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February 2024

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238 articles

February 29
- “This song presents a kind of revisionist history where guitar solos were cool after all in the early noughties”: February 2024 Guitar World editors' picks
- “He remembers my guitar sound clearly, end of story”: Dave Davies rejects Eddie Kramer’s Jimmy Page overdub claims and insists that he alone played all guitar parts on You Really Got Me
- “I’ve done gigs where they’re like, ‘You’re good for an Instagram guitarist.’ I was like, ‘I’m not one!’” Meet George Collins – the Bieber-backed British Berklee grad navigating Nashville as part of the next generation of session players
- Fender Play is the cheapest we’ve ever seen with this one-day-only deal - get a year’s worth of top-quality lessons for just $29
- “This is f**king 4K s**t”: Erik Rutan and Rob Barrett on why Chaos Horrific is one of the grimmest releases from the Cannibal Corpse death metal meat grinder
- “If I knew I was gonna influence thousands of guitar players, I woulda practiced more!” Ace Frehley struts down memory lane to shoot down Kiss myths and reveal the secrets behind an era-defining sound
- “A powerful tool for recording guitars, and there’s plenty to grow into”: Universal Audio Apollo Twin X review
- "A quick, simple way for guitarists to get a high-quality signal into their amp simulator of choice": Audient iD4 MkII review
- “It far surpasses anything that I’d ever used before”: Ed Sheeran flips the looper market on its head with his own line of feature-packed loop pedals
- “An exceptional amplifier with modern features and tone that can handle any gig”: Stage Right by Monoprice SB100 Reverb
- Triads are integral to gospel, neo-soul and jazz guitar – in fact, they're essential for any style of guitar playing. Expand your repertoire now with these effortlessly cool licks
- “I’m excited to infuse some nasty, dirty, effects-laden stuff into Gwar and make it sound disgusting sonically… And I think I’m gonna have a mullet”: Gwar’s new guitarist Tommy Meehan gets set to destroy
February 28
- “It’s not just a guitar; it's a symphony waiting to be played”: Gretsch continues its signature guitar spree with yet another luxurious limited-edition Broadkaster Jr. – this time for worship music titan Chris Rocha
- “I did this full-on ritual where I set up a circle of pedals, stayed inside of it and wrote a bunch of demos”: How Chelsea Wolfe reinvented her guitar playing with tarot cards, meditation and effects… lots of effects
- How to set up your room for guitar recording success
- “Nothing is held back or toned down”: Mdou Moctar has announced a new album that will be “louder, faster, and more wild” than anything before it – hear the electrifying title track, Funeral For Justice
- “Slap bass has that metallic sound, like a hammer. If you played bass with a pick it wouldn’t sound the same. Actually, I did that on Epic”: How Billy Gould crafted his driving bass tone on Faith No More’s biggest hits
- “A wonderfully refined boost pedal that makes your rig more ‘alive’ and present”: Revv Amplification Tilt Boost review
- “The curator called me with tears in his voice – it’s a devastating mess”: Museum honoring legendary blues trailblazer Mississippi John Hurt destroyed in fire
- Feel like your playing is stuck in a rut? You need to face up to your weak points – it will make you a more well-rounded guitarist
- “This is like an intro to something Metallica wrote in the 1980s”: 11-year-old guitar hero breaks the internet with his original metal riffs – performed in front of his fellow fifth-graders
- “Vintage Firebird specifications at an accessible price”: Epiphone’s $1,799 Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V has landed – offering a high-spec take on Gibson’s first neck-through body build
- Tosin Abasi and Rick Beato love his playing. Now Josh Meader shows you how to solo over one of the most important chord progressions in jazz
- “People will write about how certain songs don’t have guitar in them, and I chuckle because it’s all guitar! It thrusts its hips the way nothing else can”: How Torres uses her Telecaster as a divining rod for strut and glitter
- “So proud!” Olivia Rodrigo is gigging a custom purple St. Vincent Goldie signature guitar – and the one-off Music Man has a story behind it
- “Many people think I was doing it all on the Rickenbacker in the ’80s, but a lot of the clean arpeggio stuff was done on a Les Paul”: Johnny Marr on the most prized guitars in his collection – and why they might not be what you expect
February 27
- “If I had tried to be another Ron Carter I would have failed. I don’t think that’s what Miles was looking for”: Dave Holland on the making of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew
- “The camp is very protective, and has extremely high standards”: Fender says gaining the EVH endorsement was a crucial benchmark for the Tone Master Pro
- “An exact replica of Ed’s personal stage guitar used on all of his stadium sized gigs during the Mathematics tour”: Lowden raises the bar with its most luxurious Ed Sheeran signature guitar to date, the fully hand-made Stadium Edition model
- “I couldn’t even walk, but I thought, ‘At least I can play guitar!’ When I picked one up, I just couldn’t. That was the final straw”: Deryck Whibley had to rebuild Sum 41 after nearly dying – so why is he ready to break up the band?
