Guitar Player

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Guitar Player • Vol. 58 No. 12 DECEMBER 2024

TURNING JAPANESE • Inspired by 1960s budget axes, Justin Abernethy’s Sonic Empress THC combines vintage and modern in an offset design that’s built for these times.

POP ART • With Dad Rock, Sadler Vaden crafts an album whose songs and guitar sounds recall the best days of classic rock.

THE BIG GOODBYE • As Mr. Big calls it a day, Paul Gilbert reflects on hearing loss, his vintage Ibanez guitars and the good times ahead.

TIPSHEET • Doing what comes naturally is at the heart of Zakk Wylde’s advice.

MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS • The Moody Blues scored a dozen top 10 hits in their five-decade prog-rock reign. Justin Hayward says these are his favorites.

Medium Cool • Striking the middle ground between its Thinline brethren, Gibson’s ES-345TD remains a versatile, if underrated, gem.

Funk Noir • With The Black Album, Prince made his greatest — and most infamous — musical statement.

Back in the U.S.S.R. • This Odessa Rhythm Solo is a remnant from when the Soviets made guitars, not war.

CLOSER TO HOME • Rehearsal space, studio, vessel and abode — Diego Garcia’s boat is the home base for his new album, as well as his musical life as the seafaring Spanish guitarist Twanguero.

DRAGON TALES • In a Guitar Player exclusive, Jimmy Page sheds light on the amplifiers behind his Led Zeppelin tone and how they live again in his line of Sundragon signature amps.

LITTLE DRAGON • Jimmy Page and Mitch Colby reveal Sundragon’s newly hatched Nymph mini amp.

THE BEAST IS BACK • Jimmy Page’s Double-Neck breathes fire again, thanks to 3-D scanning.

FLOWERS & VINES • Gibson’s Jimmy Page 1964 SJ-200 acoustic blooms anew in Bozeman.

58 YEARS OF GUITAR PLAYER • As Guitar Player moves full-time to its online home, we look back at some of its greatest stories in print.

HIGH TIME • The new MC5 album took more than 50 years to arrive. The band members have all passed on, but the celebration is just beginning.

BOOK ’EM, DANNO • The life and times of Detroit’s unruly firebrands are entered for the record in a new and definitive biography.

MAN OF STEEL • He brought the Dobro to centerstage with his dazzling talent. As he drops his first album in seven years, Jerry Douglas reflects on his gear, career and induction in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

UNFORGETTABLE FIRE • A look at some of the greatest guitar moments from 50 years ago.

Pushing Forward • Lessons learned upon reflection — with an eye to the future.

EPIPHONE • USA Collection Coronet

UNIVERSAL AUDIO • SC-1 Standard condenser microphone with Hemisphere modeling

LINE 6 • POD Express

UAFX • Teletronix LA-2A Studio Compressor

WE’VE GOT POP, WE’VE GOT ROCK, WE’VE GOT BLUES… AND MUCH MORE!

How I Wrote… “Year of the Cat” • Al Stewart reflects on his beguiling hit, some 10 years in the making.