Waves just dropped loads of its plugins back to Black Friday prices – record better guitar tones from just $9.99 By Matt McCracken published 19 March 24 We've hand-picked 7 essential (and discounted) plugins that will massively improve your home guitar recordings
“Inspired by original drawings from 1957”: Gibson announces the Theodore Standard – bringing the unearthed archive design to the firm’s core USA line for the first time ever By Matt Owen published 19 March 24 First released exclusively as a Custom Shop model based on a sketch from the ’50s, the Theodore is back – and it’s come with some choice tweaks
Van Halen, Metallica, SRV, Iron Maiden, Rush, Dio, Yngwie, Vai and the greatest guitar albums of 1984 – only in the new Guitar World By Damian Fanelli published 19 March 24 Featuring new interviews with Ace Frehley, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Smith, Adrian Belew, Earl Slick, Mike Ness, Steve Vai, Vicki Peterson, Vivian Campbell, Yngwie Malmsteen and more
Classic Jazz Bass tones minus the buzz? Lollar’s new hum-cancelling pickup offers a “fuller bass sound that’s still vintage-faithful” By Nick Wells published 19 March 24 Lollar’s new DC J-Bass pickups are designed to help reduce noise and add “clarity, presence, and punch” to your low-end tone
“I thought, ‘He’s got to be joking,’ because John Paul Jones is God on bass, as far as I’m concerned”: How Lita Ford almost ended up joining Led Zeppelin – on bass By Matt Owen published 18 March 24 In the early '70s, Jones was poised to take a step back from his role as the band's bassist – and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant eyed up The Runaways lead guitarist as a potential successor
“Stands at the crossroads of utility and elegance”: Bourgeois Guitars collabs with Eastman for the Touchstone Signature – a historically-styled model that pays homage to prewar acoustics By Phil Weller published 18 March 24 Available in dreadnought and OM variants, the new addition to the series offers historically inspired features and a torrefied tonewood top
“Inspired by original drawings from 1957”: Gibson announces the Theodore Standard – bringing the unearthed archive design to the firm’s core USA line for the first time ever By Matt Owen
Waves just dropped loads of its plugins back to Black Friday prices – record better guitar tones from just $9.99 By Matt McCracken published 19 March 24 We've hand-picked 7 essential (and discounted) plugins that will massively improve your home guitar recordings
Van Halen, Metallica, SRV, Iron Maiden, Rush, Dio, Yngwie, Vai and the greatest guitar albums of 1984 – only in the new Guitar World By Damian Fanelli published 19 March 24 Featuring new interviews with Ace Frehley, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Smith, Adrian Belew, Earl Slick, Mike Ness, Steve Vai, Vicki Peterson, Vivian Campbell, Yngwie Malmsteen and more
Classic Jazz Bass tones minus the buzz? Lollar’s new hum-cancelling pickup offers a “fuller bass sound that’s still vintage-faithful” By Nick Wells published 19 March 24 Lollar’s new DC J-Bass pickups are designed to help reduce noise and add “clarity, presence, and punch” to your low-end tone
“Stands at the crossroads of utility and elegance”: Bourgeois Guitars collabs with Eastman for the Touchstone Signature – a historically-styled model that pays homage to prewar acoustics By Phil Weller published 18 March 24 Available in dreadnought and OM variants, the new addition to the series offers historically inspired features and a torrefied tonewood top
“Bruce Springsteen was in the next studio… He had a Gretsch Country Gentleman, and I asked him if I could borrow it”: How a loaner from The Boss powered the iconic spaghetti western line in Blondie’s Atomic By Matt Parker published 18 March 24 Former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante has revealed that he recorded the twanging lick using a Gretsch belonging to the blue collar rock icon
“Gibson Supremes with Floyds!”: Neal Schon has rekindled his relationship with Gibson, bringing the Floyd Rose to the luxed-out Les Paul Supreme for a trio of potential signature models By Phil Weller published 18 March 24 The Journey guitarist is back working with Gibson – and details of the pair's new models will reportedly be announced later this week
“His music was determinedly and insistently unconventional”: Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel singer and guitarist, dies at 73 By Jackson Maxwell published 17 March 24 Harley wrote and sang the glam-rock band's mid-'70s smash, Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Guitar World deals of the week: get Amplitube for just $49.99, a $120 discount on a D'Angelico, plus all the week's best guitar gear deals By Matt McCracken published 15 March 24 Get the low down on the biggest savings and best deals from all the major music retailers
“Furthering Fortnite’s commitment to working with forward-thinking music brands”: Fender teams up with Fornite to bring its Stratocaster and Precision Bass to the digital realm By Phil Weller published 15 March 24 Fender’s collaboration with one of the world’s biggest video games brings the two timeless models to Fortnite’s 221 million players
“Jaco’s groove is like a fingerprint – nobody can duplicate it”: Listen to Jaco Pastorius’ isolated bassline on Weather Report’s Barbary Coast By Chris Jisi published 19 March 24 Weather Report’s 1976 cut introduced the world to the full-tilt boogie of Jaco Pastorius
“At some point I might come up with a new single-cut unique enough not to upset anybody”: Nik Huber on the perils of riffing on the classics and the evolution of his powerhouse boutique brand By Dave Burrluck published 18 March 24 There’s always the risk that someone might object to a maker’s designs. In the case of Nik Huber’s Krautster, it came 15 years after the guitar was introduced…
Best free online guitar lessons 2024: Where learning guitar costs nothing By Simon Fellows published 15 March 24 Many of the finest online guitar tuition sites, apps and channels are yours for free. The only investments you need to make are time and effort!
