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SHOCKING: Vertex effects - What They Never Told You

“I knew it was a better song than I’d written up to that point. I’d turned a corner as a songwriter. But in terms of thinking it was a hit, I had no idea”: How a pilgrimage to the crucible of rock ’n’ roll inspired the ’90s classic Walking In Memphis

“Me and the piano – that’s all I cared about”

MusicRadar

“I was just a new guy, probably number nine on the list”: Larry Carlton on his nerve-shredding debut session with Quincy Jones – and the time he was called to play guitar on a Michael Jackson smash-hit

Carlton's experiences are a great example of why a session player has to be ready for anything

MusicRadar

“Brings ideas to life that I’ve been refining for over 17 years as a professional rig builder”: Gator teams up with Vertex Effects for a one-stop “unified pedalboard system” –complete with ’boards, bags and fasteners

Made with durable material, in three different sizes with and without risers, direct collaboration leaves no stone unturned in the quest for the ultimate pedalboard

Guitar World

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“My hands were bleeding on my strings”: George Benson session player Corrado Rustici on what it took to record Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Rustici discusses working with producer to the stars, Narada Michael Walden, and how he was roped into Houston’s sessions

Guitar World

“They had the arrangement and I went, ‘Oh, this is finally my David Gilmour moment.’ The hair on my arms stood up”: Keith Scott on the making of Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – the record-breaking hit no one saw coming

Scott remembers how a “plaintive melody” from Michael Kamen intrigued Mutt Lange and was shaped into Bryan Adams' biggest, hit, giving Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves the anthem it needed

MusicRadar

“I was noticing I was having a hard time playing a simple thing. ‘Why am I having a problem playing this?’ I didn't know yet”: Phil Collins’ go-to guitarist, Daryl Stuermer, reveals his Parkinson’s diagnosis – and shares how it has impacted his playing

Genesis’ “permanent part-time” member reflects on the challenges he encountered during the band’s The Last Domino? Tour, which ultimately led to his diagnosis

Guitar World

“The first emotion was abject fear. Pick your poison, Michael Jackson, or Quincy Jones”: Session guitar great Dann Huff recalls his first time recording with the King of Pop

The Bad sessions featured a host of high-profile personnel and musicians – including bassist extraordinaire Nathan East

Guitar World

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“All Strats aren't equal… Then it’s how you smack it, or zing it or strum it… A lot of it is that too”: Session guitar legend Michael Thompson reveals how he created the famous clean tone that’s on countless '80s and '90s hits

In a new video Thompson tells the backstory of his playing for NSYNC, All-4-One, Monica, Gloria Estefan and more.

MusicRadar

“We’re looking at the movie going, ‘Urgh! It’s kinda cheesy. I don’t know if this is going to work”: How Chris Hayes wrote Huey Lewis and the News’ Back To The Future hit Power Of Love in his pyjamas

The Power Of Love scored Huey Lewis and the News their first number one and an Oscar nod but as Hayes remembers it he just “threw together” the guitar parts from the comfort of his couch

MusicRadar

“On Footloose, and Love Will Follow, I also use it. I do my impersonation of a guitarist”: How session veteran Nathan East managed to make his bass sound like a guitar on these Kenny Loggins hits

East discloses the nifty technique that bassists can use in lieu of adding actual guitars to a track

Guitar World

“There was a Deluxe Reverb already there, turned everything up to 10, plugged the guitar in and said, ‘Roll tape!’ And that was it”: How Skunk Baxter grabbed a six-pack, a $35 guitar and tracked Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff in one take

First-call session ace Jeff “Skunk” Baxter says the opportunity to track one of disco’s greatest anthems nearly passed him by, but when it arrived it went like a flash

MusicRadar

“I said, ‘Why don’t you just do all the guitars?’ He said, ‘I ain’t got the grease like you, mate!’”: Michael Thompson on living his “rock ’n’ roll fantasy” with Mutt Lange and Shania Twain – and the stories behind his biggest session hits

In a recent video interview, Thompson reflects on his career with Michael Bolton, Toni Braxton, Shania Twain and more, and talks about that time he showed Michael Jackson how an EBow worked

MusicRadar

“Quincy said, ‘Ritenour, this is Q. You gotta get down here right now!’”: Lee Ritenour reveals all about his top secret mission to save George Benson’s Give Me The Night solo

After an unfortunate recording accident in the analogue tape days, Quincy Jones needed an 11th hour rescue job and duly made a late night call to the only player who could help

MusicRadar

“It’s not the world’s greatest solo, but we spent hours on it”: Session legend Dann Huff recalls recording with Michael Jackson and Shania Twain – and begging Michael Bolton to let him play a solo with a Peavey acoustic

Huff recounts his session contributions during a new in-depth interview – and explains how his heavily-modded ‘64 Strat “cut through the synthesizers of the ‘80s” and put him in great demand

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

Can a $249 preamp/drive pedal and a few commonly found stompboxes nail the Dumble amp tones of classic SRV, Eric Johnson and John Mayer tracks?

Pull on a set of headphones and judge for yourself as Vertex Effects' Mason Marangella puts his Steel Stringer at the heart of an everyday signal chain and A/Bs it against the original tracks

Guitar World

“All I took to studios was a 335 and a Princeton Reverb”: Ray Parker Jr. on the ultra-rare Yamaha prototype he used on the Ghostbusters theme, and the helpful trick he learned from Grant Green, George Benson, and Melvin Sparks

In a career-spanning conversation with Vertex Effects, the maestro – whose discography includes work with Bill Withers, Chaka Kahn, and Stevie Wonder – confesses his love for mono, and reveals why he always keeps things simple in the studio

MusicRadar

“I’m afraid of ghosts! I’m not the guy who’s gonna do anything to a ghost”: Ray Parker Jr shares the story of how he had just three days to write the Ghostbusters theme with $50,000 on the line

When a session’s running late, in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call?

MusicRadar

“He likes first takes is what I learned from Stevie Wonder”: Watch session legend Dean Parks talk Innervisions, Steely Dan and Larry Carlton’s “magic” ES-335

The definition of guitar greatness is tracking live with Stevie Wonder and being asked mid-take to play a guitar solo on a fat-necked acoustic

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MusicRadar

Up close with the ultimate Dumble Overdrive Special Jason Isbell calls “possibly the greatest amplifier ever made"

An in-depth look with Vertex Effects at the coveted unlabelled serial number 22 Overdrive Special amp Isbell bought

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