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Top 10 Wong Notes Episodes in 2022

Top 10 Wong Notes Episodes in 2022

From John Mayer’s “lost” song to Derek Trucks’ ode to the Super Reverb, we covered a lot of ground this year.


10. Bruce Hornsby: “Trying to Keep the Self-Loathing at Bay”

Cory Wong

How does a legacy artist stay on top of his game? The pianist, hit singer-songwriter, producer, and composer talks about the importance of musical growth and positive affirmation; his love for angular melodicism; playing jazz, pop, classical, bluegrass, jam, and soundtrack music; and collaborating with his favorite guitarists, including Pat Metheny and Jerry Garcia.

9. Yngwie J. Malmsteen: "I Never Felt That Art Is a Sport”

Cory Wong

The tennis-playing, art-enthusiast, Ferrari-collecting shredder talks about his passion, his practice, his love for the Strat, and who he thinks is the greatest guitar player who’s ever lived.

8. Mike Campbell Likes the “Real Stuff”

Cory Wong

The Heartbreakers guitarist and Dirty Knobs frontman answers deep questions about songwriting, producing, and hitmaking.

7. Ariel Posen: “Dynamics Are the Most Important Thing.”

Cory Wong

The roots-guitar innovator talks about controlling his sound, when to play large or small amps, using overdrive and compression, mastering slide, building community on social media, and the overall role gear plays in defining his distinctive tone.

6. Victor Wooten: "Music Needs Us."

Cory Wong

The bass wiz and author shares deep wisdom about bass, music, and more.

5. What Scares Julian Lage?

Cory Wong

The jazz phenom chats about flying with his guitar, how he approaches fluidity on his instrument, overcoming injury, and his take on pedals and tunings.

4. Derek Trucks: “There’s a Lot of Music Out There”

Cory Wong

The slide master talks about amalgamating influences, keeping it fresh, how he approaches tone, and the best amp ever made.

3. Vai on Vai: “That’s Me—Obtuse and Quirky”

Cory Wong

The legend talks gear, almost jamming with Prince, guitar heroes, melody, fear, swapping technique for passion, his hydra guitar, why he chose the players on his latest album, and his true superpower.

2. John Mayer Pt. 2—A Song Too Perfect to Record?

Cory Wong

Cory and John Mayer sit down with their guitars to jam and discuss how they approach playing, songwriting, record-making, and the music business.

1. Mayer Is King

Cory Wong

Cory and John Mayer sit down with their guitars to jam and discuss how they approach playing, songwriting, record-making, and the music business.

Whitman Audio introduces the Decoherence Drive and Wave Collapse Fuzz, two innovative guitar pedals designed to push the boundaries of sound exploration. With unique features like cascading gain stages and vintage silicon transistor fuzz, these pedals offer musicians a new path to sonic creativity.

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- YouTube

In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.

We know Horsegirl as a band of musicians, but their friendships will always come before the music. From left to right: Nora Cheng, drummer Gigi Reece, and Penelope Lowenstein.

Photo by Ruby Faye

The Chicago-via-New York trio of best friends reinterpret the best bits of college-rock and ’90s indie on their new record, Phonetics On and On.

Horsegirl guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are back in their hometown of Chicago during winter break from New York University, where they share an apartment with drummer Gigi Reece. They’re both in the middle of writing papers. Cheng is working on one about Buckminster Fuller for a city planning class, and Lowenstein is untangling Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann’s short story, “Three Paths to the Lake.”

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