All content archive
June 2024
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287 articles
- June 30
- June 29
- June 28
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- “Create some crazy content of me performing at a historical location near you, or in a hilarious situation”: Ever wanted a private Steve Vai concert? This new app literally beams the virtuoso into your home
- “If you’re new to slide playing, try a higher string action until you get used to using it”: How to set up your guitar for slide
- The tritone substitution is a staple of jazz guitar that’s been used by the greats. Here’s how you can use it to quite literally jazz up your chord progressions
- “Big riff energy is in this kid’s blood – and he might even solo better than his dad…” June 2024 Guitar World editor’s picks
- “These amps just breathe like a well-rounded tube amp, no matter what you throw at them”: Can solid-state amps compete with tubes? Laney thinks its Lionheart Foundry combos are up to the challenge
- “It’s used for fence posts in Guatemala, and somehow that has given it a low-class reputation on the internet”: Paul Reed Smith says the materials used to make a guitar absolutely do make a difference – but not for the reason you might think
- Guitar Center just dropped their Fourth of July sale more than a week early - get massive savings of up to 30% off gear
- “There’s no questioning the rock-solid protection it affords your guitar, or the efforts Fender has gone to to create a nicely priced case that offers a premium feel”: Fender F1225 Electric Guitar Gig Bag review
- “An ideal first mic for anyone configuring a home studio”: Rode NT1 Signature Series review
- “We used to boil all our strings so all the crap would come off them. We couldn’t afford to buy new strings”: Geezer Butler explains how Black Sabbath managed to make ends meet as emerging heavy metal pioneers
- “I went down to Guatemala pretty broken and fairly convinced my career was done”: Thunderpussy’s Whitney Petty on how the Mike McCready-approved rockers were restored by fire to reemerge triumphant with an album of Led Zeppelin-sized riffs
- “Now you can experience my amplifier treasury for yourself”: Joe Satriani has modeled his epic amp collection – including some you might not expect
- “A guitar from that dark period when the single-cut Les Paul was discontinued”: Is this oddball ’60s electric the weirdest custom model Gibson has ever created? Gibson’s archive curator sure thinks so
- “Everything you need. Nothing you don't”: Introducing the Laney LIONHEART FOUNDRY combo range
- “It was tone-chasing for people who couldn’t afford real amps and nice microphones”: Djent’s key players on the unlikely origins – and experimental techniques – behind modern metal’s most influential sub-genre
- “James would always try to break you down. Any time you played a great gig, he'd call you into his dressing room and say, ‘You just ain't on it. You ain't on the one!’” If you play funk, you owe Bootsy Collins – the bass legend who played with James Brown
- June 27
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- “It’s like guitar heaven”: Brian May turned down the chance to play with Steve Cropper and Billy Gibbons – but when his rejection email was used to write a new song, he had no choice but to take part
- “Every guitar is like an investment on the channel. People like seeing the guitar for the artist”: YouTube lesson guru Mr. Tabs doesn’t just play the part – he buys the right guitar for the part… and the right outfit, too
- “Weirdly, I can’t seem to play on 22 frets. It’s this symmetry thing that freaks my mind out, so I need 24”: Meet Jack Gardiner, the Tom Quayle-taught virtuoso turning Baby Shark and Wheels on the Bus into blistering fusion guitar workouts
- “When I play guitar, it sounds like a guitar. Ultraman needed a superhero”: Polyphia’s Tim Henson revealed as the mystery shredder behind Netflix’s epic new blockbuster
- “You wouldn’t think it with hip-hop music, but the Metal Zone is the perfect effect for cutting through the mix”: Stone Mecca reveals what’s on his pedalboard – and why he’s analog all the way
- “Look what the cat dragged in!” Tom Morello shreds Dave Navarro’s PRS – with his teeth – as he joins Jane’s Addiction to tear through Mountain Song
- “An articulate and dynamic response that has an edge over traditional plectrums”: Techpicks review
- “You turned into this rock goddess”: The 10-year-old viral sensation who wowed Adam Jones just stunned America’s Got Talent with a ripping Last Resort cover
- “I got to meet all the people that make the guitars, and I was blown away by how many women were in there. Women never get the cred”: Susan Tedeschi on the making of her long-awaited signature Telecaster and the next generation of blues guitar heroes
- “The first pedal of its kind”: Even Eric Clapton is into lo-fi guitar tones now – and Source Audio’s Artifakt promises all the broken-sounding weirdness you could ever want
- June 26
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- “The Seeker Series has reached new heights": Donner heats up 2024’s best-value guitar race with two high-spec S-style models – and prices start from $430
- “When I first visited the Rickenbacker factory, I thought I was going to get a hero's welcome. But they were like, ‘Come take a look at our repair room’”: Why Chris Squire’s relationship with Rickenbacker got off to a rocky start