- “Inspired by the respected luthiers and artists who have helped trailblaze the rubber bridge sound”: Orangewood brings the rubber bridge mod to the masses with the purpose-built Juniper acoustic
- “Music saves many of us – yet we often lose the people who gave us that music to the very thing their music saves us from”: The tragedy that led Sully Erna to create the Scars Foundation
- Willie Nelson wrote his first song at 7 years old. Now he’s one of the music world’s true ‘hitmakers’ – and an outlaw country icon with a unique guitar style
- “A must-try for fans of guitars that push the boundaries of instrument design”: Sterling by Music Man St. Vincent Goldie review
February 26
- “I know my limitations, but at the same time I’m really pushing myself to be a better guitar player”: Billie Joe Armstrong on ripping solos like Angus Young – and what Green Day have in common with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran
- “An all-in-one solution to crafting your core tone”: The Chase Bliss Condor HiFi is the next generation of its “weird little EQ pedal” that it hopes you'll never want to turn off
- “A cinematic celebration of Joe’s music, a testament to his unparalleled standing in the blues-rock realm”: Joe Bonamassa plays with 40-piece orchestra on new live album
- “Just like driving a Plexi Super Lead flat out, but accessible at lower volume levels – and won’t cause permanent ear damage”: Universal Audio UAFX Lion ’68 Super Lead Amp review
- Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram is a modern master of blues guitar – and learning the Mississippi phenom’s soloing style will make you a better player
- “I could finally quieten down this noise in my head... the best in the room is sitting over there – and it doesn’t have to maybe be me”: John Mayer says that when Jeff Beck was in the room, he felt he could finally relax about his guitar playing
- “Bass players always are the last people to find out”: Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford doesn’t know if the band is over or not
- “There’s some contention about that, but that’s how I remember it”: Eddie Kramer says Jimmy Page did play on The Kinks’ You Really Got Me – but it might not have been the version we know today
- “Roger Glover got me into Jaco. I heard the stuff he was doing with Weather Report while Priest were at the same studio in the ’70s”: Judas Priest’s Ian Hill names 8 bassists who shaped his sound
February 25
- “As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon
February 23
- “We tune to C#, which creates sourness. It’s not a tuning a lot of guitarists want to stay in – it’s kind of out of tune. We create something evocative in that dissonance”: How Sleater-Kinney use guitar as an agent of beauty and chaos
- “Thom Yorke called Colin Greenwood the secret weapon to Radiohead, and I think he was right”: John Garrison on the 5 bass albums that shaped his sound
- “Gritty, fast-paced and hectic”: Billy Morrison recruits Steve Vai, John 5 and Ozzy Osbourne for his first solo record in 9 years
- Steve Vai, Mateus Asato and Marcin Patrzalek delivered one of this year's most distinctive jams at Vai Academy 2024 – and now you can watch it
- “We had a blast in the studio – the blues resonates with me more than anything”: Orianthi taps up Joe Bonamassa for soulfully scorching new single First Time Blues
- Guitar solos feeling uninspired? Learn how you can breathe new life into your licks and make sure your solos always sound like they’re going somewhere
- “I chipped my tooth – my mom was so mad at me!” John 5 says playing a Jimi Hendrix-inspired version of Star Spangled Banner with his teeth as a kid led to a dental mishap – and shows he can still nail the tooth-picked tune
- “Limitless sonic flexibility of the modulation that has shaped rock ’n’ roll history”: SolidGoldFX channels Band of Gypsys and Dark Side of the Moon uni-vibes with the Aurras vibraphase
- Smooth fingerstyle, emotive phrasing and expert control of dynamics – Mateus Asato is a shred-rock neo-soul virtuoso for the social media age, and every guitarist can benefit from learning his tasteful techniques
- Why the Celestion G12T-75 is one of the guitar world’s most divisive speakers
- “A punky-edged rock ’n’ roll machine that’s light on your shoulder but far from lacking in heft”: Gibson Les Paul Modern Lite review
- “Am I a good bassist? I’m a f**king good bassist!” Sting on bass playing, Cream and his “battered looking” P-Bass
- “We talked about things like dampening, creating contrast, hand positions... There’s a bit of detective work involved”: Megadeth’s Teemu Mäntysaari explains the skillset that enabled him to leap into one of the most challenging roles in metal
- “Rest in peace, Bobby”: Veteran vocalist and guitarist Bobby Tench – who worked with the likes of Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Humble Pie, Ginger Baker, Van Morrison and many more – dies, aged 79
February 22
- Everything you need to know about guitar compression: its history, how it works and how it can make your guitar sound better than ever before
- Jeff Beck was a master of string bends and the whammy bar – and this masterclass in his ‘blues and beyond’ guitar style will make your solos more expressive
- “We are so proud to have him in our Gibson family. From a little band called Queen…” Brian May is now working with Gibson – but what does it mean for the Red Special?
