When David Bowie asked Robert Fripp to play like a Deep Purple legend
Fripp had made magical contributions to Bowie's masterpiece, Heroes, just a few years earlier – but this time the legend had something very different in mind…
Latest News
When David Bowie asked Robert Fripp to play like a Deep Purple legend
Fripp had made magical contributions to Bowie's masterpiece, Heroes, just a few years earlier – but this time the legend had something very different in mind…
Martin caves to player demand and revives its smallest guitar body shape
The 5-28 Terz is a tiny 12-fret acoustic that promises a distinct voice of its own
L7 bassist Jennifer Finch, who changed the game on and off the stage, has died aged 59
The musical and cultural force passed away shortly after revealing a brain cancer diagnosis
Jeff Tweedy opened his guitar vault for this cult indie artist – and it put him on edge
Recording with the Wilco man meant Cut Worms got to explore his wealth of guitars, but had to pull himself away from one
My pick of the best new guitar gear launched this week – and the new drops you might have missed
New releases from Marshall, Harley Benton, Gibson and more…
IK Multimedia makes 9 elusive lost era Fender amps available as a TONEX plugin
A total of 80 Tone Models based on Fender's ultra-rare brown-panel amps have been captured
Fender fires back at Thomann and sues for copyright infringement – read the full statement
Fender has filed an infringement action against Thomann after the Harley Benton owner took legal action against the guitar maker last month
15 Comments
Artists
The songs that made Tom Verlaine take the guitar seriously
Piano and saxophone were his first loves. The guitar came much later
Robbie Robertson on Bob Dylan's rocky electric transition
Though he was playing to some of the biggest crowds of his career, Dylan hadn’t consistently performed electric band shows since his teens – and those gigs certainly weren’t to cheering (and jeering) masses
The guitar solo Joe Satriani wished he never wrote
Tuning issues and a desperate need to blow off musical steam from limiting session work made it a lesson learned for the esteemed shredder
Inside the chaotic sessions that produced Jimi Hendrix's classic rendition of All Along the Watchtower
Recorded in London and New York, Hendrix's version of the Bob Dylan track would become the Experience's best-selling single – but it took many takes to get there
How an off-the-cuff studio experiment unlocked one of Mastodon’s biggest bass sounds
Troy Sanders discovered an unexpected source of low-end fury thanks to a Marshall guitar head and 4x12 cabinet
Gus G on whirlwind days with Ozzy Osbourne, his rock-star Guitar World cover shoot, and his difficult choice of guitars
With new solo album Steel Burner out now, Gus G checks in to talk about his August 2010 GW cover shoot and all the madness surrounding it
Stephen Bishop on friendship, luck, and his impossible-to-miss Ferrington guitar
He hit big with his 1976 debut, Careless, went on to be attacked by John Belushi in Animal House, and appeared in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. As he suspends retirement for a farewell tour, he reveals the last musical item on his bucket list
Every Deep Purple guitarist, from Blackmore to McBride
The British rock pioneers have survived almost continuously since 1968, partly because of their ability to choose the right players to stand in Ritchie Blackmore’s place
He's worked with Grace Bowers and Cory Wong – now Devon Gilfillian wants to introduce “Nashville Soul” to the world
The Philly native’s new record, Time Will Tell, is “a soul album with little spices from the country spice cabinet” – and it’s loaded with guitar-work that's heavy, funky, weird, and, of course, soulful
Gear
Best electric guitars 2026: our top picks for every playing style, ability and budget
Useful buying advice and our expert pick of the best electric guitars for newcomers to pro players
"Gives the Custom Shop pickups in my Strat a run for their money": Fender Vintera III Late '50s Stratocaster review
Fender sends a love letter to the golden age of guitars with an accessible vintage-inspired instrument
The inside story of Gibson's Century Collection acoustics – and the role the Rolling Stones and Beatles played
Period-correct in (almost) every detail, the Gibson Century Collection’s 12-fret format is addictively playable. Gibson's Robi Johns tells us it’s all down to the Brits
"Once I'm playing, the Hush X Live feels much more like a 'real' guitar than the novelty I was first expecting." Donner Hush X Live Pro review
An ambitious, affordable, and fully-loaded guitar that looks to be a one-stop shop for all your traveling needs
The pedal that made me ditch my tube amp – and why I'll never go back
I thought I'd be a tube amp loyalist for life, but one pedal landed on my lap and overturned my philosophy
10 misunderstood guitar pedals that became modern classics
These trailblazing stompboxes baffled players at first, but guitarists eventually caught on…
“Would work a treat with flat-wound strings”: Fender Vintera III Late ‘60s Precision Bass review
Fender's Vintera range receives another round of tweaks – and a new ‘60s-styled P-Bass