“If the mini-humbucker had remained exclusive to Epiphone, it may have been a mere footnote. It developed a following because they ended up in Gibson guitars”: The mini-humbucker’s surprising history – and why it deserves more love By Huw Price published 15 March 24 Often passed over in conversations about the greatest electric guitar pickups, the mini-humbucker has a unique tone of its own, its story inextricably linked to Epiphone and Gibson
Best guitar audio interfaces 2024: our top picks for every budget By Chris Schwarten last updated 15 March 24 These are the best audio interfaces for taking your guitar recordings to the next level, regardless of your budget or experience
Best practice amps 2024: 10 great picks for honing your guitar and bass chops at home By Chris Corfield last updated 15 March 24 These are the best practice amps for enabling you to keep the noise down when getting in some essential practice time with your electric guitar or bass
“Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Ry Cooder, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey and Buddy Guy... I naturally gravitated towards a Strat because my main influences were all playing them”: Philip Sayce on why the best studio magic is live By David Mead published 15 March 24 Returning with new solo LP The Wolves Are Coming, the blues ace discusses big studio energy during downtime for the world, his enduring guitar heroes, and his exacting standards for the Strat
“I was young, I had never been in the studio, and I had no idea what to expect…I took a lot of inspiration from Tom Scholz’s ’board”: Grand Funk Railroad’s new guitarist Mark Chatfield goes way back with the band By Andrew Daly published 15 March 24 His recently resurrected school band The Godz was produced by Don Brewer, before Chatfield fell in and out with Bob Seger, rejected then embraced Mesa/Boogie, and finally became Brewer’s bandmate in Grand Funk, replacing Bruce Kulick
“I was scared to death. Miles didn’t say a word to me. Afterwards, I asked what he thought of my playing. He said, simply, ‘It was cool’”: T.M. Stevens on playing with Miles Davis and James Brown – and what went wrong on Vai’s Sex & Religion project By Chris Jisi published 14 March 24 Vai hired the “flashy bassist with the long hair” after spotting him in a Joe Cocker video
K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton brought British steel to the world with Judas Priest – learn the secrets behind the metal gods’ seminal rhythm style By Jamie Hunt published 18 March 24 Fall to your knees and repent if you please, it’s time to dial it back to Priest’s glory days with a lesson that’ll whip your eighth and 16th-note rhythm playing into shape
Kings of Leon are one of the biggest rock bands on the planet – learn the twin-guitar style that took them from club stalwarts to stadium royalty By Martin Cooper published 15 March 24 The Followill brothers went from Nashville to global stardom via the UK pub circuit on the back of a sound referencing classic, garage and southern rock, and here we give it the tab and audio treatment
“I aim to paint myself into a musical corner and then try to find an interesting way out”: Introducing the ‘handcuffs’ approach to soloing – a simple way to improve your lead guitar playing By Josh Smith published 14 March 24 Josh Smith shows you an arresting approach for establishing a melodic narrative in your blues solos
“Django stretched the guitar imagination to its limit. He was the fastest, the most creative”: What Django Reinhardt can teach today’s blues players By John Wheatcroft published 14 March 24 Idolized by B.B. King and George Benson, Django Reinhardt was gypsy jazz guitar’s most legendary player. Improve your jazz vocabulary with this primer in his pyrotechnic style
Albert Collins wasn’t just the ‘Master of the Telecaster’. His ferocious attack and tone also earned him the nickname ‘The Iceman’ – and with licks like this, it’s not hard to see why By David Gerrish published 14 March 24 Put a cold shot into your playing with the ultra-cool licks from the one of the most vital guitarists in blues history
“This is the earliest known black Strat in existence. I first saw it when I was 11 years old – Guitar World featured it as the centerfold poster. I fell completely in love”: Joe Bonamassa on the guitar that represents his journey above all others By Joe Bonamassa published 12 March 24 JoBo tells the story of the legendary 1955 Howard A. Reed Strat as he shares his favorite licks by blues great Ronnie Earl
The Eagles are the undisputed masters of harmony lines blending country and rock – this video masterclass unpacks their signature guitar style By Jamie Humphries published 11 March 24 If you've ever promised yourself that, one of these nights you're gonna play like the Eagles, take it easy... This video and tab lesson has everything you need to take your playing to the limit one more time
Technique, theory, taste and feel are the key ingredients in any guitar solo – work on these elements and you will play better, more expressive leads By Jon Bishop published 6 March 24 There's no messing around with this tab and video lesson: it’s time to workshop some lead guitar ideas and get your solos spotlight-worthy
How to master CAGED guitar chords and unlock the fretboard By Chris Bird published 1 March 24 The CAGED guitar system is a speedy route to fretboard mastery – and you'll learn some cool new chords along the way