By most accounts, Guns N' Roses stepped up their game when Slash and Duff McKagan returned to the fold for this year's wildly popular Not in This Lifetime tour. But it isn't just having some familiar faces back in the lineup that's made the difference — as guitarist Richard Fortus recently told Gretsch, a lot of work went into it too.

Fortus' interview with the guitar manufacturer, which you can watch above, is largely focused on his longtime love for the Gretsch brand, but he did open a bit of a window into the behind-the-scenes prep work that went into the tour — specifically the increased number of rehearsals the current lineup went through to get the set list into arena shape.

"I've been playing with Guns N' Roses for like 15 years now, and it's been an incredible experience," he pointed out. "And the work ethic that these guys have is amazing. And I think I've rehearsed more in this last year with that band than I have in the previous 14 years put together. It's been really intense and very focused and a great learning experience, as well as a great honor to play with those guys."

As previously reported, there seems to be no end in sight for the Not in This Lifetime tour. As always, official updates from the Guns N' Roses camp are few and far between, but during the summer, band sources indicated they already had dates booked well into 2017, and they've since announced an eight-date run through Australia and Japan scheduled for January and February.