The Lamb of God shred king sits down to discuss making LoG's 10th album, Into Oblivion, designing his new signature GibsonLes Paul, and writing his memoir, Desolation. He offers three hot takes on guitar culture.
Cort Guitars announces the new Gold-MC6 Ovangkol, an all-solid Modern Concert acoustic guitar designed for players seeking seasoned tone, premium craftsmanship, and stage-ready performance. Available worldwide through local retailers and online, the Gold-MC6 is built to deliver responsive, expressive sound from day one through its torrefied top, carefully selected tonewoods, and professional electronics, all crafted with precision detail.
At the heart of the Gold-MC6 is a torrefied solid Sitka spruce top, heat-treated to bring out the open, responsive character of a well-played instrument, matched with solid ovangkol back and sides to provide warmth, clarity, and dynamic range. The Modern Concert body features a natural gloss finish, black ABS binding, and an abalone rosette with ABS multi-ring design. A walnut-reinforced mahogany neck with a dovetail joint at the 14th fret supports a Comfort C profile and satin finish for effortless playability. The 25.5" scale length is paired with a Macassar ebony fingerboard with a 15.75" radius, 20 frets, and Gold Custom Inlay. The guitar includes a genuine bone nut measuring 1 3/4" (45 mm). Internally, hand-scalloped X-bracing reinforces the instrument’s all-solid construction, ensuring durability and tonal maturity over time.
For amplified performance, the Gold-MC6 is equipped with the Fishman Flex Blend system, combining an internal microphone and under saddle pickup to capture the guitar’s natural acoustic character while providing intuitive onboard control for live performance or recording situations.
Premium hardware completes the build, including Deluxe Vintage Gold tuning machines, a Macassar ebony bridge with ebony bridge pins featuring white dots, and a genuine bone saddle with 54.1 mm bridge string spacing. The guitar ships strung with Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Light 12–53 strings and includes a Cort Premium Gig bag.
For more information on the Gold-MC6 Ovangkol and other Cort acoustic instruments, please visit online at www.cortguitars.com.
Street Price: $1399.00 USD
Cort Guitars announces the new Core-MC Ovangkol acoustic guitar, available now worldwide through local retailers and online. Designed for players seeking an all-solid wood instrument that blends contemporary aesthetics with refined acoustic performance, the Core-MC Ovangkol pairs a solid cedar top with solid ovangkol back and sides, modern concert body styling, and onboard Fishman® electronics. With its semi-gloss black top and player-focused construction, the model delivers responsive tone, stage-ready functionality, and detailed craftsmanship built for long-term performance.
The Core-MC Ovangkol features a solid cedar top, known for its inviting, responsive character with smooth highs and rich mids, complemented by solid ovangkol back and sides that contribute low-mid fullness and broad tonal range. The Modern Concert body shape incorporates a slightly smaller waist and sleek cutaway for comfortable playability without sacrificing projection. The guitar is finished with a semi-gloss black top using an ultra-thin, UV-cured process designed to preserve resonance. Construction includes a dovetail neck joint at the 14th fret and hand-scalloped X-bracing. Added body details include aged white ABS binding, a black and aged white ABS rosette, rosewood bridge, and black bridge pins with white dots. The mahogany neck features a comfortable C shape with a semi-gloss finish, a 25.5" (648mm) scale length, and a genuine bone nut measuring 1 11/16" (43mm). The rosewood fingerboard has a 15.75" (R400) radius and 20 frets, with no inlays.
For amplified performance, the Core-MC Ovangkol is equipped with a Fishman® Presys VT preamp system with discreet side-mounted controls. The system provides onboard volume and tone controls for straightforward sound shaping, offering a clean acoustic tone suitable for live and studio applications.
Hardware appointments include vintage open-gear tuning machines and a genuine bone saddle, with 54.1mm bridge string spacing. The guitar ships strung with Elixir® Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Light 12–53 strings and includes a Cort gig bag. The model is available in Black Top Semi-Gloss (BTSG).
For more information about the Core-MC Ovangkol and additional Cort Guitars models, please visit www.cortguitars.com.
Lollar Pickups has introduced the new Monolith humbucker model, a higher-output pickup designed for guitarists who play both modern and extreme styles of music.
Many high-output humbuckers suffer from either a boxy voicing or a harsh and brittle top end. The Monolith is designed to deliver balanced tone in all positions and increased dynamic and frequency ranges, using AlNiCo 8 magnets.
The bridge position offers a midrange forward sound with increased harmonics and fundamental frequency response and the right amount of compression when palm muting for a satisfying attack and grunt. And, like Lollar’s other pickup designs, the neck position is designed to be open, clear, and balanced with the bridge, offering a prominent midrange that offers a more vocal sound for leads and clean passages.
Splitting the coils on these humbuckers provides a full-bodied single-coil sound. When under gain, the split coils provide the percussive and aggressive tone for lower tunings and extended scale length instruments that progressive and djent players seek.
The Monolith humbuckers are available individually, or as two-piece sets for both 6 and 7-string guitars. For 6-string sets, Lollar also offers an F-spaced bridge position pickup (53 mm) to match a wider string spacing required for guitars with tremolos.
Following months of relentless rumors and fever pitch speculation, it was announced today that Metallica will debut its Life Burns Faster residency at Sphere in Las Vegas. The highly-anticipated eight show run will take place on October 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 22 and 24, and 29 and 31, 2026 — and will continue the No Repeat Weekend tradition that began with the 2023 kick-off of the band’s M72 World Tour, with no songs repeated on each Thursday and Saturday throughout the course of the run.
