The Journal.
Interviews with the players I admire, gear deep-dives, song breakdowns, and lessons from the studio.
There’s this chord progression in Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” that uses a trick that makes it so wonderfully beautiful and sad at the same time. And once you hear it, you cannot unhear it. It magically ties all of the chords in this progression together.
Three years in development, the Nucleo represents one of my most ambitious projects to date. Born from an extraordinary musical experience inside an abandoned nuclear power plant, this handmade stereo reverb pedal pushes the boundaries of what guitarists can achieve with ambient effects.
Imagine playing a single Stratocaster that could authentically recreate the sound of a Les Paul, Telecaster, hollow body jazz guitar, and even include built-in overdrive and fuzz pedals. It sounds impossible, right? That’s exactly what I thought when I first encountered the Bognar pickup system at the Montro International Guitar Show.
When you think of iconic TV themes, the Better Call Saul intro immediately comes to mind. Behind that unforgettable 20-second piece is Barrie Cadogan, a rhythm guitar master who has toured with Liam Gallagher, played with legendary acts like The The, and created a distinctive style that blends funk, soul, and blues.
At the Montreux Guitar Show in 2025, a relatively unknown amplifier stopped guitarists mid-conversation. The De Cillia Single 25, handbuilt by French electronic engineer Arnaud de Cillia, does something no other guitar amp has done before: it uses a KT150 power tube to deliver 25 watts of pure Class A tone.
At first glance, this Red Hot Chili Peppers riff sounds simple. But John Frusciante sneaks in three genius moves that take it from basic to absolutely brutal. This is “Can’t Stop.” This riff covers many aspects I see beginner and even intermediate guitarists struggle with. I struggled with this.