- “The M Concert body shape has stood the test of time for nearly 70 years”: Guild’s M-260E Deluxe brings one of acoustic guitar’s most iconic designs – and USA features – to a new $599 model
- “My Suhr looks like it was dragged behind a school bus on lava rock, and that’s just fine by me”: Jennifer Batten shares her gear epiphanies – and how she felt letting go of the Washburn she used with Jeff Beck and Michael Jackson
- “Puts your amp or cab on casters without drilling or modification”: On-Stage AG5000 Amp Glider review
- “A drum machine for dummies?” DigiTech SDRUM Strummable Drums review
- “Yesterday was one of the craziest days in the life of our business”: Benson Amps narrowly avoids fire that threatened one of its warehouses
- “I stuck with Gibson basses because they’re so dense”: Krist Novoselic dons a Thunderbird as he debuts his new band in Kurt Cobain's hometown – and pays tribute with a rendition of Nirvana's debut single
- “Our most powerful yet”: Harley Benton already has the best-value electric guitar of 2024. Now it might have done the same with amp modelers
- “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”: Mesa/Boogie and John Petrucci celebrate 40 years of partnership with “the most aggressive” and modern Mark IIC+ ever made
- Expensive vs cheap guitar cables: does spending more make a significant difference?
- Fender Japan continues its adventures in flamed-top guitars with new never-before-seen Hybrid Series II finishes
- “He went straight for that Les Paul. He closes the lid and goes, ‘That’s my guitar now’”: Scott Gorham nearly lost his 'Holy Grail' 1957 Gibson Les Paul to a customs officer just after he bought it – and he had to go to court to get it back
- June 25
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- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 386
- “The other bands had a top-notch Yngwie-level player, and that’s what I was trying to be. If some awful gig already has two of those dudes, it doesn’t need a third”: Tom Morello on the throwaway club show that changed his guitar playing forever
- “We were just looking for the right time to come back”: Nobody expected Fender to return to NAMM – but the guitar giant is finally coming home to the world’s biggest gear trade show
- “The koa version’s beauty is much more than skin deep – the upgrade is worth the price if you’re a discriminating fingerstyle player”: Taylor 222ce-K DLX review
- “Most of the reactions have been one of surprise: ‘How could you make a Strandberg this affordable?’” Ola Strandberg brought headless guitars back from the dead. Now he wants to take them to the masses with his first sub-$1,000 electric
- “Enjoy thick and edgy P-90 tones without major surgery”: Seymour Duncan might have just changed P-90 pickups forever with its noiseless Phat Cat Silencers
- “This guy was just up on stage playing guitar behind his neck and now he’s barely even talking to me”: Junior Marvin saw Jimi Hendrix blow away the Beatles at a London club show – but says the guitar hero was too shy to speak to him
- “No-one is handing out medals for owning a guitar by a prestige maker”: Guitar prices and the conundrum of high-priced budget electric vs entry-level big-name model – which to choose and why the decision is getting tougher
- “The opportunity to design a pedal for him was a privilege I couldn't pass up”: Dawner Prince’s Boonar Tube Deluxe was built especially for David Gilmour – and it’s a high-end replica of a legendary echo unit
- “The range of music I’ve had to play in the last year is so vast”: How Sophie Giuliani went from ballet dancer to Olivia Rodrigo’s guitarist – and what she learned from John Mayer
- “I'm auctioning these for some wonderful charities”: Two of Steve Vai’s Ibanez JEMs found their way back to him after auction – so he’s selling them again to raise even more money for charity
- “Our contribution to a 90-year-old tradition of breaking the sound of the guitar”: JHS unveils its first-ever original distortion pedal, the Hard Drive
- “The crown jewel of my amplifier collection”: Joe Bonamassa has bought Lowell George’s Dumble Overdrive Special Reverb after a 15-year quest
- “The idea is to be felt and not seen. A lot of that came from when I was in Jethro Tull”: Jonathan Noyce on how playing with Martin Barre and Gary Moore honed his “stealth bass” approach – and his final days with the late Irish guitar legend
- June 24
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- Download and stream the audio from Guitar Techniques 363
- “A high-quality yet affordable introduction to the ESP playing experience”: ESP makes a serious play for the budget guitar market with new $399 LTD 200DX models
- “Stepping into the Slayer situation and learning 19 songs on the flight over to Europe made a good impression”: How Phil Demmel nailed one of the biggest gigs in metal – and became Kerry King’s six-string wingman
- “Paul’s Perfect Pour”: PRS has brewed up guitars for John Mayer, Mark Tremonti and Carlos Santana – but now it’s making beer
- “The amp that’s one in a hundred”: Marshall is celebrating 100 years of iconic British speaker firm Celestion with this stunning, limited-edition hand-built head and cab
- Scott LePage played an Ibanez Xiphos alongside Steve Vai – now he’s teased a potential signature version of the radical X-type
