Last month, Guitar World kicked off its first official transcription challenge, and we picked the perfect song to set the tone for the monthly contest: Jason Becker's instrumental masterpiece, "Perpetual Burn."
The song has been a perpetual source of inspiration (and challenge) for guitarists since it was released in 1988.
Our transcription challenge involved checking out our transcription of the song, which appears in the July 2013 issue of Guitar World, and shooting a video of yourself playing the "Guitar 2" part in the Main Theme or B section — bars 6 to 18 in our transcription.
The winner — the person who best followed the transcription — would receive a new Carvin JB200C Jason Becker Tribute Electric Guitar in Translucent Blue with a flame maple top (List price: $2,999, direct price: $1,699). For more information about Carvin's Jason Becker Tribute guitar, visit carvinguitars.com, and watch the video at the bottom of this story.
The Guitar World editors narrowed down the many choices to three finalists, which we collected and sent to Becker, who made the agonizing final choice himself over the weekend. He even got Jeff Loomis' opinion while he was making up his mind.
And so, the winner is ... 27-year-old Joshua Kraft of California! "I have to pick Mr. Bandaid," Becker said, adding that Kraft's "attitude" is what gave him the final edge.
Check out Kraft's winning video below — and start getting ready for our next transcription challenge, which we'll be announcing this week! Thank you to everyone who entered the challenge!
“There is no-one who can do this process with me as well as he can”: Alex Van Halen says a new Van Halen album is in the works – and he’s recruited Steve Lukather to help him complete it
“Exactly the kind of thing the Instagram algorithm won’t be injecting into your eyeballs every time you log on”: February 2025 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
