Brian Williams of Virtual Woodshed recently interviewed guitarist Marc Ford. In the interview, Ford discusses growing up in LA in the 70s and 80s, how he developed his style, his time with the Black Crowes, his current band, and why you shouldn’t try to copy his gear settings:

But you know the equipment thing… umm, of course equipment makes a difference. I think what I meant about those guys was that I was amazed at the length they would go and how precise they would get. They’re like Trekkies! I mean, they’ve really got nothing better to do than to discuss on some website about at what point did I change this or that setting?! That’s obsession. And really, they’re looking too hard in the wrong area. Because, although yes, all that stuff matters, you can use my rig, I’ll hand it to you and you can play it and it’s not going to sound the same.

It’s an excellent interview with an underrated guitar hero.

Dinosaur Rock Guitar recently interviewed Joe Bonamassa. In the interview, Bonamassa discusses his upcoming album Black Rock, his recently released (excellent) DVD Live from the Royal Albert Hall, and recording with his supergroup Black Country:

I’m playing a Gibson Explorer and a Les Paul with a couple of old Super Leads, really stripped down approach. Nothing majestic. So what if the guitar stutters a bit in the solo, so what if it’s clean but it’s heavy? Heavy-handed old school, you know. Glenn’s the primary singer and I’m happy to let him do it, coz if you’ve got Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen cooking for you, why the hell would you wanna make the salad?  He’s fucking brilliant! So, at the end of the day it’s like, I have no ego, I’d be happy to just play rhythms! I think people will be pleasantly surprised at the level of writing and the level of care going into it. I’m excited about it! I however don’t wanna over-hype it. I’m not that happy the rumour is out. My thing is more – here’s the record, enjoy it or not. There’s no pretence going on. It’s like the LA rumours – This is gonna be bigger than bread! No, it’s not. People still need bread, they don’t need this fucking record. So, calm down, let us be creative and let us do our jobs. It won’t come out if it sucks.

I love his attitude about it. I can’t wait to hear what they’re working on.

Alex Becker recently posted an interview with Billy Gibbons on the Gibson Lifestyle site. The interview covers several topics, including his musical beginnings, his first guitar, ZZ Top and Pearly Gates:

ZZ Top owned an old Packard, a car from the ’30s. It served us well, but it was really, really old. One of our girlfriends decided to head to California to try out for a part in a movie. We gave her the Packard as a way to get there. Not only did she arrive, but she got the part. We named the automobile “Pearly Gates” because we thought it must have had divine connections. Renee Thomas — that was her name — sold the car to a collector in California and sent the money to us. Her timing couldn’t have been better. The very day that the money arrived a guy called me up wanting to sell an old guitar. It was a ’59 Sunburst Les Paul. It was found underneath a bed, by the way, in which her previous owner died. I had to buy the guitar, of course, and I called Renee on the same day to thank her for being so kind. She said that it looks like the Packard went for a good cause and we should name the guitar after the car, Pearly Gates. At the end she said, “Now you can go make divine music.”

GuitarGuitar and Guitarist Magazine recently spent some time with Suhr Guitars and interviewed cofounder John Suhr. John Suhr used to work with Rudy Pensa of Rudy’s Guitars in New York and also with Fender in their custom shop. He left Fender and started his own guitar manufacturing company. In the interview, he briefly discusses the legal battle he and other manufacturers recently had with Fender (who ended up losing the battle):

But funnily enough we started off doing [the Standard] shape as our only shape here at Suhr — it was the one I knew the most. As time went on people started asking about what became the Classic and I went to Fender and asked their permission. I said do you have an issue? I was still friends with them and still did some work for them. They said, no we don’t have an issue [with the body shape], just stay away from the headstock. So the way I look at it is that Fender told me it was okay. Unfortunately the people that told me it was okay are either retired or have passed on so now I’m dealing with a whole new set of rules. There’s a lot of people fighting it. I think Gibson is involved, Peavey is involved and a lot of other companies. The main thing is that if I had known from the beginning that it wasn’t okay I probably would have come up with something more original or out there. But then we started doing the Classics — I mean it’s pretty 50:50 in terms of sales with the Classics and the Standard so I would lose 50 percent of my market if I didn’t run the Classic.

The bottom line is that I’ve never seen an original guitar that has not fallen on its face. Steinberger, Parker… they’ve all been bought and sold a few times.

Suhr also discusses aspects of their manufacturing process and different aspects of guitar making.