Two-night No Repeat Weekend tickets and single-night tickets will go on sale March 6th at 10am PT. To register for tickets or for further information regarding pre-sales, enhanced experiences, travel packages and more, visit metallica.lnk.to/MetallicaSphere
Metallica’s standing at the vanguard of new and unique live experiences has seen the band play to millions of fans across all seven continents in every shape and size of venue imaginable. Their current M72 World Tour has played to more than 4 million fans from Europe and North America to the Pacific Rim and Middle East since its spring 2023 kick-off, its performances and production universally hailed as among the best of Metallica’s 40+ years of traversing the globe.
The band’s Sphere residency will see live staples and surprises spanning the Metallica catalog enhanced by the venue’s immersive technologies that will allow fans to experience the sound and fury of the band’s live performance in new experiential dimensions. Whether you’ve seen Metallica from the upper reaches of a stadium or arena, at an intimate club or theater gig or from the famed Snake Pit surrounded by the 360-degree M72 stage, Sphere’s technology, including the world’s highest resolution LED display that wraps up, over and around the audience; Sphere Immersive Sound, which delivers audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest; and multi-sensory 4D technology, will present a wholly unique and entirely new Metallica experience for all who attend — including James, Lars, Kirk and Robert.
Metallica co-founder/drummer Lars Ulrich commented, “About 12 seconds into the opening night of Sphere with U2 back in ‘23, I thought ‘We have to do this, it’s completely uncharted territory!’ This residency gives us another chance to reinvent how we interact with our fans in a live setting. We are beyond excited to share this with the world in six months time, and way fuckin’ psyched to go next level!”
Metallica Life Burns Faster at Sphere is produced by Live Nation and presented by inKind. inKind rewards diners with special offers and credit back when they use the app to pay at thousands of top-rated restaurants nationwide. inKind also provides innovative financing to participating restaurants in a way that enables new levels of sustainability and success. Metallica fans can learn more at inKind.com.
Mirador formed out of the shared passion for good ol’ classic rock ’n’ roll held by Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka and Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin. The trans-Atlantic band took their blazing, bluesy rock out on the road, and before their show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Kiszka, Turpin, and tech Johnny Meyer led PG’s John Bohlinger through the vintage axes and amps they’re using to keep rock alive.
The paint’s been completely stripped from this workhouse 1970 GibsonLes Paul Custom that Turpin scooped from an auction house in Wales, but those sweet, sweet pickups are original. Turpin had to replace both volume pots, and opted to add a Bigsby vibrato. He uses Elixir Strings 19052 Optiweb Strings (.010-.046) on all his electrics and his attacks those strings with Jim Dunlop Ultex Thumb picks. All his instruments are snug over his left shoulder thanks to Pinegrove Leather Guitar Straps. (His custom Mirador Martin 00-28 takes Elixir Strings 16027 Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze strings: .011-.052.)
National With a Novak
Turpin used some electrical tape to secure a Curtis Novak K-Pancake pickup to this 1930s National Triolian. To avoid any unnecessary drilling, the output jack runs via one of the air holes in the top.
6L6 Slammer
Turpin packs a pair of Marshall JTM45 heads, with one serving as a backup. The main one in use on this run has 6L6 power tubes, and runs into a 4x12 cabinet with Celestion Greenbacks.
Chris Turpin’s Pedalboard
<p>Turpin’s pedalboard includes a Dunlop Custom Audio Electronics Cry Baby wah pedal, JAM Pedals Double Dreamer, Analog Man Beano Boost, Analog Man Sun Face, a <a href="https://www.premierguitar.com/tag/boss?utm_source=website&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=Smartlinks">Boss</a> GE-7, Maxon CS-550, Boss RE-202, and <a href="https://www.uaudio.com/" target="_blank">Universal Audio</a> Golden Reverberator, while his acoustic board carries a Fishman Aura, MXR Carbon Copy, and a Line 6 HX Stomp.</p>
Dearly Beloved
This 1961 Gibson SG is Kizska’s forever-and-always—he calls it “the beloved.” It’s been cracked, taped, and repaired over the years, but it’s still number one. Jake uses custom-made Dunlop coated strings on his electrics.
Juiced-Up Junior
This late-’50s double-cutaway Les Paul Junior was rerouted for a pair of PAF pickups, and is primarily used by Kiszka for slide-playing. The added sideways tremolo unit, from the ’60s, is there for looks only.
Dual Destroyers
Jake runs a dual-amp setup for a monster sound. A Park P50M and a Supro 1932R Royale get the job done, pumped out through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet.
Jake Kiszka’s Pedalboard
<p>Kizska’s acoustic and electric boards carry a pair of Boss TU-3Ws, MXR Micro Amp, TC Electronic Flashback, Fishman Aura, Dunlop Cry Baby, Boss GE-7, <a href="https://www.strymon.net/" target="_blank">Strymon</a> El Capistan, Universal Audio Del-Verb, Universal Audio Golden Reverberator, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, a pair of MXR Deep Phases, Boss BP-1W, and Boss TU-3.</p><p>A trio of MXR units—DC Brick, Iso-Brick, and Mini Iso-Brick—power the pedals.</p>