- “Proper, grown-up tones that wouldn’t disappoint even the most critical ear”: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Les Paul SG Custom with Maestro Vibrola and 1959 ES-355 review
- Attention all beginners, our favourite online guitar lessons platform is now cheaper than ever - score a whopping 60% off Fender Play
- “With Courtney, it enhanced my commitment as a woman to keep on rocking”: Courtney Love and bassist Melissa Auf der Maur have reunited in the studio – what this means for a possible Hole reunion
- “Mr. Bungle tried to play this song in the '90s and we scrapped it because we sucked at it”: Wolfgang Van Halen helps Mr. Bungle rip through a cover of Van Halen’s “most metal song”
- “Full of history and stories from a pivotal era in British music”: Gibson honors Jeff Beck with a recreation of his historic 1959 ‘YardBurst’ Les Paul – before he gave it a radical makeover
- “Nick’s knowledgeable depth, thoroughness and fairness in his reviews earned him a distinguished position as a true authority”: Remembering Nick Guppy, Guitarist magazine’s guitar amp guru
- “Chrissie Hynde and Linda McCartney were friendly. She said that Paul was looking for a guitar player”: Robbie McIntosh on a playing career running from the Pretenders to John Mayer – and the knock-off Japanese Strat he used on tour with a Beatle
- “She’s a badass guitar player who always played a Pink Paisley Telecaster – they should have made a signature model 20 years ago”: Susan Tedeschi names the guitarist who deserved a signature model but never got one
- “Picks always felt like a weird, artificial extension of my hand”: Yvette Young just played with a pick live for the first time ever
- 30 open tuning chords you need to know
- “We’ve had more than a few errors. That’s because we actually play live”: Dave Grohl seemingly claims Taylor Swift’s band doesn’t play live
- “I feel like I owe you this, because I don’t think I’d be in this position without you”: Double Whammy pedal master Sean Long gifts Tom Morello his Charvel signature guitar to thank him for decades of inspiration
- June 23
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- “The producer showed me a great recording trick – he covered my pick with a thin layer of paper. The sound was pure Bowie”: He played with John Squire and KT Tunstall. Now George Vjestica is exploring his experimental side as one of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds
- “There aren’t many bassists that could do this job. Playing with Metallica is the most demanding gig there is”: Robert Trujillo reflects on the legacy of Jason Newsted and Cliff Burton
- June 22
- June 21
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- “The most brutal bass ever crafted”: Solar’s new Type-E models look to bring “extreme modern shapes” to the bass guitar world
- “It helped tidy up a lot of my playing and helped me grow as a player”: Joanne Shaw Taylor briefly switched to Les Pauls – and it dramatically improved her guitar playing
- “We've reimagined the tuning experience”: Ibanez launches “revolutionary” new multi-scale bass guitars – and they’re fitted with a game-changing tuning technology
- The spider exercise is one of the most popular guitar warm-ups for a reason – it will improve your speed and finger independence with just a few minutes’ practice per day
- “They were waiting for him to state his place in the band. When the reaction didn't come, that was the way the album turned out”: Metallica producer offers a theory for Jason Newsted’s inaudible bass on …And Justice For All
- “My finger started swelling and going numb”: Sophie Lloyd almost lost a finger during a recent video shoot
- “One of his guitar geek dreams was to play this guitar”: Billie Joe Armstrong just played Steve Jones’ iconic Sex Pistols Les Paul – which recently sold for $390,000 – with Green Day in Paris
- “You can play a million notes and have no sense of feel, rhythm or intensity. B.B. King could take one string, one note, one finger and knock over a mountain”: Lenny Kravitz on the pitfalls facing modern players, and why simple is the hardest thing to do
- “We were like, ‘What’s the difference between the POD Farm and the Axe-Fx?’ You realize it’s all about whoever is behind it, not the product itself”: Polyphia share their top tips for entering the daunting digital modeler world
- “He told me he was a fan the first time I met him in '97. And then I got the call from him a couple of years later”: Helmet’s Page Hamilton is one of heavy music’s most influential riffers – but he was once handpicked by David Bowie to be his guitarist
- “I got home, called Stevie and said, ‘I’m so sorry, but I’ve just been offered a job with Bob Marley’”: Junior Marvin recalls landing gigs with Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley on the same day – and how he was forced to make a life-changing decision
- “St. Vincent is one of the best players in the world right now… she has that Jeff Buckley thing going on”: Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr names 10 guitarists who shaped his bass sound
- “People use them for fashion and shock factor. Your guitar is your workhorse, but on stage, it’s also your prop”: Phoebe Bridgers is playing B.C. Rich. Willow and Pete Townshend are picking up Jacksons. Have metal guitars gone mainstream?