- “We walked into your house, you had the case on the floor and you handed it to me – and then said, ‘No Stairway to Heaven!’” Gibson announces new multi-guitar series with Jimmy Page, kicking off with the signature 1971 EDS-1275 double neck
- “The question was, ‘Where would you go to get the ultimate Gibson experience?’ The answer was it didn’t exist – we had to create it”: We went behind the scenes at Gibson Garage London to find out why it’s unlike any other guitar store
- “It’s such a cool guitar in terms of history”: Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley has bought the ’68 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop used on some of Ozzy Osbourne, Hole, Korn and Social Distortion’s most iconic recordings – and it seems it holds a few secrets
- “I started out playing a Telecaster. One day, I heard someone playing a Gretsch – I said, ‘What is that? That’s the sound I’m looking for!’” Portugal. The Man’s John Gourley joins a fresh wave of signature artists updating Gretsch for a new generation
- Mick Mars: “I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Mötley Crüe. I don't regret anything we've ever done – good, bad or ugly” – only in the new Guitar World
- Vox’s AC Custom amps get a 2024 glow-up with new Classic Vintage Red range
February 21
- “The Komplete Audio 6 is perfectly capable of delivering clean audio from a variety of sources, including guitars being fed into Amplitube”: Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 review
- “This guitar gives you a piece of me. In fact, I just used one of the Epiphones to do some recording, and I’ve played them onstage, too”: Adam Jones discusses the evolution – and future – of his signature 1979 Les Paul Custom
- “I still don’t find it easy! It’s one of the most unnatural riffs to play you could possibly imagine”: Brian May finds Bohemian Rhapsody difficult to perform – and he points the blame at “riffmeister” Freddie Mercury
- “You feel the whole guitar shaking as you’re playing it, especially when you run it through an amp”: How Mule Resophonic Guitars is reinventing the resonator
- “The HSS super-S has always been a journeyman guitar and the Polaris certainly keeps that flag flying”: Cream T Polaris Custom review
- The minor pentatonic is the ultimate guitar scale, but it can get stale quickly. Here are 5 ways to get more from it
- “A durable, space-saving device that holds your guitar wherever you are”: The CodaGrip is a clamping guitar stand you can hang anywhere you want
- “I was 100% better on guitar when I was 15. Technically, I’m a much worse guitarist now – but I’m a better songwriter”: Meet Sprints, the Irish garage rockers cranking Boss Katanas in stadiums
February 20
- “The most affordable guitar in the PRS catalog”: PRS’ new SE CE 24 Standard Satin costs $499 – but it’s more than just a beginner guitar
- “Rubber-bridge guitar is another sonic hemisphere that existed this whole time but was going untapped. It’s really special”: Ariel Posen on his adventures in tone – and why songwriting is like hitting the gym
- How does a Welsh rock band that trades in “filthy, nasty guitar tones” end up writing a song with Brian Johnson of AC/DC? Himalayas’ Mike Griffiths explains the story behind their “unexpected gift”
- “I would say it’s past… impossible”: Mick Mars has opened up about his relationship with Mötley Crüe – and a reconciliation is off the table
- Are you taking an honest look at your technique before you practice? By working on the fundamentals, you’ll get much more out of your routine
- “Let’s be clear: this is not a bedroom amp. It’s designed to fill huge halls and stadiums with ferocious rock riffage”: PRS Mark Tremonti MT 100 review
- “The higher end the guitar, the more robust the demand is”: Why are guitars getting more expensive? We spoke to the world’s biggest guitar companies to find out
- “It’s an anti-establishment statement – I’m trying to make it okay for jazz guitarists to go out with their metal guitars”: Meet Cecil Alexander, the prog-loving jazz guitarist who’s challenging elitism by shredding bebop on a Jackson
- “I was forced to play fretless because it was the cheapest bass available”: Paul Simon’s Graceland bassist Bakithi Kumalo defined the 1980s fretless bass sound – but the session pro says he knew nothing about it before making the album
February 19
- 5 epic Presidents’ Day sales for guitar players that you don’t want to miss today
- 5 brilliant pedals I rate as a guitar gear reviewer are on sale for Presidents’ Day, including my favorite octave pedal the Electro-Harmonix POG
- “We could hear Jeff playing right through the wall… I’d never heard anything like it”: Melvins’ Buzz Osborne once secretly listened to Jeff Beck’s warm-up routine – and it blew him away
- I have 11 Gibson guitars in my collection and with a massive $600 off the Les Paul Traditional Pro V this Presidents' Day I want to add another
- “This is a great utility pedal to have on your ’board, something that could really increase your sound’s scope”: Beetronics Nectar Tone Sweetener review
- “Iconic classics reborn with an irresistible twist”: Gibson offers show-stopping finishes with 11 new vintage guitar reissues
