“I was playing at three times the speed I normally play at”: When Pete Townshend got his first Jackson guitar… and loved it

Artist's impression of Pete Townshend playing a Jackson guitar
Artist's impression of Pete Townshend playing a Jackson guitar (Image credit: ANNA KURTH/AFP via Getty Images / Jackson)

2024 Year in Review: It’s no secret that the Who guitarist Pete Townshend tends to stick with the more old-school guitar designs – from Strats to Les Pauls and SGs, not to mention Rickenbackers.

What he’s not known for is playing heavy metal speed machines made by companies like Jackson.

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Amit Sharma

Amit has been writing for titles like Total GuitarMusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!Metal HammerClassic RockProgRecord CollectorPlanet RockRhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).