GILMOUR: THE SOLO YEARS

VOL. 45 | NO. 12 | DECEMBER 2024

RUSAN GUITARWORKS

With Prince’s Cloud 3 guitar fetching nearly a million bucks in June, we speak to Dave Rusan about working for the Purple Rain legend and the replicas he continues to produce for diehard fans

LEARNING TO FLY

HOW MIKE CAMPBELL APPLIES LESSONS LEARNED FROM TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS AND FLEETWOOD MAC TO HIS OWN BAND, THE DIRTY KNOBS

LES DUDEK

Meet the guitarist who played on the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man” and “Jessica,” dated Cher, worked with Steve Miller, got scolded by Mike Bloomfield and was almost a founding member of Journey (But wait, there’s more…)

JUSTIN HAYWARD

The iconic Moody Blues guitarist revisits obscure Moodies tracks and discusses the gear and thought processes behind his gear, tone and criminally unsung riffs

FROM MADONNA TO MINISTRY

IT MIGHT SEEM STRANGE THAT A DUDE BEST KNOWN FOR PLAYING GUITAR LINES FOR PUMPING, THUMPING DANCE SONGS IS NOW BLOWING EARDRUMS WITH INDUSTRIAL METALLERS MINISTRY. BUT MONTE PITTMAN SAYS HE’S RIGHT WHERE HE BELONGS

Knots's LANDING

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, A LITTLE-KNOWN DES MOINES, IOWA, BAND DROPPED AN ALBUM THAT WOULD FOREVER CHANGE THE LOOK AND SOUND OF HEAVY METAL. BELOW, SLIPKNOT’S MICK THOMSON DISCUSSES THE MANIC RECORDING OF SLIPKNOT, HIS 1999 GEAR, THE ALBUM’S WEIRD DEARTH OF GUITAR SOLOS AND MORE

ECHOS

NINE YEARS SINCE HIS LAST SOLO ALBUM — AND A HALF-DECADE AFTER AUCTIONING HIS FABLED GUITAR COLLECTION — DAVID GILMOUR’S LATEST RELEASE, LUCK AND STRANGE, IS A RULE-BREAKING NEW CHAPTER LACED WITH NODS TO HIS PAST. “THERE WAS THAT FEELING,” HE TELLS US, “OF, ‘F*** IT, I’LL DO EXACTLY WHAT I FEEL LIKE DOING…’”

OVER THE HALF CENTURY

David Gilmour with the 1930s Rickenbacker lap steel

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

A GUIDE TO THE GEAR WE HEAR ON DAVID GILMOUR’S LUCK AND STRANGE

EXT RAC URR ICU LAR GILMOUR

WITH A SOLO CAREER THAT SPANS A WHOPPING 46 YEARS, DAVID GILMOUR IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT GUY FROM PINK FLOYD. BELOW, GW DEEP-DIVES INTO THE GUITARIST’S ENTIRE SOLO OUTPUT, ATTENTION-WORTHY GUITAR SOLOS AND ALL

COMFORTABLY DONE

DAVID GILMOUR’S 10 GREATEST LEAD - GUITAR GUEST APPEARANCES

Old-School Cool

WHY 18-YEAR-OLD GRACE BOWERS MIGHT BE THE GREATEST THING TO COME OUT OF NASHVILLE SINCE MARTIN'S BAR-B-QUE JOINT

MY PE DALBOARD

RICHIE KOTZEN

Asymmetric Universe

MEET TWO BROTHERS WHO TRAFFIC IN PROGRESSIVE-DJENT, ELEVATOR JAZZ AND MERCURY-DRIPPING GUITAR AND BASS RUNS

LOST CLASSICS: Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie

THE ALT-ROCK INNOVATOR ON HIS COCTEAUS GEAR, EFFECTS FASCINATION AND THE NEWLY REISSUED COCTEAUS/HAROLD BUDD COLLABORATION, THE MOON AND THE MELODIES

Austin Powerhouse

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE WHO’S READING THIS HEADLINE, AUSTIN SIX-STRINGER IAN MOORE HAS BEEN ON A CONSTANT SEARCH FOR SONIC PERFECTION; HE JUST MIGHT HAVE COME A LITTLE CLOSER TO IT THAN THE REST OF US

Catching Up with Karl Sanders

IT TURNS OUT SEASONED METAL PROS CAN STILL LEARN VITAL LESSONS FROM THEIR YOUNG GUITAR STUDENTS; CASE IN POINT, BEHOLD NILE’S FEROCIOUS LATEST, THE UNDERWORLD AWAITS US ALL

Alcest

“I FELT THAT ALCEST MAGIC AGAIN, AND I KNEW I WAS BACK.” HOW NEIGE OVERCAME SOME SERIOUS WRITER’S BLOCK TO CREATE THE FEEL-GOOD SHOEGAZE-METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Jontavious Willis

IT'S NO WONDER THIS WEST GEORGIA GUITARIST IS SOMEHOW THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF MODERN ACOUSTIC BLUES

Wunderhorse

BLAZING BRITISH INDIE ROCK IS ALIVE AND WELL — AND IT'S NAMED AFTER A NEARLY FORGOTTEN TV SHOW FROM THE FIFTIES

My Favorite Riffs: Marcus King

THE SOUL, BLUES AND ROCK MONSTER DISCUSSES THE FIVE RIFFS THAT STOPPED HIM IN HIS TRACKS — AND SHARES AN AMAZING MEMORY OF GARY ROSSINGTON’S FINAL SHOW

Circa 74 AV150-10 Acoustic/Vocal amplifier

THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR and electric guitar may share

Yamaha Revstar Element

For Paul’s demo of this guitar, visit guitarworld.com/december2024

Ernie Ball Music Man Axis

CHEAT SHEET STREET PRICE: $3,199 (flame) or

Interstellar Audio Machines Supernova Zoeldrive

IN A UNIVERSE filled with constellations of stompboxes,

Electro-Harmonix Lizard King Octave Distortion

LAST YEAR’S EHX Lizard Queen pedal — a

FAR OUT ON THE RANGE

Combining articulations to make your guitar “speak”

CLAPTON: THE FENDER YEARS

E.C.’s move to the Stratocaster in 1970

TRAIN OF THOUGHT, PART 2

Playing country/jazzinspired solo lines over a “train” beat

FINGER TIPS

The advantages of fingersonly pick-hand technique

Performance Notes

HOW TO PLAY THIS MONTH’S SONGS

1934-PRESENT MARTIN D-18 AND D-28

CATEGORY: STEEL-STRING FLATTOP ACOUSTIC

“LUX ÆTERNA” Metallica

“LUX ÆTERNA” WORDS AND MUSIC BY JAMES HETFIELD

“SCAR TISSUE”

Red Hot Chili Peppers