- “In pop-punk, you have to be able to sing any guitar part. To have a shreddy solo feels like a waste – it just shows off that individual’s musicianship and doesn’t do much for the audience”: Neck Deep on how to write the perfect pop-punk song
- “Cliff Burton’s secret weapon, modernized to grow his legacy”: Morley reissues Cliff Burton’s trademark wah fuzz pedal in tribute to the revolutionary Metallica bassist
- How to improvise on guitar: 5 easy ways to improve your solos
- “One of my favorite guitars. It carries a lot of history”: Gibson has reproduced the ‘78 Les Paul Custom that Johnny Marr gifted to Noel Gallagher – as heard on The Queen is Dead, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and more
- “The legendary shred sled from the late ’80s, now with an exclusive pixel hearts finish inspired by the video games of the era”: Kramer pays homage to the 8-bit era with eye-popping new NightSwan model
- Intro licks are different to solos – they have to be concise and melodic, with a real start and end. Here's how to open your solos like the pros
- “I’ve always picked up my dad’s guitars, but I wasn’t that serious about it. Then I realized it was natural to me – it was so deep in my soul I didn’t have a choice”: Thurston Moore loved her demos. Now Devon Ross is journeying from actor to guitarist
- Presidents' Day is officially here and Guitar Center is the best place to go for a blues-based bargain – score a mind-blowing $750 off a Hagstrom hollowbody
February 17
- “The White Album was the first thing that I connected with as a kid”: Flea picks his top 5 ‘desert island’ discs
February 16
- “John had to send a text with a photo of a piece of paper, where he scribbled, ‘Yes, it’s me!’” Before the Silver Sky was built, John Mayer cold-called PRS to discuss working on a guitar together – but the phone operator hung up on him
- “A powerful monster primed to nail the expectations of even the most demanding metal guitarist”: Cort unveils the KX707 EverTune 7-string – adding an ash top and some choice tweaks to its beloved KX700
- “An unforgettable, unmissable display of guitar mastery”: A new Jason Becker single fashioned from an old demo has been released – and it brings together a staggering cast of A-list guitar heroes
- Ed Sheeran isn’t just a fingerpicker or a strummer – his ‘guitar orchestra’ approach sells out stadiums. Here’s how he does it
- “A contender for one of the best affordable electrics available right now”: FGN Boundary Iliad BIL2MHS review
- “An identical replica of Bellamy’s Will of the People stage guitar”: Manson gives Matt Bellamy’s mesmerizing mirror mask model an ultra-limited release
- “Hi Swifties! Let us know what you think”: DragonForce drop outrageously shreddy Taylor Swift cover
- “Paul wants it to be fixed up, so he can play it… He was excited as a school boy”: Paul McCartney’s long-lost Höfner violin bass has been found after 50 years
- “Her roaring mastery of her trusty Gibson Les Paul Custom rivaled the best of her male contemporaries”: A lost Sister Rosetta Tharpe live album featuring never-before-heard recordings has been unearthed – and it’s set for release this year
- Fender is rising up to the challenge of their rivals with this stunning Tiger’s Eye finish exclusive to Guitar Center
- Fender issues major Tone Master Pro firmware update, including new features, enhancements, and bug fixes
- “I loved the sound of doubled guitars, but it just becomes a slog. I couldn’t hate the process more… it goes right against the immediacy I wanted for this record”: Why Jawbox hero J. Robbins changed his attitude to recording… and smashing guitars
- “The amps that defined modern guitar tone”: IK Multimedia releases 70 official Mesa/Boogie tone models for its TONEX modeler – including an exact recreation of Carlos Santana’s original Mark I
- “I knew the pre-choruses would be a challenge with all the percussive bits”: Mike Dawes plays every part of Foo Fighters’ Everlong on one guitar – transforming the Dave Grohl anthem into a breathtaking acoustic fingerstyle masterclass
- “Technical playing can get cleaner, and that’s possibly even more challenging than just being faster”: We met the academics who study shred guitar for a living – they explained why it’s changed dramatically since the ’80s, and the 3 ways it can develop
- “I was never a huge Led Zeppelin fan, but I always loved that song, and the open strings just set it up for bass”: Watch Stuart Hamm’s bass arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s Going to California
February 15
- “I just sent one of these to Joe Perry. He loves it”: Introducing the Danelectro Nichols 66 fuzz – a reissue of the first pedal that brand owner Steve Ridinger ever designed
- “A groundbreaking electric guitar amplifier that sets a new standard”: Ritter’s new Encore might just be the most luxurious guitar amp ever made – but it’s going to cost you $40,000
- “I hate punching in. If you don’t have your bassline down, you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing”: Rex Brown reveals the tricks behind his super-heavy bass technique
- Robben Ford has been sideman to stars from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and even Kiss – and he's an expert in fusing the worlds of jazz and blues guitar
- “The realism of the virtual environments is stunning, creating in seconds what used to take many hours of studio time”: Two Notes Captor X SE review
