Recently, a lineup of legendary musicians and people from the music business sat down to discuss the 20th anniversary of the Download festival with The Guardian. Among them was none other than Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett who recalled some of his great moments from the band performing at the festival. In particular, the focus was on that one performance from back in 2004 when Metallica’s Lars Ulrich was unable to perform. This wasn’t good news. However, Metallica got help from then-Slayer’s Dave Lombardo and then-Slipknot’s Joey Jordison. And, most importantly, Pantera’s Dimebag Dar ..read more

A few years ago, Nita Strauss spoke up about acoustic guitars, revealing that she actually doesn’t own one. Even though it was a bit of a shock, it kind of made some sense since she’s so focused on electric guitar-based music. However, in a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, Nita revealed that she actually owns one now. Asked about the matter and whether she used an acoustic guitar on her upcoming solo album “Call of the Void,” she said: “I do have one now. I don’t believe I used one on the record, but actually, I did use one on the Demi [Lovato] tour. So I do own a really nice Ibanez acousti ..read more

Rush guitar player and an all-around progressive rock legend Alex Lifeson recently appeared in a new interview with Gibson. Being one of the most famous Gibson players himself, Alex discussed his earliest encounters with the famous guitar brand and how he eventually ended up getting an ES-335 as well as his first Les Paul Deluxe. Looking back at his very beginnings, Alex sad (transcribed by Killer Guitar Rigs): “When I started playing guitar, I was 12 years old. I wanted to play guitar because I just thought it was such a cool instrument, I thought it sounded really cool. You know, when I list ..read more

Everything changed for young Dante Frisiello when he switched over from being Dave Weiner’s guitar tech to becoming a backing member of Steve Vai’s band. When Weiner parted ways with Vai after many years of working together, Frisiello finally made his live debut with the legendary guitar virtuoso with a super-stressful first gig. And now, in a new interview with Guitar World, Frisiello explains in more detail what it’s like to work as Steve’s backing guitar player. When reminded that it “must be very inspiring to have the opportunity to play alongside Steve each night,” Frisiello said: “Oh, ma ..read more

Remembering his close friendship with the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger looked back on what they thought of his band. While appearing on the 979GRD radio, Kroeger talked about the brothers and how they, as members of Pantera, one of the most impactful metal bands of all time, defended Nickelback from all the hate that they got back in the day. He explained (transcript via Blabbermouth): “Vinnie Paul and Dimebag used to say all the time. When the metal community would come down on those guys and be, like, ‘What’s with this love for Nickelback ..read more

Recently, Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Brian Haner Jr., better known as Synyster Gates, sat down for an interview with Metal Sucks. Also joined by the band’s frontman M. Shadows, the two discussed their new album “Life Is but a Dream…” which is officially out as of today, June 2. With the record’s two singles released earlier this year, as well as one song being premiered live, the fans got a taste of the album. And although the opinions and reactions varied, one thing was certain — it was different compared to their previous works. This was obvious from the very moment they released “Nobody ..read more

In his recent column for Guitar World, Joe Bonamassa weighed in on one of the most important discussions ever in the world of guitar — maple vs. rosewood fingerboards on Fender Stratocasters. Now, while some may argue that the type of wood makes very little to no difference in tone, Bonamassa argues that maple fingerboards come with some important sonic advantages, at least from his perspective. He explains: “Strats were first offered with maple fingerboards, and, starting in 1959, the guitars were available with rosewood fingerboards. One can argue that a rosewood ’board results in more of a ..read more

During his recent chat with Ultimate Guitar, Judas Priest axeman Richie Faulkner revealed that the Epiphone guitars that he’s using live are exactly the same as those that you could originally get in a guitar store. This means that they’ve not been, in any way, altered or modded, at least according to his words. These were, however, the limited edition run and were a bit more expensive than usual. You can find them used today but they’re getting a bit pricy on the used market. The talk came up when Faulkner was asked about his blue Gibson Flying V which can be seen in some of the videos of his ..read more

Legendary rock guitar player Snowy White spoke up on his preferences for Gibson Les Paul guitars and why he wasn’t always fond of Fender Stratocasters. Best known for his work with Thin Lizzy, Roger Waters, and occasional session gigs with Pink Floyd and the band’s individual members, White sat down with Guitar World to discuss the specifics of his 6-string tastes. When asked about his famous Goldtop Les Paul and how he got it, White replied: “I came upon the Goldtop while I was in Sweden with my first band, Train. I’d moved there when I was just 17, and at the time, I’d been playing a Strat t ..read more

Jazz fusion master Larry Carlton recently sat down with Guitar World to share a few details behind his Sire signature guitar models. Not that long ago, he partnered with the company for yet another signature model, the L7V single-cut. However, Carlton was, and still is, known as one of the most prominent Gibson ES-335 users. And not only that — he used to have a signature 335 model with the company. Asked how he switched from Gibson to Sire, he said: “In short, my contract with Gibson was up. And the truth is, the ES-335 model by Gibson is pretty inconsistent. You have to be careful about ..read more