It’s been quieter than usual in the guitar world this week, but I still have a bunch of fun guitar stuff to share with you. As we dip into the colder months (at least here on the east coast), I feel like warming up with a nice cup of coffee and your guitar is the perfect way to spend time learning and creating. Not to mention, if you want to hang out with other like minded guitarists, you should head over to our Discord chat, where we’re always talking about guitar videos, gear, music recommendations and so much more (you can check out an invite at the bottom of this email).

And if you want a behind the scenes look at the stories inside this newsletter, you should join me on Chasing Sound Live! You can sub and be alerted of livestreams here. I just did one yesterday, and had a great time talking about all sorts of guitar stories. I talked about giving Epiphone some credit with these new Slash and Joe Bonamassa guitars that are all priced under a grand. I’m especially interested in the Bonamassa “Lazarus” LP Standard. Check out Joe talking about it here. Alright, let’s get into this week’s links!

Eddie Van Halen in his own words: “I locked myself in my room, played guitar, wrote songs, and hoped to God I got somewhere’’ - It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 1 year since we lost Eddie Van Halen. Time has been a really strange thing over the past couple of years. Guitar World put together a bunch of interesting interview snippets from a wide range of interviews with Eddie over the years. EVH talks about everything from his hopes and dreams to how “Eruption” came to be, and lots more.
Long Distance: Paul Calls Eric Johnson - Paul Reed Smith’s Long Distance interview show is back! PRS sits down with Eric Johnson to talk about Eric’s tone, how to get into it while playing live, and more. Plus, there’s a special guest at the top of the episode!
How to Find the Fuzz Pedal You Need - Josh from JHS talks all about fuzz, and how to find the best fuzz for you. He goes over different transistor fuzzes, octave fuzzes, what bias controls are all about, and where to place it in the chain. Great video if you’re in the market for a fuzz pedal.
What Makes A Great Guitar - Chris Buck goes over the essential things every great guitar has. One of the best things? It’s for sure not always price that indicates whether an instrument will be good or not (see my Epiphone link in the intro).
The Google Tuner - Need a quick tuner no matter where you are? No matter whether you have a computer or phone by your side, you can now simply type google tuner into Google’s search bar, and voila, a tuner will appear. By the way, a similar thing works by typing “metronome”.
What To Practice On Guitar To Get Better (Even if you only have 5 minutes) - I’m always interested in different practice “hacks”, and I think that even if you have only a short time each day, practice time is better spent daily than just on the weekends. That’s why you should check out this fun video from David Wallimann where he talks about what to practice, even if you only have 5 minutes. Now, that’s not just 5 minutes and you’re done for the day…no, you should try and get a bunch of these 5 minute blocks throughout your day! And if you have more time, the topics that David talks about can be expanded to fit what time you have.
This Guitar Changed My Life - Sometimes a guitar haunts you, until you absolutely, MUST have it…and every once in a while, it might just change your life. I loved listening to Rhett Shull’s story about his Novo Serus J. Do you have a guitar like this in your collection? Is there a guitar that’s been on your radar for a long time that you’re working on getting?
How To Start… my honest opinion - From one inspiring video to the next, Mary Spender answers a question she gets often - “how do i start?” If you’re looking for a little kickstart to your social media/content creation career, this is a great video to check out.
ESP Guitars: Louder Than Life Festival (Louisville, KY, Sep 23–27, 2021) - If you’re a fan of heavy music and ESP Guitars, you need to check out this vid. ESP was a big sponsor for the Louder Than Life festival in Kentucky. The video features various bands riffing out on ESP guitars, and a really cool look at their All Access Zone tent, with some stellar ESP axes.
Per Nilsson Demos the .strandberg* Boden Classic NX Series - Speaking of cool guitars, I was mesmerized by Per Nilsson demoing the new Strandberg Boden Classic NX. Per filled in with Meshuggah for a while, and the funny thing is that he plays the least Meshuggah-esque thing on this guitar, but it sounds phenomenal.
The Official Peter Frampton Reverb Artist Shop - We’re not done with gear yet! Peter Frampton is coming alive…on Reverb. Starting very soon, Frampton is putting up all sorts of gear up for sale. In the video he features a couple of Marshalls and Fender amps, some beautiful electrics and acoustics and a bunch more. I’m excited to see what other cool gear he’ll have on the store.
Al Joseph’s Brand New Signature “KIESEL SCB7X STEALTH” - Al Joseph is one of my favorite guitar teachers (showing up on JTC Guitar, etc.) Now he has his own SCB7X Stealth Kiesel signature guitar. In addition to being a phenomenal player, whose melodic ideas I love, his tone is always on point. I’m really looking forward to trying this guitar out in the future.
John Mayer shares his advice on how to write the perfect guitar solo - John Mayer gives some helpful advice on creating a great guitar solo. He’s had to learn a lot fitting in with Dead & Company, but at the same time he also gives a nod to other great guitarists who are masters of the craft - namely Jerry Garcia and Doyle Bramhall II. Check out his tips about “rollercoasters”, “ramps” and “sticking the landing”.
Steve Vai announces Vai Academy 6.0, featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Guthrie Govan, Yvette Young, Billy Sheehan and more - We talked about Steve Vai announcing a tour last email, and this email I can let you know about Vai Academy 6.0, which is Vai’s incredible guitar academy. GW reports on the amazing lineup Vai will have with him - “Nuno Bettencourt, Guthrie Govan, Larry Mitchell and Yvette Young, acoustic guitar maestros Tommy Emmanuel and Joe Robinson, and bass guitar wizard Billy Sheehan.”
Fender partners with Lexus for extremely limited Custom Shop Stratocaster - Are you into both fancy cars and guitars? Then you might be interested in the brand new, limited (100 guitar) run of Fender Lexus LC Strats. There’s a lot of interesting features here - a Richlite fretboard, a carbon fiber pickguard, knobs that are similar to a Levinson stereo, and in a bit of magic, a wild looking blue finish, made of colorless material that actually has no blue in it at all. What do you think of this guitar?
“I’m literally made of metal now” - And finally, is Richie Faulkner now the most metal guitarist of all time?