The mid-1990s weren't the best of times to be a guitar hero. After years of being confined to clubs and abandoned warehouses, electronica was in the ascendant.
Ecstasy-fuelled raves had gone from underground to main-stream. Rolands and turntables had dethroned Fenders, Ibanez and Gibsons as youth's musical toys of choice, thanks to acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Moby.
But that didn't mean we'd seen the last of it. In the past few years, bands such as the Strokes, the White Stripes and the Libertines have rekindled mainstream interest in guitar-based rock bands. The likes of Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer - and even Black Sabbath and AC/DC - are finding new fans among kids who refuse to listen to their parents' Massive Attack CDs. It might even be cool to be a rocker again.
'Guitars and rock music go in and out of fashion,' says Marty Friedman, erstwhile guitarist for Megadeth. 'Right now, it's on the upswing all around the world, and that's great.'
Friedman will be in town for a guitar clinic next week. And when someone who has sold more than 10 million albums (as part of Megadeth) and has five Grammy nominations is willing to talk candidly about guitar technique, any would-be axe-slinger probably should listen up.
Friedman was Megadeth's guitarist from 1990 to 2000 - from Rust in Peace to Risk. The former is regarded by many as their best album, and Friedman's guitar playing pleased fans and critics.
Since he left Megadeth, he's put out a solo album, Music for Speeding, and writes a regular column in Japanese (he studied the language in his spare time while he was part of Megadeth), for Burrrn magazine in Japan, where he now lives. He also conducts guitar clinics regularly around the world.