When you think of classic rock guitar, what do you hear? Who is the most classic of all classic rock guitarists? We have a theory, and we tapped Greg Koch, the hard-touring, hard-rocking Gristlemaster himself, to join us and test it out. Is it Joe Walsh?
From his time with the James Gang through joining the Eagles and embarking on a successful, hit-laden solo career, Walsh epitomized the sound of ‘70s rock guitar riffs and solos. There’s a reason he eventually found his way to Ringo’s All-Starr Band! So is he the definition of classic rock?
Also, Greg takes this opportunity to chat about his Oasis obsession and shares his favorite Beach Boys song.
Nembrini Audio is pleased to launch the Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere plugin, an authentic digital emulation of the acclaimed Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere MKII Rotary Speaker* simulator. Listen to it here and see it here.
In the 1960’s the Leslie Speaker System*, originally developed in the 1930’s for the Hammond Organ, began to be used for guitars by The Beatles, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and more. In the 1990’s Hughes & Kettner, a highly respected manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, cabinets and effect boxes, created the Tube Rotosphere pedal, an extremely accurate, analog reproduction of the Leslie Speaker System.
More than thirty years later, Nembrini ‘s new plugin breathes fresh life into this cool sound with the introduction of a realistic digital simulation of the much admired Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere. Celebrated for its rich tube-driven character and highly musical rotary modulation, the original hardware was used keyboardists and guitarists seeking the iconic swirling depth of a classic rotary cabinet, with the warmth of real tube saturation. The new Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere plugin faithfully captures every nuance of its analog counterpart, offering everything from subtle to dramatic Doppler-infused motion, with can be seamlessly integrated into any rig.
Nembrini’s advanced modelling technology captures all of the lush swirl, warm tube saturation and authentic rotary motion of the original pedal. The key features of the new plugin include true to life emulation of the analog circuitry and tube preamp behaviour, independent rotor speed simulation with separate LF and HF controls allowing precise adjustment and a breaker switch for realistic ramp-up/down and rotor stop effect. There is also tube saturation modelling with visual feedback, rotor balance control for fine tuning the blend and a stereo signal path for wide, immersive rotary modulation.
The Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere plugin desktop version is available at the introductory price of $29.99 (normally $99) until the October 31st 2025.
Our columnist shares a 6-string moment with Willie in 2004.
Over the years, I’ve done two TV shows with Willie Nelson—Nashville Star in 2004, and a CMA award show a few years later. On TV sets, there’s a lot of standing-around time while producers fiddle with lights and other details. What struck me both times was that whenever the action stopped, Willie did not stand around: He’d get on the ground and rip out a bunch of pushups. No wonder that today, at 92, Willie Nelson is still out there, braids swinging and beating Trigger, his Martin N-20 he bought new in 1969, like it owes him money. Willie and that guitar have both ridden some hard miles that have left them a bit threadbare, but to my ears, their voices are a bit warmer, softer, and darker for it—like weathered tapestry. You have to marvel at his endurance. In an era where artists tour sparingly and drop albums like rare comets, Willie Nelson is a throwback to a time when musicians lived to play and create, night after night, record after record.
Willie’s numbers tell the story. Since his debut album, …And Then I Wrote, in 1962, he’s released 153 albums—76 solo studio records, 26 collaborations, 14 live albums, 51 compilations, and soundtracks like The Electric Horsemanand Honeysuckle Rose. That’s roughly 2.5 albums per year over 62 years. His latest, 2024’s Last Leaf on the Tree, proves he’s still got something to say. Compare that to today’s artists: Many release an album every two to three years, often with heavy promotion and long breaks. Billie Eilish, a generational talent, has three albums since 2019. Taylor Swift, a prolific outlier, has averaged roughly one album per year since 2006. Willie’s output dwarfs them all.
Then there’s the road. Estimating Willie’s live shows is like counting stars, but conservative math suggests he’s played 4,700 to 10,000 gigs since the 1950s. In his peak decades (1960s–2010s), he averaged 50–100 shows annually, from honky-tonks with Ray Price to headlining Farm Aid, which he co-founded in 1985. A 2018 Rolling Stone piece noted that even at 85 he was still clocking 100 dates a year. That same year, his harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, claimed to have played over 5,400 shows with Willie since 1973. Today’s artists? Many cap tours at 20–50 dates, citing burnout or “self-care.” The contrast is stark: Willie’s work ethic is a relic of a bygone era.
Why the difference? Part of it is cultural. In Willie’s day, musicians survived on gigs and records, not streams or brand deals. The 1960s and ’70s demanded constant output—labels expected albums, fans expected shows. Willie, Waylon, and the Outlaw crew thrived in that grind, playing dives and arenas alike. Today, streaming platforms prioritize singles over albums, and social media rewards viral moments over sustained creation. Artists can tour less and still profit through merch and sync deals. Willie’s era had no such shortcuts.