Best beginner electric guitars 2026: top electric models for new players, reviewed and demoed by experts
So you're a budding guitarist? Get started with our pick of the best beginner electric guitars from Squier, Yamaha, and Epiphone
The pedal that changed me – I asked the Guitar World staff to name the stompboxes that actually made a difference to their playing
Whether it was fun, frustrating, or forced us to think differently, these are the 12 pedals that GW staffers say have actually changed the way they play
Lessons
Two essential G chord shapes: when to use each finger position and why
You'll spend a lot of time playing this chord – thankfully, there are multiple ways to do it, and each has a distinct purpose
Why four notes and the truth are all you need for a great slow blues solo
In this lesson, we are using just four notes to construct four blues examples that put expression first
“Resolving with a more conventional blues phrase sounds really cool and satisfying”: Corey Congilio on how to add harmonic depth to your solo improvisations
Congilio’s Blues Extensions column continues with a lesson in playing a five-minor-7 arpeggio over a dominant 7 chord
Manuel Gardner Fernandes breaks down the 5 techniques that define his sound
Manuel presents his percussive strumming, tapped harmonics, selective picking, and Hetfield-inspired downpicking approaches
Mike Stringer on how 8-string guitars take him outside his comfort zone in search of creative dissonance
Using the low-end monster riffs of Spiritbox's Fata Morgana, Stringer offers up a rhythm masterclass in modern metal
Charlie Starr on the joys of fingerpicking in Csus2 – the open tuning that doesn’t have a bad chord anywhere
The Blackberry Smoke frontman unpacks the tuning he learned from Levi Lowery
Joe Bonamassa on the Eric Clapton classic that’s essential learning for any blues soloist
Written by Memphis Slim, covered by Slowhand with John Mayall, Steppin’ Out is one of the tracks that all blues players should know. Bonamassa teaches you how to play it
Reviews
"Gives the Custom Shop pickups in my Strat a run for their money": Fender Vintera III Late '50s Stratocaster review
Fender sends a love letter to the golden age of guitars with an accessible vintage-inspired instrument
"Once I'm playing, the Hush X Live feels much more like a 'real' guitar than the novelty I was first expecting." Donner Hush X Live Pro review
An ambitious, affordable, and fully-loaded guitar that looks to be a one-stop shop for all your traveling needs
“Would work a treat with flat-wound strings”: Fender Vintera III Late ‘60s Precision Bass review
Fender's Vintera range receives another round of tweaks – and a new ‘60s-styled P-Bass
"A very persuasive showcase for Fender's dark horse guitar model": Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Mustang review
The ultimate distillation of Fender's continuously underrated offset?
“A hard-to-put-down Les Paul with bags of character”: Gibson Les Paul Studio Double Trouble review
Gibson brings the Double Trouble treatment to a lower price-point with a weight-relieved Studio version. For skint rockers everywhere, it’s time to rejoice!
“A must-have producer’s plugin for how much ground it covers”: MixWave Yvette Young Plugin review
Yvette Young’s first signature plugin brings every aspect of her technicolor tones to a versatile toybox of a plugin
"It’s deceptively versatile”: Jackson Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V review
The Limp Bizkit guitarist's new signature is a single-pickup riff machine designed for live playing, and it's capable of more than you might think
Buying Guides
Best electric guitars 2026: our top picks for every playing style, ability and budget
Useful buying advice and our expert pick of the best electric guitars for newcomers to pro players
Best beginner electric guitars 2026: top electric models for new players, reviewed and demoed by experts
So you're a budding guitarist? Get started with our pick of the best beginner electric guitars from Squier, Yamaha, and Epiphone
Best acoustic guitars 2026: 10 top options for guitarists of all ages and abilities
Guitar World’s pick of the best acoustic guitars from Fender, Gibson, Martin, Taylor, Epiphone and more
Best multi-effects pedals 2026: replace your entire rig with our top-rated multi-FX units
From the high-end Neural DSP Quad Cortex to the budget NUX MG-300, we’ve tested 17 multi-effects pedals to help you replace your rig with a single unit
What's the best guitar cable in 2026? These are the tried & tested options I'd recommend to any player
There's a lot of snake oil when it comes to the top guitar cables – I'm a professional guitar gear reviewer and I've tested 11 of the best to help you find your perfect match
Best phaser pedals 2026: add swirling guitar tones to your rig with our expert guide
Looking to create that swirling sound effect? These are the best phaser pedals to try from MXR, Electro-Harmonix, Walrus Audio and more
Best bass compressor pedals 2026: expert picks for the ultimate in low-end control
From studio-style levelers to stompboxes that squash, we put the market-leading compressor pedals for bass to the test
