From the nascent days of our instrument into the future, wood has never been the whole story. Here are some builders taking an alternate approach to tone—with uncommon and innovative ingredients.
Electric guitars have pushed the boundaries of design, sound, and style since their inception. The warm embrace of timeless tonewoods will always be a cornerstone of the guitar-playing experience. But although they’ve only been a minor presence historically, materials from aluminum to plastic and beyond have been a part of the electric guitar’s design since the early days.
Over the decades, and especially more recently, a wild wave of alternative-material possibilities has steadily emerged, captivating many of our imaginations with unique sonic palettes, response, aesthetics, and playability. From the pioneering experiments of the past to the cutting-edge innovations of today, this is the journey of those materials—a testament to the enduring spirit of creativity and the relentless pursuit of excellence across the guitar universe.
As early as the 1950s, Danelectro, known for its budget-friendly instruments, made waves with their Masonite bodies. These guitars’ quirky designs and lipstick pickups offer a distinctive, resonant tone and affordability that appeals to many musicians seeking something unique and familiar. Less popular, but still prevalent, National built instruments from “Res-O-Glas,” a fiberglass-like substance made by combining polyester resin and glass threads.
The 1970s witnessed a surge of experimentation. The Ampeg Dan Armstrong “see-through” guitar was crafted from transparent acrylic. Though it had its drawbacks, the guitar became a bonafide icon. “It’s a pretty dense material. It weighs a lot,” notes James Little, CEO of Aluminati Guitar Co. “But it’s what gives them that midrange—they just cut through.” Together with their futuristic look, that cutting tone captivated players as diverse as Keith Richards and Black Flag’s Greg Ginn.
Adrian Belew’s own signature model Parker Fly, as seen on a recent Rig Rundown shoot. He’s playing the guitar on the current BEAT Tour, celebrating the classic ’80s recordings of King Crimson.
Photo by Perry Bean
While Masonite and acrylic were making headway, Veleno Guitars’ all-aluminum designs were landing in the hands of rock royalty, including Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Marc Bolan. The late producer Steve Albini’s Veleno even supplied the clean tones for Nirvana’s In Utero in the ’90s. Veleno wasn’t alone when it came to using metal, of course. Aluminum was used in the construction of electric instruments going back to the Rickenbacker A-22 “Frying Pan” lap steels, and Italy’s Wandre guitars were some of the first to use aluminum as a guitar-neck material in their radical designs. Later, Travis Bean and Kramer guitars, favored by artists like the Melvins’ Buzz Osborne and Jerry Garcia, followed suit in the ’70s.
These early forays into alternative materials may not have achieved the mainstream success of a Stratocaster. Still, their combination of attention-grabbing appearances and sound paved the way for future innovations and continues to inspire luthiers. As Ned Steinberger, the visionary behind his namesake brand and NS Design, puts it, “It’s not about the materials as much as how you feel when you play the guitar. How it sounds, how it plays, and how it looks—they’re all very important in terms of your enjoyment of playing.”
Ned knows a thing or two about electric guitar innovation. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he emerged as a true disruptor in the guitar world with his headless, carbon-fiber creations. These instruments, devoid of traditional headstocks and tuning pegs, offered unparalleled tuning stability, ergonomic comfort, and a sleek aesthetic that challenged conventional notions of guitar design.
A worker inspects a fresh and shiny body at the Aluminati factory.
Steinberger’s instruments initially faced resistance from traditionalists, but carbon fiber’s undeniable benefits soon won over a legion of progressive players. Eddie Van Halen, in his relentless pursuit of technical perfection, was one of the many who embraced Steinberger guitars for their tuning stability and futuristic TransTrem bridge. And on bass, Sting and Rush’s Geddy Lee also became prominent Steinberger players. These endorsements, as well as the instruments’ undeniable performance and stability, cemented Steinberger’s legacy as a true pioneer in alternative-material guitars.
Sparked by Steinberger’s work, the 1990s witnessed a renaissance of guitar innovation. Companies like Parker, Modulus, and Zon pushed the boundaries by combining carbon fiber and various alternative materials into premium instruments. Parker Guitars, founded by Ken Parker, gained the most recognition for its Fly model, a striking instrument featuring a composite body and a carbon-fiber neck. It symbolized the future for guitarists coming up at the time. “I have a vivid memory of being 15 or 16 and going to a guitar store and seeing a Parker there,” recalls Jake Howsam Lowe of the bands Plini and the Helix Nebula. “I played it, and all I could think was, ‘This thing is insane. I love this so much!’”
