpicking skills and exquisite instru-
mental feel with devastating results. (Matt Owen)
RVG, “Midnight Sun”
The Melbourne post-punks’ latest is a driving tirade that calls to mind the Walkmen’s
“The Rat” in its desire to go hard on bitterness and leave the rest to fall under a wall
of cathartic, crunching guitars. There’s a great solo in there, too. (MP)
RICHARD E. AARON/REDFERNS (TILBROOK, 1979)
Tommy Emmanuel, “Doc’s Guitar/Black Mountain Rag” (feat. Billy Strings)
The third single from Emmanuel’s Accomplice Two collaborative record is a simply
jaw-dropping display of flattop picking prowess from one of the all-time acoustic
greats and one of its most exciting new voices in Billy Strings. (Michael Astley-Brown)
Des Rocs, “Never Ending Moment”
The Who have said there’s no point in their releasing a new album, but who cares when
New York songwriting mainstay Des Rocs is dropping epic, essential rock anthems like
this? Windmilling acoustic guitars and wailing Flying V solos are the order of the day,
and they sound colossal. (MAB)
Extreme, “Banshee” & “#Rebel”
Yeah, everyone’s drooling over “Rise,” but let’s not forget that Nuno Bettencourt and
his cronies have cranked out an entire album’s worth of scorchers, as these newbies
(released during this issue’s production cycle) clearly demonstrate. (Damian Fanelli)
guitarworld.com 31
 “Magic Power” and “Fight the Good
Fight.” Hell, they even called one of
their albums Rock & Roll Machine, just
in case their subtlety went over any-
body’s heads, and to celebrate their
razzle-dazzle stage act, they titled a
song “Blinding Light Show.”
“We certainly weren’t a critics’
band,” Emmett says unapologetically.
“When Mike and Gil started the band,
they envisioned a big production with
ALEX LIFESON lots of lights and effects. They called
ON RIK —
AND HIS RIC! it Triumph for a reason — this was a
band for the punters in the back seats
“He’s the consummate musi- who were having a hard time in life.
cian, a wonderful guitarist We gave them inspirational messages,
and a terrific person, and and we put on a big show. Critics were
it’s always my pleasure to never going to like us. They didn’t like
work with him any chance bands like Styx or Foreigner or Rush.
I can get. There is a rock Rolling Stone hated those bands.”
purity in his songwriting and Emmett himself provided critics
performance, and it’s just with plenty of ammunition. At a time
so much fun to get together when punk and new wave fashion var-
and throw ideas around. ied between short hair and leather
He’s always so up and (the Clash, the Sex Pistols) or short
open for anything — even a
hair, suits and skinny ties (Blondie,
notoriously uncooperative
Rickenbacker 12-string!” the Knack), the feather-haired guitar-
— Alex Lifeson (2015) ist’s choice of stage attire — red, white
or black skin-tight, chest-baring jump-
suits, not unlike the getups favored
by Ted Nugent — was the antithesis
of cool. “Obviously, there was a bit of
a cartoon element going on,” he says,
“but when you start out in a rock band,

RIK
you want to look larger than life. I was
cocky, and I was in a rocket ship that

EMMETT
was taking off. When you’re 25 years
old, you’re not thinking of growing old
gracefully. It wasn’t until I was in my
mid-30s that I started to mature.”
He laughs, then adds, “But you know,
there was a very functional element to
those jumpsuits. After the show, I could
go back to my hotel and hand wash
The former Triumph guitarist discusses everything from them in my bathroom sink. That would
those pesky Rush comparisons, the advantages of jumpsuits get all the sweat and smell out. I’d let
them drip dry over the shower, and by
and the uphill battle of cracking the U.S. market the next day I was good to go.”
By Joe Bosso Finding success in their homeland

D
wasn’t an automatic for Triumph (“It
URING THE LATE Seven- Gil Moore, and those were some of the took us a few years to live up to our
PA U L N AT K I N / G E T T Y I M A G E S

ties and into the Eighties,
few bands were pilloried by
music critics quite like Tri-
umph. “Faceless” and “corporate rock”
were two of the tags regularly assigned
to the Canadian power trio composed
of guitarist-singer Rik Emmett, bass-
ist Mike Levine and drummer-singer
kinder descriptors lobbed at the band.
Admittedly, Triumph never pro-
fessed to be anything more than a sleek,
well-oiled, turbo-charged outfit that
blitzed its audience with smoke bombs,
lasers and flame throwers while dish-
ing out headbanging, fist-in-the-air
AOR anthems like “Lay It on the Line,”
name,” Emmett jokes); it wasn’t until
1977, when they released a cover of Joe
Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way,” that
they received real radio play. Crack-
ing the U.S. market was even tougher.
Finally, in 1979, their feel-good rocker
“Hold On” won over FM deejays in the
Midwest, and their next single, “Lay It

“I MEAN, YOU’VE GOT TWO THREE-PIECE BANDS FROM CANADA, THE LEAD SINGERS
32 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

on the Line” kept the ball rolling, propel- Yes, it was Gil’s band. His name was on
ling the band’s third album, Just a Game, the contracts, and he ran the production.
to gold status. But even as Triumph made He signed every check. There was never
inroads in the States, they faced constant any problem with that. Then Gil and Mike
comparisons to another hard rock Cana- decided they wanted to sue RCA and get
dian trio. out of the contract, and we went to MCA
“I mean, you’ve got two three-piece and had a mountain of debt. Then the
bands from Canada, the lead singers sing MCA records didn’t go so well. Tensions
kind of high, and the guitar players are started to build, and it went down the toi-
blond — I get it,” Emmett says. “Musi- let in ’86.
cally, Rush were quite different from
us. They became much more progres- You liked a lot of British guitarists,
sive minded, and their whole ensem- but you were also a jazz fan. How did
ble became a very conscientious kind of that fit with what Gil and Mike wanted
activity. The band I was in was something to do?
else entirely. Gil would have been quite Well, blues was a common ground for
happy to play in Kiss or Bad Company. I everybody. Rock ’n’ roll has blues, as does
aspired to a higher level. I wanted to write jazz. But if I wrote more of a pop tune,
songs that approached pop, but the other the guys wanted to make it heavy. I’d put
guys wanted that blues base. They wanted more power chords and Townshend it up.
arena heaviness. Eventually, there was For a while, it worked.
tension between us, and after a while I But yeah, I loved all those English guys
wanted out.” — Beck, Page, Clapton. Of course, I came
Emmett quit Triumph — acrimoni- up with the Beatles, and I loved Hen-
ously, in 1988 — at a time when the band’s drix. Ritchie Blackmore was very influen-
brand of brawny rock was being eclipsed tial for me. His phrasing and his choice of
by video-ready groups like Mötley Crüe, notes was very unique. Steve Howe was
Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses. Levine another one. In college, I got into Wes
and Moore soldiered on with Cana- Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. I saw
dian session star Phil X attempting to fill jazz as a logical part of my evolution as a
Emmett’s shoes, but by 1993 they packed guitar player.
it in. Emmett, on the other hand, enjoyed
considerable success as a solo artist, issu- The band got its first real airplay
ing numerous albums that touched on with the “Rocky Mountain Way” cover.
rock, pop, jazz, classical and folk. Is that the kind of thing you guys would
Emmett didn’t speak to his former jam on?
bandmates for almost 20 years. “There Yeah. When we started out, we had three
was a lot of damage done, and I was very sets: One was Led Zeppelin, another was
hurt,” he says. Finally, in 2007, they a Zeppelin medley, and then we’d do a
appeared together in Toronto when they few tunes that Gil would sing. “Rocky
were inducted to the Canadian Music Mountain Way” was one of them. We
Industry Hall of Fame, and they reunited were in the studio and we didn’t have
for three concerts over the years — their enough material, so we recorded “Rocky
last performance was at a Triumph Mountain Way.” Canadian radio was all
Superfan Fantasy event in 2019 that was over that.
filmed for the 2021 documentary, Tri-
umph: Rock & Roll Machine. “The docu- As the documentary makes clear,
mentary was kind of a sanitized Gil was behind the band’s
Triumph version of everything,” flamboyant stage show. What
he says. “I’ll be coming out with Rik Emmett
did you think of the big produc-
a memoir soon, and in that you’ll in action with tion?
get my truth.” Triumph in When the band came together,
Rosemont, Illinois,
November 26, Gil had more of a youthful ambi-
When you joined the band, 1986. “I saw jazz tion, and Mike was more of a riv-
as a logical part
it was pretty much run by Gil of my evolution as
erboat gambler dude with the
Moore. Did that give you pause a guitar player,” same ambition. I had the same
for thought at all? he says ambition. I thought they were
No, it didn’t. We had kind of a the smartest musicians I ever
Three Musketeers mentality. met. They looked at me and said,
SING KIND OF HIGH, AND THE GUITAR PLAYERS ARE BLOND — I GET IT”
PERSONALITIES // RIK EMMETT
“Look at this guy. He can sing and play.
He can run around the stage and put on
a show. He’s up for it — he’ll wear the
jumpsuit!” [Laughs] And I was into it. We
had common ground with all that.
It was pretty hard for the band to make
it in the States. Did you ever think it
wouldn’t happen?
There were times when I thought that,
but Gil and Mike? No way. Their goal was
to break the States, not Canada. It was
hard, man — impossible! When we signed
with RCA, we devised a plan: We went to
the bank and took out a huge loan, and we
bought a tractor trailer truck, a big PA and
lights. When we went to a place like Pitts-
burgh, we could tell the promoter that he
didn’t have to pay for all the production —
we had our own stuff. That way, he could
pay us more.
Mike and Gil were very smart about
touring. Mike would go to radio sta-
tions and get them to promote our shows.
We’d do really cheap tickets — 99 cents
at the door. The stations would saturate
the market with ads, and we’d blow peo-
ple away with flame throwers and lights.
Each time we created a sensation. That’s
how it started. Mike and Gil had a vision.
Of course, I was pretty damn good.
You’d go to the gig and see Rik Emmett
sing and play. If I had sucked, none of it
would have worked. But I didn’t suck — I
was pretty damn good. That sounds ego-
tistical, and I don’t mean it to. I wasn’t the
best guitar player or singer, but when you
saw me, you’d say, “Shit, man, that guy is
pretty good.”
You played a number of guitars with
the group — doublenecks by Gibson,
Ibanez and Dean. But your main guitar
was the Framus Akkerman. What was
so special about that model?
It was very playable. What I liked about it
was, it gave me an identity. Nobody was
really using it back then. Even Jan Akker-
man wasn’t playing it that much. It had
a very wide nut — the fingerboard was
almost classical. Once I got accustomed to
it, I found it made everything very easy to
play. I probably had a bit of a fingerstyle
element to my playing, so I didn’t like
skinny necks. The whole semi-acoustic
vibe was cool. It was somewhere between
a Les Paul and a 335.
For the first half of the Eighties, the
guitarworld.com 33
 band was a big arena draw, but your
album sales and radio play didn’t
match the concert tickets you sold.
Was that a hard dichotomy to recon-
cile?
You know, we always presented our-
selves as an arena band, even in the
beginning. We pushed the live show. I
remember when Allied Forces came out,
we were on FM radio and we went gold.
The other guys said, “RCA sees us as this
cultist band that’s only good for gold.
We want a bigger record deal. We want
out. We want a label that will give us the
promotion budgets like they give to Styx
and Foreigner.” The thing is, in hind-
sight, the world was changing and we
were falling out of favor. A slickness was
starting to happen with bands like Bon
Jovi.
K E I T H B E AT Y/ TO R O N TO S TA R V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S
How long were you thinking “This is
the end” before you decided to call it
a day?
You see, you’re stealing stuff from my
memoir. [Laughs] After a while, I said,
“Whoa, I don’t want to do this anymore.
How do I find the exit door?” The unhap-
piness began when we did the label
change from RCA to MCA, around ’83
and into ’84. I was becoming very skep-
tical and unhappy about what the band
was and what it meant for me. We had
so much business together, though, so
it was hard. I went to the band’s lawyer
and said, “How do I get out of this?” He
would say, “Oh, don’t go there. You keep
quiet and we’ll figure out how to cope.”
By ’86, ’87, I said to the guys, “I want out,”
and by ’88, that was it.
There’s a part of the documentary that
goes, “And at the height of their popular-
ity, the guitar player leaves!” And I thought,
“Oh, God, that’s not true.” I’ve got a lawyer
reading the chapter in my book where
I go into it, just to make sure it’s kosher.
I hope I don’t blow up the good that I’ve
done with the reconciliation. It’s nice to
see those guys again. I have my own life
and business, and I don’t have to be part of
theirs. That was one of the conditions when
I came back. I said, “If you want to play
some gigs, fine. But I’m not in the band any-
more.”
There’s a Triumph tribute record in the
works. Are you involved at all?
No, Triumph isn’t part of my business. I’m
at arm’s length from all of it. Mike Clink is
producing the record. I don’t know who all

You didn’t talk to Gil and Mike for
Around this time, the band was being almost 20 years. What was the ice-
pressured to come up with hit singles breaker?
and to spruce up its image in videos. Around 2006 my brother got sick with
Yeah, and that didn’t feel like cancer. He was talking about
me. I love songs and songwrit- tying up the loose ends in his
ing. Videos… Duran Duran were Triumph in life, and he said, “You’ve got bag-
doing things with tigers and Toronto in 1980: gage you need to fix.” I was like,
[from left] Mike
fashion models. Suddenly our Levin, Rik Emmett “Oh, fuck off with that — don’t
hair wasn’t big enough. We had and Gil Moore. “It put it on me.” I didn’t want to
was Gil’s band,”
to have makeup. I didn’t know Emmett says.
hear it at first, but that was a cat-
what it had to do with our music. “He signed every alyst. It took a long time. Finally,
At that point, I wanted to make check” around 2007, I said, “OK.” Yeah,
my music elsewhere. it was almost 20 years.
is doing versions, but I do know that Andy
Curran did a version of “Blinding Light
Show” with Alex Lifeson. He played it for
me, and it was wildly different from what
we did. It was terrific, but completely rei-
magined. It’s weird to have these reinter-
pretations of our songs. I can only imag-
ine what it was like for Leonard Cohen to
hear two dozen versions of “Hallelujah” in
one year. I take a cue from him. Whenever
somebody asked him, “What do you think
of that version of ‘Hallelujah,’ he said, ‘Oh,
that’s one of the best things I ever heard.’”
[Laughs]

“DURAN DURAN WERE DOING THINGS WITH TIGERS... SUDDENLY OUR HAIR WASN’T BIG ENOUGH”
34 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
 P. 36
IN
No April Fools’ here: the NAMM Show was alive and well this
past April, when gear manufacturers from around the world
descended upon the Anaheim Convention Center to reveal
the latest in guitars, amps, effects and more BY PAUL RIARIO

D
ESPITE SOME NOTABLE name-brand val-like atmosphere of NAMM. Every year promises
NAMM.ORG absences, there was a lot to see and chew on advancements in the latest recording tech, reimag-
at the 2023 NAMM Show. And the ebullient ined classics and flat-out show-stoppers in gear, and
vibe was undeniably palpable among the exhibi- this show didn’t disappoint. Behold! Here’s the gear
tors and attendees who were caught up in the carni- that made the biggest impression on us.
GW
IBANEZ
AXE DESIGN LAB SERIES SML721

The SML721 is part of Ibanez’s new Axe Design

Lab series, which churns out experimental and excit-
ing next-gen guitars. Ibanez refers to this guitar as a
“light” multi-scale — with the first fret being parallel
to the nut, followed by the frets gradually tilting
inward as one moves further up the neck. The
purpose of this design is not to facilitate drop-tun-
ing like other multi-scale designs, but to deliver
better string-to-string tension and improved
playability in standard tuning. It’s also equipped with
Q58 humbuckers found on the Q series and Ibanez’s
dyna-MIX10 switching system, a rosewood
fretboard, luminescent side dot inlays, Gotoh MG-T
locking machine heads and a Rose Gold Chameleon
finish.
Street Price: $999.99
ibanez.com
FOR MORE 2023
NAMM GEAR
RELEASES, VISIT
GUITARWORLD.COM/
NEWS/LIVE/NAMM-
2023-LIVE
POSITIVE GRID
SPARK GO
Positive Grid continues to prove that as things get
smaller, they keep getting better. Picking up from where
the Spark 40 and Spark MINI left off, Positive Grid
introduces Spark GO — a rugged, ultra-portable guitar/
bass amp and Bluetooth speaker you can hold in the
palm of your hand with advanced acoustics that deliver
detailed, room-filling sound. Like the other Spark amps,
it features a free companion app and immediate access
to inspiring guitar gear and tones, plus AI-powered
practice tools. The pocket-sized unit delivers 5 watts of
big sound, computational audio, a passive radiator and
anti-vibration technology to provide the detailed audio
and punchy bass typically found in a much larger amp.
Spark GO comes loaded with 33 authentic amp models
and 43 effects and pedals that can be combined into an
infinite number of tone setups for convenient practice
and jamming. Four onboard preset locations allow
instant recall of favorite amps and effects.

Street Price: $109

positivegrid.com
 GW NAMM 2023 ROUNDUP

C.F. MARTIN & CO.

D-18 AND D-28
STREETLEGEND

Martin debuted plenty of

models at NAMM 2023, but the
new StreetLegend finish
on their new D-18 and
D-28 StreetLegend
acoustics took center
stage for their
scuffed-up, ragged
BEYERDYNAMIC appearance. Both
CLASSIC M SERIES MICROPHONES feature satin-finished
tops with visual wear
A facelift is a great way to revamp some sound quality that’s been loved by genera-
inspired by historic
tried-and-true microphones. Beyerdynamic, a tions of artists — but it gains a new aesthetic.
models found in Martin’s
legacy audio brand for live music and studio Without changing the sound of the mics, the new
museum. In other words,
professionals, unveiled a redesign of its M Series series benefits from a more streamlined
it’s a brand-new guitar
mics at NAMM. The series, which recorded Jimi production and build process to enhance the
with well-worn looks that
Hendrix’s guitar riffs and accompanied Dua Lipa’s overall experience.
bestows these acoustics
Future Nostalgia tour, is getting a design refresh with an “old soul”
to merge tradition with future. The new design Street Prices: $199 to $799 character. The D-18
keeps to the mics’ core principles and retains the beyerdynamic.com StreetLegend is crafted
with satin-finished
mahogany back and sides,
while the D-28 StreetLeg-
end is crafted with
satin-finished East Indian
rosewood back and sides.
They also include
open-gear aged tuners
and a satin-aged
pickguard.
List prices: D-18, $2,399;
D-28, $2,799
martinguitar.com

UNIVERSAL AUDIO
DEL-VERB AMBIENCE COMPANION, GALAXY ’74 TAPE
ECHO AND MAX PREAMP & DUAL COMPRESSOR PEDALS

Universal Audio’s reputation for audio interfaces and plug-ins is unparalleled,

but their UAFX line of amp emulators, classic reverbs, delays, modulators and
compressors are some of the finest stompboxes available. Now, forged with
UAFX’s dual-engine processing and analog modeling, the new Del-Verb
Ambience Companion, Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb and Max Dual
Preamp & Compressor pedals are the latest stompboxes of authentic
emulations of classic studio hardware and effects that deliver
expressive tones and sonically accurate vintage sounds. The Del-Verb
Ambience Companion packs ready-to-wear emulations of classic
reverb and delay effects, while the Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb
captures the warm and warped analog effects of the iconic mid-
Seventies Roland Space Echo hardware. Finally, the Max Preamp &
Dual Compressor puts the colorful sound of three legendary limiters
and an iconic tube preamp right at your feet.

Street Price: $349 uaudio.com

 EVENTIDE
EVENTIDE H90 HARMONIZER MULTI-FX PEDAL

Eventide's next-generation Harmonizer, the H90 Effects Pedal, turned heads in the stompbox world.
Besides being one of the most powerful effect processors available, the H90 is Eventide’s sequel to the
award-winning H9 Max Harmonizer and is loaded with 63 effect algorithms and hundreds of program
combinations curated for a variety of instruments and genres. Its multi-core architecture gives
it the processing power to run two dynamic algorithms at once. Other features
include flexible routing options, an intuitive UI designed for players and a
built-in tuner. In addition, the H90’s newest algorithm, PolyFlex, is a
polyphonic pitch shifter that allows users to bend a chord into a new
harmony, perform polyphonic dive bombs or transform your guitar into
a pedal steel.

