Innehållsförteckning för May 2025 från Guitar World

IT ADMITTEDLY DOESN’T do a lot of good to try to “sell” the issue here on the Woodshed page. I mean, by the time you’ve reached this section of the magazine, you’ve theoretically already bought the issue, pulled it out of your mailbox or picked it up at your (very cool) dentist’s office before enjoying another (very uncool) root canal. Still, I’m gonna say it: Our cover story is just as fascinating as the wholly unexpected musical partnership between Bob Weir and John Mayer. There’s so much to find interesting — so many things to latch onto — from the ins and outs of the “Dead Spec” version of Mayer’s PRS Silver Sky to the audiovisual wonders on display at Sphere in Las Vegas (which I haven’t yet experienced —…

THOUGH HE’S FAST approaching his 70s, Joe Satriani remains one of the busiest guitar players in the game. There’s a new live album out, documenting the original G3 lineup’s sold-out reunion tour of last year. He’s been paying tribute to Eddie Van Halen in the ongoing Best of All Worlds tour alongside Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham. And there’s the recently announced Surfing with the Hydra tour with the Satch/Vai band, where they’ll be performing new original music written together and solo tracks as one group for the very first time. For a six-stringer who released his debut EP way back in 1984 and now has 18 solo full-lengths under his belt, plus two albums with Chickenfoot and all kinds of collaborations stretching across the last four decades,…

FIRST WITH PRINCE 1999 (1982) FIRST SOLO ALBUM Oneman (1999) DURING THE MID Seventies, in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the big music buzz was on Dez Dickerson. The hotshot guitarist and singer had been gigging as a pro since his high school days — his parents even wrote notes to his teachers so he could travel to out-of-town shows. “People compared me to Hendrix,” he says. “I had a power trio and I did the whole thing. I was building a following, and I was sure I was gonna make it.” As the decade wore on, another young Minneapolis-based musician was quietly making a name for himself. Dickerson hadn’t formally crossed paths with Prince Rogers Nelson, but he was aware of him, particularly once…

GEORDIE WALKER, KNOWN for his steadfast role as the guitarist for Killing Joke throughout the band’s entire existence from 1979 until his death in 2023, was far from a household name in the shallow, fickle world of pop music and rock ’n’ roll fandom. Hell, his name barely seems to register within the greater guitar player community except among a discerning and knowing few. However, his impact, influence and respect is much more far-reaching than most guitarists realize, spanning several generations of players. Jeff Beck, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Helmet, Fear Factory and Prong recorded covers of Killing Joke songs. Jimmy Page was a huge fan. Tool, Soundgarden, industrial titans Trent Reznor and Al Jourgensen, neo-psychedelic icons guitarist Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) and singer Tim Burgess (Charlatans) and numerous others…

HELLO, AND WELCOME to my new column for Guitar World! Over the next few months, I will demonstrate many of the approaches I use to craft guitar parts. I’d like to start by addressing rhythm guitar playing and what I believe should be the mindset of a rhythm guitarist: why you should care, why it matters, and how you can make it fun! For some players, their approach to rhythm guitar is, “Oh, someone else gets to do all of the fun stuff while I do this!” I suppose one could feel that way because they’re not exploring all of the available creative options. When it comes to rhythm playing, my mindset is the momentum of the song and considering whether I need to add something harmonic and/or melodic. Oftentimes,…

THIS MONTH, I’D like to delve deeper into what I feel are the advantages of fingerpicking. There are so many sounds to be discovered when one gets away from using a pick. I like to incorporate “chicken pickin’” sounds, as well as snapping the strings against the fretboard, to give my playing some “snap, crackle and pop.” To me, an important determining factor in the sound and feel of a riff is which pick-hand finger I use to attack certain notes. For example, FIGURE 1 shows a bluesy riff based on the G minor pentatonic scale (G, Bb, C, D, F). I begin on a high Bb note, which I pick with my index finger, snapping the string against the fretboard while bending it up a half step to B.…

Jeff Beck still gets ’em thinking Upon excavating the March 2025 issue from beneath the pile of envelopes in the mailbox, which I had neglected for many weeks, my brain took delight in seeing Jeff Beck on the cover and happily exclaimed, “Things are looking up!” Request: I wonder if there’s a chance in the (guitar) world that we can get a close-up photo of his 2022 pedalboard featured on page 63? Beautiful shot of the ’54 Les Paul (Oxblood), BTW. Wraparound tailpieces (no bridge) confound me, only having seen them in pictures and never really researching. My bad there, but if you’re ever lacking for a little something to fill space, a piece (pun might be intended) pertaining to the subject would be interesting. No intonation adjustment? String height?…

GUITARIST MARTY FRIEDMAN GUITAR 1991 JACKSON FIREBIRD CUSTOM SHOP PROTOTYPE GW COVER DATE DECEMBER 1991 THIS INTERVIEW JANUARY 2025 PHOTOGRAPHER NEAL PRESTON Q: When and where did you buy this guitar? I’m sure I was somewhere on the road, right around the time of the photo shoot, when Jackson presented me with several guitars of very cool shapes. It might have been a prototype. Q: What drew you to it? I loved the shape. Jackson should get more recognition for being the first top-tier company to make guitars of radically “heavy metal”-looking shapes way before anyone else did. Arguably, they were the only top-tier company making them for a very long time. Before Jackson, all the weird-shaped guitars were sonically and visually suited to other genres, like surf music or…