- “When it got stolen, he said he felt as if he had lost a part of himself”: Guitarist reunited with his vintage Gibson Les Paul, 27 years after it disappeared
- Did Fender just drop the best Presidents' Day guitar deal? Score an impressive 50% off gear and a huge $399 off one of our favorite models
- “I’d always borrow guitars, but after we signed to this asshole label, one of the guys gave me the Jazzmaster. I’ve never had a reason to get another guitar”: Jason Lytle on Grandaddy’s emotional return and his ’70s Fender devotion
- “I get to call out wrongdoing and injustice. I get to be really angry – ‘I can’t find the words, so here’s a guitar solo that explains it’”: How Emily Wolfe uses her music as therapy
- “Accurate recreations of some of guitar's most notorious and niche tones”: Warm Audio’s newest pedals aim to sound (and look) like two cult stompboxes – and there are no prizes for guessing which ones
February 14
- “The sonic essence and rebellion of Earth AD”: Misfits team up with Prague’s Distortion Inc for a drive pedal marking the 40th anniversary of their iconic second album
- “The first time we heard it back in our studio we just stared at each other with our mouths open”: The Dandy Warhols reckon you've never heard Slash play like he does on their new single
- “This is a dream – it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a guitar”: Gretsch reveals its signature Broadkaster for Portugal. The Man’s John Gourley – and debuts a show-stopping black rainbow sparkle finish
- April 2024 Guitar World lesson videos
- “He is the fastest and cleanest and has more technique than any other”: Jimmy Bryant was one of the very first Telecaster heroes. Learn how his trailblazing playing shaped the guitarists who followed
- “I was approached to audition for Megadeth and Machine Head, but I'm not sure I'm made for being a hired gun”: Gus G explains why he turned down the opportunity to audition for two of the biggest metal bands in the game
- “I never have boundaries regarding the gear I use – my rule is simply to follow my ears”: Dirty Sound Magnet sound like Hendrix meets the Doors by way of Zappa – Stavros Dzodzos explains how analog adventurism fuels their psychedelic sound
- Gary Clark Jr. is responsible for some of contemporary blues’ tastiest solos – here’s what you can learn from his approach
- “I used to not bend strings at all, but I started doing it as a joke to make my friends laugh when I played classic rock riffs – it became this massive part of my playing”: Omni’s Frankie Broyles on his unlikely journey to post-punk transcendence
- “Music saved me from a lonely existence, and now it’s teaching me how to relate to others and how to relate to myself”: Mat Davidson, aka Twain, found belonging with a guitar in his hand
- “I strived to get an electric guitar to respond like a fingerpicked, open-tuned acoustic for decades. I went about it wrong”: Ex-Black Crowes guitarist Luther Dickinson on why he never dug his first signature Gibson – and how its followup went MIA
February 13
- Should you play guitar with a pick or fingers? We weigh up the tone and technique benefits of both approaches
- “One of the most exciting new releases of the year”: The Gibson SG Supreme is officially back – and it looks better than ever
- Steve Morse is the guitar virtuoso's virtuoso – and his technique masterclass will push your upper-fret bending and phrasing to the limit
- “The Bulls loved it immediately. Michael Jordan loved it”: He appeared on smash hits by Kate Bush and Paul McCartney, but this unsung session guitar hero's most popular solo can be heard in one of the most iconic sports anthems of all time
- “The Gibson SG took me about 30 years to figure out… it’s completely different from a Les Paul”: Joe Bonamassa explains how he learned to love Gibson’s solid guitar – and teaches you his favorite SG licks
- “One of my top favorite guitars of all time”: Epiphone debuts the Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom – and it's got a Gibson-style headstock
- “I loved Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. Then something happened where it was like you had to be in the guitar Olympics”: Billie Joe Armstrong explains why he rekindled his relationship with the guitar solo on Green Day’s newest album
- “I have that Eddie Van Halen mentality of ‘it doesn’t really matter what it looks like – I wish someone would teach me, because it’s just been me destroying stuff!” David Pajo on modding guitars, Gang of Four and the launch of his lost folk-rock album
- “Everything from synthy stacked lines to organ-style tones are easily and quickly achievable”: Electro-Harmonix Pico POG review
February 12
- “Strikingly sleek and aggressive”: Schecter bestows genre-bending guitarist Sullivan King with two grisly blood-splatter signature models
- “It’s probably the only time in my career I bowed out, because I knew it was going to be a fight… most of that heavy guitar was lost”: Brian May says David Bowie removed his electric guitar riffs on Under Pressure – and he never liked the results
- “Saying it was an honor to be up there is a wildly drastic understatement”: Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai have wrapped up the G3 2024 tour – here are the biggest guest guitarists who joined them along the way