- “While Fender players might feel more at home with the Silver Sky, PRS players will definitely feel a little more comfortable here”: PRS SE NF3 review
- How to play Hotel California on guitar – with the Eagles’ Don Felder
- June 20
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- “Beck, Clapton and Page are okay. But they’re no better than Jim McCarty from Cactus and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels”: Ted Nugent weighs in on top guitarist lists and the unsung heroes who deserve more recognition
- “He turned his amps around so they’re off-stage. The ones facing backwards were unbelievably loud to get sustain”: Dave Natale has worked with Prince, Van Halen and The Rolling Stones – but Jeff Beck was the loudest player he ever mic’d up
- “Considered by many to be one of the best cheap electric guitars of all time”: In praise of the Danelectro Shorthorn, the primitive budget guitar loved by Jimmy Page, Tom Verlaine and Eric Clapton
- “Had he recorded nothing but the 10-minute Maggot Brain solo, Eddie Hazel’s place in guitar history would be complete”: The 30 best guitarists from New Jersey – from Al Di Meola and Richie Sambora to Gibson's best-selling signature artist
- “This little thing is probably the best guitar accessory you can buy”: Why TikTok is going nuts for a $12 tennis accessory
- “The entire audience in the room could hear the tonal difference”: Guthrie Govan has held tonewood tone tests in guitar clinics – and the results were unanimous
- “We’re trying to be adventurous. I don’t want to write songs that are just excuses for me to play mindless solos”: Meet Tristan Auman, the wildly inventive guitarist who went from gospel to gonzo shred with Sometime In February
- “Epiphone has pulled off its conjuring trick once again and made three acoustic guitars that are amazing in practically every respect”: Epiphone 1942 Banner J-45, 1957 SJ-200 and J-180 LS review
- “I’d always said to the Scorpions, ‘If any band from England asks me to join, no matter who it is, I’m doing it’”: Michael Schenker celebrates his tenure with UFO with a new reimagined greatest hits record – and it features Slash
- “File under ‘whatever it takes’. If you happen to be walking through, you’ve got no choice but to hear it!” John Mayer is still using his tube amps at The Sphere – but you’ll never guess where he’s hiding them
- June 19
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- “I hope Wolfgang goes through some of it. There’s probably miles of the stuff. I’m sure there’s stuff that Eddie did on his own”: Michael Anthony offers an update on the never-before-heard archive of unreleased Van Halen songs
- “An unforgettable experience”: George Benson is leading a four-day concert and workshop event featuring some of the world’s brightest guitar talents – and Rick Beato is hosting
- “My feel drives Stephen nuts – he’d rather have a traditional metal bass player who uses a pick and follows his every move. Instead, I counter his every move”: Chi Cheng on his final Deftones album – which took almost three years to complete
- “If I don't like the bassline, then I'm probably not gonna enjoy playing the song”: Mike Mills on his “selfish” R.E.M. basslines – and their long-awaited reunion
- “We cobbled together the Everything I Do solo in 20 minutes. Mutt Lange said ‘Eh, not bad.’ And that was it… We had no clue”: Bryan Adams guitarist Keith Scott on being a low-profile multi-platinum guitar hero – and the hits no one saw coming
- “Now that the years have passed, I can admit that we did make liberal use of Ry Cooder’s amps without his knowledge”: Kid Congo Powers is the journeyman guitarist who fused jazz and punk with the Bad Seeds, the Cramps and Gun Club
- “Bowie drove me down to the audition to meet Tommy… I saw this guy with green and purple hair”: Glenn Hughes recalls meeting Tommy Bolin at his tense Deep Purple audition
- “I was so nervous my foot was shaking on my wah pedal. After the gig someone said, ‘Wow! How are you getting that sound?’” Weird Al Yankovic guitarist Jim “Kimo” West on shaky beginnings, parody rock glory – and his Grammy-winning third act
- “You can barely hear the delay when I play live, but it’s my security blanket”: Vinnie Moore reveals what’s on his ever-changing pedalboard
- “I get a call at 2am from my neighbor saying, ‘The fire department’s here.’ It could’ve swept right up the side and took the whole thing out”: Joe Bonamassa’s mythical Nerdville gear haul was almost completely destroyed in a fire
- “That's the saddest thing that's ever happened in my life!” Dave Grohl's guitar stops working nine seconds into Everlong – in front of 50,000 people
- Want to be a good rhythm guitarist? You need to know your 7th chords – and the CAGED system can help you find them all over the neck
