I GUESS EVERYONE out there expects me to say something nice about the person who’s on our cover. I mean, it’s not like I’m ever gonna say, “Yeah, I know he’s on our cover, but this guy sucks!” That said, I don’t think I’ve ever been in the presence of a more “precise” guitarist than John 5 (BTW, I was tempted to add the word “dedicated” to that sentence, but I don’t want to piss off all the other guitarists I’ve met in my 12.4 years at GW. But I’m still tempted to add it…). The last time Mr. 5 was physically in the “Guitar World space” was March 2019, when he dropped by our studio to shoot a few videos tied to Invasion, his new-at-the-time album with the Creatures. Everything was done in one take. And I mean everything, including, “Could you please play bars 16 to 21 again for this other camera angle?” This ain’t normal, folks (at least on my planet) — and this is also where the word “dedicated” sneaks back into this column. When I get home at 2:26 a.m. after a Friday-night gig, I might not say hello to my Telecaster again until 10:30 p.m. the following Friday. And I’ve met pros who’ve told me similar stuff, including the great Albert Lee. But John 5, well… As he told us a couple of years ago, “I play so much guitar that it might not even be healthy — and I’m not joking. I was playing just before you called, and I’ll be playing again as soon as I get off the phone.” So whatever you or the loudmouth down the street think about the whole Crüe/Mars/5 situation, all’s I can say is the band got themselves a good one. So good that it might not even be healthy!