- “I love Gibson – I always have. Even though people like Slash play Les Pauls, for me they work better in a jazzier sound-world”: Jimmy Page was bowled over by her playing. Now Rosie Frater-Taylor is injecting jazz solos into pop for an all-new sound
- “Sometimes it’s not really about complexity. There are some jazz tunes that are incredibly simple like AC/DC”: How Matteo Mancuso is redrawing the frontier for guitar and unlocking the fretboard one chord at a time
- “This innovative instrument transcends boundaries, offering a sonic palette that's as diverse as your musical vision”: Cort and Hedras collaborate once again for the Triality X700 – an HSS twist on the pair’s progressive playing platform
- “We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to make music with such a talented and generous artist for two decades”: Incubus announce formal departure of bassist Ben Kenney – and unveil his official replacement
- “Can’t spell Usher without H.E.R.”: Armed with a newly-customised Fender signature Stratocaster, H.E.R. performs a scene-stealing guest guitar solo – amid a rollerskating Usher – at Super Bowl LVIII
- “The kind of guitar that makes you blurt out, ‘Yep, that’s it. This is great.’ There's so much to love about it”: Danelectro ’59 Triple Divine review
- AC/DC announce new bass player “to carry the torch for Cliff” ahead of long-awaited Power Up tour
February 9
- “I think someone should – or I hope someone will – take a genre of music that isn’t known for guitar and apply guitar to it”: Andy Partridge thinks you can be a great player or a great writer, but not both
- “My best advice to all guitarists is to sit down and write the things you practice”: Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale talks tone tips, meat and potatoes rock, and reveals how a fan gave her an original Klon Centaur
- 5 ways to improve your major pentatonic licks
- “The best guitar solo is a song within a song. I’ve been doing that my whole career”: Ace Frehley on the mystery of his guitar style, influences, and how his genius IQ works best when he's half-awake
- “You achieved more in one lifetime than most people could achieve in ten”: Renowned 12-string guitarist and vintage guitar expert Paul Brett dies at 76
- Win great gear courtesy of Hercules, the first name in premium guitar stands
- “The heart of the Skronk remains true, the upgrades just help keep the blood pumping more efficiently”: Blammo Electronics updates the mid-'60s Zonk Machine fuzz for modern usability with the Skronk Machine
- On sale now! Inside the new issue of Total Guitar: Queen's Greatest Songs Track By Track – By Brian May
- Musician’s Friend just dropped their Presidents’ Day sale more than a week early – massive up to 40% savings on gear
- Double trouble: Watch Felix Martin and Joan Torres devastate with dual twin-necked guitar and bass action on aptly titled new single Thundertap
- “All I took to studios was a 335 and a Princeton Reverb”: Ray Parker Jr. on the ultra-rare Yamaha prototype he used on the Ghostbusters theme, and the helpful trick he learned from Grant Green, George Benson, and Melvin Sparks
- “Cheap instruments can be amazing and expensive ones can be totally wrong. Don't let the price tag fool you.” London bassist Dave Edwards on the beauty of his Aria Pro-II Precise Bass
February 8
- Darkglass heads deep into low end territory with its new Infinity 500 and Microtubes 500 digital and analog bass combo amps
- “I didn’t play with a Big Muff for a long time and felt like a fraud”: Mudhoney’s Steve Turner and Mark Arm like to lose control, but without straying too far from their comfort zone
- “Didn’t want to re-invent the wheel, just wanted to make a wheel that could sound beautiful... or rip faces off”: Silktone unveils the Overdrive+, a drive/boost twofer that plays naughty or nice
- “A very natural sound that works well with both clean and driven amps”: Mad Professor Silver Spring Reverb review
- “It’s heavy, thick and unique. It feels great, and the neck is incredible. And it’s heavy; but that’s okay because the weight of a guitar is very important to me. The thicker the better”: If you pick up Bill Kelliher’s new ESP guitar, you’ll know about it
- “It’s a beautiful floating technique”: Watch Molly Tuttle and Tommy Emmanuel share the secrets of their right-hand technique and banjo-inspired rhythms in this acoustic guitar video masterclass
- 6 simple but super-effective ways to make easy chords sound great
- “He’s the best!”: Watch Andy Timmons and Paul Gilbert have big fun trading Robby Krieger licks on a helter-skelter guitar jam of the Doors’ Light My Fire
- “Basically, I climb up telegraph poles late at night, tear down the cabling with my bare hands and use that to string my guitar!”: Jon Gomm on how he's using wild tunings, giant strings, and lessons from Jeff Beck's whammy work to redefine the acoustic
- “Everything the modern musician needs to record great sounding guitars”: Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen audio interfaces review
- Improve your blues soloing now with 10 tasty B.B. King-inspired intro licks
- “It’s like an artifact from an ancient technological civilization”: Tosin Abasi and Music Man unveil two new eye-catching finishes for the Kaizen and tease some “exciting and progressive” updates in the near future