The Fly’s unique combination of materials offered a balanced tone, exceptional sustain, and a lightweight feel that has yet to be matched. Everyone from eclectic, boundary-pushing wizards Adrian Belew and Vernon Reid to fingerstyle master Phil Keaggy became champions of Ken Parker’s revolutionary design.
Like Steinberger and Veleno before them, Parker Guitars may have been too ahead of their time. By the mid 2000s, the brand was on the back burner, and the guitar industry was amid a significant shift. With renewed concerns about deforestation and the dwindling supply of rosewood and mahogany, there was a new focus on the search for sustainable alternatives. Much of that energy went into the hunt for alternative woods. Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars was at the heart of a movement to embrace non-traditional tonewoods like ovangkol, sapele, and pau ferro.
Buddy Miller in his home studio posing with a Wandre, one of the first aluminum-neck designs. Buddy has nearly single-handedly inspired a cult around these Italian exports.
Photo by Ted Drozdowski
Sustainability continues to remain a concern across the industry. Even builders who specialize in non-wood construction still rely on plenty of wood in their builds. “We do [use wood],” says Little. “Mainly, we use local poplar and maple, but we also use some sapele, and we’re looking into paulownia. It grows on farms here in the South. So we try to keep it as local and green as possible."
Little’s Aluminati Guitars is at the forefront of today’s alternative-materials movement. Though not afraid to branch into the mentioned tonewoods, Lucite, and carbon fiber, the brand is known for its all-aluminum models. “Aluminum is just the perfect thing to make a stringed instrument from,” states Little, plainly. “It just rings out like a bell.”
Aluminati’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond their choice of materials. They also prioritize how they source their materials, ensuring their instruments are as environmentally conscious as they are sonically impressive. “For example,” says Little, “a company sent us some aluminum cans from a few of their venues in the United States. We recycled those cans into some fretboards and other parts.”
This Aluminati Nebula is all aluminum, but the model is available with customizable options, including fretboard and body material.
The contemporary guitar landscape is a tapestry of innovation and experimentation, where luthiers and musicians push the boundaries of what a guitar can be. Prisma Guitars builds instruments out of retired skateboards; German maker Verso’s minimalist designs are built using sheet metal; and luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz is challenging the conventions of what is accepted as instrument materials by using mycelium and paper within her sustainable avant-garde builds. Some builders, like YouTube-famous Burls Art, craft instruments from unexpected materials like colored pencils and Legos, transforming everyday objects into functional works of art.
Aristides Instruments is a leader in the charge for technological advancements. Engineering their own Arium composite material (a blend including thermoplastic resin and glass bubbles), Aristides crafts their instruments as a single uninterrupted piece. Each comes to life in specialized molds unique to their breathtaking designs. According to CEO Pascal Langelaar, the result is unparalleled consistency and playability. “People could see that as less romantic,” he admits, “but the benefit is that, when you play your neighbor’s guitar, you're getting the same quality [when you order your own].”
This consistency and quality control is a hallmark of the modern alternative-materials movement, offering reliability and predictability essential in today’s online-retail world. That peace of mind can be elusive with traditional wooden instruments.
Alternative materials aren’t without their unique challenges, though. Little acknowledges the hurdles, especially faced by early pioneers. “The main challenges were their weight, tuning stability, and action. They sound fantastic, but [a lot of them are] like 12 or 13 pounds. They’re always cold and have pretty raunchy tuning stability. So, we’ve had to address not only the traditional sound but also the pain points from aluminum instruments from the past.”
Caption: This Aristides 8-string is made from the company’s proprietary Arium composite material.
Aristides Instruments’ innovative approach to creating its own composite material helps solve these challenges. Even their finishing process is a highly technical exercise in innovation and precision. Erik Nieuwenhuisen, the company’s production manager, explains: “Once the guitars are out of the mold, they get painted on a really high level. We try to keep the paint layers extremely thin, but need to be sure that everything is really consistent.”
For decades, guitarists have remained fiercely loyal to traditional wood instruments, most viewing them as the only true path to sonic authenticity. But it seems as though players are embracing alternative materials more than ever before, a significant shift in the industry. So, what’s driving this change?