Street Price: $899

eventideaudio.com

ELECTRO-HARMONIX
LIZARD QUEEN OCTAVE FUZZ

When Josh Scott of JHS Pedals and graphic designer Daniel Danger created the
faux-EHX Lizard Queen as a lookalike homage to Mike Matthews’ legendary EHX stomp-
boxes, no one would have guessed EHX would eventually team up with them to create a
nano-sized version that preserves the tones and vibes of the original design first featured
on The JHS Show (on YouTube) in ’22. Housed in EHX’s Nano-sized chassis, the Lizard
Queen is a fixed-gain fuzz that features Volume, Octave and Balance knobs. Volume
controls the overall output volume level while the Octave control blends in the octave-up
effect from no effect to full octave mixed in. The Balance knob sets the tone balance
between the smooth Shadow setting and the raspy Sun setting. It’s a tribute worth owning.

Street Price: $99

ehx.com

APOGEEE
JAM X

When inspiration hits, we just want to plug in and record

without fuss. Enter Jam X, Apogee’s latest premium
instrument interface, which has the bonus of a built-in
analog compressor designed for recording guitar, bass or
keyboards on your Mac, PC or iPhone/iPad Pro. Jam X
contains three analog compressor presets (Vintage Blue
Stomp, Purple Squeeze and Smooth Leveler) for capturing
studio-grade sounds and bringing life to your instrument. Its
built-in compression can add sustain and balance dynamics,
depending on your pickups. Combine that with its clarity,
ample headroom and high-resolution sample rates (up to 96
kHz), and you’ll find that Jam X will become essential.

List Price: $199

Apogeedigital.com

38 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 GW NAMM 2023 ROUNDUP

FENDER PRO AUDIO

RIFF BLUETOOTH SPEAKER

Who says a portable Bluetooth speaker has to look all

black and plasticky? Fender’s RIFF — a powerful Bluetooth
speaker and portable amplifier — is made with a genuine
maple wood top expertly etched with guitar neck markers
as interface guidelines to adjust volume, bass and treble.
RIFF comes equipped with 4 speakers and 2 bass
radiators to deliver 60 watts of powerful, clean audio with
velvety-rich bass. It also features a black matte finish, a
guitar-inspired strap, red accents and a guitar-pick-shaped
grill. With a 1/4-inch jack input, its practice amp feature is
designed with signature Fender sound and individually
tuned speakers for high and low frequencies. Last but not
least, the free Fender RIFF companion smartphone app
accesses additional features such as the Auto-EQ mode,
which helps you automatically tune the RIFF to the space
where you put it.

Street Price: $469.99

fender.com

L.R. BAGGS SEYMOUR DUNCAN

HIFI: HIGH-FIDELITY ACOUSTIC BRIDGE PLATE HYPERSWITCH
PICKUP SYSTEM
What if I told you that you could reconfigure and rewire your electric
If you think installing cutting-edge electronics in your favorite
guitar with the touch of your phone? Seymour Duncan revolutionizes this
acoustic seems daunting, think again. L.R. Baggs has released HiFi,
idea with HyperSwitch — a powerful active five-way blade switch that’s
a non-invasive pickup design that pairs dual bridge plate sensors
compatible with most passive pickups and configured via your smartphone
with high-fidelity electronics, providing exceptional balance,
to quickly and easily change the wiring arrangement of your pickups.
definition, dynamics and optimal feedback resistance. With a
HyperSwitch allows you to design, store and recall your custom pickup
simplified peel-and-stick installation, the lightweight pickups
configurations with an easy-to-use mobile app (iOS and Android) and save
preserve the integrity of your instrument’s bridge plate without
them to the HyperSwitch. For example, paired with HyperSwitch, a player
altering your acoustic tone. HiFi’s built-in, studio-quality preamp is
with three humbuckers is able to configure their pickups in hundreds of
voiced to complement the pickups for an optimal plug-and-play
possible ways. HyperSwitch pairs with your smartphone via Bluetooth and
experience. HiFi runs on a single 9V battery, which boasts an
runs on a 9V battery.
impressive battery life of more than 700 hours.
Street Price: $199 Street Price: $149
lrbaggs.com seymourduncan.com

guitarworld.com 39
 CIARI GUITARS
ASCENDER P90 SOLO
FULL-SIZED FOLDING
ELECTRIC GUITAR
You might be unwilling to bend, but
do you fold? The answer is yes if
you’re Ciari Guitars, an award-winning
manufacturer of professional-grade,
full-sized folding guitars. The
Ascender P90 Solo mixes it up by
offering an OEM-exclusive Seymour
Duncan P90 bridge pickup. The guitar
features an asymmetric, surf-forward,
satin basswood body style, and its
full-sized design offers a 24 3/4-inch
scale length and 1.7-inch nut width.
Ciari uses Plek machining technology
to plane the fingerboards and dress
the frets, ensuring ideal action and
playability for its mahogany neck and
ebony fingerboard with 22 medium-
jumbo frets. The combination of its
compact, foldable design and unique
sonic character makes the Ascender
P90 Solo an ideal travel guitar for
modern players who demand
precision, portability and performance.
List Price: $1,599
ciariguitars.com
40 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
BREEDLOVE
OREGON CONCERT
EARTHSONG & PURSUIT
EXOTIC S CONCERT
EARTHSONG CE LTD
Going green is becoming the new
deal for many acoustic brands, and in
celebration of Earth Day 2023,
Breedlove is giving back to the planet
with two limited-edition Concert
acoustics: the Oregon Concert
Earthsong LTD and the Pursuit Exotic
S Concert Earthsong CE LTD. Both are
crafted from 100 percent clear-cut-
free Oregon Myrtlewood and finished
in a custom Earthsong gloss burst.
Breedlove follows through with their
commitment to reforestation with
every sale going directly to planting
hundreds of new trees.
Street Prices: Pursuit, $849;
Oregon Concert, $2,999
breedlovemusic.com.
 GW NAMM 2023 ROUNDUP

EASTMAN GUITARS
DONNER JULIET LA
SEEKER SERIES DST-700
Eastman elevated their solid body
HYPER ELECTRIC GUITAR series to new heights with their
Romeo LA, and now the Juliet LA
Donner seems to have perfected
completes this instrumental Shake-
an electric with the type of modern
spearean couple (but without the
styling most aggressive players look
tragedy). The Juliet LA sports an
for — but without breaking the bank.
original offset design, a lightweight
The new Seeker Series DST-700
solid one-piece Okoume body and an
boasts a 5-piece roasted maple neck
inlaid pickguard to highlight the
that offers unwavering stability and
guitar’s gracefully carved curves. Its
that’s bolted on a basswood or
Celestine Blue Truetone Gloss finish
mahogany body. For its powerful tone,
evokes the clear L.A. sky, and a pair of
Donner’s new Hyper Series pickups
Seymour Duncan Radiator Phat Cat
are voiced for fatter, high-output
P-90s with gold foil covers offer
sounds while delivering tremendous
classic surf tones. A Göldo Les Trem
dynamic range, and they come in the
system pairs with a Göldo 3-Point
following configurations: HH, HSS and
Vario “moving” bridge for maximum
HSH with coil switch. Other features
articulation, sustain and resonance.
include steel medium frets, Donner
With Göldo K-line back-locking tuners,
18:1 locking machines, 2-point
the Juliet LA stays in tune, no matter
synchronized tremolo with block
how much a player bends its tone.
saddles and a steel plate.

Street Price: N/A Street Price: $1,999

eastmanguitars.com
donnermusic.com

guitarworld.com 41
 ERNIE BALL MUSIC MAN
KAIZEN 6-STRING
Ernie Ball Music Man has teamed up
with many artists to create some com-
pelling signature guitars, but one of
the most visionary we’ve come across
is the Kaizen 6-string, which is also
available as a 7-string. Animals As
Leaders’ Tosin Abasi teamed up with
EBMM to create this multi-scale
design six-string version, which
provides complimentary string tension
for heavier and chunky rhythms on the
bass strings and a more elastic feel on
the treble strings for smoother
bending and soloing. It also features
an Infinity Radius Neck for increased
comfort while allowing for clearer
visibility of the fretboard and fret
markers. Other features include
Steinberger Gearless Locking Tuners,
Multi-Scale modern tremolo and new
Music Man pickups with a custom HT
(Heat Treated) humbucker in the
bridge position and a slanted
mini-humbucker in the neck position
that has been specifically designed
for the Kaizen. It also features an
alder body, flame-figured roasted
maple neck and ebony fingerboard
and comes in Apollo Black, Chalk
White, Indigo Blue and Mint.
Street Price: $3,799
music-man.com
42 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
GUILD
SURFLINER DELUXE
Building on the popular Surfliner
model, Guild introduces the Surfliner
Deluxe, which takes its name from the
Surfliner train that travels California’s
coast. The Guild Surfliner is influenced
by the heritage and eccentric shapes
of vintage Guilds — and this new
Deluxe model is as cool as it looks. By
combining classic styling with modern
features in an offset, solid-body
electric, the Guild Surfliner Deluxe will
win over many players with its vintage
appeal and unique sound. It comes
in a solid Poplar body with a roasted
maple neck with bound rosewood
fingerboard and block inlays, a HSS
pickup configuration featuring DeAr-
mond Aerosonic single coil and Guild
HB-2 humbucker pickups, a traditional
5-way blade switch and Guild’s floating
vibrato tailpiece. The Surfliner Deluxe
is available in Evergreen Metallic, Rose
Quartz Metallic and Black Metallic
finishes with a matching headstock.
Street Price: $699
guildguitars.com

KLŌS GUITARS
CARBON FIBER GRAND
CUTAWAY MINI
Utah may be known for the
Sundance Film Festival and Mormons,
but how about a dedicated team of
luthiers that manufacture impressive
carbon fiber guitars? After much
anticipation, Provo’s KLŌS Guitars is
finally accepting orders on their
Grand Cutaway Mini, part of a new
series of cutaway acoustics. Smart
manufacturing allows KLŌS
Guitars to efficiently create
hand-crafted carbon fiber guitars
with a 20-fret detachable carbon
fiber neck, stainless steel frets,
full PLEK service and more. The
Grand Cutaway Mini will launch
with the standard bilateral
carbon fiber weave, as well as a
nickel-infused unilateral carbon
fiber weave dubbed “Carbon
Timber” that emulates the look
of a wood instrument while
boasting the durable benefits
of carbon fiber.
Street Prices: Carbon Fiber,
$1,759; Carbon Timber, $2,059
klosguitars.com
FOR MORE 2023 NAMM GEAR RELEASES,
VISIT GUITARWORLD.COM/NEWS/LIVE/
NAMM-2023-LIVE
GW NAMM 2023 ROUNDUP
TAYLOR GUITARS
BUILDER’S EDITION 814CE
When you hear the term Builder’s Edition,
you’ll know it’s a premium-crafted acoustic
from Taylor. This time around, Taylor’s
Builder’s Edition 814ce is a clear advance-
ment of all the performance enhance-
ments of Taylor's most acclaimed 814ce
guitar but with a refined focus on overall
feel and sound. This new 814ce marks the
10th unique model to join the Builder’s
Edition collection. With its Grand Audi-
torium body shape, this Builder’s Edition
814ce is a flagship acoustic in Taylor’s
premium 800 series and features Indian
rosewood back and sides paired with a
four-piece Adirondack spruce top for a
rich and articulate voice. Taylor’s revolu-
tionary V-Class bracing is employed
for impeccable intonation along with
increased volume and sustain. Other
features include a beveled armrest
and contoured beveled cutaway
with a finger bevel, a full-body gloss
finish with a Kona edge burst for
the rosewood back and sides, ES2
electronics and Gotoh 510 tuners in
antique gold.
Street Price: $4,499
taylorguitars.com
guitarworld.com 43
Mick Ronson
in the U.S. in the
mid Seventies
TRANSFORMER
Sure, he made a massive imprint on David Bowie’s
classic early Seventies albums. But Mick Ronson also worked
with Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Elton John,
Roger McGuinn, Morrissey, Ian Hunter and many others.
GW profiles the post-Bowie career of rock ’ n ’ roll ’ s most
quietly spoken guitar hero.
Starring Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Slaughter and the Dogs’
Mick Rossi and the Cult’s Billy Duffy

LTHOUGH FOREVER LINKED to David Bowie’s breakthrough success — and what

is, for many, Bowie’s golden era in the early Seventies — Mick Ronson’s career con-
tinued long after his departure from Bowie’s band, the Spiders from Mars. Bowie’s
announcement from the stage of the London Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, when he
unexpectedly declared that the Spiders had played their final show together, came as a huge shock
to the rest of the band. Ronson had carved out a reputation for himself as not only one of the pre-
mier guitar heroes of the glam age, but also as a gifted producer and arranger. While the band
were understandably dismayed and disappointed at Bowie’s decision, plans were afoot to turn
Ronson into a solo star in his own right. Unfortunately for Ronson, he never seemed as comfort-
able in the spotlight as he was when acting as a visual and sonic foil for the extravagance of Bowie.

B Y M AR K Mc S T E A
PHOTOGRAPH BY GAB ARCHIVE
 Ian Hunter [left] and
Ronson on stage
in Bristol, England,
April 1, 1975
M I C H A E L P U T L A N D/ G E T T Y I M A G E S
 Ronson’s first band, the Rats, were a
blues/rock band who made a handful of
singles in the late Sixties. Hailing from
Hull, in the northeast of England, the
band undoubtedly suffered from being
based outside the extremely London-cen-
tric scene that was the British music busi-
ness at that time. The Rats were an excel-
lent band, with a sound not unlike that
of the Jeff Beck Group, and Ronno could
carry off the extended blues soloing that
was becoming de rigueur in the age of Jimi
Hendrix et al. with considerable aplomb.
Ronson’s playing was a cut above the cli-
chéd blues rock excesses that so many
mediocre Hendrix wannabes resorted to.
Check out the Rats’ “Telephone Blues”
from 1969 — no wonder that Bowie told
Tony Visconti that he’d “found his Jeff
Beck” when Ronson was recruited for
Bowie’s band in 1970.
A month after formally joining the
Hype, the original name for Bowie’s back-
ing band, Ronson played on Elton John’s
“Madman Across the Water” as part of the
Tumbleweed Connection sessions. The song
didn’t make the cut for that album, but a
re-recorded version became the title track
of John’s next album. The Ronson version
of the song didn’t turn up until 1992 on a
compilation of Elton’s rarities. It’s diffi-
cult to understand why Ronson’s version
wasn’t used at the time; his blues-laden
lines punch home with attack and verve
— utterly dominating the song. Perhaps
that is the reason his version stayed in the
vaults, as Ronson completely overshadows
Elton John’s performance.
“MICK CAME IN WITH HIS LES PAUL, PLUGGED IN TO MY AMP AND
FIDDLED WITH THE CONTROLS. ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE IT WAS, THE
FULL ZIGGY STARDUST TONE. IT WAS JUST INCREDIBLE” — Mick Rossi
While Ronson was primarily occupied
with Bowie’s touring and recording cycle
as he made his most iconic albums, he also
was working as a producer and arranger
— on his own and in tandem with Bowie.
Ronson’s most famous co-production was
his work on Lou Reed’s Transformer in
1972, on which he added guitar and piano
to “Perfect Day” and “Satellite of Love.”
He added his arranging skills to Mott the
Hoople’s All the Young Dudes the same
year; he also struck up a friendship with
Mott singer Ian Hunter that was to endure
for the rest of his short life.
With the departure from Bowie a done
deal, Ronson began to put together ideas
for his debut solo album, Slaughter on 10th
Avenue, which was released in 1974. There
was a lot riding on the record, and a major
British tour was booked to promote it. The
album received a mixed response. Listen-
ing to it now, it stands up well in its own
right, although, unsurprisingly, the influ-
ence of Bowie seems to permeate the
record. Ronson’s voice was up to the job of
fronting a band, but he seemed to be mov-
ing outside his comfort zone in the live
shows, where the focus was entirely on
him. The record contained a mixture of
originals and covers; Ronno’s take on “Love
Me Tender” saw him enter the U.K. sin-
gles chart, and the album achieved respect-
able sales figures. According to Mike Gar-
son, whose unique piano stylings featured
on Bowie’s final Ziggy Stardust tour and the
Aladdin Sane album, and who was a mem-
ber of Ronson’s live band, attendances were
poor for many of the shows. Many who did
turn up were hoping Bowie might put in an
appearance — a disheartening experience
for Ronson.
Bowie’s management company, Main-
man, still felt there was potential for Ron-
son to crack the big leagues as a solo act,
and he was tasked with putting together
a follow-up album, Play Don’t Worry, for
release in 1975. Prior to the release of his
second album, he joined Mott the Hoople
just before the band fell apart, to play on
their final single, “Saturday Gigs.” While
Mott were about to dissolve, Ian Hunter
knew he’d found an ideal partner in Ronson
— as a musical ally and a friend. Hunter was
planning a solo career and wanted Ronson
onboard.
The disappointing sales and critical
response to Play Don’t Worry were, per-
haps, the clincher in Ronson deciding to
put aside plans for a solo career. Although
the record moved away from a dependence
on Bowie, it was still mainly comprised
of covers, from Little Richard’s “The Girl
Can’t Help It” to the Velvet Underground’s
“White Light/White Heat,” although that
song actually utilized an unused backing
track from Bowie’s Pin Ups sessions. The
Ronson-penned single from the album,
“Billy Porter,” received plenty of airplay but
failed to make a dent in the charts, while the
album just scraped into the top 30.
With solo aspirations on hold, Ronson
threw his energies into co-producing and
playing guitar on Hunter’s self-titled solo
album in 1975. Although Ronson only co-
wrote one of the songs, his influence is all
over the album, which features some of
his most blazing solos since his best work
with Bowie. “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” was
a particular highlight, with an epic Ronno
solo, scoring Hunter his last hit single and
becoming a staple of his live set ever since.
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott was a lifelong fan
and eventually became friends with Ron-
son in 1980. “For me, Ronno’s solo on that
song is one of the greatest solos of all time,
no question,” Elliott says.
With the pressure off, Ronson was free
to do what he did best, which was (ironi-
cally) the title of his last album, Play Don’t
Worry. Hunter remembers Ronson chan-
neling a lot of his frustrations with the way
things had been going career-wise into his
playing, particularly the solo on “The Truth,
the Whole Truth, Nuthin’ But the Truth.”
Ronson’s guitar work mixes delayed lines,
manic wah tones and a devastating vibrato
to deliver a performance of almost psy-
chotic intensity. Blues-fired runs cascade
and crash, but never descend into sloppi-
ness, thanks to Ronson’s impeccably clean
picking technique. Says Elliott: “I played
that on the tour bus a few years back, and
Viv [Campbell] had to stop what he was
doing and just sit back and listen with his
eyes shut. He’d never been a particularly big
Ronson fan until then, but the intensity of
that solo was just insane.” Given the artistic
and commercial success of the album, sur-
prisingly, Hunter and Ronson didn’t work
together again until 1979.
Ronson joined Bob Dylan’s live band for
the Hard Rain tour in 1976, which came as
a surprise to his friends, Since he’d never
been much of a Dylan fan. The hard truth of
Ronson’s situation was that, in spite of his
high profile and reputation, he had never
really earned the kind of money he should
have received. He wasn’t particularly
well paid during his time with Bowie and
needed to keep working to maintain finan-
cial stability. The Dylan gig was a welcome
payday, although Ronson would never pri-
oritize a lucrative deal over something that
offered greater artistic considerations.
Ronson actually received less than £50 per
day (about $120 in 1972) for his work on
Lou Reed’s Transformer, with no further
guitarworld.com 47