- “Eric came in, played great, just one tasty lick after another. Jeff Beck’s contribution was spellbinding”: Mark Knopfler enlists Clapton, Townshend, Iommi, Slash and dozens more for all-star charity single
February 7
- “I felt like I’d stumbled upon this magical sound radiating off people’s turntables… my Strat and Gretsch together had this sound of one guitar, even when it was two”: As Randy Bachman prepares to part with his guitar collection, he’s still burning bright
- “It sounds as good as ever, with impressive volume output and projection, rich, reverb-like resonance, brisk treble and sweet, sonorous midrange”: Taylor GS Mini Sapele review
- Eric Bibb is one of today’s most important acoustic blues guitarists – and his fingerpicking style is an absolute must-learn
- “Musically, Eric was a very generous guy. I loved working with him because he encouraged me to play”: How Eric Clapton used Roger Waters, George Harrison, and Stevie Ray Vaughan as foils to survive the ‘80s – the decade he was not prepared for
- “Absurd amount of talent”: Andy Timmons is in the studio with Joe Bonamassa – and the two melody masters are cooking up a virtuosic solo storm
- “I tried SGs and Flying Vs, and they might look cool, but it's like playing a piece of Styrofoam”: Bill Kelliher explains why he prefers his guitars to be as heavy as possible
- “A true country inspiration to us”: Country singer-songwriter Toby Keith dies aged 62
- “Eddie was down in the pit watching every move I made”: Ace Frehley says his early displays of tapping prowess “probably” inspired Eddie Van Halen to develop his trademark two-hand technique
- Boss GT-1000 Core vs HX Stomp: which amp and effects modeler should you pick?
February 6
- Welcome to the ultimate Rolling Stones guitar lesson – a tab and audio deep dive into the styles of Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Brian Jones, and Mick Taylor
- “Take Jeff Beck, David Gilmour and Allan Holdsworth – Alan should be seen as being in that company”: Remembering the late Alan Murphy, the player Fender trusted as a tone consultant, who played with Kate Bush, Go West, and more
- NAMM 2024: “We like to build special basses just for NAMM that show off what we're capable of. What we love to do”: Spector’s USA Custom Shop is here to inspire your own custom bass build – and, as they tell us, “we love new challenges”
- Best bass cabinets 2024: achieve your best tone yet with the perfect bass cab
- “A desktop amp that crosses over into serious recording, rehearsals and more”: Boss Katana Air EX review
- “Steve Vai and Joe Satriani’s setups are amazing examples of streamlined innovation. But with my maple neck Strat, it would be hard to do what they’re doing”: Eric Johnson on G3, profilers, and the custom pedal he “might actually put on the market”
- “This year’s collection will set a new standard for excellence in the world of custom guitar”: Fender pays homage to golden era guitars and pushes the boundaries of contemporary design with 2024 Custom Shop collections
- Two years on from their landmark battle over body shapes, Gibson and Armadillo are back in court as the Dean producer seeks to appeal 2022 jury decision
- “The SE range is leading the charge in terms of new PRS model additions”: PRS SE CE 24, SE Swamp Ash Special and SE Custom 24 Quilt review
- “A limited-edition collection showcasing the rich heritage and legacy of this incredible instrument”: Fender continues its 70th Anniversary Stratocaster celebrations with ultra-luxurious Custom Shop drop
- “The drum, it is the heartbeat, and the bass, it is the backbone” Listen to Aston “Family Man” Barrett’s isolated bassline on Bob Marley’s Is This Love
- “This cherished model has now been refined”: Gibson’s sleek Les Paul Modern Studio brings the Modern line’s player-friendly features to a proper mahogany body and maple cap USA build – and all for under $2K
- 18 essential gadgets that will dramatically improve your guitar practice routine
- “His sound was reggae. He was an utterly beautiful force”: Tributes paid to Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, who has died aged 77
February 5
- Banish stock phrases with these smart triad chord ideas
- “I’ve been playing for seven years but I only learned the pentatonic scale three years ago!”: She’s only just started exploring music theory, but that hasn’t stopped 17-year-old Grace Bowers from grabbing her blues heroes’ attention
- “Technology is coming along. It's going to keep getting better to the point that maybe they will replace tube amps for a lot of people”: Eric Johnson has been experimenting with amp modelers, but he still isn’t fully convinced – here’s why
- “These guitars illustrate the musical journey of one of popular music’s greatest artists”: Inside Christie’s’ epic $11.2 million Mark Knopfler guitar auction
- “This is the Super Bowl of trips for the lifelong Dead Heads”: John Mayer and Dead & Company are officially returning for a 6-week residency at the MSG Sphere
- “The most sounds we've ever shoved in a single pedal enclosure”: With its upgraded Herculean Deluxe dual overdrive, has Mythos cracked the code for packaging Dumble and BluesBreaker tones in a pedal?