Little believes it’s a sign of the times. “I think it's the younger generation,” he says. “They want stuff that’s just kind of no-bullshit, something that works all the time when they want it to work without having to do a bunch of maintenance.”
Lowe, an Aristides devotee, echoes the sentiment. “I’m a very low-maintenance guitar player,” he explains. “And the less I have to do to my instrument, the happier I am. I think part of it also has to do with the fact that companies are just getting better.”
Luther Rachel Rosenkrantz’s Mycocaster is made of a unique combination of mycelium, recycled paper, Indian rosewood scraps, wax, and oil.
As part of Plini’s two-guitar live attack, Lowe is one of many guitarists flying the alternative-material flag while leading a new generation of fusion and metal players. According to him, online communities have also been crucial for expanding players’ horizons. Forums and social media platforms have provided a space for guitarists to connect, share their experiences, and discover new builders pushing the boundaries of design.
“Access through the internet is really important,” he says. “I remember cruising those forums and seeing guys like Misha [Mansoor of Periphery] and Nolly [Getgood of Periphery, producer] talking about nerdy guitar stuff. We all seem to start there and move out from there.”
The future of alternative material guitars rests with these newer artists, and the past two decades have seen a surge of innovation in guitar gear in large part driven by artists like Lowe, Mansoor, and Animals as Leaders, who fearlessly embrace everything from new materials to digital modeling and extended-range instruments. As Lowe says, point blank, “The rules have changed for electric guitar design.”
Langelaar also sees a bright future for alternative materials, saying, “I think there’s going to be more and more alternatives and different visions on guitar building. Aristides offers something different that speaks to people. And maybe right now it’s still a niche, but I think that niche is going to get bigger and bigger.”
Ever the innovator, Steinberger also envisions a future of refinement and evolution, but thinks it’s coming a little at a time. “I don’t think there’s a lot of revolution on the horizon,” he says. “There’s nothing quite like what happened when they put a pickup on a guitar. I mean, that was the revolution.”
There’s no denying the allure of alternative-material electric guitars. They represent a bold step into the future, a testament to the spirit of innovation, and carry a long list of benefits unmatched by traditional tonewoods. As guitar designs, these instruments stand as a reminder that the possibilities are limitless.
Whether alternative materials will eventually become the norm or remain a niche remains to be seen. But one thing is certain, the electric guitar, in all its forms, continues to evolve, driven by a relentless pursuit of new sounds, innovative designs, and the quest for musical expression.
- Hot Take: Tonewoods Are Just for Style ›
- Trash or Treasure: Kingston S-style Model ›
- Recording Dojo: The Case for Miking Your Electric Guitar ›
The final day is here! Enter Stompboxtober Day 31 for your last chance to win today’s pedal from Keeley and finish the month strong!
Keeley Octa Psi Transfigurating Fuzz Pedal with Polyphonic Pitch Shifting
Meet the OCTA PSI Transfigurating Fuzz – The Ultimate Combination of Pitch-Shifter, Octave Generator, and Tri-Voiced Analog Fuzz! Key features include: Instant Effect Order Switching, Flexible Output Configuration, Momentary or Latching Octave/Pitch, and more! Each pitch shift mode includes an up, down, and dual setting, resulting in 24 different modes.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.
The 6-string wielding songwriter has often gotten flack for reverberating his classic band’s sound in his solo work. But as time, and his latest, tells, that’s not only a strength, but what both he and loyal listeners want.
The guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jerry Cantrell, who is best known for helming Alice in Chains, one of the most influential bands in hard-rock history, is an affable, courteous conversationalist. He’ll apologize, for instance, when he’s been on a PR mission all afternoon and needs to eat something. “I’m sorry. I’m starving. I’m going to make a BLT while we finish this interview,” he says on a recent Zoom call.
“That’s bacon frying, by the way,” he adds, in case his interviewer was wondering about the sizzling sound in the background.
Over the better part of an hour, only a couple of points of discussion seem to stoke his ire. One would be ’90s-era culture writers who felt compelled to brand a wide range of interesting bands from the same city (Seattle) with the same hollow tag (grunge). “It’s just a fucking label,” he says. “But I get it. You gotta have a fucking descriptor.” (When he gets miffed, or especially enthusiastic, Cantrell’s F-bombs can progress from steady punctuation to military fusillade.)
