'SNL' Guitarist Jared Scharff Adds "Unnecessary Shredding" to Charli XCX's "Boom Clap" — Video

Features
By published

Saturday Night Live guitaristJared Scharff has a new web series called Unnecessary Shredding.

In it, Scharff adds lots and lots of tasteful shredding to songs that are devoid of shredding—if not devoid of guitars, period.

In his first video, posted to the interwebs July 1, Scharff adds some unnecessary shredding to "Boom Clap" by Charli XCX.

"I love the melody and production so much," Scharff writes. "As soon as I heard this I feel in love with the song. I'm a sucker for big pop melodies with a big beat.

"I played a Gibson Les Paul Gold Top with an original Digitech Whammy 1 through a vintage Sixties Vox AC30."

Opinions 'n' such?

Damian Fanelli
Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.

More about guitarists

Carlos Santana hospitalized following pre-show medical emergency

“I didn’t use any amps. The pedal that saved me was the Boss Super Overdrive”: How Yves Jarvis made 2025’s most exciting experimental record so far with a $50 Explorer knockoff and an unbelievably weird tuning

“Even standing with the guitars is tricky”: Ritchie Blackmore's health sparks concern after update from wife and musical partner Candice Night
See more latest
Most Popular
Yves Jarvis
“I didn’t use any amps. The pedal that saved me was the Boss Super Overdrive”: How Yves Jarvis made 2025’s most exciting experimental record so far with a $50 Explorer knockoff and an unbelievably weird tuning
Buddy Guy performs onstage in London in October 1965
“Chess was cussin' when I got to the session with Muddy. But when he heard me, he just sat there with his mouth open”: Leonard Chess wanted to cash in on the folk boom, and asked Muddy Waters to bring him an old acoustic bluesman. He brought him Buddy Guy
[from left] George Harrison with his Gretsch Country Gentleman, Norman Harris of Norman's Rare Guitars holds a gold-top Les Paul, John Fogerty with his legendary 1969 Rickenbacker
“I didn’t think anybody would believe I got it from George Harrison. I figured they’d call me a liar”: Vintage guitar guru Norman Harris names the 5 most memorable guitars that have come through Norman's Rare Guitars
View from behind the camera as a man records a guitar performance
“You better be ready to prove it’s something you can do”: Giacomo Turra got exposed – but real guitar virtuosos are being wrongly accused of fakery, too
Talking Heads live at CBGB's, in 1977. On the right, David Byrne tuneshis Fender Strat, while Jerry Harrison – also playing a Strat – looks on.
“I was really broke. The only way I could get to New York to try out for Talking Heads was to take a family who were moving there in the band van”: Jerry Harrison on making Talking Heads’ 1977 debut and rejecting blues-rock to shape the CBGB guitar sound
Paul Reed Smith performing earlier this year at PRS’s 40th Anniversary concert where he played a final prototype of the new Charcoal Phoenix. It’s all on YouTube!
“What blew me away was that everyone wanted the curly maple top. People were calling, saying, ‘I’ve got to have the bird inlays’”: Paul Reed Smith on raising the Standard 24, finally cracking the noise-free guitar and why John Sykes is a tone hero
Stevie Ray Vaughan plays his #1 Stratocaster (left), Stevie Wonder sits at a keyboard
That time Stevie Wonder jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan... and played SRV's number one Strat
Albert Collins performs at the San Francisco Blues Festival at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California on September 15, 1990
“Freddie King would ask me why I never tried using thumbpicks... I really like digging in with my fingers”: He replaced Jimi Hendrix in Little Richard's band, was idolized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and is one of the most underrated Tele slingers of all time
Bartees Strange performs onstage at the Austin Motel in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2023
“When I heard Sonic Youth, I was like, ‘I need a Jazzmaster, and I’m gonna put duct tape on it!’”: Bartees Strange on working with superstar producer Jack Antonoff, his vintage guitar collection, and emulating Neil Young’s “spluttery” guitar sounds 
John Lennon performs at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on September 13, 1969 (left), (from left) Eric Clapton (seated), bassist Klaus Voorman, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono
“We hadn’t really rehearsed. As we were walking to the stage, he said, ‘Hang on, boys!’ And he went in the corner and vomited”: Assembled on 24 hours' notice, this John Lennon-led, motley crew supergroup marked the beginning of the end of the Beatles