“THAT WAS A GIFT THAT MICK HAD, THE ABILITY TO BRING OUT
THE VERY BEST IN ANYONE HE WORKED WITH” — Joe Elliott
royalties payable.
Alongside Ronson’s work with Dylan in
1976, he played on and produced former
Byrd Roger McGuinn’s solo album, Car-
diff Rose. A stylistically diverse collection
of songs — from folk to upbeat pop/rock —
it’s a record McGuinn has often cited as one
of his favorites from his catalog. Ronson
and McGuinn had both been part of Dylan’s
Rolling Thunder Revue, and the album fea-
tured several other members from the live
show. Ronson’s background may have been
hard-edged blues and rock, but he’d dem-
onstrated his ability to cross stylistic bar-
riers on his two solo albums. McGuinn
recorded a version of Bowie’s “Soul Love”
for the album, although it only turned up
many years later on an expanded edition of
Cardiff Rose.
Ronson may have embraced the role of
sideman after the relatively disappoint-
ing response to his first two albums, but
he continued to record his own material,
48 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
with an eye on a third record. He recorded
a full album’s worth of songs at the end of
1976, although the project only saw an offi-
cial release in 1999, under the title Just Like
This. RCA refused to release it at the time,
as they had lost faith with Ronno’s ability
to sell records. Ironically, this would have
been his strongest, most consistent album.
With Ronson one of the few names from the
pre-punk age not subjected to the year zero
excoriation of all that had gone before, he
could have capitalized on his cult hero sta-
tus, had the album seen the light of day. The
title track is a punchy rocker, with a sound
that seemed in step with the burgeoning
punk/new wave scene that exploded while
he was working on the album.
Given the U.K. punk scene’s enduring
love of the work of Bowie and Ronson, it is
unsurprising that Ronno was asked to play
on and/or produce records for a number
of the first wave of British bands. Slaugh-
ter and the Dogs, who were one of the very
[from left] Bob Dylan,
Ronson and Bobby
Neuwirth on stage
with the Rolling Thun-
der Revue in Toronto,
December 2, 1975
first handful of punk bands to release a
record, were such massive fans that they
actually took their name from Ronson’s
Slaughter on 10th Avenue album and Bow-
ie’s Diamond Dogs.
Slaughter and the Dogs guitarist Mick
Rossi managed to track down Ronson and
struck up a friendship with him. When
they signed to U.K. label Decca, they
invited Ronson to the sessions for their
debut album, Do It Dog Style, in 1978. Rossi
remembers: “Mick was such a friendly guy.
I was only 15 when I went with a friend
to see him on his solo tour in 1975. It was
in Sheffield, and we lived in Manchester,
which meant we’d have to spend the night
after the show sleeping in the bus station.
We were only 14. We managed to meet
Mick on his tour bus after the gig. When
he realized we had nowhere to stay, he
paid for a hotel room for us where the band
were staying. He even gave me his phone
number and said to keep in touch, which I
 did, and that was how I managed to get him
to play on our album.”
Rossi remembers a particularly magi-
cal moment in the studio during the day
Ronson spent adding his guitar to a couple
of the tracks. “I’d bought a Marshall stack
and I had a Les Paul, but I was just turn-
ing everything up to the max. The sound
wasn’t really working. Mick came in with
his Les Paul, plugged in to my amp and fid-
dled with the controls for a moment. All of
a sudden there it was, the full Ziggy Star-
dust tone. It was just incredible.”
Glen Matlock, who first came to prom-
inence in the Sex Pistols, asked Ronson
to produce Ghosts of Princes in Towers,
the debut album for his band Rich Kids,
released in 1978, after he left the Pistols.
As with everybody who worked with Ron-
son, he was bowled over by his complete
lack of pretension and incredible friendli-
ness. Typically of Ronson, who never really
seemed to refuse any request to work with
him, Matlock had answered a phone call in
his manager’s office, realized it was Ron-
son he was speaking to and invited him to
come to their rehearsals at the spur of the
moment. While Ronson didn’t play gui-
tar on the record, he played keyboards on
a few songs and added a creative spark to
the sessions to help Rich Kids deliver an
underrated new wave classic.
By 1979, Ian Hunter had recruited Ron-
son again to produce and play on You’re
Never Alone with a Schizophrenic. Hunter
acknowledged the importance of Mick,
stating that nobody could ever play his
songs the way Ronson did. Hunter con-
tinued to rely on Ronson’s produc-
tion and guitar skills for the next three
years, recording Welcome to the Club in
1980 and Short Back ’n’ Sides the follow-
ing year. Ronson toured extensively with
Hunter, being given full rein to unleash
the best soloing of his career. YouTube is
full of performances showing the intuitive
level of rapport that Hunter and Ronson
enjoyed, delivering live versions of classics
that actually blow the original recordings
F R A N K L E N N O N / TO R O N TO S A R V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S
out of the water.
During his extended run with Hunter,
Ronson had recorded a number of
tracks for a project that was mooted as
a soundtrack for a film that didn’t actu-
ally get made. The album later turned up
as Indian Summer in 2001. The majority of
the songs were recorded in 1981, with sev-
eral being cut the following year. Ronson’s
frustration with his solo work must have
been exacerbated by this latest failure to
get one of his own projects off the ground,
following RCA’s refusal to release Just Like
This a few years earlier. Ronson’s contribu-
tion to Hunter’s 1983 album, All the Good
Ones Are Taken, was minimal as Ronno was
seriously considering dropping out of the
music business altogether — unsurprising
given how frustrating it must have been to
have been unable to find recognition for his
own projects.
Mick Rossi had maintained his friend-
ship with Ronson. He remembers that
Ronson never really complained about
anything, always maintaining an upbeat,
positive vibe. “I think perhaps, given that
Mick knew how much I looked up to him,
he didn’t ever want to come across as neg-
ative,” Rossi says. “I’ve heard from others
that he did feel that things weren’t all they
should be, but he never really seemed to
dwell on the downside of things.”
The previous year, 1982, had seen Ron-
son’s arranging skills hit paydirt for John
Mellencamp, who’d been struggling to
record his breakthrough hit, “Jack and
Diane,” while still performing as John
Cougar. Ronson was working on the ses-
sion as a guitarist and came up with the big
choir-style hook in the middle of the song.
It was a lightbulb moment for the ses-
sion, and a song that was in danger of being
junked became transformed into a global
hit. Ronson also produced the first of two
albums, No Stranger to Danger, for Payolas,
a Canadian band notable for their inclu-
sion of future mega-producer Bob Rock
among their ranks, playing bass. He pro-
duced Hammer on a Drum for them the
following year. No doubt Rock picked up
plenty of tips that would stand him in good
stead as he went on to become one of the
most in-demand producers from the Nine-
ties onwards.
Ronson decided against dropping out
and was energized by watching a perfor-
mance by Lisa Dal Bello in 1983. He con-
tacted her and they teamed up to work on
her fourth album, Whomanfoursays, which
she recorded under the name Dalbello.
Ronson and Dalbello produced the album
together, and all instruments were played
by the pair.
Elliott remembers going to see Ronson
playing in a pub venue in London with Dal-
bello: “The place was full of Ronson fans.
A lot of people there were in other name
bands, guys who’d always loved Mick’s
work.”
At the time Ronson became involved
with the Dalbello project, he had been
offered the chance to produce Tina Turner,
but was unable to follow through, miss-
ing out on what would have been his most
lucrative job to date. The oft-reported
tale that Ronno always prioritized artistic
interest over commerce was proven true
HEAVEN AND HULL REVISITED
JOE ELLIOTT TELLS THE TALE OF
MICK RONSON’S FINAL SOLO ALBUM
M
ICK RONSON’S FINAL solo album, Heaven
and Hull, was recorded in the final few
months of his life in 1993, while he was strug-
gling with the debilitating effects of liver cancer.
Recorded with the help of a handful of stellar
guests including David Bowie, Chrissie Hynde,
John Mellencamp and Joe Elliott, Ronson didn’t
live to see its release. Elliott was instrumental in
getting the album released in accordance with
Ronson’s vision for the project.
“Mick came to stay with me in Dublin for a
weekend and recorded some tracks at a local
studio, which I’d lent a lot of equipment to.
They’d told me to come and record there any
time I wanted. Anyway, I sang with Mick on a
song he’d written, ‘Don’t Look Down,’ that he
thought was a bit like Def Leppard. I also sang
vocals with Ian Hunter and Mick on a cover
of the Angels’ ‘Take a Long Line.’ While Mick
was staying with me, I played him some of my
bootlegs of things he’d done over his career,
which he’d never heard. He was really interested
and asked me if he could take them back with
him, so I actually copied them all the next day
and posted them to him. His wife, Suzi, was with
him, and she said to me, when [Mick] was out of
the room, that he never listens to his old work,
so she thought it was a sign that he was aware
that he was near the end.”
As far as Elliott was concerned, that was the
end of his involvement with the album. In 1994,
however, he got a call from producer Frankie
LaRocka, asking him for an opinion on how the
final album sounded prior to release. “He sent
me mixes of the songs I was on,” Elliott says. “I
listened to them over and over, and three days
later I had to call him up. I told him that the
songs just sounded totally wrong. It just wasn’t
how Mick wanted the record to sound. When I
was with him in London prior to recording, and
when he was with me in Dublin, he was filling
my head with how he wanted everything to
sound. I think, looking back, he was doing that
intentionally, because he knew he wouldn’t be
around to make sure it was done right himself.”
Elliott felt confident he’d be able to get
things a lot closer to Ronson’s vision. “I’d been
working with Mutt Lange for years, so I knew
my way around a studio,” he says. “Anyone
who didn’t after working with Mutt for 11 years
would have to be a fucking idiot. [Laughs]
Frankie asked me what was wrong with the
guitarworld.com 49

Ronson at his last live
performance — the
Freddie Mercury
tribute concert in
London, April 20, 1992
yet again. Although there was little happen-
ing on the recording front, Ronson decided
to return to live work in 1985, touring with
Ian Hunter and also fronting his own band,
continuing to tour regularly with Hunter
throughout the remainder of the Eighties.
Given the longevity of the relationship of
Ronson and Hunter, it seemed long overdue
when they announced that they planned to
record as the Hunter Ronson Band, with
their first album, YUI Orta, appearing late
in 1989. One of the strongest albums in
either artist’s catalog, surprisingly, it didn’t
sell as well as expected, and although a fol-
low-up was planned, that fell by the wayside
once Ronson’s health started to fail.
Billy Duffy remembers buying tickets for
a scheduled Hunter Ronson show: “It got
canceled — I couldn’t believe it. I was so dis-
appointed. I even managed to get the poster
advertising the show, which I’ve got on my
website. What a brilliant band that was.”
Elliott is convinced that the combo of
Hunter and Ronson brought out the very
best in both of them. “The work Ian did with
Mick is just fantastic,” he says. “That was
MICK HUTSON/REDFERNS
a gift that Mick had, the ability to bring out
the very best in anyone he worked with.”
In 1991, Ronson received the diagno-
sis that he had liver cancer, and that it was
inoperable. According to friends, he seemed
to be able to remain relatively upbeat in the
face of such devastating news. In 1992 he
50 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
was asked by Morrissey to produce Your
Arsenal. Given Ronno’s tricky financial sit-
uation, the timing was perfect as it provided
him with the biggest payday of his career,
relieving a huge amount of strain.
Ronson made his final live appearance
at the Freddie Mercury tribute show, at
Bowie’s suggestion, playing “All the Young
Dudes” with Hunter on vocals. That was
followed by a deeply moving version of
“Heroes,” made all the more poignant in
hindsight with the knowledge that it was
to be Ronno’s last show. Elliott remem-
bers, “To be standing on the stage with Phil
[Collen], doing backing vocals, with Brian
May next to us, then looking across at Mick,
Bowie playing sax and Ian Hunter singing,
backed by the rest of Queen — there is noth-
ing that could ever top that.”
Ronson’s last appearance on record was
on “My Baby Is a Headfuck” by the Wild-
hearts, where he unleashes an explosive
slide solo. He had been working on his final
solo album, eventually to be released in 1994
under the title Heaven and Hull [see side-
bar] but was unable to complete it, before
he succumbed to cancer in April 1993. Ian
Hunter, David Bowie, John Mellencamp
and Joe Elliott stepped in to add vocals and
help complete the record.
For many, Bowie’s best work was cre-
ated in tandem with Ronson. Likewise, few
could argue that Ronno took Ian Hunter to
new heights. Ronson was the perfect com-
bination of artistic ability and iconic imag-
ery, the definition of everything a guitar
hero should be. His influence stretched far
beyond the time when he was Bowie’s ulti-
mate sonic and visual counterpart. Randy
Rhoads lifted Ronson’s image wholesale,
and even emulated his “Les Paul into a Mar-
shall with a cocked wah” sound. Michael
Schenker admitted to basing much of his
tonal approach on Ronson’s sound. Billy
Duffy remembers watching Ronson on Top
of the Pops and realizing that was what he
wanted to do. Joe Elliott and Phil Collen
have endlessly waved the flag for Ronson’s
remarkable abilities.
Perhaps the most telling example of
Ronson’s abilities lies in a short YouTube
clip filmed not long before his death for
a BBC documentary [Search for “Mick
Ronson interview outtake from Hang On
To Yourself”]. He’s playing the blue Tele
that he favored in later years, into a small
practice amp — worlds away from his
signature gear choices of a Les Paul and a
Marshall stack, yet the sound produced is
so unmistakably that of the Ziggy era, that
the oft-stated notion that a person’s sound
is all in their hands, seems to be proven
once and for all.
mixes, and I told him they sounded tepid — they
had no balls. He was a bit defensive, but a day
later he asked me if I’d go over to New York to
mix the album if he paid for an air ticket, so that
was how I ended up working on the production.
It was just a little studio in upstate New York.”
Elliott knew he had a great raw product that
just needed a few tweaks. “There were a couple
of spots that needed an extra guitar, so I used
Mick’s playing from another verse and copied
and pasted it in a few places to give some
things a little more weight. I tried to make the
drums sound bigger as well, and there was one
song, ‘Colour Me,’ where it had been recorded
without a vocal track. The drummer hadn’t put
any accents on key parts because he didn’t
know where they were going to be, so I ended
up sitting on a drum stool, with an imaginary kit
and some actual cymbals, just adding crashes
where they needed to go.”
David Bowie sang on a cover of Bob Dylan’s
“Like a Rolling Stone,” one of his most powerful
vocal performances. Elliott used Bob Rock’s
production of that track as a guideline for the
kind of power the rest of the record needed to
match. “Bob got a monster sound, and that was
the sort of thing Mick was always associated
with, when you think of his incredible playing.”
While going through the mixes, Elliott found
there was a Ronson vocal track for the song
that John Mellencamp sang, “Life’s a River.”
“When I heard Mick’s vocal, I knew it had to
go on the record. It was his best vocal on the
album. The thing was that we needed to have
Mellencamp on the record, to have his name on
the cover with all of the other guests, to help
boost its profile. In the end I decided to alter-
nate a Mick line with a Mellencamp line, which
was the best compromise.”
As strong as the album is, Elliott regrets that
the availability of several songs was withheld
until after the album was released. “What
really bummed me out was those tapes that
eventually got released on Just Like This. We
had those songs available to us, but we could
not get the guy who owned them to give us
permission to include them on the album. I
particularly wanted ‘Crazy Love’ and ‘I’d Give
Anything to See You.’ It would’ve made it a bet-
ter record, but the guy who owned them was
being awkward and wouldn’t let us use them.
He did eventually allow them to be released six
years later, when the impact and benefit was
lost. If we could have had those multitracks it
would have been fantastic. As always with post-
humous records, you’re scrambling around for
material, which was why we had to use the live
version of ‘Dudes’ from the [Freddie] Mercury
show. I still think it stands as a great tribute to
Mick’s work, though.”
Besides Heaven and Hull, anyone interested
in Ronson’s work should check out Only After
Dark: The Complete Mainman Recordings. For
the Ian Hunter era, the Ian Hunter album from
1975 would be the first port of call, followed by
YUI Orta from 1989, under the Hunter Ronson
Band banner. — Mark McStea
 PAGE

53
GW

THE

R I S I N G

S O N
BACK IN MARCH, EXTREME RELEASED A NEW SONG
AND MUSIC VIDEO CALLED “RISE” (COMPLETE
WITH A FREAKIN’ PHENOMENAL NUNO BETTENCOURT
GUITAR SOLO). THE GUITAR-PLAYING COMMUNITY
HASN’T QUITE BEEN THE SAME SINCE.
W O R D S B Y Richard Bienstock P H O T O S B Y Dustin Jack
 THE LAST TIME NUNO
Bettencourt appeared on the cover of
Guitar World was the December 1992 issue,
when this magazine declared the then-26-
year-old phenom the “new boss.” At the
time, Bettencourt had turned the six-string
universe on its ear with the excessively
funky and fiery guitar acrobatics he packed
into every groove (or, given the smash
acoustic hit “More Than Words,” almost
every groove) of Extreme’s smash sopho-
more album, Pornograffitti.
Here we are more than three
decades later, and while Bettencourt
has continued to push the creative
and technical limits of rock guitar —
on successive albums with Extreme;
in his own solo work and proj-
ects like Mourning Widows; with
superstar bands like Satellite Party;
alongside pop superstar Rihanna;
and with Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk
Wylde and Tosin Abasi on the Steve
Vai-led Generation Axe extrava-
ganza tours, for starters — he has, at
56 years old, quite possibly just set a
new bar.
In March, Extreme announced
their first album in nearly 15 years,
Six, and also released its first single,
COVER FEATURE

“Rise.” And while all the hallmarks

of what makes a great Extreme song
— high-energy, rock-solid riffs and
rhythms; sticky hooks and choruses;
a forceful and expressive Gary Che-
rone vocal — are present and intact, it
was Nuno’s guitar solo that stopped
fans, peers, industry pros and even
guitar legends in their tracks.
We can assume that anyone read-
ing this magazine has by now heard
it, and maybe even injured a finger
or two trying to play it. But if you
haven’t, rest assured it’s a thing of
wonder, infused with intensity and
emotion and capped with one of
the most mind-boggling fretboard-
spanning triplet passages in this or
any era (and, lucky for you, it’s tran-
scribed on page 86!). Guitar websites
ooh’d. Online commenters ahh’d.
Howard Stern namechecked him on
his SiriusXM show. Popular YouTu-
ber Rick Beato released a fawning
instructional video titled “The Nuno
Bettencourt Solo Everyone Is Talk-
ing About” that racked up more than
a million views in its first week. And
guitar icons from Steve Vai and Tom

