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Guitar World
Guitar World
Entertainment
Janelle Borg

“John said to me, ‘When you hear a solo, you can tell how well that guy knows that guitar.’ I went, ‘He's so true’”: Keith Urban and John Mayer agree – having fewer guitars can make you a better guitar player

Left-Keith Urban performing on stage; Right-John Mayer performs on stage at The O2 Arena on October 13, 2019 in London, England.

There are two types of guitarists in the world: those who stick with one, maybe two guitars, throughout their entire career, and others who simply can't get enough. Keith Urban has given his take on why having fewer guitars can actually work in your favor, with a little insight from John Mayer.

“I had this conversation with John Mayer recently. He said to me, ‘You can tell when you hear a solo, how well that guy knows that guitar.’ I went, ‘He's so true.’ More than the sound and or whatever, more than anything, you can just tell that dude knows that guitar inside out,” he says in an interview with Rick Beato.

“And I said to him, ‘I kind of miss that.’ I think I played better when I had two guitars. And I'd like to get back to a little more of just one dominating the show, which has happened recently with this Telecaster I've had forever.”

Urban admits that he usually tends to fall into the latter category, as he uses specific guitars to achieve the tones he wants to incorporate into his songs.

“I've made a lot of records, and I've reached for certain things because I want that sound on that song. And so now I have this Danelectro.

“I didn't want a Danelectro, but I just wanted that for that one song. Then I wanted this old Gretsch for this song. Before you know it, you have all these guitars. I wasn't sort of going, ‘I want this in the collection, that in the collection.’ I don't do that.”

In other Keith Urban news, the Australian country star recently spoke out about scrambling to buy guitars at the last minute after a devastating flood ruined most of his collection back in 2010.

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