- June 18
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- “The NF3 is not our answer to the Stratocaster. It is its own thing”: PRS launches the SE NF3 – a triple-humbucker evolution of John Mayer's Silver Sky
- “Meticulously engineered to deliver the ultimate expression of acoustic artisanry”: Yamaha’s top-tier FS9 acoustics combine the detailed craft of Japanese Kumiki woodworking and high-end appointments in a fingerpicker’s dream guitar
- “If I didn’t show the video, he wouldn’t contribute his solo”: Slash channels a whale-like guitar tone in new song highlighting environmental destruction
- “They put on an incredible show. It was a crazy night”: Jason Momoa has been ripping through Metallica, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix hits with his raucous new band
- “I’d messaged Cory to see if he needed a bassist. He sent me his tour manager’s phone number and said, ‘See you in two days’”: Meet Vincen García, the Spanish bass virtuoso who joined Cory Wong’s band with 48 hours’ notice
- How to choose the right guitar cable: from length and connector considerations, to whether you should build your own, here’s everything you need to know
- “It’s a dream. I just wanted to be able to play the guitar, nevermind have a signature model”: Fender launches the Susan Tedeschi Telecaster – finally bringing a much-requested signature guitar to life
- “That’s what sets guitarists apart… how they attack the strings. Stevie Ray Vaughan was the master of that – and I think Slash is right there with him”: Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink on having a front-row seat to Slash’s most iconic guitar moments
- “When Fender and Gibson embrace new tech, it’s usually not well received. It’s better to work with a young, disruptive company who wants to break the rules”: Inside Cream Guitars, the no-copy Mexican brand shaking up guitar with color-changing finishes
- Is there a benefit to buying a more expensive guitar as your first?
- Fender amps explained: from tubes to modeling, here's everything you need to know about Fender amplifiers
- “That’s the great thing about making my videos – they’re like demo tapes. They show off my range and versatility”: Larissa Liveir on her journey from engineering student to guitar’s TikTok role model
- “A guitar of one of his heroes”: John Mayer has been playing Jeff Beck’s Fender Stratocaster – and Joe Bonamassa has confirmed it’s the real deal
- “Dime had wanted to do a solo project for years… There was so much second-guessing and worrying about sounding like Pantera”: Inside the making of Dimebag Darrell’s final album
- “One of the best-sounding USA amplifiers currently available”: Bad Cat Jet Black head review
- June 17
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- “I believe I'm making the heaviest guitar in the world”: This magnificent 50lbs copper creation gives ‘heavy metal guitar’ a new meaning
- “I could have never imagined my guitars would be played by some of the best-loved guitarists”: Lowden launches exclusive 50th Anniversary collection – but only 150 of these beauties will be made
- “We're gonna ask him, give him a three-minute long session and let him rip”: Tim Henson reveals the surprising collabs Polyphia are eyeing up for their next album
- “Me and Dime were tight – but I don’t like the guitars Dime played. A headstock that looks like a baby guitar? I don't need all that real estate”: Kerry King on his personal history with B.C. Rich and ESP – and why he switched to Dean
- How to play Sweet Home Alabama on guitar
- “There's no pressure. It's been fun putting it together, and that's what it's all about”: Tony Iommi says his long-awaited solo album is coming along nicely – but he’s in no rush to finish it
- “Thanks to the best guitar player on planet Earth”: Post Malone surprises Bonnaroo by calling up bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings for a pyro-fueled guest spot
- “Thin Lizzy prepared me for Skynyrd. They said, ‘You need to learn these songs note for note.’ I said, ‘I wouldn’t dream of doing it any other way’”: Damon Johnson on having one of rock’s most enviable resumés – and why Eddie Van Halen gifted him a guitar
- “Sneaky hidden Sustainiac!” Joe Satriani is playing an EVH Striped Series Eruption guitar on the Best of All Worlds tour – but it’s had some surprise mods
- “They’re probably some of the first guitar solos I ever learned”: Trey Anastasio tackles Steely Dan classics in searing Songwriters Hall of Fame performance
- “The absence of the Rampage left a void in the guitar world”: G&L launches the long-awaited Rampage 24 – which gives Jerry Cantrell’s workhorse grunge machine a 21st century overhaul