Another pet peeve: Those who seem bewildered by the fact that his solo work often evokes Alice in Chains. “It always trips me out,” he says, “when I hear comments or get questions all the time, like, ‘Well, this sounds like Alice.’ Well, what do you think it was going to sound like? I’m the guitar player and the songwriter of Alice. That’s what I do. Do you want me to not be myself? It’s just a bizarre, bizarre thing.” A big laugh follows.
“I’m always collecting ideas, and you never know when they’re going to come, or what they’re going to turn into. I look at it like depositing money in a bank.”
Cantrell, 58, has a right to feel irked by such exchanges. After all, he and the classic Alice lineup of vocalist Layne Staley, bassist Mike Starr, and drummer Sean Kinney invented a mesmeric, instantly identifiable sound that continues to stand alone in heavy music. On paper, the Alice formula doesn’t indicate multi-platinum success outright: off-kilter vocal harmonies shared between Staley and Cantrell, which can call to mind arcane American folk music or the classical avant-garde; parts written in odd time; lyrics about the most wrenching depths of drug addiction, a black cloud that followed the band throughout its ascent and tragically claimed Staley’s life in 2002 and Starr’s in 2011.
But Cantrell and Alice were also dedicated students of hard-rock history, who, along with their Seattle peers Soundgarden, helped to reinvent chart-topping metal for the alternative-rock era. To be sure, the guitarist ranks among the great riff maestros, and his solos, whether all-out wailing or comprised of a few bluesy bends, always had weight and meaning within the context of the song. And with all due respect to Extreme, no other hard-rock act explored acoustic music with more brilliant results.
Boasting nine tracks and coproduced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi, I Want Blood keeps the guitarist’s expert riffs and lyrical solos front and center.
On their masterpiece, the 1992 album Dirt, Alice in Chains managed to take Black Sabbath’s template for molten riffs into stranger, more artful, and more desperate territory, yet they also crafted tracks chock-full of hooks. A seamless meld of pop moves and bone-crushing heaviness is something of a holy grail for hard-rock songwriters and producers, and Dirt nabs it. Think of tracks like “Them Bones,” with its 7/8 intro riff and aslant vocal-harmony verses that resolve into a punchy, satisfying chorus—among the pithiest assessments of mortality in rock ’n’ roll. Or “Rooster,” an homage to Cantrell’s Vietnam-veteran father, with its left-field R&B harmonies and molasses-drip tempo. Somehow, these are songs that can rattle around in your brain throughout entire road trips or workdays; as of this writing, Dirt has sold five-million copies in the U.S.
“Let the players find their songs, and the songs find their players.”
Cantrell’s new album, I Want Blood, is his fourth solo release, and it’s a strong argument that he should continue to sound like himself and his legacy. Coproduced by Cantrell and hard-rock studio wizard Joe Barresi, its nine tracks tap into the Alice in Chains aesthetic in a way that will hit a sweet spot for longtime fans. As on the albums that Alice has released since Staley’s passing, with vocalist William DuVall, that indefinable sense of unease, that smoky ambiance of dread, isn’t so enveloping. But Cantrell’s most crucial gifts—the riff science, the knack for hooks, the belief that solos should be lyrical, musical, singable—are front and center, and razor-sharp.
What’s more, he’s recruited fellow hard-rock royalty to fulfill this vision. In addition to Barresi, whose credits comprise Kyuss, Melvins, Tool, QotSA and many, many others, the album’s personnel includes bassists Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan, and drummers Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Gil Sharone (Marilyn Manson, the Dillinger Escape Plan).
Through Alice in Chains’ rise in the early ’90s to recent years, Cantrell’s hard-rock presence has remained unshakeable. Here, he strikes a timeless rock 'n' roll pose.
Photo by Jordi Vidal/PhotoFuss
I Want Blood is a ripper. “Vilified” couples a chunky metal riff with wah and talk-box accents and a wandering, Eastern-tinged melody; “Off the Rails” matches a line à la John Carpenter’s Halloween score with a groove-metal thrust, before a radio-ready chorus kicks in. Ditto the chorus of “Let It Lie,” whose verse riff is pure Sabbath bliss. The earworm title track is the stuff music-sync-licensing dreams are made of. When he dials the tempo back toward ballad territory, as on “Echoes of Laughter,” “Afterglow,” or “It Comes,” Cantrell’s instinct for songcraft seems to get even stronger. As with Alice’s best LPs, I Want Blood stays with you and grows on you until it’s in steady rotation.
