How’s it going for you this week? I have a lot of awesome guitar stuff to share with you in this issue, including one of the best lessons on CAGED I’ve ever watched, new music from Joe Satriani, the re-launch of a classic pedal company, and lots more. Let’s get into it!

Joe Satriani “Sahara” (Official Music Video) - Satch is back with “Sahara”, the first single off his upcoming album ‘The Elephants of Mars’. The playing is classic Satriani, with lots of whammy, smooth legato, and more. He’s joined by Kenny Aronoff on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Eric Caudieux on percussion and keys. Really looking forward to hearing the rest of what Satch has in store for this album!
Tommy Emmanuel l The Endless Road Film Fundraising - Tommy is without a doubt one of the greatest guitar players we’ve ever seen. Check out this new trailer for a documentary about his life, called ‘The Endless Road’. There is a lofty goal of $200,000 for the film, and you can support the project by buying merch or donating on GoFundMe.
The Hydra: presented by Steve Vai and Ibanez - Steve Vai and Ibanez have truly outdone themselves with the Hydra - a wacky, 3 necked guitar/bass, with all sorts of craziness under the hood. I can’t do it justice in words, so go check the video out. Later in the week, Vai sat down for Premier Guitar’s “The Big 5” series, to talk favorite guitars, and how his “secret weapon is the same as everyone else’s”. You can check that out here.
Gibson Relaunches Maestro Effects Pedals w/ The Maestro Original Collection | Tone Report Demo - Gibson has re-launched the classic Maestro effects pedal company. And they’ve done it not with just distortion and fuzz, but with a delay and chorus too. Reverb put all 5 pedals through their paces, and got some cool sounds out of them. Plus I really dig their vintage casing/light up logo.
The CAGED system explained - Shared in our Discord chat this week, this has to be one of the best and clearest videos on CAGED that I’ve ever watched. It’s from the site PickUpMusic, which has also been getting good reviews from our community.
How to improve your guitar skills… Just Listen to the music! WS Ep. 85 - Andy Wood uses “Listen to the Music” from the Doobie Brothers to show us how to create arrangements for guitar. Andy has created all sorts of great arrangements over the years, so I loved hearing how his mind works when he’s laying these songs out, and what he’s listening for.
3 Mistakes Rhythm Guitarists Make with Cory Wong - Cory sits down with Sweetwater to talk about common mistakes that rhythm players make. He talks about playing less notes, dynamics and more.
Sweetwater Factory Tour! (Feat. Ben Eller) - And speaking of Sweetwater, I loved this video where Ben Eller and Fluff from Riffs, Beards and Gear toured the Sweetwater factory. Is this what gear heaven looks like?
How to Start Learning Music Theory - Kiko Loureiro from Megadeth talks all about really basic music theory concepts. If your’e just getting started, use Kiko’s octave approach, and see how much you can do with only 1 note! Kiko has been putting out some great videos on his channel lately, so make sure to check out his back catalog as well.
Meet Kayla Kent, the YouTuber channeling the spirit of Dimebag Darrell with her eerily accurate Pantera covers - These might be the happiest Pantera covers I’ve ever seen. More power to Kayla Kent, and anyone who keeps the legacy of Dimebag Darrell alive!
Broaden your rock ‘n’ roll rhythm guitar horizons with Greg Koch’s jam-style lesson - Guitar World has put up one of Greg Koch’s lessons right out of the magazine, on how to use a simple 1,4,5 progression and spice it up a little. If you’re just getting into how to play rhythm guitar, this is a great lesson to check out.
Friends Mourn “Genius” Guitar Amplifier Designer Howard Alexander Dumble | GuitarPlayer - We lost an absolute legend when Howard Dumble passed earlier this week. His amps have been used by rock and blues afficionados for years - guys like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Clapton, Robben Ford, Santana, and many, many more. In this GP post, a handful of guitarists share their insight into what a genius Dumble really was.
7 easy tips that will help you write your next song - One thing I want to get back to more this year is writing songs again. Guitar World breaks down 7 tips, from using a looper, to putting time constraints on yourself, and even writing for other instruments to help get more songs finished this year.
DADGAD | Why EVERYONE Should Know It - Another thing you might want to try to help with songwriting is changing up your tuning. Rhett Shull makes the case why everyone should know DADGAD, and all the cool things it opens up for us.
“I’m not comparing ourselves to Lennon and McCartney but that’s how Dean and I worked” – Tom Bukovac and Dean DeLeo on their long-distance collaborative album Trip the Witch - I’ve raved about Tom Bukovac in the past, and most recently his solo album ‘Plexi Soul’. What I didn’t know was that he also teamed up with Dean DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots, and put out an amazing album with the band Trip the Witch. If you haven’t checked out their new album yet, you have to give it a listen! Then check out this great interview in Guitar.com.
Estate of Emergency: Jimi Hendrix Estate Preemptively Sues Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell’s Heirs - And finally, this week we learned that the estate of Jimi Hendrix is preemptively suing the estates of his past bandmates - Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. Redding and Mitchell’s heirs want to cash in on the billions of streams that they never were paid for, while the Hendrix estate says the two bandmates signed away those rights back in the 70’s. We’ll have to wait and see what the judge decides in this one, but I’d like to know your opinion. Are Mitch and Noel owed these royalties or not?