54 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023


Morello to Brian May and Steve
Lukather reached out to Bettencourt
— and, as you can see elsewhere in
this issue, Guitar World — to express
their awe at and appreciation for
not just Nuno’s playing, but also the
fact that, through it, he managed to
jumpstart a conversation and excite-
ment about the guitar that, at least
in a mainstream context, seems to
have withered in the 21st century.
It’s an incredible response to a
mere 60 seconds of music. And per-
haps no one is more aware of that
than Bettencourt himself. “My head
is spinning,” he admits to Guitar
World. “I don’t take compliments
very well anyway, but when I see
all this stuff online, and then all of a
sudden your phone’s blowing up and
it’s different musicians and people
you haven’t seen or talked to in years
calling to tell you they heard this
thing and they can’t believe it… it’s
like, ‘What the fuck is happening?’ ”
What’s happening is that Bet-
tencourt has struck a nerve like few
guitarists of late. As for why? In his
humble estimation, Bettencourt
believes that people have connected
to not just the playing on “Rise,”
but also the passion that is evident
in the performance itself. “I think
it’s the physical aspect, the emo-
tional aspect of the thing,” he says.
“I know for a fact that I’d be getting
50 percent of the reaction, even less,
if the solo wasn’t connected to the
song or the video. For instance, on
Instagram there’s guys that I follow
that, every day, I’m like, ‘Are you
kidding me? I can’t play like that.’
These guys, it’s perfection. But
they’re doing it while sitting in a
chair at home. I think it’s something
different when you show how pas-
sionate you are about playing. And I
don’t just mean by jumping around
in a video — I mean by communicating the joy. It touches
a nerve differently. It inspires differently.”
One person who concurs with this line of reasoning
is Bettencourt’s Generation Axe compatriot, Steve Vai,
who, in a conversation with Guitar World, praised Nuno’s
playing in “Rise” as “right in your face — it jumps out at
you. You cannot escape every note. It’s palpable.”
But here’s the thing about Nuno — during a play-
through of the album, Vai quickly came to another
realization: “Rise” is only track number 1. “When I heard
the full record, I realized that solo wasn’t an isolated
incident,” Vai says. “There’s some real creative, death-
defying stuff happening throughout the whole thing.”
For sure, Six is chock-full of ripping, high-octane
riff-rock, from the chunky stomp of “#Rebel” to the
sleek-and-sexy, four-on-the-floor thump of “Banshee” to
the electro-funky grooves of “Thicker Than Blood.” (Suf-
fice it to say, all three tracks also feature head-spinning,
what-did-he-just-do-there? solos, in particular “Thicker
Than Blood,” which Bettencourt spikes with some seri-
ously slippery, whimsical phrases.)
But keep in mind, this is an Extreme album, so
straightforward hard rock constitutes only a portion of
the full picture. We also get acoustic-guitar-based, vocal-
harmony-laden tracks like the sun-kissed “Other Side of
the Rainbow” and the intricately fingerpicked “Hurri-
cane,” the faux-reggae “Beautiful Girls,” the cyber-metal
epic “X Out” and the anthemic, Queen-like closer “Here’s
to the Losers.” Throughout, Bettencourt lays down a
masterclass in melodic rock songwriting and advanced
guitar technique but never loses sight of a core musi-
cal tenant: “I always try to have my playing match the
gears of the song,” he says. “So ‘Rise’ is a fast, fun, crazy,
energizing thing, and I’m hoping that’s what the solo is.
But then in ‘Hurricane,’ for instance, I play one phrase at
the front of the solo, and then I don’t play anything for a
good three or four beats. That’s because for me, emotion-
ally, I couldn’t find anything to put there other than the
space. But I remember Freddie Mercury once saying,
‘The space is where things get said sometimes.’ So I just
thought, you have to have the balls to leave it alone.”
So if he were asked to name the thing he’s most proud
of when it comes to his guitar playing? “I would answer
that, no matter what, I play for the song,” Bettencourt
says. “That’s the most important thing, always. And you
should never be afraid to do that.”
Broadly speaking, what was your approach
on Six from a guitar perspective?
As I was doing the album I was re-inspired to kind of go
for blood again. I basically said, “I want to bring guitar
playing back.” But I didn’t mean it in an innovative,
I’m-gonna-change-the-game sort of way. I just wanted
to make it fun again — what’s fun for me. For instance,
when I was starting out, one thing we
Nuno all learned from Edward [Van Halen],
Bettencourt
photographed in and also guys like Jimmy Page, but
Los Angeles really, Edward did this a lot, was the
(with his
Washburn N4) concept of incorporating fills into your
in April rhythm playing. Whereas other people
were usually overdubbing things. I
[top] The
December 1992 thought that was so cool — it was like
issue of Guitar he was having fun with the rhythm
World
track, you know? That changed the
way I looked at my playing. So that
was one thing I wanted to do on this
record, because I don’t hear it as
much anymore. I thought, Wouldn’t
it be fun to just bring the joy that
Eddie brought into it, and the play-
fulness and sometimes the fucking
nastiness of it, where you’re just
letting go and throwing in a lick or a
dive bomb or whatever? I wanted to
tap into that in-the-moment excite-
ment.
Speaking of Eddie, people have
latched onto a statement you
made in the press release accom-
panying the release of “Rise,” in
which you said, “When Eddie Van
Halen passed, it really hit me. I’m
not going to be the one who will
take the throne, but I felt some
responsibility to keep guitar play-
ing alive.”
One thing I want to make clear is
that there was only one Edward and
there will only ever be one Edward.
I was in no way saying I think I
can take his place or anything like
that. I’ve always felt like I’m my
own player, albeit one that is clearly
influenced by Edward. But there is
no heir to the throne of Van Halen.
There just isn’t. He was in his own
lane. He was the innovator and he
changed so much.
Another thing that has been
getting a little misconstrued, and
I’d love to correct it, is this idea of,
“Nuno does an album to pay tribute
to Eddie...” This is not a tribute al-
bum, because that demeans me, and
also him, in a way. I didn’t play these
solos because Edward died. That
would be awful. In fact, he came by
when I was recording the album. It
was the day I was doing the “Rise”
solo, actually.
Eddie came by the studio?
Yeah. The album was done a little
while ago, in 2019, parts of 2020.
And so one day I was recording
at my house and Gary [Cherone]
calls up — he literally called my
phone three times — and he says,
“Come downstairs. You gotta come
downstairs.” And I’m like, “Stop
fucking bothering me! I’m recording
a solo and I’m in a zone!” Because
the thing with me is, I record all my
guitars at home, and I do it alone.
I don’t have an assistant, I don’t
have anybody cleaning my tracks, I
don’t have anybody in my room with
guitarworld.com 55
 me. The gear is in there and I sit by
myself. I like to get lost and blackout
and do whatever I’m doing. I don’t
want to be interrupted by anything.
But Gary’s like, “Come down here,
“IF THERE’S A TIP-
now.” I’m thinking, my god, what
is happening? Did somebody bash
OF-THE-HAT [TO
my car in? What’s going on? So I go EDDIE] MOMENT ON
T H E ALBUM,, IT’S
downstairs… and there’s Edward.
And he gives me the biggest hug.

WHEN THATT SOLO

And so we’re talking, whatever, and
he goes, “I hear the record’s good…”
I say, “Yeah, I’m actually recording
guitars right now.” And what I was C O MES IN WITH
recording was that “Rise” solo.
THE P H A S E 9 0 ”
Did he hear it?
He wanted to come up and listen.
But I was like, “No, no, no, come
back when it’s done.” Because I
didn’t want him to hear something
that was only half-finished. And I
regret it a little bit now, because he
passed away before he could come
back to hear the album.

It’d be an understatement to say

people have been talking about
that “Rise” solo. In particular the
insane runs in the second half.
The thing that’s funny is that I really
just did that on instinct. And you
know, I watched that Rick Beato
video where he breaks it down, and
when I saw him play that lick slowly
COVER FEATURE

I was really worried. Because it

sounded like nothing to me. I didn’t
even know, like, “Wow, there’s two
notes that repeat? How bullshit is
that?” [Laughs] Because when it’s
fast, I don’t hear those things. And
I’ve never played it slow once. I nev-
er broke it down. It’s just something
I latched onto when I was playing it.
I was following the structure of the
chords. I wasn’t going, you know,
“This is an A that hits the octave,” or
whatever. But when I watch some-
thing like that I’m like, “Oh no, it’s
theory!” [Laughs]

You’re just going for it.

Exactly. As you’re doing it you’re
being creative in the moment and
jamming with the section of music.
When I record, I do passes, and a lot
of people go, “Oh, it’s kind of worked
out.” It is and it isn’t, because I’m
doing everything instinctually. I
used to write more melodic stuff,
like the solo to “Rest in Peace” [from
1992’s III Sides to Every Story], in a
very Brian May sort of way. But over
the last 10 or 15 years, I’m like, “Fuck
that. I wanna really go on instinct Understandably, people tend to
and see what I would do if I didn’t “I didn’t play focus on your lead playing. But the
have anything worked out.” I’ll do these solos rhythm work on this album should
because Edward
a few passes, and then I listen back died,” Nuno says.
be addressed as well. There’s so
and I go, “That’s cool. And that’s “That would be much fire and attack, and also
cool.” And I might comp the solo, but awful. In fact, he dynamics and nuance in what
came by when
at least I know it was played live in I was recording you’re doing. To me, again, it’s an
the sense of, I was feeling what- the album. It approach that can be traced back
was the day
ever the band was giving me and I was doing
to Van Halen, where the riffs and
whatever I was doing. It’s way more the ‘Rise’ solo, rhythms feel so alive.
exciting for me that way. actually” You’re absolutely right — that’s

56 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023


Edward all day. When everybody
was talking about all the pizzazz
he had in his solos, my feeling was,
“Is anybody hearing what’s going
on in the other three minutes of the
song? There’s a whole meal happen-
ing here — the solo’s just dessert.”
That influenced the fuck out of me.
Because that’s where a lot of the
fun was. That’s where a lot of the
nuance and the creativity was. And
his tone and attack and phras-
ing, and the way he was adding
notes within a chord, it was an
art form in itself. Something
like “I’m the One” is a perfect
example. Like, what the fuck is
going on there? [Laughs] There’s
such a love for rhythm.
There’s also some great acous-
tic work on Six. In particular on
“Hurricane.” Who inspired you
in that realm?
On the electric side the big ones
for me have always been Brian
May, Jimmy Page, Edward and
maybe an Al Di Meola or a Neal
Schon. But would it be weird to
say I really have no guitar play-
ers that influenced me acousti-
cally? [Laughs] I guess what I’m
trying to say is that, to me, acous-
tic guitar was always something
that was in your living room.
You weren’t locked away in
your bedroom, woodshedding
your Travis picking technique.
Never. I never even picked up
an acoustic and said, “I’m gonna
learn that thing that Page did, or
that thing that [Paul] McCart-
ney did.” It was just something
you kind of figured out because
you were listening to songs and
different things. So if you go to
“Hurricane,” is it from playing
[the Beatles’] “Blackbird” as a kid
around the house? Maybe. But
who’s my big acoustic-guitar in-
fluence? No one’s ever asked me
that. I think you’re the first!
Let’s talk about your tone on
Six. It’s so full and present, with
tons of bite and definition. To
borrow a word from Steve Vai,
it’s “palpable.” What was your
setup in the studio?
For one thing, there was no
separate rhythm amp and solo
amp. It was all the same — my
Marshall DSL 100. And there’s
basically no EQ. The treble is on
one-and-a-half, the mids are on,
like, one-and-a-half or two, and
the bass is up to four. And then I
just turn it up. It sounds thumpy
to me that way, and it gives it
that punch. Like Steve said to
me, he goes, “You’re right in my
fucking face in the speaker!” And
then when I take a solo and go
into the higher stuff, it still sings.
Rihanna and her band —
including Nuno [far left] —
do their thing at this year’s
Super Bowl halftime show
EXTREME SPORTS
HOW A THREE-MONTH STINT
WITH RIHANNA TURNED INTO
14 YEARS, MULTIPLE TOURS
AND A SUPER BOWL
BY RICHARD BIENSTOCK
ROCK FANS WATCHING this year’s Super Bowl likely ex-
perienced a jolt of unexpected delight when they caught
a glimpse of one of their own — Nuno Bettencourt, ever-
present Washburn N4 in hand — performing alongside
Rihanna during her halftime-show extravaganza. But
while his screen time was exceedingly brief — “about
1.5 milliseconds,” he jokes — Bettencourt’s partnership
with the international pop superstar, as many now know,
stretches back more than a decade.
If some fans believe it to be a strange place for one
of hard rock’s most lauded six-string shredders to end
up, well, there’s precedent (Eddie Van Halen’s star
turn with Michael Jackson on “Beat It,” for one; Bet-
tencourt’s guest appearance on Janet Jackson’s radio
edit of “Black Cat,” for another). Even so, Bettencourt
understands the concerns. “A lot of people were prob-
ably thinking, ‘Why is Nuno doing a pop thing?’ ” he says.
“The truth is, and I’m not bragging here, I feel I was kind
of made for the gig.”
Indeed, as much as Bettencourt is known for his
amped-up and advanced rock chops, he is also recog-
nized as one of the genre’s most versatile, not to men-
tion funkiest, players. All of which no doubt contributed
C H R I S TO P H E R P O L K / VA R I E T Y V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S
to his being tapped for the Rihanna position in the first
place.
As he recounts, “I got the call from a great guitar
player in New York named Tony Bruno. He was MD-ing
[musical directing] for Rihanna, and they were looking
for a guitarist to do a run with her. He got in touch and
he goes, ‘Dude, I know you’re gonna say no because you
don’t do this stuff, but we need somebody. We’re on the
31st guy now, and this is getting tough.”
Bettencourt continues, “I remember thinking, ‘Why
is this so difficult?’ But when he sent me the tunes I
understood. Because it was like, I have to be able to play
reggae. There’s trap. There’s straight-up hip-hop with
808s. There’s pop. There’s club tracks. And playing in
that pocket, you know, everybody thinks it’s simple, but
guitarworld.com 57
 What do you like about the DSL?
I think you use an amp for wher-
ever you are in your guitar playing,
and the DSL has been my go-to for
probably the last 10 years because
it just seems to work for me. I had a
JCM[800] and a Laney on the first
album [1989’s Extreme]. Then I was
using the ADA stuff on Pornograf- “THERE IS NO
fitti. And I had a [Hughes &] Kettner HEIR TO THE
THRONE OF
at one point. But right now the DSL
seems to be the one. For me, an amp
is an extension that doesn’t get in
the way of what you do. Actually, it VA N H A L E N ”
elevates what you do, or at least in-
terprets what you do. And wherever
and whatever I’m playing, the DSL
allows me to say what I need to say
without getting in the way. So it’s the
amp of the moment.

How about effects?

It’s the same as it’s been for a long
time. I use the Boss GT-8 [guitar
effects processor], which has four
pedals, and that’s it. And the way
I have it set is, there’s nothing on
“One.” “Two” is a chorus, and it’s
their chorus that I love. “Three” is
the solo bank, and basically it brings
up the level and there’s a delay in it.
It’s not really heard, but you know
when it’s gone. And then “Four” is
the flanger that I use as a transitional
COVER FEATURE

kind of a thing, which is something I

took from Pat Travers.
And then, for the first time ever
in my life, and for obvious reasons,
I pulled out an MXR Phase 90 on
this album. I’ve never, ever recorded
with a Phase 90 in my entire life,
for the exact reason of, “All right,
dude, you’re influenced by Edward,
but you put that fucking thing on
there, it’s a wrap. It’s over!” [Laughs]
So I really avoided it. But after he
passed, I pulled one out and used it
on probably three or four solos on
the record.
Which ones in particular?
It’s definitely on “Rise.” Like I said, I
was cutting that one on the day that
Edward came over. But later on, I
extended the front of it. And with
that beginning part, where the band
stops and I do the fast picking up the
neck, I was like, “You know what?
Fuck it. This is as ‘Eruption’ as you
can get, I’m doing it.” So if there’s a
tip-of-the-hat moment on the album,
it’s when that solo comes in with the
Phase 90. It does almost nothing to
the notes, but you hear what it does to the pick. It just
adds this crazy attack. The rest of the solo is me just do-
ing me, but that beginning part, that’s me saying, “Thank
you. I hope you’re watching from up there and listening.”
Otherwise, I might have kicked on the Phase 90 for the
end of “#Rebel,” and it’s definitely on the solo in “Other
Side of the Rainbow.” It’s so heavy on there that a lot of
people have asked me, “Are you using a wah pedal?” And
I’m like, “No, it’s the Phase 90.”
And I assume the primary electric on the record
is your signature Washburn N4.
It’s the N4 that I’m playing now, which is the one known
as the 4N, because I flipped the name on the body. A
while back I retired my original N4 because it became
such a valuable guitar emotionally to me. And it was
almost stolen three times. So I was like, “Okay, I’m
walking around with this guitar, I’m
checking it on a plane… I’m putting it
out there.” I played it on every tour.
And it wasn’t the financial thing,
but I started seeing that it meant
something to other people because it
was number 0001. I started getting
offers on it from collectors for a lot
of money. So I said, “Let me put this
in a vault somewhere for now…” I
only wanted to do that if I could find
another one of the early ones built
around the same time, where I could
pick it up and close my eyes and go,
“Okay, that’s it.” And I did that.
How did you manage that?