WHEN ECHO & the Bunnymen released their fourth album, Ocean Rain, in the spring of 1984, it received decidedly mixed reactions. The dramatic change in the band’s sound — which included the use of a 35-piece French orchestra — was a big factor, although the Liverpool four-piece had already hinted at the shape of sounds to come with “The Killing Moon,” the album’s lead-off single. Porcupine, which came out the previous year, had scored the band their biggest success to date, and there was an expectation that the new record would offer more of the same. What the band delivered, though, was a surprisingly ambitious collection of songs rooted in Sixties pop, but with a distinctly European bent. The passing of time brings perspective, however, and the subsequent 40-plus years…

IN 2021, LONGTIME Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith and nomadic virtuoso Richie Kotzen came together to form the aptly titled Smith/Kotzen, a blues-based duo showcasing the two veteran guitarists’ chops and vocals. The self-titled record was a surprise hit, leading to further collaboration by way of album number two, Black Light/White Noise, the title of which reportedly has nothing to do with their idiosyncrasies, though Kotzen admits that “would be a really cool spin.” According to Smith, Black Light/White Noise is “more cohesive” than Smith/ Kotzen, which is interesting as their process is decidedly separate — until it’s not. “I tend to do guitars on my own,” he says. “Richie will disappear upstairs and have a coffee, and I’ll do a solo. Sometimes, Richie will come down, and I’ll sit…

TAKE A LATE-NIGHT walk down the street known as Bowery in New York City, stop outside the John Varvatos fashion boutique at 315, and with a little imagination, you can still hear it. The subterranean clatter of drums, the furious pelt of cheap guitars and, every few minutes, another rabble-rousing count-in (“1-2-3-4!”). Depending on the sharpness of your mind’s eye, you might even see the leather and curled lips of the bands and punters flowing into the fabled CBGB club that stood on this spot in the late Seventies. It’s all gone now, of course (along with many of the greatest exponents of punk and its open-minded offspring, new wave). But you couldn’t ask for a better chronicler of that cultural flashpoint than Jerry Harrison. Cutting his teeth with proto-punks…

IN ADDITION TO being recognized as a trailblazing guitarist, Tosin Abasi has established himself as a savvy entrepreneur. Like John Petrucci and Joe Satriani before him, Abasi has cultivated a signature range of guitars and pedals that cater to his unique style and curated tones under the name Abasi Concepts, an LA-based company he co-owns with COO Ivan Chopik. While his brand is mostly recognized for its guitar models, Abasi has decided to release his first signature compressor pedal, the Micro-Aggressor. The Micro-Aggressor stands out as a boost-style compressor with two discrete parallel compression circuits built in. And if that sounds unusual, it is. But once you understand how both seamlessly interact to enhance your signal and infuse your attack, you may never want to live without this tone-shaping compressor…

THIS MONTH’S COLUMN is dedicated to the legendary Irish blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, whose last name I recently learned should be pronounced, “Galla-her.” I’ve been saying it wrong for my whole life! Later this year, on July 1, 2 and 3, I will be playing a three-night tribute to Rory at The Marquee in his hometown of Cork, Ireland. The shows are sanctioned by Peter Aikin, who was Rory’s promoter, as well as Rory’s brother Donal and Donal’s son, Daniel. While I was preparing for these shows, it was politely mentioned to me the proper pronunciation of Rory’s last name. During rehearsals, the default for the tunes we’d be playing was Rory’s landmark double live album, Irish Tour ’74. The songs we focused on were “Bullfrog Blues,” “Cradle Rock,” “Who’s…

“PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” Ghost GHOST’S UNHOLY FATHER Tobias Forge and his band of Nameless Ghouls did this epic Iron Maiden metal classic musical justice with their faithful, tributary cover, nailing all of the original arrangement’s ensemble guitar and bass parts to a T. They also put their own creative stamp on their reading of the song, with some suped-up original lead solo licks and a crisper, more modern-sounding production, in the process breathing new life into the song and helping to introduce it and Iron Maiden’s glorious legacy to a new generation. The first two minutes of the song feature intense and tightly articulated and synchronized triplet riffs, which offer a great study in harmonizing single notes in diatonic 3rds within the E natural minor scale, also known as…

As heard on 1962-1966 “PAPERBACK WRITER” WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN LENNON AND PAUL MCCARTNEY.COPYRIGHT © 1966 SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING (US) LLC AND MPL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. IN THE UNITED STATES. COPYRIGHT RENEWED. ALL RIGHTS FOR THE WORLD EXCLUDING THE UNITED STATES ADMINISTERED BY SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING (US) LLC, 424 CHURCH STREET, SUITE 1200, NASHVILLE, TN 37219.INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.…

