In recent years, TG has focused on responsible pursuits like improving your knowledge of guitar playing. This, though, was the early noughties: the height of Top Gear, Jackass, Loaded and lad culture. Into this rich cultural milieu came TG’s immortal drinking experiment.
The premise was simple: a contest to see who could still play the opening two bars of Sweet Child O’ Mine after the most drinks. Slash being mysteriously unavailable for this important research, TG’s editor Stephen Lawson, staff writer Nick Cracknell, music editor James Uings, and deputy editor Phil Ascott stepped up, with production editor Claire Davies dodging the vomit and keeping score.
Our excuse that we aimed to discover whether, as some had apparently claimed, you can play better when drunk. But mostly it was a chance to get hammered at work.
What follows is a representative sample of the evening’s proceedings:
ROUND 3
This story is from the November 2024 edition of Total Guitar.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2024 edition of Total Guitar.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
POSITIVE GRID SPARK 2
The sequel to the world's most popular smart guitar amp is here
JACKSON PRO PLUS XT SOLOIST SLAT HT6 BARITONE
We get low with this fast-playing, all-black modern metal machine
GUILD POLARA DELUXE
A’70s staple gets a bit of are-jig, o4 years after it was introduced
NEURAL DSP NANO CORTEX
Neural DSP's second pedal might be the ultimate compact all-in-one rig
EPIPHONE JIMI HENDRIX LOVE DROPS FLYING V
Prepare to kiss the sky with Epiphone's latest 'Inspired By...' model
JIMMY PAGE
\"I was using what was really meaty!\"
EDDIE VAN HALEN
“You either capture the vibe or you don't!”
MYTH BUSTERS: THE CABLE DESTRUCTION TEST
Need to know whether gear is worth your cash? Who you gonna call...
JOHN FRUSCIANTE'S LETTER FROM AMERICA
Our July 2006 issue featured none other than John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the cover, with a line of text promising discussion of meditation, drugs, Hendrix and some chat about the band’s then-latest album, Stadium Arcadium.
CHALLENGE CHARLIE
Ata time when TC's staff were getting, frankly, rather silly, one man stood up to take on the daftest of all our challenges...