Jas Obrecht

Jas Obrecht was a staff editor for Guitar Player, 1978-1998. The author of several books, he runs the Talking Guitar YouTube channel and online magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com.

Latest articles by Jas Obrecht

Eddie Van Halen plays his custom Frankenstrat guitar at Cobo Arena during Van Halen's "Hide Your Sheep Tour" on August 13, 1982, in Detroit, Michigan.

Eddie Van Halen talks guitar solos, playing fast, and the music teacher who slapped his face when he made a mistake

By Jas Obrecht published

Van Halen touched on the essence of his approach to soloing in this classic Guitar Player interview

Bob Weir performs onstage at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on October 2, 2002

“I was working with Ibanez in the mid-'70s, and they showed me a new guitar from Japan. I played it, and they told me they'd made it for George Benson. I said, ‘You can call the police, but I'm taking it’: Bob Weir on Ratdog, and his unique custom models

By Jas Obrecht published

Having – at the time of this archival GP interview – recently lost his six-string brother in arms, Jerry Garcia, Weir was ready to move on with new sounds, new approaches, and ever-fascinating new custom guitars

Lightnin' Hopkins on stage

"He really lived it": Lightnin' Hopkins picked cotton and worked on a chain gang before becoming the most recorded of the postwar bluesmen – and schooling the likes of Billy Gibbons and Johnny Winter

By Jas Obrecht published

"Lightnin' did everything the way you'd think a real blues player would do…" The story of Lightnin' Hopkins: Sage, scoundrel and natural-born storyteller

Former Guitar Player publisher Jim Crockett

In Memory of Jim Crockett, 1937–2023

By Jas Obrecht published

The former Guitar Player publisher died December 16, 2023

Keith Richards and The Expensive Winos perform onstage at WTTW TV studios for a production of Center Stage in Chicago, Illinois, USA on December 28, 1992. (Photo by Stacia Timonere/Getty Images)

"Five strings, three notes, two fingers and one a**hole – that's all it takes to play guitar!" Keith Richards: The complete 1992 interview

By Jas Obrecht published

Guitar playing. Songwriting. Mick Jagger. His blues heroes. Keith Richards is 80. In 1992, we sat down with him for one of his greatest interviews…

Steve Lukather (left) and Larry Carlton perform onstage at the AC Hall in Hong Kong on February 5, 2015

Steve Lukather: "I realized it was okay to play a bad note when I saw Larry Carlton six years ago. He broke his E string, and everybody was like 'Oh, no.' Then he took his clippers and clipped off the B and G strings and played a killer solo!"

By Jas Obrecht published

In this classic GP interview, the session guitar and Toto king reveals how Carlton (especially his work on Steely Dan's Royal Scam) changed his view of what was possible within the confines of rock guitar playing

Billy Gibbons (left) and Lightnin' Hopkins

Billy Gibbons: “We went to the second change, but Lightnin’ was still in the first... Our bassist said, ‘Lightnin’, that’s where the second change is supposed to be, isn’t it?' Lightnin’ said, ‘Lightnin’ change when Lightnin’ want to change!’”

By Jas Obrecht published

ZZ Top's main man and Johnny Winter recount their time backing Lightnin’ Hopkins, where they quickly learned that to accompany the blues legend meant doing things his way

John Lee Hooker performs onstage

John Lee Hooker: "Out of the Younger Generation of the Blues Singers, Who Was My Pride and Joy? Stevie Ray Vaughan... He Could Do Anybody – Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson – Anybody's Thing. I'd Sit Down and Watch Him Do That"

By Jas Obrecht published

The bluesman who Miles Davis once described as the "funkiest man alive" discusses his love of B.B. King's signature Gibson, his most beloved Fender amps, and the guitarist who came closest to his style with GP in this 1992 interview.

Ozzy Osbourne (left) and Randy Rhoads perform onstage at the Gaumont Theatre

"He Was Not Only a Great Rock and Roll Player, But in the Classics, and in Every Other Field, He Was Phenomenal": Ozzy Osbourne Shares His Fond Memories of Randy Rhoads in 1982 GP Interview

By Jas Obrecht published

The Prince of Darkness discusses what he learned about music from Rhoads, and how the pioneering hard-rock guitarist would find a new guitar teacher in every town he played in, while Osbourne and the rest of his bandmates were "hunkered in the bar."

Bob Weir of Grateful Dead

“We Could Take a Pretty Massive Dose and Hang in There for a While”: How LSD Influenced the Grateful Dead’s Music

By Jas Obrecht, Art Thompson published

From the Acid Tests and beyond

Eddie Van Halen from American rock group Van Halen performs live on stage at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London on 22nd October 1978.

“I Am Just a Punk Kid Trying to Get a Sound Out of a Guitar That I Couldn't Buy Off the Rack”: a 23-Year-Old Eddie Van Halen Talks Building His Own Guitars

By Rod Brakes, Jas Obrecht published

Screwdrivers, chisels, drills and chainsaws – the young prodigy reveals all in this amazing interview from the GP archive.

Australian guitarists and brothers Angus (L) and Malcolm Young of the hard rock group ACDC inaugurate 22 March 2000 the first street in the world bearing their group's name in Leganes, 29 kms from Madrid.

“I'm Just Like a Color Over the Top. He's the Solid Thing”: Angus Young on Malcolm Young and the Vital Chemistry of AC/DC

By Jas Obrecht, Rod Brakes published

Read this classic Guitar Player interview with one half of the greatest guitar dueling brotherhood in hard rock history.

John Lee Hooker with Epiphone Zephyr

Watch John Lee Hooker Bringing the Blues to London in 1964

By Jas Obrecht published

Video This historic BBC performance of “Boom Boom” helped turn a whole generation on to the blues.

Video
Lightnin' Hopkins seen through the window of the studio while recording his album 'Penitentiary Blues' on July, 6, 1960 in Los Angeles

Watch Lightnin’ Hopkins Play “the Best Blues Performance Ever”

By Jas Obrecht published

Video Remembering the influential Texas bluesman born 110 years ago today with this archive gem featuring quotes from Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons and more.

Video
Keith Richards, 1992

The Keith Richards Guide to Distortion

By Jas Obrecht, Jesse Gress published

The Rolling Stone comes clean on distortion in this archive interview from the December 1992 issue of Guitar Player.

Toto

“People Don't Buy a Guitar Solo. They Buy a Song”: Steve Lukather Talks Soloing, Songwriting and Success

By Jas Obrecht, Rod Brakes last updated

As ‘Toto IV’ hits 40 this year, we take a rummage through the vaults to bring you some classic Luke snippets.

Freddie Mercury and Brian May performing at Madison Square Garden in New York, 1983

Brian May Reveals the Magic Behind His Recording Studio Wizardry

By Jas Obrecht published

In this insightful interview from the Guitar Player archive Brian May explains how he recorded classic Queen tracks.

American Rock musician Eddie Van Halen, of the group Van Halen, performs onstage at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, April 6, 1979

Eddie Van Halen Talks Revolutionary Gear Mods and the Death of Rock in his First-Ever Interview from 1978

By Jas Obrecht last updated

Jas Obrecht's classic Eddie Van Halen interview from the November 1978 issue of Guitar Player.