But it’s not just economics. Willie’s drive feels existential. Born in 1933, he’s outlived the male life expectancy of his time (59.1 years) and today’s (74.8 years). Despite early years of heavy smoking and drinking—traded for marijuana in 1978—Willie’s still here, defying odds. I suspect it’s because he has to create. Music isn’t just his job; it’s his oxygen. Compare that to modern artists who pause careers for side hustles or other non-musical reasons. There’s wisdom in balance, but Willie’s relentless output suggests purpose fuels longevity.
He’s got things to do, but he never seems rushed … he’s just always moving. Like his 1993 song says: “Still is still moving to me / I swim like a fish in the sea all the time / But if that’s what it takes to be free, I don’t mind / Still is still moving to me / Still is still moving to me.”
Willie cut his classic 1975 record, Red Headed Stranger, in a week, and on a shoestring budget. It’s not a polished effort, but it carries a lived-in authenticity, each track a snapshot of a moment. Today’s overproduced tracks can feel like products, not stories. Stranger feels like Willie is an old friend sitting in your living room, singing his story.
What can we learn from Willie? For musicians, it’s a reminder that creation is a muscle—use it or lose it. The road, the studio, the stage … these are where songs are born, not in boardrooms or Instagram reels. Willie’s not chasing trends; he’s chasing truth. His 153 albums aren’t all masterpieces, but they’re all him. Modern artists could take a cue: make more, fear less. Quantity breeds quality when you’re unafraid to fail.
Willie has had plenty of tragedy and struggle, but one of his superpowers is his ability to let go of worry and lean into the good in life. As he has said, “Worry will make you sick. I’ve never seen it accomplish anything. I’ve never seen worrying about something change it, so I decided not to do it. Every negative thought you have releases poison into your system … so if you’re thinking negatively about something, erase that.”
In a world of fleeting hits and curated personas, he’s a beacon of what it means to live for the music. Maybe that’s why he’s still here, outlasting time itself.
This is a lesson in what I call “finding dissonance in tonality.” The goal here is to focus on creating arpeggiated chord shapes and riffs that use tense intervals like 2nds, tritones, and 7ths, while still remaining in a particular key signature. This creates a haunting and moody sound that I often like to think of as “pretty dissonance.” In these examples we will find progressions that are dissonant yet still diatonic. It is a sound I use quite often in my own music and one that my ears are naturally drawn to.
Ex. 1
Ex. 1 demonstrates this concept by picking a key—in this case A minor. Then, I decide on a modal sound in that key (D Dorian). Next, we construct chord shapes in that key to include things like stacks of 2nds, or tritones mixed with 2nds. We have to look at our key signature and find which notes give us 2nds, tritones and 7ths. In this case, the notes we want to utilize are B and C, and E and F for our minor 2nds (or major 7ths depending on which note is in the bass). We’ll use A and B, D and E, and G and A for our major 2nds, and F and B for our tritones.
You might find that this example has a pleasing sound, despite the dissonance, since Dorian has a dreamy and nostalgic feeling to it. Yet the particular mix of intervals gives it a certain tension. The stretches here can be challenging, and there is a bit of movement around the neck. This example sounds best when played with a clean sound with all the notes ringing out together. We also have some time signature changes to keep us paying attention as well.
Ex. 2
For Ex. 2, we’re in the key of G major and are focusing on using a combination of 2nds, tritones, and 7ths to create some lush modal chords. The tension in these chords in particular is created by the G root note of chord one ringing against the F# on the D string, creating a major 7th. Then, we have that same F# hitting a C to create a tritone. Finally, the C to open B string at the top is creating a minor 2nd. Chord two has the major 7th again with the low C to B, then we have a major 2nd with the E to F#, and at the top of the chord, that same F# against the open E, creating another major 2nd. The final chord uses tritones again with the F# to C and then up to F# again. The top of the chord has an A to open B creating a major 2nd. This is a good example of how to create uplifting, major-key progressions that have a little spice to them.
Ex. 3
Ex. 3 takes the same chords of Ex. 2 but “octave displaces” certain notes to create wider spread voicings. The note relationships are still the same, it’s just that some notes have now been placed an octave higher throughout the progression. This makes it a bit more challenging to play, so I’ve taken the bpm down a bit. In general, I recommend practicing these very slowly at first and aiming for clarity and articulation. Utilizing the approach of octave displacing can create some very interesting melodic sequences. It is a fantastic way of creating a variation out of something you’ve already written.
So far these examples have been fairly light and bright sounding despite the dissonance in the chords. Ex. 4 gets a little darker and more tense. It’s also in 5/4 time. Based in the key of D minor, this riff heavily focuses on using minor 2nds. First, I look at the key signature, which has one flat: Bb. Next, I find which notes in the D minor scale give me minor 2nds. These notes are A to Bb and E to F. Bb to E also gives me a tritone. Once again, there is a bit of movement all around the neck in a short amount of time.