58 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

While we were on tour and doing
meet-and-greets, kids would come
in with an N4 and they’d go, “Sign
my guitar.” And you could see it
was dusty, that they didn’t play it
anymore. So I’d be like, “What year
is this?” And some of ’em already had
my signature on it, and when I’d sign
a guitar I’d always put the year, so
it’d say, like, “Nuno ’91,” “Nuno ’92,”
“Nuno ’93,” whatever. So I’d go, “Hey,
would you be interested in swap-
ping a guitar with me?” Or I’d buy
it from them. And I wound up with
three that were super-close to the
original. I bought one in Scotland, I
bought one in China, and the one I’m
playing now is from the Netherlands.
I got it from a friend and it was like,
“Whoa.” It was just the closest thing.
So it’s been the workhorse for a good
many years now. I used it through
the whole album, except for one
song, “X Out,” where I played the
N7, the seven-string version, for the
first time in my life. I believe that
guitar is also on “Save Me,” which is
very Alice in Chains, by the way. And
then on one song, “Other Side of the
Rainbow,” I used my Nele, which is
the Tele version of the N4.
What were you using for the
acoustic tracks?
I got this great guitar from Wash-
burn, a WD10S, as a throw-around.
It’s one of their cheaper models,
probably $300, but it’s one of my
favorites. It plays like butter and it
sounds amazing. I wrote and record-
ed “Hurricane” on that. Then I have
a jumbo Washburn [WJ45SCE] that
I had fitted with True Temperament
frets, and that’s what I used on all
the other acoustic stuff. It sounds so
great. It used to drive me crazy how,
when you’re playing acoustic and
you play a D chord and then all these
different chords, the intonation
would be off. But I use the guitar on
“Small Town Beautiful” and “Here’s
to the Losers,” and you can hear just
how perfectly intonated it is.
Another guitar we have to talk
about is the one that made an ap-
pearance at Super Bowl LVII earlier
this year — the red N4 you played
onstage with Rihanna during the
halftime show.
That guitar was actually wrapped! It
was a brand-new N4 that Washburn
had sent me, and it was still in the
case. I was in Phoenix [for the Super
Bowl], and I was told, “You didn’t get
the email? All the instruments have
to be red.” So they had to have a cou-
rier Uber the guitar to a place that
wrapped all the instruments. And
the way they did it, it was so pristine.
They did that shit like they do on a
car. They even put the N4 on it in
black. It’s still in the Rihanna locker
somewhere. I gotta go get it.
So there’s probably not going
to be a red N4?
I don’t know, man. It was pretty
fucking cool. [Laughs] I’m trying to
decide whether or not to keep it as it
is. I mean, it’s the guitar used at the
Super Bowl!
So you’ve performed at the Super
Bowl, released a new Extreme
album, turned the guitar universe
upside down… not a bad 2023 so
far. What’s next?
I would love to not wait so long to
do another Extreme album. Because
I knew this album specifically was
going to maybe excite fans and
guitarists with what it is, but I also
thought, “Wow, I didn’t do any funk
on this album…”
“Thicker Than Blood” has maybe
a little bit of that vibe.
Exactly. That’s maybe the closest to
an older one of our songs. But it’s
still more electronic and more like
Nine Inch Nails than like classic
Extreme. But I have this crazy idea,
and I told Gary, I said, “Man, the
next album, I want it to be funky.
Like, so funky. Every song has to be
funky.” I’m talking horns, and not
like Pornograffitti, where we did
two or three songs with horns. Just
full-blown, if-Lenny-Kravitz-was-
gonna-do-an Extreme-album type of
thing. And it wasn’t on purpose that
we didn’t go there this time. It was
just that, for whatever reason, the
things that we’re digging right now
weren’t that.
Well, you have a studio at home.
What are you waiting for?
[takes out phone and begins scrolling
through voice memos] Oh, the ideas
are there…
Point taken. So it won’t be another
15 years before we hear from Ex-
treme again, is what you’re saying.
No. Definitely not. Hopefully it’ll be
more like 15 months!
it’s not. It’s a feel thing, and it’s not easy.”
Despite the various styles on tap, the good news was
that Bettencourt was also told, “ ‘You can be you and
you can do you,’ ” he says. “Which was a nice thing to
hear. Because I was like, ‘Why do you need me? There’s
no guitar.’ And Tony goes, ‘Exactly. She wants to rock
out the show.’ ”
And rock out Bettencourt did, serving as guitarist and
at times band leader for Rihanna on multiple outings,
including 2010’s Last Girl on Earth tour, 2011’s Loud tour
and 2013’s Diamonds tour. “All the funk shit and every-
thing we were doing, it was crazy,” Bettencourt says.
“And then I’m playing with some of the greatest musi-
cians I’ve ever played with. These were player’s players
— our drummer did a Stevie Wonder tour, for fuck’s
sake. It was like having the R&B version of Neil Peart
next to me. The fusion and the jazz and all the jams that
were going on, it was beyond belief.”
“I WAS LIKE, ‘I GOTTA
GET BACK TO MY ROCK,’
YOU KNOW?
Bettencourt points to one Rihanna song, “Where
Have You Been,” as a standout. “That’s a synth riff on the
album version,” he says. “But onstage we were replacing
it with a live band and crazy playing. It was all fast funk,
really clean. You had to wear five hats to be able to
do that. So it felt like I had been training my whole life
for that gig — growing up with the Beatles, then Al Di
Meola, then loving Bob Marley, then digging Parliament,
then doing all the funk stuff in Extreme, it was insane. It
kept me busy for sure.”
And while it’s clear that Nuno has a true appreciation
for Rihanna’s music, the question remains: Is Rihanna an
Extreme fan?
“You know,” Bettencourt says, “I think she was blown
away by stuff like ‘Get the Funk Out,’ just because of the
funk element and the horns and all that. That might’ve
been one of the songs that got her to go, ‘Okay, let’s
hit the dude up.’ And she obviously knew ‘More Than
Words.’ ”
In fact, Bettencourt continues about the hit acoustic
ballad, “There was one point where we were almost
doing it live. Because we did ‘Redemption Song’ by Bob
Marley, and I would sit onstage with her and play it on
acoustic. And she would threaten, ‘Come on, let’s kick
into that!’ It would’ve been amazing to do ‘More Than
Words’ with her, sitting side by side. But it never hap-
pened.”
If that duet were to come about, it likely wouldn’t be
any time soon. What Bettencourt initially thought would
be a three-month stint with Rihanna wound up being
three tours over the course of several years. But as
much as he loved playing with the pop singer, he eventu-
ally had to bow out. “It was fun and I learned a lot,” he
says. “Then they had the Anti tour coming up [in 2016]
and they asked me to do it, but I felt it was time to go.”
Bettencourt laughs. “I was like, ‘I gotta get back to my
rock,’ you know? ‘I gotta rock!’ ”
guitarworld.com 59
 PAGE
61 GW
BETTENCOURT
OF
PU B L I C
O PINIO N
B R I A N M A Y, Z A K K W Y L D E , S T E V E V A I , T O M M O R E L L O A N D
MORE EXPLAIN WHY NUNO AIN’T YOUR TYPICAL GUITAR HERO
I N T E R V I E W S B Y Richard Bienstock
BRIAN MAY
“When it comes to Nuno’s playing, we have to
start with the new single, ‘Rise.’ Nuno sent it to
me a few months before it was released and, Je-
sus, I was stunned. I clicked the button as I was
doing other stuff, as you do, and I sort of had it
in the background and I just stopped dead when
he got to the solo. I thought, What the hell is he
doing? I had to go back and listen to it about 10
times. It’s awesome. It’s incredible. After all this
time, he still comes up with stuff that you would
never dream of.
“As for other songs, obviously ‘Get the Funk
Out’ is a classic song of all time. That’s an abso-
lute tour de force. There isn’t anything that isn’t
in that solo, really. It’s insane.
P H O T O B Y Brian Malloy
“In general, I think Nuno’s just a glorious
player. He’s so colorful, and obviously his dex-
terity is extraordinary. There’s plenty of fast, ac-
curate guitarists, but what he brings to it is this
amazing spirit. It’s energetic and it’s lyrical, and
he doesn’t lose sight of the fact that there are
tunes. I don’t know where that stuff comes from.
It makes my jaw drop, in a very good way.
“He’s also a great friend and the sweetest guy,
and he’s always very complimentary. He says, ‘I
think of you every time I do one of those things,
because it has to speak, it has to be a tune that
people have in their heads and it has to be rel-
evant to the song.’ But, you know, his technique
is so way above what I could imagine myself
ever doing. But he’s always been very beautiful
toward us, which means a lot to me.”
 STEVE VAI
“I have a little bit of a different per-
spective into Nuno and his playing
because we’ve lived together on tour
for quite some time with Generation
Axe. You really don’t get to know
somebody until you’re out at sea
with them. And one of the things I
discovered about Nuno is how cre-
ative he is, and how passionate he is.
He’s a live wire. You can see why he
plays the way he can play. There’s
COVER FEATURE
together his favorite pieces of solos
from Nuno’s catalog with Extreme.
Nuno was so impressed by it that he
performed it as one of his pieces. It
was like a best-of of his guitar-cen-
tric contributions. That would be my
pick as my favorite, really.”
STEVE LUKATHER
“The new record’s lead single may

be Nuno’s best recorded solo, really

a visceral approach that’s just very
one of the best I have ever heard.
different from guys that are sitting
But all the solos on the new album
in their rooms gathering tremen-
have raised the bar in rock guitar —
dous amounts of chops. Nuno’s a
and I love that it is Nuno that has
rockstar.
done that. He has always done great
“As far as songs, I’ve always loved
work. Years ago, I saw a video of his
‘Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee,’
‘Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee’
which is a really nice display of
live that was really amazing and
“IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE
the use of clean picking and digital
unique and flawless. 
delay. And when we were doing
“Nuno always plays at the high-
Generation Axe, there was a solo he
would do, I think it was in [the Ed-
est level. His articulation, time and
note choices are amongst the best
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING
gar Winter Group’s] ‘Frankenstein,’
where it was a little different every
I have ever heard on everything he ABOUT A GUITAR SOLO, FRANKLY.
AND THIS PARTICULAR SOLO IS
plays on. The two of us did a bit of
night, but every time he did it, I’d
an ‘under the radar’ Japanese tour
wait and I’d watch and he would just
deliver it. The groove we set up for
in the early 2000s — we played two
sets together every night for two ABSOLUTELY MIND-BLOWING”
—TOM MORELLO
him was perfectly suited, I felt, for
weeks. That was a lot of fun and he
his way of playing on this expansion.
was amazing every night. I’ve always
He would start very minimal, and
loved his playing and I love Extreme
then slowly, he’d go into one of his
as a band. He has always been a
‘finger rumbles’ [Laughs] with the
great friend to me as well.” 
picking. And then it would just grow band in Boston when I was attending Harvard, and I
into this beautiful thing.
“There’s also another piece he did TOM MORELLO would go see them religiously and was blown away by
this 16-, 17-year-old guitar phenomenon who I would
in his Generation Axe set, I think “I don’t know if people know this, stand in front of with my jaw, like, on the floor. The first
it was called ‘Mashup,’ [the actual but I was a fan of Nuno Betten- song of his that I would say I love is one that probably
title is ‘A Side of Mash’] and it was court years before Extreme signed no one reading this has heard, which was the Nuno
originated by a fan that had edited a record deal. They were a club Bettencourt a cappella guitar solo that he would play

62 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023


as a teenager, sort of his version of
‘Eruption.’ Which was basically all
of the kind of pyrotechnics that he
still has today, but woven through
a series of, like, cartoon themes
and game-show themes and sort of
clever, playful melodies, intermixed
with his overwhelming technique.
“Then I would also point to
‘Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee,’
of course, which is on my ‘Guitars
Rule the World’ playlist. That is a
standalone sort of exercise in awe-
someness that really sets him head
and shoulders above the pack. Then
let’s cut to the present with ‘Rise,’
and the guitar solo that everyone’s
talking about. It’s been a long time
since people have been talking about
a guitar solo, frankly. And this par-
ticular guitar solo is just absolutely
mind-blowing. The back half of that
thing? That’s new, you know what
I mean? I had the good fortune to have him play me the
record a few months ago, and I made him stop after the
first song. It was like, ‘So I guess you still have it then!’
“The thing about Nuno is that, from day one, he had
the chops of all those folks in the upper echelon of that
gunslinging era. But there’s also a playfulness. There’s
an emotional content. There’s his gorgeous acoustic
work. There’s his ability to understand the genius of the
band Queen and tastefully incorporate those influences.
There’s the fact that he can sing his ass off. And on top
of that, he’s the funkiest dude in the shredder family
tree. So he’s not just tethered to his
outstanding technique, and not just
solely reliant on his ability to move
[left] (from left) Paul
Jackson Jr., Nuno, his fingers fast to create historic
Steve Lukather and guitar moments. He is truly a singu-
Randy Jackson jam
in L.A. in late 2004 lar talent.”
[right] Nuno
with Brian May
in Las Vegas,
MATEUS ASATO
September 2004. “I can’t even imagine how it was
“In general, I think
Nuno’s just a glorious being a rock guitar player in the
player,” May says Eighties, hearing tons and tons of
riffs at every single corner and then
coming back home thinking, ‘All
right, how can I still make it sound
authentic?’ Somehow Nuno was one
of the few who were able to find the
missing piece of that puzzle.
“Forty years later, the rise of
the phoenix comes up with finesse
— and better than ever. Besides
‘Rise,’ which I’m sure everybody
has already talked about, two other
songs from Extreme’s new album
grabbed my attention: ‘Banshee’
and ‘Save Me.’ There are strong
riffs, catchy melodies and flawless
solos in both songs. And hearing
Nuno messing around with lower
tunings and seven-string guitars in
‘Save Me’ made me smile. Besides all
that, I have to mention his impec-
cable guitar tone. A perfect match
to highlight his performance at its
best. Nuno is one of a kind. What a
special player. Nobody can replicate
that right-hand mojo!”
ZAKK WYLDE
“I always joke that Nuno, he’s per-
fect marriage material. Because he
does it all. He writes. He produces.
He rips on the guitar. He sings. He
plays piano… You know, he’ll do
your taxes! He’ll walk your dog!
There’s nothing he can’t do. He’s an
unstoppable machine. And he’s the
sweetest guy on the planet.
“Being on Generation Axe and
seeing him shred every night, I think
M . C A U L F I E L D/ W I R E I M A G E I M A G E S ( J A M )
what separates him is, obviously
there’s his love for King Edward and
all that stuff, but he’s just got the
perfect blend of technique and feel.
And he’s got balls in his playing. And
muscle. And then he can do the me-
lodic thing. He can do the acoustic
thing. My favorite was to watch him
play ‘Midnight Express’ [from 1995’s
Waiting for the Punchline]. It’s a
solo acoustic piece and it’s phenom-
enal. And then he had his medley
[“A Side of Mash”], which was like
D E N I S E T R U S C E L LO/ W I R E I M A G E ( N U N O/ M AY )
‘Nuno’s Greatest Hits of Shred-oci-
ty.’ You couldn’t help but be inspired.
“Nuno sent me the new stuff a
little while back while I was on tour
with Pantera, and as soon as I heard
the single, I was like, ‘Wow, you’ve
gotta be on Mel Bay Volume 3 by
now!’ [Laughs] ‘Obviously, you’ve
been putting in the time!’ And then
it’s a great song, too. It’s just insane.
If Nuno was a wrestler, he’d be Lex
Luger — he’s the total package!
guitarworld.com 63
 “IF EDWARD WAS
HERE, WOULD I
HAVE THE BALLS
TO PLAY THIS FOR
HIM? WHEN I FEEL
LIKE THAT, I KNOW
I’M READY
TO RELEASE
SOMETHING”
 PAGE
65
A N D
NUNO BETTENCOURT ON THE FINER POINTS
OF HIS “RISE” GUITAR SOLO — AND THE FIRESTORM
IT HAS SPARKED IN GUITAR LAND
W O R D S B Y Andy Aledort
Let’s hop right in! “Rise” begins with a very heavy, ag-
gressive riff played in a drop-D tuning. What was the
genesis of the song, and how did it come together?
I always go into recording a new album with the mindset
that I’ll never release anything that doesn’t mean something
to me. Much to the band’s financial detriment, we probably
have four albums’ worth of material from over the last 10
years that we’ve never released. When it gets to that point
where you really want to share a track with someone special
— you call your brother or your buddy and you say, “Can
I show you something?” because you’re giddy and proud
about it — that’s when you’re ready to show everybody.
That’s what happened with this.
What is it about “Rise” that made you feel like
it was hitting the mark?
When I think of my biggest heroes, like Edward [Van Halen],
Brian May, Jimmy Page and Randy Rhoads, I always had a
punky attitude of, “Imagine what it would be like, one day,
being like them,” but it was worse than that! My feeling was,
“I want to take them down!” Nothing would be better than
for them to hear “Rise” and say, “Oh shit, listen to this!” So
the barometer for me has always been, if Edward was here,
GW
For video of this
complete interview
(which includes plenty
of bonus content), visit
guitarworld.com/august2023
For our transcription
of “Rise,” turn to page 86
P H O T O B Y Jaime Ballesteros
would I have the balls to play this for him? When I feel like
that, I know I’m ready to release something.
When the song kicks off with that initial riff, the
dryness of the sound is in your face and hits you
really hard.
When I played this for Steve Vai in his studio, he looked at
the speakers and said, “How did you get it to sound ‘right
there?’ It’s like it’s not even in the speaker — it’s in my lap!”
My whole life, I’ve never added anything to the rhythm
sound. Not a chorus, not a thing. It’s my fingers and my
guitar, and that’s the only thing I want to hear. [Aerosmith’s]
Brad Whitford said to me a long time ago, “When I listen to
the records, I feel like I’m sitting right in front of your cabs.”
That’s what I want — there’s no voodoo: I want everyone to
feel like, “Nuno is right there.”
Which of your heroes have reached out to you
about the solo?
Lukather hit me up and said, “Man, there are a lot of great
players out there, but I haven’t been blown off my chair like
this in a while!” Hearing from a hero like Luke is so mean-
ingful to me. I’ve gotten a lot of “thank-yous” from people,
 “BRIAN MAY AND
and I’d say, “What do you mean,
EDWARD ARE MY TOP
TWO MAIN GUYS”
thank you?” Their response is,
“Thank you for bringing back rock
’n’ roll in this way, on this platform,
from that era.” It made me realize
people are starved for this kind of
music: not just the guitar playing,
but with the angst and intensity
someone like Edward played with. I
told the band, “I want to make a rock
album and bring guitar into it in a
joyful, fiery, passionate and emo-
tional way.”

Can you give me an example

of the type of playing from Eddie
that you’re referring to?
Listening to the intro of [Van Ha-
len’s] “I’m the One,” you’re thinking,
“What is going on here?!” in terms
of how he’s playing the lick. But he’s
playing for the song: it’s fun, it’s fiery
and it’s a party. Doing something like
that has been the greatest goal in my
life, and that’s the case with “Rise.”
I had a listening party with Steve
Vai and Tom Morello. I said, “Hey,
can I show you guys something
before it comes out, and let me
know what you think, if it sucks, or
whatever?” The biggest compliment,
other than pointing to the solo, was,
“Man, no matter what the song is,
the guitar stays in the culture and
stays in the wheelhouse of what the by what he does on the main verse riff, because it sounds Edward, but I never got the chance.
COVER FEATURE

melody and the lyrics are feeding
you. Whatever the song needed, the
guitar was there for it.”
Stylistically, you’re connected to
Eddie Van Halen perhaps more
than you are any other player. Are
there techniques and licks you
picked up from him that you hear
in your playing?
Absolutely, though I would say
Edward has influenced every guitar
player since we all heard “Eruption”
for the first time. It’s really a “before
Edward” and “after Edward” thing,
because that’s how much he shook
everything up once he’d arrived on
the scene. His right-hand approach,
whether he’s playing rhythm or solo-
ing, is so expressive; he can change
the sound completely within one riff
by the way he hits the strings with
his right hand. He never “strums”
chords; there are so many nuances
to the pick attack and the array of
sounds and emotions that come out.
“Mean Street” is a perfect ex-
ample: while everyone was learning
that crazy intro, I was blown away
incredible. That opened a whole new door to guitar play-
ing for me. It was a game-changer. I’ve been chasing that
shit forever. Did I want to learn how to do fretboard tap-
ping and try to play his solos? Of course. But his pocket,
his feel, his swing… nobody has ever swung as hard as a
rhythm player as Edward.
There are things in the “Rise” solo that I feel are nods
to the influence he’s had on me. People that have posted
online or said to me, “Hey bro, you’ve taken that ‘Edward’
throne.” My response is, “Go fuck yourself. That’s impos-
sible — nobody is taking that throne.” I play the way I do
because of Edward and Brian May and Jimmy Page and
all of my biggest heroes. But maybe Edward is up there,
looking down and saying, “You done good, kid — I’m
digging it.”
My point is, of course it’s a tribute to Eddie, of course
he’s in there. I didn’t record it for him, but there is one
thing in “Rise” that’s a specific nod to him: One thing we
all knew after 1978 and Van Halen come
out, aside from Edward being dropped
“Maybe Edward
is up there,
from some spaceship and we didn’t
looking down know what the fuck was happening,
and saying, ‘You was that none of us could ever use an
done good, kid
— I’m digging MXR Phase 90 again! You could use it if
it,’” Nuno says. you wanted to, but you knew everyone
“My point is,
of course it’s a
would point at you and say, “Ah, you’re
tribute to Eddie, trying to do what Edward did!” He made
of course he’s it his! That’s why I’ve never used one.
in there”
I so wanted to play the solo for
After he passed, I thought, I don’t
want to re-record it, because there
are some spur-of-the-moment things
in there I couldn’t recreate if I tried.
For example, at the beginning of the
solo, one of the first notes I went to
bend, physically it did not happen in
my 56-year-old hands. I missed the
string and instead hit three strings
at the same time. I left it in there be-
cause it’s this really weird sound. I’ll
give anybody a million dollars if they
can decipher what note that is, be-
cause there is no note! It sounds like
a car accident with a kick drum in
there! I couldn’t replay it if I wanted
to. When I heard it back, I thought,
“What the fuck was that?”
I did want to pay tribute to Ed-
ward in some way, so I went online
and found a good Phase 90 plug-in
and I put it on the solo. That’s my
quiet nod and “thank you” to Ed-
ward. I’ve got the tremolo picking in
there like “Eruption,” so I thought,
why not throw the Phase 90 on there
also?
Are there any effects in your signal