- “My older content was way more technique-driven… I wanted to become more sophisticated. Virtuoso music can be impressive but extremely shallow”: Martin Miller on how he recruited Paul Gilbert, Lari Basilio and Mateus Asato for his world-beating jams
- Merle Travis, Lester Flatt and Hank Williams pioneered the Americana guitar style – and laid the groundwork for today’s folk, country and bluegrass guitar stars
- “An affordable option for adding atmospheric soundscapes”: Walrus Audio Fundamental Ambient review
- June 16
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- Keith Richards is an electric guitar icon, but he prefers playing acoustic – and his unplugged Rolling Stones approach is full of smart ideas
- “The faster you get in the zone, the better the music is, so why wait?” Dean Brown was a fusion master who played with everyone from Marcus Miller to Eric Clapton – and maintained there are only two rules in music
- June 15
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- Dissonant guitar chords: 5 voicings that will add suspense and tension to your playing
- “The three-finger thing is actually easy. It’s like learning the patterns on a video game until you conquer it”: Billy Sheehan explains his three-finger plucking technique
- “Sometimes the guitar will tell you what it likes the best. Each piece of wood is different, in the same way that each of us is different”: How to choose the right strings for your guitar (and your playing style)
- June 14
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- “A special guitar that features art by world-renowned artists”: Fender Japan’s latest Art Canvas creations bring an iconic Japanese art landscape print series from the 1800s to the Esquire
- “The pinnacle of dad rock”: This survey claims to have identified the ultimate dad rock band – but there was some surprising competition
- “Co-written with my guitar wizard son”: Tom Morello announces his first-ever full-length solo rock album with single co-written with Roman Morello – who can “shred circles” around him
- “That doesn’t make any sense. It was not worth that”: Guitar collector and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay doesn’t think Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged acoustic was worth $6 million
- “Some say our music has polyrhythm, but it’s simply 4/4. I guess it confuses anyone who hears it for the first time”: How Peter Nordin navigated a 172bpm maze of nightmarish polymetric riffs on Meshuggah’s Future Breed Machine
- “Far more than just an impeccable tube tone emulator. It's an entire rig solution packed into one portable pedal”: Laney’s new IR-loaded Loudpedals might just be the all-in-one pedal amps you’ve been waiting for
- “That record is such a wonderful thing for a beginner guitar player. The riffs are cool as hell and they're easy to figure out”: Tim Henson names the album that all aspiring guitarists should learn
- “I mentioned Nile Rodgers on the radio. The next day he messaged me to get down to Abbey Road right now”: Meet Alfie Templeman, the rising Gen Z guitar star inspired by ’70s prog and ’80s Bowie
- “These may represent the ideal all-in-one amp solutions for the modern guitarist”: New From Laney – LOUDPEDAL amp bliss in a pedalboard format
- “Johnny Marr stood there for five minutes watching me use a reverb tank as a guitar bow. He must have thought it was the stupidest thing he’d ever seen”: Meet LA Priest, the inventor-guitarist questioning everything you know about tone
- “As user-friendly as a guitar can get”: Strandberg Boden Essential review
- Your whammy bar isn’t just for divebombs – it can also be an amazing slide, capable of all kinds of mind-bending soundscapes
- “I’ve learned to completely let go and say, ‘That’s different… but let’s go with it!’” The Pineapple Thief are one of UK prog’s leading lights – Bruce Soord explains how they crossed the Rubicon with Porcupine Tree’s drummer
- “I don’t think you can overestimate the influence of his sound”: The unsung guitarist who transformed James Brown’s music, and laid a funky path for Nile Rodgers, John Frusciante, Cory Wong and countless others
- “The pre-WWII SJ-200 sounds utterly huge with very deep and punchy bass, strong mids and clear highs”: How Gibson’s legendary SJ-200 acoustic wowed Elvis, Bob Dylan and more to become ‘King of the Flat-tops’
- June 13
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- “Our first show with Van Halen, he was playing a red ES-335. I thought he was a very good player, but not unique. He evolved leaps and bounds”: Rusty Anderson on his session journey – from supporting Van Halen to joining Paul McCartney’s band
- Thieves steal $5k Gibson Les Paul in brazenly low-effort guitar heist
- What was the greatest guitar album of the 1970s?