So what of that songcraft? It’s been over three decades since Cantrell debuted on record, and he’s still mining heavy gold. What’s the strategy, and what’s the secret? Does Cantrell’s work get harder or easier as he edges toward 60? “There’s a duality to it,” he says. “So in one way, I can answer that it’s pretty easy for me to make music. And then also, it’s fucking incredibly difficult to make something good. It can be both.”
He details the three-part work cycle that has defined his adult life: “There’s the demo process of writing. There’s the preproduction and actual recording of a record. And then there’s the period where you go out and tour it, along with all your other material, in a set. During that last third of the process, I’m really not writing, but through all the phases I’m always collecting riffs.” He’s also continually listening to great music, and allowing it to seep in. In the previous week, Cantrell says, he’d “rocked a bunch of Bad Company, UFO, AC/DC, some Maiden, some Hank Williams, some Ernest Tubb, some ‘Jungle Boogie.’”
Jerry Cantrell's Gear
This photo, taken from underneath the stage, shows Cantrell in his element, performing with Alice in Chains at Lollapalooza in the early ’90s.
Photo by Ken Settle
Guitars
- G&L “Blue Dress” Rampage
- G&L “No War” Rampage
- Gibson “D Trip” Les Paul Custom
- Gibson Les Paul Junior
- Gibson Flying V
- G&L ASAT
Amps
- Bogner Fish preamp
- Friedman JJ-100 signature head
- Snorkeler (Bogner-modded Marshall JCM800)
Effects
- Dunlop Jerry Cantrell Firefly Cry Baby Wah
- MXR Jerry Cantrell Firefly Talk Box
- MXR EQ
- MXR EVH Flanger
- MXR Smart Gate
- MXR Timmy
- MXR Poly Blue Octave
- MXR Reverb
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Boss CE-5
- Boss DD-500
- Strymon Ola dBucket Chorus & Vibrato
Strings & Picks
- Dunlop strings
- Dunlop picks
“I’m a fan of the riff,” he adds. “I’m always collecting ideas, and you never know when they’re going to come, or what they’re going to turn into. I look at it like depositing money in a bank. Like if I’m in a dressing room somewhere and I’m just warming up, and I see [one of my bandmates] react to something that I’m playing—put it in the bank. If I have a superpower, it is being able to hear something that might be a cool thing to work up and develop into a full-on song.
“When I’m slugging out riffs and just jamming out, if it feels good to rock out and your head starts moving and your foot starts tapping and you got something good—you know. It’s got to hit on a primal level first, and satisfy in that way.”
Writing, then, is often the more cerebral duty of assembling the best of what Cantrell has accrued and documented. “Like Lego pieces,” he says. “That used to be one of my favorite toys when I was a kid—Legos. Building stuff, block by block.” But, Cantrell points out, the process can also be more straightforward; he’ll start with a single riff and attempt to build the song’s infrastructure out from there, “throwing options at it, and ideas,” he says.
Cantrell, pictured here at 27, has carried on his hard-rock legacy with confidence, defying those who question his support and continuation of Alice in Chains’ influential sound.
Photo by Ebet Roberts
“I don’t necessarily know where I’m going a lot of the time. I just know that I have an intention to get there, and I’ve been able to take that journey to completion and make some pretty decent albums and songs over the years. And so I have the confidence to know that I probably can do this again—if I just put my mind to it and go through the process and work my ass off in concert with a group of people who have the same thought process.”
“There should always be the threat that the train is going to come off the rails.”
Cantrell is most certainly a “band” guy. For I Want Blood, he decided to play through a bunch of the material with his famous friends in preproduction, rather than simply assigning them one or two songs to guest on: “Let the players find their songs, and the songs find their players,” as he puts it. “It might’ve been with a little bit of frustration, because they got day jobs in some pretty impressive bands.” Time wasn’t exactly plentiful, but he did get in some living-room jams and other sessions with Trujillo, Bordin, and McKagan that ensured each track had its best possible lineup. Fortunately, Cantrell’s coproducer, Barresi, is similarly averse to cutting corners. Cantrell describes him as “a long-haul trucker” who “doesn’t suffer fools.”