66 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023


chain that you consider essential?
Yes, because in the studio, normally
the only thing between my guitar
and my amp is my [Pro Co] Rat
pedal. The distortion is set almost
all the way off, at about 8 o’clock, the
volume is the opposite, at about 1
o’clock, and the filter setting is in the
middle. When I did the Generation
Axe tour with Stevie Vai, Yngwie
Malmsteen and Zakk Wylde, they’d
say, “What’s with your Rat pedal?
It’s just sitting on top of your amp
and you never touch it, and it’s been
there since you were 12!”
I’d hand them my guitar and
say, “Play!,” and then I’d turn the
Rat pedal on and they’d say, “I hear
nothing!” And I’d say, “Precisely!”
It’s not a “hearing” thing; it’s a “feel”
thing. I’d then tell them to play a
passage on the low strings with mut-
ing, and say, “Now listen to it,” and
they’d say, “Oh shit!” All it does for
me is tighten up the low end when
I play those muted passages on the
B R I A N M A L LOY
low strings; it gives me the kind of
response I need.
On this album, I just used the
guitar into the Rat into a Marshall
DSL 2000, with the treble on 1 1/2-2,
the presence on 1 1/2-2, the mids on
the same thing, and the bass on 4-5.
Those settings allow me to turn the
amp up quite a bit without it hurt-
ing my ears. It gives me the perfect
amount of warmth and allows me
to hit it hard and express myself the
way I want to.
Your playing has a flying-by-the-
seat-of-your-pants style, yet there
are always melodic hooks, much
like Brian May or EVH. Do you
approach soloing with a sense of
balance, like a call-and-response
kind of thing?
Brian and Edward are my top two
main guys. I don’t play a lot of short
solos, so when I do have to play a
shorter one, I see the solo as another
“song” within the song. The “Rise”
solo is a perfect example of that.
Instead of just ripping for the solo,
I’m thinking about, “How do I tell
another version of this story, and
how do I switch the song to another
gear?”
A solo can either help or hurt a
song, so I always try to use the solo
to elevate the song to another level
before we come back down into that
last hook. After the verses, pre-
chorus, chorus and bridge, the solo’d
better take you to a third or even a
fourth gear before we cruise back
down for the outro.
As a soloist, you have to ac-
knowledge that the song is your
best friend. It’s telling you the story,
lyrically and tonally, and the rhythm
section is giving you something so
you can float above it. I take all of
those things as gifts. It’s like being
in a car: you’ve got to get in the car,
and the vibe is, “Are you ready? This
is fucking dangerous so let’s go for
a ride!”
You combine super-precise alter-
nate picking with legato runs and,
even though most of what you play
might be based on minor pentaton-
ic, you’ll mix in harmonic minor and
other scales. Is this an approach
that just happens naturally?
Yes, very much so. I’m not aware of
any of those things while I’m play-
ing. I wish I were smart enough to
know where I’m going. I’ve never
studied alternate picking, or legato
phrasing, or grabbing the bar and
dive-bombing. I learned it from
watching and listening to my heroes
and my peers. To me, I’ll hear one of my bends and
think, “That’s a Brian bend,” or “That’s an Eddie bend.”
And when I’m alternate picking with muting, I’m think-
ing, “Holy fuck, I’ve gone ‘Al Di Meola’ on this shit!”
That’s my toolbox.
The really fast lick that comes at the end of the
“Rise” solo is reminiscent of a section in the “Peace-
maker Die” solo from III Sides to Every Story, as well
as the solos in “Midnight Express” and “Little Jack
Horny.” It’s become a signature part of your playing.
A guy posted online that there are two things I do that
no one else does. I saw that and thought, “Well, tell me
more!” As an example, he said, “If Eddie’s signature is
fretboard tapping, Nuno’s signature is the fast, percus-
sive muted picking thing that you hear on the ‘Peace-
maker Die’ solo.” That’s why it’s funny to me if anyone
says I’ve raised the bar with the “Rise” solo, because I’m
thinking, “I did this in 1992!”
Another technique is one I use on the “Get the
Funk Out” solo, which Edward brought up to me. He
said, “You are string-skipping when you tap, instead of
staying on one string.” I’ve always loved that exercise,
with the thought, why do I have to go in order and play
something like a scale? Why can’t I flip things around?
So I started to implement that into my playing.
Have you had the situation arise where you’re getting
ready to tour and realize, “Oh no, I have to learn what
I played”?
I’m going through that right now — and I’m dreading
it! I have to go do shows in about 10 days and I have to
be able to play the first three singles from the record. I
need to join an Extreme tribute band so I can figure out
what the hell I played! I have no idea! Even when we
did the “Rise” video, I called it “miming my own busi-
ness” because I didn’t really know where all the licks
were. I have to learn it and I’m fucking scared! People
know it now so I have to nail it.
Do you ever watch guitarists play your solos on You-
Tube and think, “That person got it right” or “That
person got it wrong” or “I never would’ve done it that
way, but that’s cool”? In fact, you did a “Play with
Me” challenge, where you watched videos of people
playing the solo from that song and picked a winner.
At the end of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the guitar
solo from “Play with Me” is playing in the soundtrack.
That solo was also included at the very end of Guitar
Hero; you had to be able to play that solo with the five
colored buttons. It’s definitely a challenging solo.
It’s hard for me to believe there are people trying
to play my solos in the same way I tried to play other
people’s solos when I was first learning. It’s a huge
honor, and it’s never mattered to me whether they’re
playing it right or wrong. There have been times where
I’ve said, “Wow, that guy nailed it!” or “What the fuck —
he played that lick down there? I should’ve done that!”
If I could have, I would have said, “You all win!” just
for entering the challenge. There was a kid that added a
bit of his own fire to it, and I liked the emotional side of
it so I chose him as the winner. It may have only been 80
percent “accurate” in terms of replicating what I played,
but he made it his own, and that’s what it’s all about.
guitarworld.com 67
NUNO’S TWO-HANDED
ARPEGGIO TAPPING
IN “GET THE FUNK
OUT” AND “HE-MAN
WOMAN HATER” ARE
A THING OF LEGEND
 PAGE
69
LEA RN F I V E WAYS TO SHR ED (A ND GET THE F UNK O UT! )
LI K E N U NO B ETTENC OUR T
W O R D S B Y Charlie Griffiths
IN THIS LESSON , we’ll explore several of the
signature techniques that
characterize Extreme axman Nuno Bettencourt’s unique,
fiery style, with five examples that embody key elements
of the guitarist’s approach to playing rhythm and lead.
GET THE TONE
Nuno is primarily a humbucking pickup fan and is well-
known for using the Washburn N series guitars, which
he helped to design. Although finding himself within the
shred genre, Nuno’s lead tone is usually cleaner than you
might expect, his funky approach requiring the fundamen-
tals of the note to ring through clearly. Try the following
amp settings, as starting points, then tweak to taste:
Gain 7, Bass 6, Middle 7, Treble 7, Reverb 3.
FIG. 1 Inspired by such songs as “Kid Ego,” “He-Man
Woman Hater” and “Midnight Express,” our first example
is a Nuno-style groove riff that’s played around an open A5
power chord shape and entails the use of 16th-note, palm-
muted hammer-ons. The percussive effect and intended
punchy touch is challenging to mimic, as the specific
placement of your pick-hand palm on the strings and the
degree of pressure applied to them will have a big impact
on the sound. Strive to get all the notes sounding as even in
volume as possible, with plenty of low-end chunk coming
through. Play the A5 power chord with your 1st finger at
the 2nd fret and keep it planted there throughout, while
GW
P H O T O B Y Dustin Jack
using your 2nd and 3rd fingers to play the riff. Try to keep
your pick hand loose, and for the final two beats, palm
mute the strings while hammering on.
FIG. 2 Nuno’s two-handed arpeggio tapping in “Get the
Funk Out” and “He-Man Woman Hater” are a thing of
legend, and this example is based on the major-add9 shape
the guitarist employs to get the elegantly stunning string-
skipping sounds in these songs and others. Use your pick
hand’s middle finger to tap at the 17th fret, then your fret
hand’s 2nd and 4th fingers to hammer-on from the 10th
fret to the 12th.
Next move up to the 3rd string and use your 1st and 4th
fingers to hammer-on, followed by the same fingerings on
the 1st string. When descending, use your fret hand’s 2nd
finger to tap — or “hammer-on from nowhere” — at the
10th fret (indicated by an “H”), followed by a pick-hand tap
at the 17th fret. Once you have these movements down, you
can apply the same pattern to the subsequent arpeggios.
FIG. 3 This Nuno-style example is based on the Rimsky
Korsikov-inspired “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee,”
for which the guitarist employs digital delay to produce a
mind-blowing, seamlessly cascading stream of picked and
echoed notes. The delay timing in our example is set to 321
milliseconds, with a single repeat, so that each picked note
repeats, or echoes, in the rhythm of a dotted-eighth note
(or three 16th notes) later, relative to the tempo. And so so
 For audio of this lesson, head to guitarworld.com/august2023
the initial 7th-fret note repeats after FIG. 1
the following 10th-fret note, and so
on, in a sort of overlapping, leap-
frogging pattern that sounds amaz-
ingly intricate, as the echoed notes
fill in the gaps between the picked
eighth notes to produce a steady
stream of 16th notes. The effect only
works if you’re playing evenly, so be
FIG. 2
sure to stay in time with the beat!

FIG. 4 Nuno’s penchant for using un-

usual note groupings in his rhythmic
phrasing is evident in his solo in “Hip
Today” and the “Cupid’s Dead” riff
fest section. This compositional ele-
ment seemed to become more promi-
nent when drummer extraordinaire
Mike Mangini joined the band. The
riff presented here will allow you
to practice splitting up the typically
4
even sounding 16th notes in 4 meter
into something less obvious, creating
the illusion that you’re playing in
some odd time signature.
The lick is built around a seven-
note phrase, which displaces itself
4 FIG. 3
against the 4 backbeat. Mathemati-
cally, we have a total of 32 notes
across the two bars, so we can fit four
groups of seven 16th notes (28 in
total), followed by an extra four notes
at the end.
The cool thing about this is that
the lick sounds more rhythmically
interesting and syncopated against FIG. 4
4
COVER FEATURE

the 4 context of the song. For this

A7-based lick, keep your 1st finger
loosely barred across the 5th fret,
without pressing down fully, and roll
the finger across the strings to allow
the notes to sound when you need
them to. There are two main seven-
note groups here, so count through
these then the next seven to see FIG. 5
where the repeats happen.

FIG. 5 Our final example offers some

keen insight into Nuno’s picking
style and technique when playing
fast lead runs. His deft use of palm
muting and general control over his
touch enables him to play lines that
often sound like every note is picked,
whereas, in reality, he’s cleverly and
imperceptibly incorporating legato
articulations into his two-hand note
attack.
Played entirely on the G and high
E strings and with a combination of
alternate picking, double hammer-
ons and a couple of pull-offs, this
string-skipping lick is inspired
by a signature Nuno-style rolling phrase while working his way down the and strive to maintain and clearly convey
sequence and demonstrates how the fretboard. Pay close attention to the pre- the 16th-note triplet rhythm throughout
guitarist will perform this kind of scribed picking and legato indications as you vary the articulations.

70 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

 Nuno
Bettencourt
whips out his
acoustic during
a Generation
Axe stop
in Royal Oak,
Michigan,
May 2, 2016

FURNISHED SOLOS FOR RENT

TEN OF NUNO BETTENCOURT’S MOST OVERLOOKED GUITAR SOLOS

A
LTHOUGH YOU’D
phonic is that Bettencourt solo, he was in his prime, “Last Hour” takes the ertheless, this solo is fun
THINK that, by now, and man, does it show.
spends the entirety of its cake. Why? The guitar and groovy and a shining
all of Nuno’s guitar During the last leg of the
15 tracks exploring new solo, of course. It’s a example of how to taste-
solos would be required cut, Bettencourt sets his
sonic ground. As for the slower-paced one, but fully use a wah pedal.
listening in primary Washburn’s fretboard on
solo, it’s full of the raw Bettencourt makes quite
schools across the land, fire, delivering the kind
fury he’s known for, but the statement by using
there are still a few
dusty gems that are just
it’s also punky, funky and of heroics that made him hyper-deliberate notes. PEACEMAKER DIE
ballsy. famous in the first place.
waiting to be discovered Extreme (III Sides
by the masses. Such as… SPACEMAN to Every Story)
SPACE FURNISHED Population 1 (Popula-
Bettencourt has classified
PAINT THE Mourning Widows
SOULS FOR RENT tion 1, 2002)
this solo as one of his

TOWN RED (Furnished Souls Mourning Widows Another example of Bet-

more “underrated.” Art-
ist’s opinion aside, there’s
Mourning Widows for Rent, 2000) (Furnished Souls tencourt’s post-Extreme no denying that this short
(Mourning Widows, For those who’ve gotten for Rent) experimentation, “Space- burst is one to remember.
1998) used to Bettencourt If you’re looking for some- man” finds the normally
During one of Mourning kicking them in the teeth thing to increase your metal-leaning shredder in
Widows’ most aggressive with his solos, “Space” heart rate or maybe even full-blown blues mode. It’s LOCK DOWN
tracks, Bettencourt turns provides a change of knock you on your ass, refreshing, inspiring and, DramaGods (Love,
up the heat with a chug- pace. He shows immense look no further than the yeah… maybe a bit weird, 2005)
ging, yet frenetic burst restraint about midway flesh-tearing solo Betten- too. There’s an argument to be
of molten lava, leaving through, delivering a soar- court delivers during the
S C OT T L E G ATO/ G E T T Y I M A G E S

made that Bettencourt’s

listeners quivering in his ing yet still virtuoso-level closing track to Mourning
wake. performance. Widows’ final album. 667 DramaGods compositions
are some of his strongest
Mourning Widows outside of Extreme. Want
2 WEEKS IN WARHEADS LAST HOUR (Furnished Souls proof? Feast your ears

DIZKNEELAND Extreme (III Sides Extreme (Saudades

for Rent)
Undoubtedly a player of
on the multi-dimensional
freakout that is his “Lock
Nuno Bettencourt to Every Story, 1992) de Rock, 2008) Bettencourt’s caliber has Down” solo. Your heart,
(Schizophonic, 1997) By the time Bettencourt In an album brimming unleashed more techni- body and mind will thank
The best part of Schizo- recorded the “Warheads” with overlooked tracks, cally brilliant flurries. Nev- you. — Andrew Daly

guitarworld.com 71
 NINE-TIME
M.V.P.
NINE TIMES NUNO BETTENCOURT
PROVED TO BE GUITAR’S M.V.P.
W O R D S B Y Andrew Daly

DID YOU KNOW the January

1992 issue of GW called Nuno
Bettencourt the M.V.P.? If you’ve
been following along for a while, you
probably did. But if you’ve just joined
the party, let us catch you up.
If we dial back to ’92, all things
considered, being called the M.V.P.
was major praise. Yes, Eddie Van Ha-
len, Slash and Steve Vai were doing
their thing, but old-guard types like
Joe Perry, Eric Clapton and Jimmy
Page were scurrying about, too (as
they are now). So what made Nuno
the M.V.P.? It’s simple: Nuno, in so
many ways, propped up the world
COVER FEATURE

of rock guitar. In the early Nineties,

most young guitar players had cho-
sen to mosey down the path of the
Seattle sound, but not Nuno. When
Nirvana and Pearl Jam released Nev-
ermind (1991) and Ten (1991) respec-
tively, Nuno answered with 1992’s III
Sides to Every Story. It takes a special
player to do that, and — make no
mistake — Nuno is special.
That’s why more than 30 years
later, he’s still blowing our minds
with songs like “Rise,” “Banshee” and
“#Rebel.” So, yeah, the reasons that
Nuno is the M.V.P. are numerous, but
FUTURE (GW)

let’s boil them down.

“MUTHA (DON’T WANNA

GO TO SCHOOL TODAY)”
MICK HUTSON/REDFERNS (NUNO)

Extreme (1989)
Before he ventured out to sonic pas-
tures unknown, Bettencourt’s pas-
tures leaned more toward hair metal
than anything else. The entirety of
Extreme’s first record proved to be
a tour de force in guitar badassery,
but one track stands out: “Mutha
(Don’t Wanna Go to School Today).”

72 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023


Bettencourt’s M.V.P. moment begins
with using “Flight of the Wounded
Bumblebee” before he pops the
clutch, kicking things into over-
drive. And then Nuno goes into full
Edward Van Halen mode, properly
opening “Mutha” with a riff reminis-
cent of Van Halen’s “Unchained.”
“IT (’S A MONSTER)”
Pornograffitti (1990)
It’s generally agreed that “It (’s a
Monster)” is one of Pornograffitti’s
finest cuts. Its energy is infectious,
and its riff is uber-dialed in and
deftly designed to grab listeners
and kick them square in the chest.
Nuno’s M.V.P.ism is in full swing as
he alternates between pounding us
over the head to careering off course.
Moments like this are the kind of
thing that probably led GW to deem
Nuno the M.V.P. in the first place.
“STRUTTER”
Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss
Regrooved (1994)
Is this Bettencourt’s finest hour? If
you’re a Kiss fan… maybe. For the un-
initiated, the Kiss My Ass record was
a tribute album loaded with many
of the early Nineties’ finest, cover-
ing — you guessed it — Kiss! And
during its last leg, Extreme join in for
a rendition of “Strutter.” There are
several reasons why Extreme’s ver-
sion smokes, but Nuno’s simple and
tasteful licks are number one with a
bullet. Few have covered Ace Frehley
in such a worthwhile fashion, but
Nuno did so with subtle swagger.
“NOTE ON THE SCREEN DOOR”
Schizophonic (1997)
If you followed Bettencourt in the Nineties, you came
to know him as the hyper-talented genius who steered
Extreme to worldwide acclaim. And you might recall the
sticky proposition of him going solo, too. But no matter;
it didn’t take long for Bettencourt’s M.V.P.-like ways
to re-emerge, as Nuno crafted his most idiosyncratic
material to date. Throughout Schizophonic’s 15 tracks, he
showed us an infusion of punk, funk, metal et al., shed-
ding light on previously dust-covered corners of his tal-
ent. He not only maintained his M.V.P. status with tracks
like “Note on the Screen Door” but redefined it.
“LOVE IS A CIGARETTE”
Mourning Widows (1998)
Nuno’s first post-Extreme band, Mourning Widows,
was yet another sign-marking moment for our M.V.P. He
came out of the gate hot, with mojo oozing out of every
orifice. But what makes Mourning Widows special is
that Nuno managed to captivate listeners in new and ex-
citing ways when some thought he wouldn’t. Few could
walk away from a band as successful as Extreme and still
emerge as a winner. One listen to “Love Is a Cigarette”
tells us all we need to know about Bettencourt’s never-
say-die attitude.
“INSANITY RAINS”
Perry Farrell & Satellite Party (2007)
This Nuno-related moment isn’t M.V.P.-worthy because
of its technical greatness. And while Nuno pairing with
Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction is intriguing and seems
to lend itself to stunning results, that’s not why, either.
This Nuno moment is M.V.P.-worthy because it provided
a ray of guitar-related light during some dark days. Com-
ing out of the Nineties, save for a few brave souls carry-
ing the torch, the fun had been sucked out of rock guitar
(Just revisit some of Zakk and Dimebag’s reprinted
late-2002 rants from our July 2023 issue). Ergo, Nuno
emerging to remind us of what he could do was nothing
short of vital.
“SKIN”
“As a soloist,
you have to Loud (2010)
acknowledge Sure, Nuno has recorded more impres-
that the song
is your best
sive solos than the one he laid down
friend,” says for Rhianna in 2010. But this time, it
Nuno, shown wasn’t about blowing minds. It was
here in 1996.
“It’s telling you about crossing boundaries and con-
the story, lyrical- tinuing to blend genres without regard.
ly and tonally”
Indeed, only a true M.V.P. could oper-
ate with such whimsy. These days,
we see shredders from all walks of
life joining pop stars (Oh, hello, Nita
Strauss and Sophie Lloyd), along
with the likes of Eddie Van Halen,
Jennifer Batten and Wendy Melvoin,
Nuno certainly did his part to bridge
that gap. And considering that Nuno
recently appeared alongside Rhi-
anna during Super Bowl LVII, he’ll
continue to do so.
“FIRE HORSE”
Vortex (2022)
If you happened to miss Derek
Sherinian’s 2020 album, Vortex,
we’ll clue you in: it was nothing
short of a guitar smorgasbord. With
Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather,
Zakk Wylde, Michael Schenker,
Steve Stevens and Ron “Bumble-
foot” Thal along for the ride, no one
would have blamed Nuno if he’d got-
ten buried amid the chaos. But that
wouldn’t be very M.V.P.-like, now,
would it? No, Nuno made the album
his — even though he appeared on
only one track — with his licks heard
across “Fire Horse.”
“RISE”
Six (2023)
Did Nuno’s ball-breaking licks heard
during “Rise” surprise you? They
shouldn’t have. At least, that’s how
Nuno sees it. He’s been quoted as
saying his “Rise” solo is just “okay,”
and that he’s “been doing this for
over 30 years.” So it’s not such a big
deal then, right? Wrong. Yeah, the
“Rise” solo aligns with what Nuno
has been doing throughout his
career. And that’s the point. Since
day one, he’s been shocking and
inspiring us. But for a minute there,
people were shouting from the
mountain tops “rock is dead.” Well,
shout no more. In yet another M.V.P.
moment, Nuno reminded us that
rock music and guitar-driven antics
are alive, fun and ever-evolving.
guitarworld.com 73
 AU G UST 2023

the gear
in review

77
TAYLOR
AD12E-SB

78
The Big Red One
FENDER
Steve Lacy GUITAR
WORLD
People Pleaser PLATINUM
Stratocaster AWARD
BLACKSTAR DEPT. 10 AMPED 2
EX
CELLENCE By Paul Riario