- “The loudest, best-performing strings he’s ever used”: Gibson ventures into the signature string market with first-ever Dave Mustaine set
- “He even put a +100dB switch on it. It blew out the speakers in the practice room and we’ve never used it again”: HAAL are turning UK post-hardcore upside-down with anti-breakdowns, eight-minute songs and amp-exploding fuzz pedals
- “I knew Beyoncé would really belt it out there, so I wanted to play something more in your face”: Meet the unsung bass hero who laid down one of the noughties’ most irresistible basslines with Beyoncé
- “There’s a great simulator that really does a very good job of simulating my sound”: Brian May reveals which affordable amp-in-a-box gets closest to nailing his iconic Queen tone – but it’s one you might not expect
- “The reaction to Ian Bairnson’s collection has so far surpassed interest to some of these mammoth names in the guitar world”: The Les Paul used on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights smashes estimates at auction
- “White Lion was on tour with Aerosmith, and I wanted to switch from Strats and see what Steinberger was all about…”: Vito Bratta on why he made the leap to his iconic ’88 Steinberger GM2T
- “I’m more of a humbucker player onstage, but I like P-90s because they roar while also driving up the ‘middle’ of any band”: Joe Bonamassa on why he loves the P-90s on his 1958 Gibson Les Paul Special – and the origins of its ‘TV Yellow’ finish
- “We’ve also talked about doing replicas, beaten up so they look like mine”: Mark Tremonti says a relic’d recreation of his Dimebag-stickered PRS is on the cards – could artificially aged PRS guitars become a reality?
- “40 years on, PRS is still setting standards that other brands would do well to study very closely”: PRS S2 Standard 24 Satin and S2 Vela Satin review
- “Combines the skills of the finest craftsmen and the traditions cultivated by Fender”: Fender celebrates the first anniversary of its flagship Tokyo store with an unprecedented Strat – and it’s made using an ancient Japanese coating
- “Detroit in her blood”: Young guitarist endorsed by Jack White after dueting on Seven Nation Army – from her bedroom window several streets away
- June 12
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- “We face our amps backwards so that they can be as loud as possible. Feedback is really important to us”: DIIV are reimagining shoegaze with cheap pedals, communal gear and all-encompassing distortion
- “It was more than a guitar, it was a statement. The Rampage became an icon of Seattle’s grunge rock sound”: The G&L Rampage – the guitar beloved by Jerry Cantrell – is officially making a return
- “I love $200 guitars! They’re easier to play and their pickups are very responsive to my style”: Meet Sebastiside, the Colombian virtuoso making waves with budget guitars – and a ground-breaking rhythm technique
- “It’s not about playing whatever the lowest note available is. You have to consider melody, rhythm and harmony”: Listen to John Paul Jones’ isolated bass on Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On
- Squier’s new Limited Edition Classic Vibe models are so desirable, I broke my decade-long guitar buying ban. So how did they get me hooked?
- How to play Come As You Are on guitar
- “He refused to play the bass with his thumb. He thought it was an insult to the instrument”: Marcus Miller reveals why Anthony Jackson started putting him forward for sessions
- “Technical bass players might be able to spell it out in print, but if the pocket isn’t there, it’s just dots on paper”: The Meters’ George Porter Jr on surviving Hurricane Katrina, the subtleties of New Orleans funk and his unusual slap style
- “A fun, affordable way of adding extra sounds, or getting to grips with three of the major pedal food groups”: Third Man Hardware x Donner Triple Threat review
- “He took the lighter fluid, squirted it on the guitar and set it on fire. That might be the first relic’d guitar – and you can thank Seymour Duncan for that”: That time Adrian Belew DIY aged his Strat with a screwdriver, spray paint and motor oil
- “I used to play Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne songs in backyard parties when I was 16. And then all of a sudden, I’m playing in his band”: Robert Trujillo on going from teenage Sabbath fan to Ozzy's bassist
- "There is no wrong way to play guitar. The instrument can be whatever you make it": The Guitar World team shares the advice they wish they'd been given when they started learning
- Mike Zito is a blues-rock maestro with a classic rock sensibility – and learning his supreme phrasing skills will add a timeless quality to your solos
- “The six-string bass was a phase that all the manufacturers went through. It was never a big seller”: Up close and personal with the 1965 Gibson EB-6D – the super-rare bass that looks like an SG
- The Strat turns 70 and the return of the cooler-than-ever Creed – only in the new Guitar World
- June 11
