The Players
News and happenings from the world of your favourite guitarists
On 16 August, a single will be released that features a whopping 32 different guitar players from around the world collaborating for charity. Creator and producer David Loader has brought together a stellar cast, including Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Satriani, Guthrie Govan, Steve Morse, Paul Gilbert and Frank Gambale to lend their talents to the single, Don’t You Tell Me Not To Play Guitar. The release will be raising awareness and funds for the EJ Whitten Foundation and its continued work in raising awareness of prostate cancer and men’s health. The release will also launch The Epic Solo Challenge, a contest giving the chance for eight unknown players from eight regions of the world to perform in the song alongside the pros. “Let’s make the longest guitar solo in history,” says Tommy Emmanuel. Amen to that!
The 35 guitars and amps from Gary Moore’s collection that we reported on in our auction story in issue 409 have sold for a total of £143,235 at the Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale. The centrepiece lot, Moore’s 1963 Strat, sold for £18,750 and his Fritz Brothers Roy Buchanan Bluesmaster Tele-style guitar, purchased after the late guitarist borrowed a similar model from friend and neighbour George Harrison, sold for £5,000.
The current owner of Moore’s old ‘Greeny’ ’59 Burst, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, has unveiled his latest KHDK Electronics pedal: a fuzz called the Scuzzbox. Named by Hammett, like its predecessor the Ghoul Screamer overdrive, it seems to have a similar approach to its role, with versatility being an important feature. The Scuzzbox has two modes: Scuzz and Fuzz. The Fuzz mode is described as a “melodic, richly fuzzy go-to mode to play a whole show with a highly usable, top-notch crunchy fuzz” and the Scuzz is more of a risqué option – a “Velcro-type grating fuzz” that seems tailor-made for discordant fun.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington underwent further emergency heart surgery on 25 July leading to the postponement of two weeks of shows in the US. The band have said they hope to be back on the road soon. We wish Gary all the best in his recovery.
Irish musician Richie Malone stepped in as temp for Status Quo after Rick Parfitt was forced to bow out for a run of shows due to a suspected heart attack after a show in Turkey in June. The guitarist gave his blessing for the band to continue on without him for the time being and RAID frontman Malone played with Quo in Belgium and Edinburgh before Freddie Edwards, son of bassist John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, took on guitar duties with Francis Rossi for the remaining dates. Parfitt is said to be making an “excellent and steady recovery” and hopes for a return as soon as possible.