79 WHEN THE DOWNSIZING trend rapidly
BARE KNUCKLE accelerated in the amplifier space, Blackstar
Peacemaker creatively addressed the shift by releasing their St.
Humbucker James all-tube series. By downscaling the output power
section with innovative technology, and outfitting the
combos and guitar cabinets with ferrite speakers,
Blackstar proved you can dramatically reduce weight
without sacrificing tone or volume. Further lightening
the load but without tubes, the company released the
Dept. 10 Amped 1 — a powerful and straightforward
multi-voiced 100-watt guitar amp in a compact pedal
design primed for any performance.
Following in that evolution — and just short of
creating a complex guitar modeling processor —
the Blackstar Dept. 10 Amped 2 now combines all
the essential effects, traditional tube responses
and established amp tones — along with multiple
connectivity options — in a ruggedly designed and
stage-ready floorboard amplifier. If you haven’t
noticed, there’s a prevailing tide of notable amps
and pedal amplifiers that eschew tubes. And while
that might sound disconcerting, there’s no denying
how convincingly great some of them sound, and if
anything, Blackstar’s Amped 2 demonstrates that this
comprehensive guitar rig in a floorboard is as good as
it gets.
FEATURES Jam-packed into a surprisingly lightweight
steel enclosure that’s compact enough to tuck inside
your gig bag, the feature-rich Amped 2 boasts familiar
EQ controls, Gain and Master controls in its Amplifier
(preamp) section with three selectable amp voices
(USA, UK and Classic) that cover Fullerton-style
cleans, Class A-bite and cascaded crunch tones,

guitarworld.com 75
SOUNDCHECK
respectively. Choosing between three tube
responses (EL84, EL34 and 6L6) and output
power (1, 20 and 100 watts) in the Power Amp
section further enhances the attack and dynamic
characteristics of the Amped 2. All four of
the built-in effects are neatly organized into
separate sections with dedicated footswitches,
earmarked control knobs and mini-toggles to
select an effect type. Drive is placed before the
preamp with Boost, Drive and Fuzz choices,
and from there, three classic variations of Delay
(Linear, Analogue and Shimmer), Reverb (Room,
Spring and Plate) and Modulation (Chorus/
Flanger, Tremolo and Phaser), fill out the rest.
There’s also a tap tempo footswitch (that unlocks
secondary effect functions when held) and a
small digital screen to display control values and
the tuner. In addition, a Cab Rig switch accesses
three cab/speaker emulations (with numerous
speaker cabinet and microphone profiles that
can be deep-edited and managed with the free
Architect software for Mac/PC). The main
appeal of Amped 2 is its ability to power a
speaker cabinet with 8- and 16-ohm outputs.
But what also stands out is its unparalleled
connectivity and routing options with input
and output jacks, MIDI control (with included
cables), line/headphone out, balanced/XLR
Cab Rig out, level control, FX loop (w/loop level
switch), two isolated 9V DC outputs (to power
external pedals) and USB-C port (computer/USB
audio interface/Cab Rig output).
PERFORMANCE What’s prominent about
Amped 2 is that — unlike a guitar modeler —
76 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
you’re not hearing digital snapshots of modeled
amps, but rather a launchpad of traditional amp
voices with appropriate tube responses that can
be fashioned as your own. You have nine ways
to precisely sculpt a clear and defined sound,
and no matter how you pair them, they all sound
compelling. For players who just want to dive in
and get a scorching lead tone, the Classic voice
will undoubtedly be a favorite with its searing
crunch and molten gain — especially paired with
the 6L6 response. But if you’re like me, you’re
looking to replicate an authentic amp tone. In
these cases, I always find it’s best to start with a
modest gain structure and build from there. Both
USA and UK voices work best for that, with the
USA providing full-sounding, high-headroom
cleans that are splendid for pedals, and the UK
voice being formidable in building a solid, break-
up base tone.
Amped 2’s built-in drive section amply works
for extra gain, but I found that including some
external drive/boost pedals got me closer to
more of that dynamic feel. Furthermore, after
auditioning Amped 2 with my go-to speaker
cabinet and using the built-in CabRig emulation
through FOH, I was able to zero in on nailing a
plausible amp tone that would have many tube
enthusiasts fooled. The onboard effects are
uncomplicated to use — so as long as you're not
the Edge, the delay, reverb and modulation sound
downright impressive for simply adding color.
Make no mistake: Amped 2 won’t replace your
prized tube amp. But for its ease and bang-up
tones, it could be the guitar rig you’ll be using a
whole lot more.
CHEAT
SHEET
STREET PRICE
$649.99
MANUFACTURER
Blackstar Amplification,
blackstaramps.com
Amped 2 is a 100-watt pedal
amplifier that can power a cab-
inet, run through a traditional
amp channel or go direct.
Preamp offers USA, UK
and Classic voicings to sculpt
authentic amp tones with three
selectable power tube (EL34,
6L6 and EL84) responses.
Onboard multi-effects
include modulation, delay and
reverb, along with a Drive sec-
tion with boost, drive and fuzz.
USB-C connectivity and built-
in CabRig technology with free
Architect software offer more
tonal options.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Blackstar Dept. 10 Amped 2
is a feature-rich powered floor-
board that’s stage-ready for
any performance and might be
all you’ll ever need as your gui-
tar rig.
 SOUNDCHECK

American Beauty
TAYLOR AD12E-SB
By Chris Gill

WHILE THE QUALITY of affordable acoustic guitars has in-

creased exponentially over the last decade, many of these
guitars tend to sound rather similar. Taylor’s American Dream se-
ries is a notable exception, offering a variety of body styles and tone
woods that each deliver their own distinctive voice. The new
AD12e-SB is Taylor’s second American Dream Grand Concert mod-
el and the first of which to feature a solid Sitka spruce top, provid-
ing a new voice that many players are likely to find perfect for their
needs.

FEATURES The AD12e-SB’s all-solid tone wood formula consists GUITAR

WORLD
of a Sitka spruce top, walnut back and sides and tropical mahogany PLATINUM
neck with eucalyptus fretboard. Combined with the model’s com- AWARD
pact Grand Concert body shape, Taylor’s V-Class bracing and large EX
CELLENCE
soundhole, this all adds up to a powerful yet focused voice. The
neck has a comfortably rounded C-shaped profile, 24 7/8-inch scale
length, 1 ¾-inch nut width and 20 medium tall frets that provide
smooth, precise playability. With its sunburst finish, tiger-stripe
tortoise-style pickguard and 4mm dot fretboard inlays, the AD12e-
SB has the classic styling of a “golden era” acoustic.
The lower-case “e” in Taylor nomenclature means that the
AD12e-SB is an acoustic-electric model. The pickup system is
Taylor’s classic Expression System 2, featuring three piezo pickup
sensors located behind (rather than directly under) the saddle, an
internal-mounted preamp with phase switch and side-mounted vol-
ume, bass and treble controls on the upper bass bout. The battery
compartment is conveniently located below the endpin/output jack
and easily ejects with a flick of the tab.

PERFORMANCE My first impression of the AD12e-SB’s tone be-

fore looking at any press releases or website descriptions was that
it seems perfectly voiced for fingerstyle and recording applications,
which turned out to be exactly how Taylor described it. The overall
tone is rich and warm, with emphasized midrange, mellow bass and
smooth treble without harsh transient peaks, providing an excel-
lent balance between the percussive responsiveness of the spruce
top and the full-bodied depth of the walnut body. The character
is the kind of sound that takes engineers hours to dial in when
recording more aggressive and assertive acoustics. While the tone
is ideal for fingerstyle, it’s also good for rhythms that you want to
blend with other instruments rather than cut through a mix.
Playability is first class, as one would expect for a Taylor. The
Expression System 2 remains a stage performance workhorse, de-
livering authentic amplified acoustic tones that are rich, warm and
vibrant.

STREET PRICE: Tone woods con- The compact THE BOTTOM LINE
CHEAT $1,999.99 sist of a Sitka spruce Grand Concert body With its compact, comfortable Grand

SHEET MANUFACTURER:
Taylor Guitars,
top, walnut back
and sides, tropi-
measures 15 inches
wide, 4 3/8 inches
Concert body shape, solid Sitka
spruce top walnut back and sides and
taylorguitars.com cal mahogany neck deep and 19 ½ inches Taylor’s V-Class bracing, the Taylor
and eucalyptus fret- long to provide well- AD12e-SB’s warm, rich midrange is
board. balanced tone with perfectly dialed in for fingerstyle and
prominent mids. studio recording applications.

guitarworld.com 77

CHEAT
SHEET
STREET PRICE: $1,399.99
MANUFACTURER:
Fender, fender.com
The built-in Steve Lacy Chaos
Fuzz is activated via the S-1 switch
embedded in the lower “tone”
knob, which actually controls the
fuzz output level.
A trio of Player Plus Noise-
less Strat pickups provides all the
beloved classic Strat tones without
noise or hum.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Fender Steve Lacy People
Pleaser Stratocaster lives up to
its name by combining the classic
vibe, playability and tones of a vin-
tage Strat with upgrades like noise-
less pickups and a cool built-in fuzz
circuit.
78 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
GUITAR
WORLD
GOLD
AWARD
P E
ER
FORMANC
Signature o’ the Times
FENDER STEVE LACY PEOPLE PLEASER STRATOCASTER
By Chris Gill
WITH THE EXCEPTION of an occa-
sional funky rhythm track, the electric
guitar isn’t heard very much on songs topping
the pop and R&B charts these days. Steve
Lacy is trying to change that, both through
his own work and as a collaborator with art-
ists like Fousheé. As a result of Lacy’s grow-
ing following and influence, Fender joined
forces with Lacy to develop his first signature
model, the Fender Steve Lacy People Pleaser
Stratocaster. Of course, the Strat has already
been pleasing people for nearly seven de-
cades, but Lacy has added a few elements
that promise to please a new generation of
Strat players as well.
FEATURES The Steve Lacy People Pleaser
Stratocaster is built upon the foundation of
a vintage Strat, featuring an alder body and
a maple 21-fret 25 ½-inch scale neck with a
maple slab fretboard (no “skunk” stripe on
rear), small vintage headstock and truss rod
adjustment located at the butt of the neck
above the 21st fret. The neck essentially con-
forms to classic specs, including a 9 ½-inch
radius, narrow tall frets and deep “C” profile.
The hardware follows a similar classic for-
mula with its vintage-style synchronized trem-
olo bridge with six bent-steel saddles, vintage-
style tuning machines and aged white knobs.
However, modifications abound, includ-
ing white pearl dot fretboard position inlays
with a custom dice inlay at the 12th fret, a trio
of Player Plus Noiseless Strat single-coil pick-
ups and — perhaps most importantly of all — a
built-in Steve Lacy Chaos Fuzz circuit, which
is activated via an S-1 switch embedded in the
second “tone” knob. Actually, this knob is an
output volume control for the fuzz circuit only,
while the other two knobs provide master vol-
ume and master tone functions. The “Chaos
Burst” finish looks like a traditional three-color
sunburst from the front, but actually, the top’s
center layer is a brilliant hot pink that’s also
featured on the back in a two-tone burst. The
four-bolt neck plate and back of the headstock
are also decorated with Lacy’s custom doodles
and signature, respectively, and the vibrato
cavity cover has a teal blue and yellow checker-
board pattern.
PERFORMANCE The Steve Lacy People
Pleaser Stratocaster lives up to its name by pro-
viding the timeless feel and tones of a vintage
Strat with a surprise twist. The neck provides
the super comfortable and familiar playabil-
ity that players expect from a good ol’ Strat, and
the weight of the alder body is that “just right”
balance between being neither too heavy nor
too light. Similarly, the five-position pickup
selector switch provides all of the familiar indi-
vidual and “in between” middle pickup combo
voices that Strat players love.
The Player Plus Noiseless Strat pickups live
up to their name, offering all of the distinc-
tive tones that Strat players love and need com-
pletely free of the noise and hum that they
don’t want. The bridge pickup has percussive
snap and fat midrange bite, while the second
and fourth position “in between” settings have
that distinctive hollow midrange that cuts right
through a mix. The neck pickup is satisfyingly
beefy and bouncy, ideal for funky rhythms or
bluesy solos.
The built-in Steve Lacy Chaos Fuzz is the
main attraction here. This circuit’s fuzz voice
is more in the “Big Muff” distortion category
than nasal, gritty fuzz, delivering smooth, sing-
ing solo tones and retaining excellent note-to-
note clarity when playing chords. I personally
would have preferred to have the fuzz’s “tone”
pot control the effect’s gain rather than its out-
put volume as the master volume and master
tone controls already provide the other essen-
tial parameters found on most fuzz pedals. Also
note that the battery is accessed by removing
the vibrato cavity cover on the rear, which also
holds the battery in place.
 GUITAR
WORLD
Buzz Bin
PLATINUM
AWARD Bare Knuckle Pickups
EX
CELLENCE Peacemaker Humbucker
ZERO IN ON Bare Knuckle’s last few artist collaborations for signature pickups
and you’ll find that the U.K. brand has been crushing it with humbuckers voiced
for traditional and progressive metal. From the extraordinary Adam “Nolly”
Getgood Polymath humbuckers to the riveting Rabea Massaad Silo humbuckers,
Bare Knuckle has established an ironclad footing in pickups geared toward
mainstream metal players. But it’s also no surprise that the Bare Knuckle blokes
know how to masterfully design humbuckers for bluesier, classic rock styles,
as evidenced by their latest offering, the Peacemaker humbucker, the result of
a partnership with rocker Chris Robertson, lead guitarist and vocalist of Black
Stone Cherry. The muscular Peacemaker pickups are anything but peaceful, but
rather, a cutting pair of PAF-voiced humbuckers that serve up heated slices of
modern classic tones.
Tim Mills, Bare Knuckle’s guru, designed the Peacemaker for a firmly focused
voice that resides in a defined midrange with powerful headroom and revved-up
output as its roaring vintage motor. The humbuckers feature isotropic Alnico
V magnets and custom hand-wound coils for both the bridge and neck and are
precisely calibrated for balance to work as a matched pair. Pickup resistances
on the Peacemakers measure 9.6k ohms for the bridge and 8k ohms for the
neck, and for a solid tonal read on how the pickups are EQ’d, Bare Knuckle’s
online chart reveals clearly bumped-up mids with the bass and treble as equal.
The Peacemaker is available as a 6-, 7- and 8-string pickup with four- or
two-conductor wiring, short or long mounting legs and 50mm or 53mm pole
spacing. In addition, you can select from a breathtaking variety of open-coil
bobbin colors, pole screw finishes, covers, radiators and TVS options, including a
custom “Peacemaker” etch.
After outfitting the Peacemakers into my vintage Gibson Les Paul Classic
and running them through a host of Marshall amps, an EVH 5150 head and a
Fender Pro Reverb combo, I’m captivated by how thoroughly gutsy they sound
with every pick stroke. Whether it’s the bridge or the neck, these humbuckers
attack with discernibly bright mids that jut out as you’re chugging rhythms, yet
miraculously cut deeply in a band mix so that you are heard. Solos jump out with
dense clarity, and if you’re one to unleash a flurry of notes, the Peacemakers
have the uncanny ability to deliver them with sharpened precision. Robertson
nails it when he says that “notes stay right there and poke their chest out…”
when describing playing between the higher and lower strings — and I couldn’t
agree more. There’s a ripened sweetness to the Peacemakers that makes
them the kind of heated humbuckers you’ll want to engage with — continually
switching between the bridge and neck for a never-ending panoply of tonal
bliss. — Paul Riario

STREET PRICE: from $193; from $374 for sets

MANUFACTURER: Bare Knuckle Pickups, bareknucklepickups.co.uk

guitarworld.com 79
COLUMNS
For video of this lesson, go to
IN DEEP guitarworld.com/august2023

by Andy Aledort

THEORIES OF FIG. 1

RELATIVITY,
PART 3
Creating melodies that
connect relative major
and minor chords
OVER THE LAST two columns, we looked
at various ways to craft melodic solos over
alternating relative major and minor chords.
As a basis for study, I used the 16-bar chord
progression from my original song “Twi-
lights,” which includes two different sets
of relative major and minor chords. This
month, I’d like to offer some additional
examples of approaches to melodic soloing
over this progression.
The “Twilights” progression begins with
an alternating two-bar pattern of F(sus2) to
Dm(sus2), played four times. The progres-
sion then modulates to a different key while
switching the order of the relative major
and minor chords; in bars 9-14, the relative
minor chord comes first — Gm — followed
by its relative major, Bb. A richer harmonic
accompaniment is achieved by replacing the
basic chords with G7sus4 and Bb6sus2, re-
spectively. The chords in the last two bars of
the progression are Csus4 - C - Csus2.
FIGURE 1 presents an improvised solo
over the 16-bar form: In bars 1-8, over
F(sus2) - Dm(sus2), the lines are based on
alternating bars on F major pentatonic (F,
G, A, C, D) and D minor pentatonic (D, F, G,
A, C). Notice that both scales are made up of
FIG. 2
the same five notes.
My approach for these first eight bars
is to present two-bar melodic phrases that
accentuate the triadic chord tones of each
chord; over F, they are F, A and C; over Dm,
the triadic chord tones are D, F and A. More
importantly, the goal is to craft melodies same notes, and here I’m alternately target- last two bars, played over Csus4 - C - Csus2,
that are memorable and display motivic ing the triadic chord tones of Gm (G, Bb, D) I target the chord tones of C (C, E, G) and
development and musicality. The method and Bb (Bb, D, F). Likewise, I begin the lines reference F, the 4th of C, to melodically
used is to begin each phrase similarly but to by pivoting between specific fretboard posi- acknowledge Csus4 (C, F, G).
“resolve” the phrases in different ways. tions, starting in 15th position over G7sus4 FIGURE 2 illustrates the opening chord-
Another important element in the solo- and ending in 8th position over Bb6sus2. al pattern played for F(sus2) - Dm(sus2).
ing approach is to stick with the same scale In bars 11-14, all of the phrases remain in Notice the use of hammer-ons and pull-offs
position through the eight bars, as each line 15th position while the relevant chord tones as ornaments, or “extensions,” and how
begins in 8th position, moves up to 10th and are targeted as the changes occur. In the each chord is arpeggiated.
ALISON HASBACH

13th positions then back down to 10th.

