I always use the Jeff Beck model. Jeff Beck is just a genius, and he keeps getting better ... If there's anybody in your field you want to aspire to be like, it is a guy who does what he wants to do. Every record at least he comes out with one thing that makes everybodys' jaw drop ... I would hope that Jimi Hendrix would have done that, although, man, the odds are against him because he did so much in such a short amount of time.

Some of us are going to play faster than others. Hitting the right notes and getting your technique right is so much more important than speed.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs. I bet you're busy right now revolutionizing and redesigning the afterlife for all of us to enjoy when our time comes

There's a fine line between giving the sense of freedom and being too free.

Guitars are fun. There are plenty of different kinds to play. They look cool. They sound cool. Don't you want to play guitar?

When these guitar mags bring up that stuff up and say such and such came up with this and that which is pushing the boundaries, I just say, "let's step back for a minute and admit something: nothing has happened for the last 100 years." And it's okay. It's not a bad thing ... We're all working with "tools" that have been in existence for the last 100 years and there hadn't been a new "tool" for a long long time.

When you're a guitar teacher, you teach people for a few years, and you become comrades after a while. Because everybody eventually catches up to everybody else, and you want to help each other out - to see if you can make the dream a reality.