In this episode of Tone Chasers & String Benders, co-hosts Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund leave the A's behind and officially launch into the B's—five more guitarists, five more musical rabbit holes, and one unforgettable jazz detour that threatens to steal the whole show.

This installment proves just how wide the definition of "legendary guitarist" can be. From Canadian arena rock and avant-garde free improvisation to British pub rock, Southern rock, and early rock & roll, the episode spans nearly every corner of guitar history while continuing the alphabetical journey through the 1,000 legendary guitarists.

Featured guitarists in this episode:

Randy Bachman – The driving force behind The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, whose instantly recognizable riffs powered classics like American Woman, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, and Takin' Care of Business. Along the way, the hosts dive deep into Bachman's guitar tone, fuzz sounds, Gretsch guitars, the Garnet Herzog overdrive amplifier, and the happy accidents that create legendary recordings.

Derek Bailey – One of the most uncompromising figures in avant-garde jazz guitar. Bailey's free improvisation leaves one host fascinated, the other bewildered, as the discussion explores whether music needs melody, structure, or even recognizable songs to become influential.

Guy Bailey – Best known for his work with The Quireboys, Bailey represents the swaggering British blues-rock tradition, blending Faces-style groove, Keith Richards-inspired rhythm work, and pub-rock attitude into a sound built more on feel than flash.

Barry Bailey – The longtime guitarist of the Atlanta Rhythm Section, whose tasteful playing helped define one of Southern rock's smoothest and most melodic bands. The conversation wanders through session work, Southern rock history, and the understated artistry of players who always served the song first.

Micky Baker – One half of Mickey & Sylvia and one of early rock & roll's most influential yet underappreciated guitar pioneers. Beyond his own recordings, Baker's session work, instructional books, and pioneering electric guitar style helped shape generations of players who followed.

Featured recordings include:

• American Woman – The Guess Who (Randy Bachman)
• Takin' Care of Business – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• Selected improvisations – Derek Bailey
• Quireboys classics featuring Guy Bailey
• So Into You – Atlanta Rhythm Section (Barry Bailey)
• Love Is Strange – Mickey & Sylvia featuring Micky Baker

The episode also makes room for one of its trademark digressions when a discussion of jazz guitar leads to Barney Kessel. What begins as a sidebar quickly becomes a celebration of one of the great architects of modern jazz guitar, his influence on studio legends like Larry Carlton, and why some of the instrument's biggest innovators remain criminally overlooked.

As always, the conversation drifts delightfully between guitar tone, vintage gear, fuzz pedals, recording techniques, bizarre musical experiments, Canadian rock history, British blues, Southern grooves, and enough bad jokes to require their own effects pedal.

Five more guitarists down...

Nine hundred and sixty-five to go.

Hosted by Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund.

Only on the Boneless Podcasting Network.

In this sixth episode of Tone Chasers & String Benders, co-hosts Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund reach what appears to be the end of the alphabet’s first letter… and immediately discover they missed somebody.

What was supposed to be a straightforward march through the final A-list guitarists turns into a full-blown audit of the roster. Along the way, the hosts establish a new tradition: before moving on to a new letter, they stop and ask the most dangerous question in podcasting:

“Who did we miss?”

The answer leads to an unexpected addition, a legendary sideman with connections to Dickey Betts, the Allman Brothers orbit, Jimi Hendrix alumni, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s bandmates, and virtually every guitar magazine on Earth. Meanwhile, the hosts hand out the show's latest official judgment:

“Uh-Oh.”

Not every guitarist survives the court of appeals.

Featured guitarists in this episode:

Irving Ashby – Jazz-era guitarist associated with the Nat King Cole Trio and the post-war big band world. A respected player whose appearance on the list sparks one of the episode’s most spirited debates.

John Ashton – Guitarist for The Psychedelic Furs, bringing post-punk textures, new wave atmosphere, and MTV-era guitar sounds to the conversation.