“I’m an architect who is also a builder. You know what I mean?” says the guitarist, alluding to the relentless, often tedious work of record-making.“There should always be the threat that the train is going to come off the rails,” he says. For both men, Cantrell explains, “When you’re done with the record is when you think you couldn’t have done it any better.” Or, as Barresi likes to say, “How do you know you’ve gone too far unless you’ve already been there?”
Barresi also has a kind of encyclopedic recall of rock sonics. “He’s a guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,” Cantrell says, “and any combo of stuff you want to achieve: ‘Like, you know that song in The Departed, the Stones tune where it sounds like the guitar is going through a Leslie?’ [“Let It Loose,” off Exile on Main Street.] ‘Yeah, I know that pedal, man. Let’s grab it.’ You give him a reference and he knows how to replicate it.”
“I love working with a lot of different colors,” Cantrell says. “So I’ll use any guitar or any amp or any pedal to get a certain sound, and that all comes with experimentation. But it always starts with the basics.”
“When you’re done with the record is when you think you couldn’t have done it any better.”
If you’re a faithful reader of Premier Guitar, you may already know what that means: two mid-’80s G&L Rampages and the Les Paul Custom that Cantrell relied on to write his 2002 solo album Degradation Trip (the instrument with the custom blowtorch finish job). In amps, his go-to was the Bogner Fish preamp that he immortalized in Alice in Chains, in addition to his Friedman JJ-100 signature head. Cantrell also mentions the Bogner-modded Marshall sound he’s known for—aka the fabled Snorkeler—alongside tones from Orange and Laney. Among the guitars that made the cut: a butterscotch Les Paul Junior that was a gift from Billie Joe Armstrong a couple years back. When asked about effects, picks, and strings, Cantrell responds that he’s “a Dunlop guy”—which includes his MXR Jerry Cantrell Firefly Talk Box and Dunlop signature Cry Baby wah pedals.
YouTube It
Live at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2021, Jerry Cantrell testifies to his status as one of the most iconic guitarists in hard-rock history.
Cantrell is a fount of anecdotes, and talking guitar is a great way to hear some of them. He first saw the Rampage onstage in a club, after moving from Washington to Dallas, Texas, in the mid-’80s. Later, he began jamming with some guys who played Rampages, and picked up a job at a music shop that their father managed. The shop was a G&L dealer, so Cantrell paid for his instruments in part by working there. The Rampage, he adds, “just felt right.”
“The guy who built the necks and bodies that Eddie used to build his guitars was right in my backyard.”
“You gotta give a lot of credit to Eddie Van Halen,” he adds. “[The Rampage] was basically Leo Fender’s answer to Frankenstein, to the Charvel/Jackson model. One tremolo, one knob, one humbucker; that’s it. No-nonsense, just a meat-and-potatoes rock ’n’ roll guitar.”
A few years before the Rampage—Cantrell pinpoints 1979, because Van Halen II was out—he obtained a neck that was originally intended for EVH, and used it on a Strat he built himself in woodshop. The neck was payment from Boogie Bodies, the legendary guitar-parts manufacturer where Lynn Ellsworth and Jim Warmoth laid the foundation for the Superstrat era. “That shop was in Puyallup, Washington,” Cantrell says, “and I lived in Spanaway, which was right next door.The guy who built the necks and bodies that Eddie used to build his guitars was right in my backyard.”
Cantrell was barely in his teens when he got a gig helping out around the shop, and earned a “beautiful bird’s-eye maple neck” that didn’t make it to Eddie because it had a small divot in the 3rd fret. Cantrell recalls today that his duties included sweeping up sawdust. Then, as now, it was all about the work.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest guitarists around. And he puts his volume to work creating mythical tones that have captured so many of our imaginations, including our special shoegaze correspondent, guitarist and pedal-maestro Andy Pitcher, who is our guest today.
My Bloody Valentine has a short discography made up of just a few albums and EPs that span decades. Meticulous as he seems to be, Shields creates texture out of his layers of tracks and loops and fuzz throughout, creating a music that needs to be felt as much as it needs to be heard.
We go to the ultimate source as Billy Corgan leaves us a message about how it felt to hear those sounds in the pre-internet days, when rather than pull up a YouTube clip, your imagination would have to guide you toward a tone.
But not everyone is an MBV fan, so this conversation is part superfan hype and part debate. We can all agree Kevin Shields is a guitarists you should know, but we can’t all agree what to do with that information.