IT'S a recipe for guitar heaven - three masters of the instrument veteran blues blasters Alvin Lee, Edgar Winter and Tony McPhee are heading for Bournemouth this spring.

Touring together for the first time, this trio of guitar superstars, who play the Bournemouth Pavilion on May 6, can boast 125 years of sublime musicianship between them.

The gig, part of major UK tour, will be headlined by legendary Ten Years After frontman Lee and formidable American axeman Winter with British blues ace and Groundhogs leader McPhee as special guest.

Alvin Lee made his name as the fleet-fingered guitarist who made Ten Years After one of the most talked-about acts at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.

In Bournemouth he will be joined by his current line-up of Pete Pritchard on electric and double bass and Richard Newman on drums.

Edgar Winter is long established as one of music's true pioneers. A consummate musician, he was among the very first to use synthesizers and earlier this year found even more mainstream success when Eminem sampled his Dying to Live for the US top 20 hit Runnin'. Amazingly Edgar has not played in the UK for over 25 years. He will be joined on the road by Mark Meadows on bass, Chris Frazier on drums and Doug Rappaport on guitar

Tony McPhee, meanwhile, was a pioneer of British blues and R&B way back in the early 1960s. It was a tour supporting the grandfather of blues John Lee Hooker that established the reputation of his band The Groundhogs. Last year Tony and the band celebrated their 40th anniversary.

In Bournemouth he will be performing a solo acoustic blues set with a little help from Joanna Deacon on vocals.