Chet Atkins – The undisputed giant of the episode. “Mr. Guitar” himself. Fingerstyle pioneer, architect of the Nashville Sound, Gretsch icon, producer, innovator, and one of the most influential guitarists in American music history.

Mike Auldridge – Dobro master and bluegrass innovator whose fluid slide playing helped elevate resonator guitar from supporting instrument to featured voice.

Andy Aledort (The Missing A) – Guitar World editor, educator, session player, Allman Brothers disciple, and guitarist’s guitarist. The surprise addition whose résumé proves that sometimes the players behind the legends become legends themselves.

Featured recordings include:

• Pretty in Pink – The Psychedelic Furs with John Ashton
• Classic Nashville recordings and fingerstyle showcases – Chet Atkins
• New Grass Revival and dobro performances – Mike Auldridge
• Groove Kings performances and instructional classics – Andy Aledort

And in between?

You get a detour into Eric Clapton’s role in creating the Les Paul-through-Marshall blueprint that shaped British rock. There’s a discussion about guitarists who could create magic in the studio but struggled to reproduce it live. There’s a reminder that sometimes the most important musicians are the ones standing just outside the spotlight.

Most importantly, the hosts close the book on the A’s—at least for now.

Five more guitarists down… and if the listeners know another A we missed, they’re invited to file an appeal.

Nine hundred and seventy to go.

Hosted by Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund.

Only on the Boneless Podcasting Network.

In this fifth episode of Tone Chasers & String Benders, co-hosts Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund continue their alphabetical expedition through the world of legendary guitarists—and somewhere between psychedelic San Francisco, Delta bottleneck blues, British canal boats, and Spanish nylon-string seduction… things get gloriously strange.

There are debates about what actually makes a guitarist legendary, stories from the Fillmore East, deep dives into the roots of slide guitar, and a spontaneous detour into why the Gibson SG was originally supposed to be a Les Paul model… until Les himself hated it.

And somewhere in the middle of all that?

Janis Joplin hands Dr. Glund a rose through the window of a Cadillac in the dead of winter.

Featured guitarists in this episode:

Sam Andrew – Psychedelic San Francisco survivor and longtime musical partner of Janis Joplin, remembered for his work with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Cosmic Blues Band. A rhythm player, arranger, and essential side man whose story becomes one of the emotional centerpieces of the episode.

Joan Armatrading – Acclaimed singer-songwriter whose subtle acoustic playing and introspective songwriting sparked spirited debate between Chaz and the Doctor about what qualifies someone for “legendary guitarist” status in the first place.

Kokomo Arnold – Delta blues bottleneck pioneer whose raw National Steel slide guitar work reminds everyone that the guitar is as much a percussion instrument as it is melodic. Dirty, rhythmic, hypnotic blues from the roots of everything that followed.

Alice Artzt – Classical guitar virtuoso and recital circuit master whose nylon-string precision, dynamic touch, and elegant phrasing bring an entirely different kind of intensity to the show.

Eddie Van Halen – Not officially “up” yet in the alphabet… but impossible to ignore. A surprise detour into Spanish Flyturns into a full-blown reverent discussion of the third great innovator of electric guitar alongside Les Paul and Leo Fender.

Featured recordings include:

• I Need a Man to Love – Janis Joplin with Sam Andrew
• Selections from Joan Armatrading’s 1970s acoustic era
• Dirty Mistreater – Kokomo Arnold & Casey Bill Weldon
• Classical recital performances – Alice Artzt
• Spanish Fly – Eddie Van Halen

Along the way, Chaz and Dr. Glund wrestle with the difference between technical brilliance and historical importance, debate whether some artists belong on the list at all, and accidentally create the show’s newest recurring segment:

“Uh-Oh.”

A sound effect. A judgment. A guitar court of appeals.

This week’s episode proves the list is becoming more than a countdown—it’s becoming a living argument about tone, influence, feel, and the weird roads guitar music has traveled to get here.

Five more guitarists down… nine hundred and seventy-five to go.

Hosted by Chaz Charles and Dr. Porifera Glund.

Only on the Boneless Podcasting Network.