Ex. 5
Ex. 5 is again in D minor but more of a lower-register riff. In this example, I also use a somewhat tense interval we haven’t talked about yet, the minor 6th. In the first three notes of the example, we have a D to an A. Nothing tense there, just a perfect 5th. Next, though, is an A to a Bb—a minor 2nd. In addition, the relationship between notes one and three is a minor 6th. This interval appears again as the last dyad in the first bar. Those first three notes (D, A, and Bb) give us a sus b6 chord shape. I first came across this chord in the song “Guardian” by Fates Warning. Their guitarist Jim Matheos uses a lot of these haunting interval combinations, which became an influence on me early on in my playing.
Ex. 6
I encourage you to find some chords and progressions of your own that take inspiration from this approach. I’ll leave you with Ex. 6, a simple way to start. Take some basic major and minor chord shapes and add extensions to them like 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, etc. Chord one is an Am(add9), which is the 2nd moved up an octave. Chord two is a Cmaj(add#4). Chord three is a Bm(add11/b9). Chord four can be thought of as an inversion of Cmaj(add#4). The E in the bass makes it sound very dark. Those new scale tones create extra tension and dissonance and automatically make what you’re playing sound more evocative. Try these ideas out and see what paths they take you down!
A: Besides my entire playing style and mess of a pedalboard? I’d say my Jagstang, which is my main touring guitar. It’s starting to become a bit of a Frankenstein's monster purely due to use (and destruction) on the road. Originally I just modified the bridge, replacing the standard one with a Fender American Pro Mustang bridge. This was supposed to help the strings stop slipping out of tune when I struck them too hard playing live. I have since lost the original tremolo bar (and the screws) so I can’t attach a new one. Instead, I duct-tape whatever Jazzmaster/Jaguar/Mustang one we have lying around on at every show because I’m too lazy to get it fixed. I should really get around to that…
Obsession: My current obsession at the moment is terrible (and rarely not-so-terrible) true-crime documentaries on Disney+/Starz. If what they say about smart people loving reality TV is true, then I must be a genius. From The Secrets of Hillsong to Mr. & Mrs. Murder, there is nothing that helps calm my brain or shut it down more than a terrible whodunnit. I love you, true crime. Never change.
Randall Brown - Reader of the Month
A: My most in-depth DIY so far is a sad tale! I tried to upgrade my very old and beaten-up—but still very playable—Memphis Les Paul copy with new tuners, bridge, and tailpiece. While working the posts in for the new tailpiece, I heard a wooden creak and a snap. My attempt to firmly plant the poles had caused the laminate top to politely separate halfway off the body. I bought wood glue and clamps to do more serious repairs, but I haven’t trusted my (lack of) skills to actually start. If I can’t find just the right YouTube tutorial, I might have to seek professional help.
Obsession: P-90 pickups and the music of Osees. I bought a Rivolta Zenyata earlier this year, and its neck-position P-90 has won my tone-heart. I love full-on humbuckers, but when I commence repairs on the old Memphis again, I want to replace its ancient no-name HBs with P-90s. Coincidentally, I’ve been obsessing over John Dwyer’s guitar wildness with Osees, and he gets amazing sounds out of his P-90-packed Les Paul Junior.
John Bohlinger - Nashville Correspondent
A: DIY is part of the guitar’s DNA. From its humble lute origin over 1,000 years ago, players have been altering the instrument ever since to create the sounds in our heads. Les Paul and Van Halen are prime examples of players who reshaped the instrument, and in doing so, reshaped music. I’ve tweaked every instrument I’ve owned, swapping pickups, sanding bodies, adding Bigsbys, adjusting setups, or hiring luthiers to add B-benders. Honestly, many of these DIY tangents have ended in expensive, frustrating, lateral trades. That’s the thing about obsessions: They do not call reason into question.
Bohlinger’s heavily modded PRS SE One, with swapped pickups, an added middle pickup and switch, and a B-bender.
Obsession: Of late, it’s working flatted or raised 5ths into solos. It’s fun to shoehorn in the devil’s interval, with its foreboding dissonance, and try to resolve into something sweet.
Luke Ottenhof - Associate Editor
A: I love DIYing stuff in my rig, even though I have little to no idea what I’m doing a lot of the time. Last year, I used an ill-equipped dremel to clumsily carve out space under a small aluminum pedalboard for my power supply, then superglued some rubber feet onto the board for more clearance underneath. A smarter person might have simply bought a board that could accommodate the power unit without mods, but where’s the fun in that?
Obsession: The new Alien: Earth series on FX. The major plot device is so original but totally believable, and the atmosphere is delightful: ’80s sci-fi aesthetics mixed with contemporary special effects and some bizarre, unsettling new creatures. Plus, the awesome needle drops at the end of each episode, featuring classic metal songs. TV can and should be this fun—while also still being very good.
