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EXPLAINED: 2 | Vintage Vibes

“I’m gonna sneak some stuff in there to give it more personality”: Steve Morse injects Coldplay with some Deep Purple flair as he adds a guitar solo to mega-hit Fix You

The British pop rock giants don’t really do shred, so what happened when Morse got his hands on the track?

Guitar World

“Cat Stevens asked me to play on his recordings…it never got to the point where I felt like I could add as much as I wanted”: Eric Johnson reflects on his early session career with Carole King and Christopher Cross – and getting fired by Donald Fagen

While the Texas virtuoso loved session work, he preferred to take more time over his creations – and his experiences paved the way for him to become one of guitar’s all-time greats

Guitar World

“I’d been playing guitar full-time for 25 years, and when I got to play on a Deep Purple album it was just one chord!” Meet Tommy Denander, the session guitar great who’s worked with everyone from Jeff Beck and Michael Jackson to Joe Perry and Ace Frehley

You’ve heard the Swedish guitarist on over 100 gold or platinum records. He tells his war stories from decades of session work, from fighting for all-important missing credits to playing with his heroes – and writing the song that finally brought Alice Cooper and Jeff Beck together…

Guitar World

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“We were opening for Deep Purple, and Ritchie Blackmore got food poisoning and was in the hospital overnight”: How a support slot with Deep Purple and a last-minute guitarist replacement led to Eric Johnson meeting Christopher Cross

Johnson cut his teeth as a session player for the likes of Cat Stevens, Carole King, Steve Morse, and, of course, Christopher Cross

Guitar World

Steve Morse tackles Led Zeppelin, Mountain, Cream and Lynyrd Skynyrd hits – and honors a cast of guitar greats during intimate jam session

Appearing at a book launch event, Morse took on five classic rock cuts with YouTube royalty in the tiny crowd

Guitar World

“Everything I’m doing is purposely very different. If I’d wanted to keep doing what Dream Theater do, I’d still be in Dream Theater”: How Mike Portnoy reinvented himself after the trauma of leaving two massive bands

In 2011, while trying to find homes for his enormous collection of Dream Theater drumkits, Mike Portnoy was planning a new direction with Flying Colors, Adrenaline Mob, PSMS and Transatlantic

Metal Hammer

Joni Mitchell described it as ‘fly fishing’ and Jeff Beck was a master of the craft – learn how to use volume swells like guitar legends Eddie Van Halen, Allan Holdsworth and Larry Carlton

Volume down, pick, volume up... violining offers loads of potential as this lesson proves

Guitar World

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“Copying the people you admire is a healthy thing to do – it teaches you to get inside what they do, then you can take it from there”: Eric Johnson on his G3 reunion with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai – and why the limits of guitar have yet to be reached

We catch up with the maestro to talk all things G3, formative influences, hollow-body Strat designs, and what he has to learn from Wes Montgomery after all these years

Guitar World

“ELO, Judas Priest, my dad’s piano playing – that’s prog!” Tennis hero Pat Cash discovered Saga in Steve Harris’ private pub, introduced Tony Iommi to Bigelf and got Robert Plant to take up his sport

Travelling the world with his Walkman, the young Australian moved on from his family’s opera and folk to Rush, Steven Wilson, Brian Eno, Francis Dunnery and Anathema, and adopted his chequered headband in honour of Cheap Trick

Louder

“We often overlook this humble technique, yet it’s such an important tool for expressive rhythm and lead playing”: Palm muting is an essential guitar technique – but there’s a lot more to it than just chugging. Are you using it to its full potential?

First used by ’50s legends Chet Atkins and Les Paul, it is rock, metal and punk that have made palm muting so popular today

Guitar World

“We’d play at the Palomino under some weird name – we’d just show up, so nobody would know. By halfway through the set, the place was jam-packed”: Steve Lukather on his secret supergroup with Eddie Van Halen, Albert Lee and Steve Morse

In a recent chat with Rick Beato, Luke tells the story of his all-star jam band based around a group of Ernie Ball Music Man players

Guitar World

“He’s not used to not being the focus of the show. I’d say, ‘When Steve’s soloing, don’t throw your guitar up in the air right next to him’”: Joe Satriani on the unique challenges of having Yngwie Malmsteen on the G3 tour

