The moment it all started...
“I think maybe the first defining moment
for me and guitar was my eighth-grade
talent show. That was my first big
performance. The next and very important
moment was during an Allman Brothers
Band concert. I was watching a solo section
and they were all jamming and I had that
moment of, ‘This is what I want to do with
the rest of life.’ To be up there, creating,
jamming, being free and playing music.”
I couldn’t live without my...
“My 1994 Fender American Standard black
Strat. It’s been with me forever and it’s a
part of me.”
The one that got away...
“Before I got my black Strat, I wanted to get
this Ibanez really bad. My dad took me to a
guitar store and we were about to purchase
this Emerald Green Ibanez Saber and he
says: ‘Why don’t you check out this black
Strat?’ He was a massive Clapton fan and
I was, too. I tried it and I remember being
torn because it was magical! But I didn’t
buy it. I bought that green Ibanez, which
I sold a few years later anyways.
“The following year or two after
I got the Ibanez, I did get the other black
Strat, which has become my ‘number 1’
throughout my life, but I still think about
that one guitar. I guess it all works out
as it’s supposed to, though!”My dream signature guitar...
“It would be so hard for me to figure out
what a JS signature guitar would be. I love
and play so many styles of music, record
all the time and need different sounds so
one guitar doesn’t always do the trick.
I think that different styles of guitars bring
out different styles of your playing, creates
different songs, et cetera. But who knows,
it would be fun to do one!”The best advice I’ve ever been given...
“I’m not really one to remember anecdotesTALKBOX
JARED SCHARFF
INTERVIEW JOSH GARDNER
The Saturday Night Live guitarist talks talent shows,
magic Stratocasters and the importance of matcha...
of advice from people. But if you asked me
what advice would I give to guitarists trying
to become professional and make this a
career, I would say: be early, be prepared,
be flexible, don’t be needy, be a kind
person. And of course, kick serious ass on
the instrument!”My musical guilty pleasure...
“I think any music has merit, so nothing
should be a guilty pleasure. Like what
you like.”Can I be in the band?
“I always wanted to have a band like
Led Zeppelin, so I guess I’ll say Zeppelin!”I wish I was there...
“I would have loved to see people’s
reactions the first time Hendrix played
in the US. I’d be like, ‘What the fuck?!’”The most important thing on my rider...
“Matcha! I love matcha.”If I could just play one thing...
“I would love to be able to be an amazing
folk fingerpicker or even be great at that
Spanish classical style.”Jared Scharff’s new signature pedal with
Walrus Audio, the Kangra filter/fuzz, is out nowONES TO WATCH
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