- Tony Iommi gave birth to heavy metal – and learning his techniques will make you a better riff writer
- “Just the ticket for those aspiring to recreate the monstrous riffs from across Thayil’s remarkable discography”: Guild Polara Kim Thayil review
- “I actually never learned how to play with a pick. It’s my weak point”: Matteo Mancuso is revered for his virtuosic fingerstyle approach – but what happens when he tries to play with a guitar pick?
- “Effortlessly stylish”: Rapier’s latest madcap model blends elements of Les Paul and Strat builds into a single-cut, set-neck hybrid beast
- “We were all delusional enough as kids to think this might happen to us”: boygenius, Metallica, Paramore, Larkin Poe, Jason Isbell and Joni Mitchell win big at the Grammys 2024
February 3
- “It's a disgrace to the bass player in me, but it's hard to write on the bass. Playing power chords on a guitar is much easier”: Melissa Auf der Maur looks back on a life in rock
- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 381
February 2
- NAMM 2024: “Sing through it and get your killer guitar sounds… and run an acoustic guitar, or a bass, or even keyboards”: Up-close with the Positive Grid Spark LIVE – the smart amp that can handle your whole band
- Wayne Kramer, influential MC5 guitarist, dies at 75
- NAMM 2024: the 10 biggest things we discovered at this year's show
- “I’ve had all of the great guitarists in the world say to me, ‘Pete, you’re not in the top 10 for virtuosity, but you’re certainly No. 1 as an acoustic rhythm player’”: Pete Townshend on Who’s Next, Lifehouse, and fun times with Superstrats
- “I think Metallica thought that I knew who they were. I didn’t. They thought I was in awe of them – not true… it wasn’t enjoyable”: Whiskey in the Jar was the hardest song Thin Lizzy’s Eric Bell ever tackled, and he didn't enjoy playing it with Metallica
- “Jimi was a genius guitarist, but the recording sessions were chaos, and onstage, it was getting ridiculous”: Why Noel Redding quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Everything you need to know about a guitar's action: what it is and how to adjust it on your electric guitar
- Tosin Abasi is one of modern metal's most forward-thinking and creative minds – and his groundbreaking selective picking technique will really test your abilities
- NAMM 2024: “A pedal that can withstand the crushing boot of metal’s most relentless lead guitarist”: Dunlop reissues Zakk Wylde's Cry Baby wah as they celebrate 20 years of partnership
- NAMM 2024: “I’ve never played any other guitars like that”: Jack White’s Fender Low Rider is one of the wildest Telecasters ever created – take an exclusive tour of its absurd spec sheet with his guitar tech
- “This feels life-changing and gives me, as a very hard-working indie artist, inspiration that anything is possible”: Gibson launches its Artist Spotlight program, with Austin Sexton the first beneficiary
- “I had the cast on, my fingers were set about a centimeter apart... I got a plectrum and glued some thick rubber either side so I could hold it”: The Stone Roses’ reclusive guitar hero John Squire says he once feared he’d never play again
February 1
- “Finding something that defines you – even if it’s not flashy – is the key. It could even be limitation that makes you stand out”: Mustard Plug’s ska punk stalwart Colin Clive on why your playing must have a personality
- “He showed complete mastery of the bebop jazz language – a language invented on horns”: Celebrating Joe Pass, jazz guitar’s great re-inventor – and a player who had the rare ability to nail sax lines on a six-string
- “The acoustic guitar is the most punk rock instrument because it’s the most independent. You don’t even need an amplifier!” Laura Jane Grace might be an obsessive collector – but all she really needs is a Yamaha acoustic
- “If you're looking for a no-fuss delay pedal for everyday repeats, this is the one to beat”: Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay review
- How the Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins became a rock ’n’ roll icon, played by Pete Townshend, Randy Bachman and more – before enjoying a triumphant second act in the hands of Brian Setzer
- Ernie Ball Music Man’s upgraded Steve Lukather Luke 4 SSS offers “supreme tonal firepower” thanks to its brand new HT pickup technology
- “You could play a one-string bass with a pick and still create amazing music”: Billy Sheehan disputes his reputation as “an overplaying icon of lead bass”
- “Staggering”: Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Collection has sold at auction for over $11 million – with a record-breaking ’59 Burst sale and 28 guitars fetching over $100k
- Download and stream the audio from Guitar Techniques 358
- “Whichever model you choose, you’ll never be underdressed”: Four of Gibson’s most enduring acoustics have received the Custom Shop tuxedo treatment inspired by the Les Paul Custom