Satch has no notes for the Swedish maestro’s playing, but found other aspects of his performances a little distracting during their G3 time together

Guitar World

“You should know the music so well that you could still play it perfectly while someone is screaming in your ear”: 15 pro guitarists share their tips for memorizing music

We've all been there. Or worse still, you're playing, all is well, and then the mind goes blank. Here, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Joel Hoekstra, Marty Friedman, and a dozen of their fellow pros share their strategies for memorizing their parts

Guitar World

“My custom-made classical guitar with the synth module was stolen while we were on tour. I got it back thanks to some people who worked with Joe Bonamassa”: Steve Morse on gear-buying, his ‘FrankenTele’ and why he needs four pickups – no more, no less

A gearhead through and through, the Dixie Dregs and ex-Deep Purple guitarist reveals some of his follies and lessons learned along the way

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“The sonic equivalent of a fist-fight between James Hetfield and Alex Lifeson”: October 2024 Guitar World editors’ picks

The hot new tracks and deep cuts GW editors have been listening to this month

Louder

“The only way of getting back on track was to regain control of just about every facet of the band”: When Mike Portnoy quit Dream Theater for the first time, the shakeup led to epic double-album Metropolis Pt. 2

1999 modern prog masterpiece – their first record with Jordan Rudess – came after the dismissal of Derek Sherinian, the demise of internal “fake democracy” and fights with their label and the media

Guitar World

“I took the neck off my Strat, put it on a Tele, and ended up with my ‘FrankenTele’”: Steve Morse modded the heck out of his first serious guitar, and it became the blueprint for his signature Ernie Ball Music Man model

Unsatisfied with the limitations of his first proper guitar, Morse took matters into his own hands, a lá Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

“I apologize for what’s about to happen”: Steve Morse becomes the latest guitar hero to pay tribute to the late Jeff Beck with a stirring rendition of his signature tune, Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers

Morse follows the likes of Gary Clark Jr., Eric Clapton, John McLaughlin and Joe Bonamassa to perform one of Beck’s most well-known recordings in honor of the late guitar great

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Guitar World

Cook up your own “musical gumbo” with this lesson in how to use bluegrass alternate picking in rock

In Andy Wood's tribute to the Dixie Dregs' Steve Morse, there is plenty of insight into how bluegrass and rock can be great fretboard bedfellows

Louder

"I hear this screaming from behind me: Simon! Simon! Start the bloody song!" How Deep Purple entered their Mk IX era, inspired by the tedious complications of modern life

Deep Purple might never have been fashionable, but with a new guitarist on board and a brand new album, they look likely to be around for some time yet

Guitar World

“The idea is to be versatile, and nothing beats Engl for doing that exceptionally well – it's all tube all the time”: Steve Morse’s new signature amp stakes its claim as one of the most feature-packed 20W tube heads on the market

Crammed with essential effects, an IR loader and formidable tonal range, Morse’s latest signature offering is a travel-friendly head that delivers serious flexibility

MusicRadar

“The essence of my tone in a portable, versatile amp”: Engl unveils Steve Morse signature tube amp – a compact 20-watt head that’s packed with modern features

This twin channel head is powered by a pair of EL84s, has switchable power, MIDI, and an onboard noise gate – and it's blue to match Morse's signature guitars

Guitar World

“My ’board is sort of a hybrid now. I’m getting closer to a single mono sound, so let’s discuss how I do that…” Steve Morse reveals what’s on his pedalboard and the secrets behind his wet/dry rig

With Morse, you won't find a million stompboxes on a spaceship-sized pedalboard. But you will find a lot of delay, and some clever routing for a two-amp setup

Guitar World

“There’s no point trying to compete withSteve Morse or Ritchie Blackmore… One of the things that the guys in the band like about me as a player is I do my own thing”: How Simon McBride brought new color to Deep Purple's iconic sound

Stepping into a role once occupied by Ritchie Blackmore and Steve Morse could be intimidating, but when McBride joined Purple, he never thought twice. And yes, he'll play Smoke on the Water his way

Guitar World

“The Steve Morse stuff is very different to the early Ritchie Blackmore stuff. Nobody can do it better than them”: Simon McBride on how he’s made the Deep Purple catalog his own – while paying homage to the icons who came before him

McBride was appointed Deep Purple's lead guitarist in 2022, following in the footsteps of some of the most revered players of all time

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