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 screenshot of the image. And (obviously...), please remember to include your name! DEFENDERS of the Faith Jack Zhou AGE: 29 HOMETOWN: Vancouver, Canada GUITARS: Ibanez RG550 Genesis, Ibanez RG7620, Ibanez RG1XXV, Ibanez Premium RG870QMZ, Ibanez IC420 SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Racer X “Technical Difficulties,” Joe Stump “Speed Metal Messiah,” JS Bach “Prelude No. 5 in D Major BWV 850” GEAR I WANT MOST: Ibanez PGM301, Ibanez RG760, Ibanez Universe UV7PWH James Swartz AGE: 63 HOMETOWN: Port Townsend, WA GUITARS: Kiesel Vader 6, Kiesel Osiris 6 and 6X, Ibanez JS1CR, Ibanez JS2450, Gibson Les Paul Custom,…

BORN 11 YEARS ago out of an experiment to combine Norwegian black metal and American slave songs, Zeal & Ardor has developed its inchoate, one-man demos into a cohesive, multidimensional band that integrates alt-rock, industrial, pop, math-metal, classical and indie-rock. Greif, the group’s fourth full-length, is an offbeat, schizophrenic and sometimes unnerving collection of occult-themed songs united by a desire to expand, evolve and consume like a virus. “The tendrils have grown in every which direction,” agrees racially mixed Swiss-American founder Manuel Gagneux. “What can I say? I’m easily bored. I always want to elbow my way out to have more room to explore.” To that end, Gagneux invited his bandmates (lead guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Lukas Kurmann and drummer Marco Von Allmen) to contribute original ideas to the finished…

ORIANTHI’S DEBUT SOLO album, 2005’s Violet Journey, immediately put the guitar community on notice that a major new talent had arrived. Her unique blend of blues-fueled virtuosity turned heads from the very start, leading to countless endorsements from major-league gear manufacturers. The subsequent years have seen her release four more highly acclaimed albums; in fact, we caught up with her as she was completing work on her sixth album, which is due sometime this year. This means Guitar World managed to find a spot in Ori’s hectic schedule to discuss the three guitars that have meant the most to her over her career. “I’ve got so many guitars that mean a lot to me for all kinds of reasons, but I guess — when push comes to shove — these…

MIKE MATTHEWS DOESN’T play guitar. He’s a businessman. Always has been, always will be. Business opened for Matthews in his hometown — the Bronx, New York — circa 1946, when he was just five years old. As a child, he’d stop at nothing in his feverish pursuit for profit, collecting golf balls from New York City sewers with a coat hanger and sneaking out to the lake to collect fishing lures during his time at summer camp. After high school, Matthews attended Cornell University and, at the request of his father, majored in electrical engineering. A product of the Great Depression, Matthews’ father insisted that he pick something that would ensure financial stability for his son. Sure enough, after graduation, IBM came knocking and offered Matthews a job. Still, his…

WHEN NORMAN HARRIS founded Norman’s Rare Guitars in 1975, he had no idea that his little shop would become an institution in vintage guitars. And that’s mostly because, back in the day, people didn’t really care about the “vintage” concept. “The word ‘vintage’ wasn’t even used,” Harris tells Guitar World. That makes sense, as the beloved bursts, Strats and semi-hollows we’ve come to love weren’t even very old; it would be like referring to your 2004 Toyota Camry as “vintage” in, say, 2023. “They were just used guitars,” Harris says. With the help of Harris, the perception of these instruments began to change. “People think I just made up the prices,” Harris says. “But it was always based on my knowledge and what I and other stores had to pay…

LAST MONTH, I demonstrated a Jimmy Reed-inspired eight-bar rhythm figure played with a funky, syncopated half-time feel, moving from the I (one) chord, A7, to the V (five) chord, E7, and back to the I, A7. As I almost always do, I perform the part with fingerpicking, using a thumbpick in conjunction with my first two fingers. I’d now like to demonstrate an improvised solo over this eight-bar rhythm part. This eight-bar form consists of two bars of A7, followed by four bars of E7, and then wraps up with two bars of A7. Very often, I like to “follow” the chords when soloing; this means that I base my lines on scales and/or arpeggios that relate directly to each of the chords in the progression. FIGURE 1 presents an…

As heard on HIGHER “WHITE HORSE” WORDS AND MUSIC BY DANIEL WILSON AND CHRIS STAPLETON. COPYRIGHT © 2013, 2023 SONGS FROM THE ALCOVE MUSIC, WC MUSIC CORP., SON OF A MINER SONGS, HOUSE OF SEA GAYLE MUSIC/ASCAP AND SPIRIT NASHVILLE TWO CRESCENDO. ALL RIGHTS FOR SONGS FROM THE ALCOVE MUSIC ADMINISTERED BY BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (US) LLC.ALL RIGHTS FOR SON OF A MINER SONGS ADMINISTERED BY WC MUSIC CORP.ALL RIGHTS FOR HOUSE OF SEA GAYLE MUSIC ADMINISTERED BY CLEARBOX RIGHTS.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.…