In bars 9-14, over G7sus4 - Bb6sus2, the GW associate editor Andy Aledort is recognized worldwide for his vast
lines switch to G minor pentatonic (G, Bb, C, contributions to guitar instruction. His latest album, Light of Love, is
D, F) and Bb major pentatonic (Bb, C, D, F, available now.
G); once again, the two scales consist of the

80 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

COLUMNS
TALES FROM
NERDVILLE For video of this lesson, go to
guitarworld.com/august2023
by Joe Bonamassa

SLIDE AREA FIG. 1

Slide guitar essentials
in open E tuning
ONE OF MY favorite styles of guitar play-
ing is slide guitar. In general, I try to avoid
slide guitar because there are “slide players”
and then there’s me! There are slide players
who have dedicated their lives to the craft,
including the dreaded intonation — playing
slide in tune, which is not easy — and have
become true masters of the intricacies of
slide guitar technique.
I use slide more as a way to “season” the
music. You’ll never see me on a jam session
with a slide in my pocket, saying, “Hey,
I’ve got my slide!” That won’t be me; I like
to play regular guitar because, that way, I
know I'll be playing reasonably in tune. That
said, I’d like to go through some of the es- FIG. 2
sentials of slide guitar that come into play
on the occasion when I do play it.
The examples in this column are all per-
formed in open E tuning, for which the A,
D and G strings are tuned up to B, E and G#,
respectively (low to high: E, B, E, G#, B, E).
FIG. 3

Also, I’m using a chrome slide, which I wear

on my fret-hand ring finger.
Open E is a go-to tuning for me simply
because I’ve relied on it the most and am
well familiar with the patterns for single-
note and chordal playing. But I do like to use
other tunings, such as open A, open G, or
whatever open chord will best suit the song.
My favorite slide players are Ry Cooder,
who’s my number one, Warren Haynes,
Sonny Landreth, Lowell George, Derek
Trucks, Billy Gibbons and Jeff Beck. Each of
these slide masters are game changers who
possess singularly unique techniques. Oth-
ers favorites are Bonnie Raitt and Joanna
Connor.
When I was a kid, Gov’t Mule and Allman reference A and B chords at the 5th and 7th and 10th frets, respectively.
Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes told frets, respectively, and the remainder of the Another key element of slide playing is
me about the importance of muting behind example moves loosely through references achieving a pleasing vibrato. For me, the
the slide: with the slide on my ring finger, I to E, D and A chords. best result is achieved by wiggling the slide
lightly lay my fret-hand index finger across As I mentioned earlier, the number-one back and forth below and above the tar-
the strings behind the slide, in order to mute priority with playing slide is achieving good geted fret, about the distance of one fret in
them and suppress unwanted notes and intonation, because you're not, as is in FIG- each direction. This produces a nice, wide
sliding noises on the strings that I’m not URE 2, fretting normally, with your fingers. warble.
playing on at any given moment. In FIGURE 3, I use the slide to play My slide style is an amalgamation of all
FIGURE 1 presents an improvised slide phrases that revolve around A at the 5th my slide influences. It’s fun, and things can
solo played very “freely,” without adher- fret, G at the 3rd fret, and C and D at the 8th get “swampy” in a hurry!
ELEANOR JANE

ence to a strict beat. I begin with licks based

around the 12th fret. Laying the slide across Joe Bonamassa is one of the world’s most popular blues-rock guitarists —
all of the strings at the 12th fret will sound not to mention a top producer and de facto ambassador of the blues.
an E major chord. In bar 3, I move down to

guitarworld.com 81
COLUMNS MELODIC For video of this lesson, go to
MUSE guitarworld.com/august2023

by Andy Timmons

HYBRID FIG. 1

VEHICLE, PART 3
Using hybrid picking
to play “Farmer Sez”
ONE OF MY favorite pick-hand articulation
techniques is hybrid picking, which com-
bines flatpicking with fingerpicking, either
together or in a quickly alternating fashion.
When a series of notes is played with just
the pick, most often the sound is very uni-
form. This is, of course, something that is
generally desirable and, in fact, needs to be
practiced diligently in order to execute flat-
picking with precision and consistency.
Fingerpicking, on the other hand, allows
for a greater range of timbres, tonal varia-
tions and dynamics, as attacking the strings
with the flesh of the fingertips offers the
potential for each note in a sequence to have
its own distinct character. With hybrid pick-
ing, we can combine the best of both worlds,
making it an indispensable expressive tool.
Over the last two columns, I discussed
my incorporation of hybrid picking to per-
form the melodic lines in my song “On Your
Way Sweet Soul,” from my 2016 album,
Theme from a Perfect World. Let’s continue
our investigation of hybrid picking by go-
ing all the way back to a song from my FIG. 3
FIG. 2
1996 release Ear X-Tacy, the country-style,
chicken-pickin’ tinged “Farmer Sez,” which
is also included on the That Was Then, This
Is Now compilation, released on Steve Vai’s
Favored Nations label.
FIGURE 1 illustrates the primary lick
from “Farmer Sez,” which is built from a FIG. 4
standard 12-bar blues progression in the key
2
of A but is played in 2 meter, or “cut time,”
resulting in a 24-bar form. In this configura-
tion, the form begins with eight bars on the
I (one) chord, A7, followed by four bars on
the IV (four) chord, D7, then four more on
A7. It then wraps up with two bars on the V I take the same approach over D7 in bars lowed by sliding 6ths over D7, sounded on
(five) chord, E7, to two bars on D7, and fi- 9-12: after the initial eighth-note-triplet the A and G strings. The initial line is then
nally three bars on A7 and one bar on E7. double hammer-on that kicks off the phrase repeated before the form culminates with a
In bar 1, the open A root note is sounded in bars 9 and 11, I use my index finger to fret big E major chord.
with the pick, followed by fingerpicking the G and C notes on the D and G strings FIGURE 2 shows the I - IV - V (one -
with the middle and ring fingers to sound and then, akin to the first lick, I repeatedly four - five) chords of the progression: A7
the slide up from the F#-C dyad to the G-C# pull-off to the open strings. - D7 - E7. FIGURE 3 details the opening lick
4
dyad on the D and G strings. All finger- The lick over E7 in bars 17 and 18 brings played slowly and in 4 time, and FIGURE 4
4
picked notes are indicated with an asterisk in fingerpicking on the D string only, fol- indicates the D7 lick played slowly and in 4 .
SIMONE CECHETTI

(*). Throughout this lick, the recurrent

open A string is sounded with the pick and Andy Timmons is a world-renowned guitarist known for his work with
all notes on the D and G strings are finger- the Andy Timmons Band, Danger Danger and Simon Phillips. His latest album,
picked, as I repeatedly pull-off from the Electric Truth, is out now.
fretted notes to the open D and G strings.

82 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023

COLUMNS
LIVE FROM
FLAT V For video of this lesson, go to
guitarworld.com/august2023
by Josh Smith

DIMINISHED
RETURNS
FIG. 1

Utilizing diminished
phrases to connect chords
in a blues
OVER THE LAST few months, we explored
the use of chromaticism within the blues as
part of a three-tiered approach that I like
to use to connect one chord to the next in a
blues progression, namely, chromaticism,
diminished phrases and ii - V - I (two-five-
one) turnarounds. This month, we will fo-
cus on diminished 7 chords, which I’ll refer
to simply as diminished.
Let’s begin our investigation of how to
bring in diminished chords in the same
way we covered the joys of chromaticism,
by first playing rhythm guitar only across
FIG. 2 FIG. 3
the 12-bar blues progression and dropping
in the appropriate diminished chords to
“connect” one chord to the next in a har-
monically interesting way.
FIGURE 1 represents a rhythm guitar
approach, played as a shuffle in the key of
A, that brings in the diminished chord one
half step below, just as the chord change is
coming up in the subsequent bar, utilizing
the diminished chord as a “bridge” to tie
one primary chord to the next. Sometimes,
I'll use an inversion, or different voicing, of
FIG. 4
the diminished chord, but it will still be a
half step below the chord that follows.
In bars 1-3, I play A6 in steady quarter-
note strums, with a half-step move from
Ab6 to A6 at the end of each bar. In bar 4, as
we're about to switch to the IV chord, D7,
I instead play Gdim7 (G, Bb, Db, E), which
can also be analyzed as Dbdim7, Bbdim7 or
Edim7. At the end of the two bars on D7, I
drop in Abdim7, which serves as a bridge
back to A6. Similarly, in bar 8, Ebdim7 is
used to set up the change to E7, and in bar
9, I play Dbdim7 to D7. In bars 10-12, Abdim7 FIGURE 3 demonstrates how to use approach-tone movement from F to F#,
once again serves as a lead-in to A6 or A. diminished ideas in a single-note line, as making clear reference to the IV chord, D7.
FIGURE 2 details the shift from A6 to a way to connect the I chord to the IV. We As shown in FIGURE 4, I can play blues-
D7: as I make this move, I play the Gdim7 start with four bars on the I, A6, and in type phrases across the first three bars over
voicing shown in bar 2, which is an inver- bar 4, after sliding into A6 from one fret A7 and then drop in that Gdim7 lick in bar
sion of Dbdim7. On the way back from D7 to below, I play a single-note line consisting 4, as a bridge to set up the change to D7.
A, I use the Abdim7 voicing shown in bar 3. of the notes C#, E, G and Bb, which are the That lick alone will open your ears up to
chord tones of both Gdim7 and Dbdim7.
O L LY C U R T I S/ F U T U R E

We’ve all heard this type of harmony using these types of harmonically interest-
played in the blues. When one’s ear The phrase culminates with chromatic ing chordal references in your solos.
becomes accustomed to that diminished
sound, one naturally wants to apply it to a
Josh Smith is a highly respected blues-country-jazz master and all-around
single-note melodic line, which can add so
tone wizard. His new album, 2022’s Bird of Passage, is out now.
much to one’s musical vocabulary.

guitarworld.com 83
Performance Notes
HOW TO PLAY THIS MONTH’S SONGS By Jimmy Brown
“RISE”
Extreme
THIS EXCITING
NEW song finds
veteran guitar god
Nuno Bettencourt in
top form, riffing and
shredding his ass off
as creatively as ever.
And with a tributary
nod to the flashy, soulful style of the late,
great Eddie Van Halen, the nimble axman
offers a welcome dose of the joys of playing
and listening to an inspired, virtuosic solo
that perfectly serves the song and brings it
to a goosebump-inducing climax.
Nuno kicks off the track with a chunky
drop-D power chord riff, using all down-
strokes and some fret-hand-muted “chucka”
strums (indicated by X’s), as well as a little
bit of palm muting (P.M.), to keep the open
low D notes from ringing too much. He con-
tinues this riff for the verses (section B) and
offers some interesting variations during the
second verse, with a couple of fiery, well-
placed lead fills (see Fills 1 and 2) that serve
to foreshadow his upcoming solo.
Nuno hits the ground running in his solo
(section G) with a blazing burst of tremolo
picking (fast alternate picking on a single
note), which he incorporates into a climbing
melody that he performs mainly on the high
E string. Notice how the guitarist seamlessly
segues from these blurringly fast tremolo
rhythms into even 16th notes, smoothly em-
ploying alternate picking and combinations
of hammer-ons, pull-offs and finger slides
as he deftly works his way up to the 22nd
fret. Be sure to palm mute the unused lower
strings here, to prevent them from ringing
in the background. This un-notated, invis-
ible noise-suppression technique is a key
factor in Nuno’s consistently clean playing
and is the mark of a first-rate lead guitarist.
The second part of Nuno’s solo (section
I) features him skillfully picking a long, in-
tense, uninterrupted stream of palm-muted
16th notes across the bottom three strings,
using symmetrical fretboard shapes, open
strings and some strategically placed econ-
omy strokes when crossing strings. There
are some super wide, five-fret spans here,
so make sure your fret hand is limbered up
before attempting these wide-stretch fin-
gerings. Notice how the open strings, along
with the five-fret stretches, produce some
repeating notes sounded on adjacent strings.
“YOU SHOOK ME
ALL NIGHT LONG”
AC/DC
ONE OF AC/DC’S
many celebrated
fist-pumping rock
anthems, this song
showcases and epit-
omizes the highly
effective comple-
mentary riff writing
of brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, as
they combine rhythm guitar parts that often
differ substantially or slightly but always
mesh together beautifully, as demonstrated
in the song’s intro and chorus, respectively.
And although Malcolm always played “sec-
ond fiddle” to Angus’ spotlighted riffing and
soloing, his unselfish contributions and role
as anchor of the rhythm section were nev-
ertheless pivotal to the band’s success and
signature hard-rocking sound.
Angus introduces the song’s punctuated
verse riff in bar 9, playing it with only drum-
mer Phil Rudd’s solid eighth-note backbeat
until Malcolm joins in midway through the
first verse (at bar 26), tightly doubling the
riff, with both guitarists using only down-
stroke strums for maximum punch and a
uniform attack chord to chord. The key to
performing this repeating four-bar phrase
cleanly and authentically is making sure
the open G5 and C chords are completely
“choked” during those long “holes of si-
lence” (rests) in bars 9 and 11, and also after
the staccato accents in bars 10 and 12. Indi-
cated by a black dot above a tab number, a
staccato marking signifies that the duration
of note or chord is to be reduced by 50%,
in this case as if it were an eighth note fol-
lowed by an eighth rest.
As these chords include open strings
(the D and/or G), it’s not enough to just
loosen your grip on the fretted notes to
mute the entire chord, as you could do with
a barre chord. You’ll need to also mute the
open strings with your pick hand, applying
a quick palm mute immediately after each
strum. This off-on palm muting action can
be tricky to coordinate at first, but with
practice it becomes easier and instinctual.
Start out slowly and strive to completely
silence the strings after each strum while
keeping your movements small. You can
then apply these same muting techniques to
the tight rhythm part played during the first
five bars of the solo (bars 50-54).
“ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY”
Joe Walsh
WITH HIS GIBSON
Les Paul tuned
to open E (low to
high: E, B, E, G#, B,
E), beloved classic
rock icon Joe Walsh
serves up a hearty
helping of his taste-
ful, highly polished slide guitar work on this
sultry blues-rock shuffle.
With his trademark laid-back swagger,
Walsh is in no hurry to tell his story in this
five-minute track, taking three slide solos,
plus an eight-bar mood-setting introduc-
tory one up front, at section B. The guitarist
bases most of his slide licks around the 12th-
fret E chord shape and also relies heavily
on notes from the parallel D shape at the
10th fret for additional melody notes, which
works perfectly with the underlying D/E - E
chord progression. Notice the way Walsh
will swoop up or down between these two
frets to craft bluesy melodies, using quick,
decorative grace-note slides from above or
below. Also note how he’ll sometimes ven-
ture away from this familiar “comfort zone”
to expand his range of notes and phrasing
options, as in bars 34, 42, 43, 82 and 83. For
his third solo, beginning at section H, Walsh
starts out playing around the A chord shape
up at the 17th fret, to match the accompani-
ment’s momentary move to the IV (four)
chord, A, before retuning to the I (one), E.
Bear in mind that, when playing with a
slide, it’s essential, for good intonation (play-
ing in tune), to position it directly over the
fretwire, not behind it, as you would other-
wise do when fretting with a finger. Doing
so with a slide would make each note sound
unpleasantly flat. Another key technique
to strive to master is acquiring a pleasing,
vocal-like slide vibrato, which should be
wide and even, and not too fast. Zero in on
the targeted note first, then add the vibrato
by loosely wiggling the slide back and forth
to both the left and to the right, about the
distance of one fret in either direction away
from the target fret. Keep your wrist loose
and relaxed, with the slide “floating” on the
strings and your thumb planted on the back
of the neck. Also, consider wearing the slide
on your 3rd finger and lightly laying your
1st and 2nd fingers across the strings behind
the slide, to suppress unwanted sounds on
the strings you’re not playing on.
guitarworld.com 85
TRANSCRIPTIONS

“RISE”
Extreme
As heard on SIX
Words and Music by GARY CHERONE, NUNO BETTENCOURT and JORDAN FERRIERA • Transcribed by JEFF PERRIN

“RISE”
WORDS AND MUSIC BY GARY CHERONE, NUNO BETTENCOURT AND JORDAN FERREIRA.
86 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023 COPYRIGHT © 2023 SLIPKID MUSIC, BRUNO GRAFFITTI MUSIC AND INTERSTELLAR SOUL.
ALL RIGHTS FOR SLIPKID MUSIC ADMINISTERED WORLDWIDE BY KOBALT SONGS MUSIC PUBLISHING.
ALL RIGHTS FOR BRUNO GRAFFITTI MUSIC ADMINISTERED WORLDWIDE EX. JAPAN BY SONGS OF KOBALT MUSIC PUBLISHING.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION.
REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.
guitarworld.com 87
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 “ RISE”

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 “ RISE”

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TRANSCRIPTIONS

“YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG”

AC/DC
As heard on BACK IN BLACK
Words and Music by MALCOLM MITCHELL YOUNG, ANGUS MCKINNON YOUNG and BRIAN JOHNSON • Transcribed by ANDY ALEDORT

“YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG”

94 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023 WORDS AND MUSIC BY MALCOLM MITCHELL YOUNG, ANGUS MCKINNON YOUNG AND BRIAN JOHNSON.
COPYRIGHT © 1980 AUSTRALIAN MUSIC CORPORATION PTY LTD.
ALL RIGHTS ADMINISTERED BY SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING (US) LLC, 424 CHURCH STREET, SUITE 1200, NASHVILLE, TN 37219.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. USED BY PERMISSION.REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.
guitarworld.com 95
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“YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG”

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TRANSCRIPTIONS

“ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY”

Joe Walsh
As heard on THE SMOKER YOU DRINK, THE PLAYER YOU GET
Words and Music by JOE WALSH, JOE VITALE, KEN PASSARELLI and ROCKE GRACE • Transcribed by JESSE GRESS

“ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY”

WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOE WALSH, JOE VITALE, KEN PASSARELLI AND ROCKE GRACE
100 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023 COPYRIGHT © 1973 SONGS OF UNIVERSAL, INC., BARNSTORM MUSIC AND BELKIN MUSIC COMPANY. COPYRIGHT RENEWED.
ALL RIGHTS CONTROLLED AND ADMINISTERED BY SONGS OF UNIVERSAL, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.
guitarworld.com 101
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“ ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY”

guitarworld.com 105
POWER TOOLS BY CHRIS GILL
1965-69 FENDER ELECTRIC XII
CATEGORY: SOLIDBODY ELECTRIC GUITAR
T
HE RICKENBACKER 360/12
is the most famous and pop-
ular electric 12-string guitar,
thanks to its use by George Har-
rison on more than a dozen Beatles songs
like “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Can’t Buy Me
Love” and “Ticket to Ride” and by Roger
McGuinn (who actually used a Ric 370/12)
on “Mr. Tambourine Man.” But although
the Fender Electric XII 12-string electric
is not as well known, its distinctive sound
may arguably be equally as familiar, thanks
to its use by Jimmy Page on Led Zeppe-
lin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” “When the
Levee Breaks” and other songs as well as
on “Beck’s Bolero” with Jeff Beck, by Pete
Townshend on several tracks of the Who’s
Tommy, by Eric Clapton on Cream’s “Dance
the Night Away” from Disraeli Gears and
D AV I D R E D F E R N / R E D F E R N S ( W I N T E R )
by Wrecking Crew studio guitarist Billy
Strange on the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.”
A Fender Electric XII even made a notable
appearance on the Woodstock stage, played
by Johnny Winter (albeit strung with six
strings instead of the customary 12) as seen
in the film.
Whereas most of the electric 12-string
guitars introduced in the Sixties were basi-
cally six-string models with 12-string necks,
the Fender Electric XII was the first model
designed from the ground up as a 12-string.
O L LY C U R T I S ( G U I TA R )
A notable feature is its bridge, which fea-
tures 12 individually adjustable saddles to
facilitate perfect intonation for each string,
rather than having different-gauge strings
110 GU I TA R WOR L D • AUGUST 2023
share a saddle like they did on other mod-
els. For obvious reasons, the Electric XII
was the first Fender model to feature tuners
on both sides of the headstock, and its head-
stock has an unusual droopy “hockey stick”
design.
The split single-coil pickup design,
which Fender originally conceived for the
Precision Bass in 1957, employs two half-
size coils arranged in an offset pattern,
with one coil magnetized south and wound
clockwise while the other coil was magne-
tized north and wound counterclockwise.
This provided single-coils with hum can-
celing as well as a wider overall magnetic
field. These pickups sound great (just lis-
ten to Winter’s tone at Woodstock to hear
how they sound on six strings) and may be
the most under-rated pickups Fender ever
produced. The Electric XII also featured a
four-way rotary switch that provides neck,
both, bridge and both out-of-phase settings
that provide an excellent variety of jingle
and jangle tones.
The Electric XII model is also notable
for being the last guitar that Leo Fender
designed before he left the company when
CBS purchased Fender. The model was not
a great commercial success, and it appears
that most were built in 1965 and ’66. The
standard model had a three-color sun-
burst, but Fender also made a consider-
able number of Electric XII guitars with
custom color finishes. The neck originally
had an unbound fretboard with dot inlays,
Johnny Winter plays a
Fender Electric XII (strung
with only six strings)
at the Newport Jazz
Festival, July 6, 1969
[left] A 1965 Fender
Electric XII
which soon changed to a bound fretboard
with block inlays. The model remained in
the Fender catalog until 1969, and after its
discontinuation leftover parts were used
to build the short-lived six-string Custom/
Maverick model.
SUGGESTED RIGS
JIMMY PAGE “STAIRWAY”
Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100
into Marshall 1960B cabinet with
Celestion G12H30 speakers
TIP: While a crystalline clean tone
seems like the way to go, the Fender
Electric XII actually sounds great with
a slightly overdriven edge. Push up the
volume until it just reaches the brink
of overdrive.
ULTIMATE JANGLE
Fender Twin Reverb
TIP: If you prefer a totally clean
12-string tone, it’s hard to beat the
pairing of an Electric XII with a Twin
Reverb, with the reverb dialed to 3 or
4. The out-of-phase setting works very
well for pseudo acoustic-electric tones
in a band with other electric guitars.
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