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- How to restring a classical guitar
- “Leo wanted me to be partners with him, for it to be the Fender guitar – the Les Paul Fender”: Les Paul was once approached by Leo Fender to work together on a solidbody electric guitar
- “My main recording guitar is a 1959 Jazzmaster. I haven’t changed the strings in eight years! They’re completely dead, but I just love the sound of it”: Grant Nicholas on why he doesn’t mind Feeder being called the UK Foo Fighters – or Smashing Pumpkins
- “A rare pedal refined with magic ingredients”: Crazy Tube Circuit’s faultless five-star Klon/Dumble dual overdrive has just been given a serious upgrade – but stock is limited
- “He was already in Animals As Leaders – but there we were, playing the Beatles in a bar. I’d be like, ‘What the hell is happening?’” Joshua De La Victoria has gone from prog awakening to one of the genre’s brightest guitar talents
- “He would put the band on the spot and say, ‘We’re going to write a song.’ I would just start riffing… in front of a live group of people”: Mark Tremonti reveals one of Creed’s biggest hits was spontaneously written in front of 4,000 people
- “It’s beaten and it’s a Frankenstein. It’s got a lot of modifications since the ’50s, since it was born”: Gibson’s Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior signature upgrades the stock LPJ in just about every way
- “He was living in his mom’s basement because he’s like 18. And he starts playing guitar… and then he brings out his snake”: Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan on the moment he met Slash (and his plus one)
- “I bought one of Eric Clapton’s old Strats for £60. That was my initiation into playing a Strat”: How Ritchie Blackmore ended up buying his first-ever Fender Stratocaster from Eric Clapton
- “He came up to me after the show and said, ‘Mate, you can give John Entwistle a run for his money’”: Gene Simmons recalls the moment Jimmy Page complimented his bass playing – and turned out to be a KISS fan
- “Everything we’ve recorded before sounded digital and almost heartless, so I went back to analog”: Unprocessed’s Manuel Gardner Fernandes on his return to tubes – and why Polyphia’s support means more than anything
- “Bernie went into the studio with a host of guitars – but ended up using this £125 Squier for 95% of the sessions. It was one of the best Strats he ever played”: Inside the Bernie Marsden guitar auction – featuring rare Strats and a Greeny-esque ES-335
- “If you’re from the school of ‘plug in, turn up’, without getting fussy with your controls, you’re going to love it”: Fender Tom DeLonge Starcaster review
- “Whether on the road or writing at home, the Fly 3 has become their go-to warm-up amp”: Blackstar and The Dead Daisies have launched a tiny signature practice amp – and it’s got skull-shaped control knobs
- “We have spoken about such things, and it would be lovely to have an edition of the Brian May guitar based in the States”: Brian May confirms Gibson-built Red Specials are on the cards
- June 10
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- Fender is taking on Amazon’s cheap guitar sellers at their own game by launching a Chinese-made Strat for $119
- “A new world of power and versatility”: Heritage overhauls its Custom Shop Core Collection with the H-157 – debuting all-new pickups in the process
- “A semi-acoustic with aggressive character and punch that outshines many solidbody designs”: EVH SA-126 Special review
- “Don’t let the small body fool you. It's not your average mini guitar”: Orangewood has launched a short-scale signature acoustic guitar that is designed to feel like an electric
- Should you learn acoustic guitar before electric guitar? Plus 3 other beginner guitar myths busted
- “He’d call me at four in the morning and leave a 15-minute guitar solo on my voicemail”: Serj Tankian on his collaborations with the enigmatic Buckethead – and the time they played a high school battle of the bands together
- The Beatles were pop trailblazers and studio experimentalists, but the Fab Four also had a heavier side – and it laid the groundwork for the rock revolution that followed
- “While Les Paul may not have been the first to use tape for echo effects, he was certainly at the forefront”: The history of delay, from studio guitar reel-to-reel experiments to Line 6 and the rise of digital
- “I played note-for-note. Those albums are the soundtrack to people's lives. I wanted to hear them how it was supposed to be”: Damon Johnson on how he came to play with Thin Lizzy and Lynyrd Skynyrd – and his identical approach for both gigs
- “Ronnie Wood has a ’55 hardtail Strat and that one was incredible. And then Nile Rodgers’ Hitmaker Strat – that one’s incredible”: Fender’s Master Builders on what makes a good Stratocaster – and the best Strats they’ve ever played
- “I played House of the Rising Sun in my fifth-grade talent show. Afterward Stevie Ray Vaughan walked up and said, ‘I play guitar, too’ and our friendship began”: Meet Rocky Athas, the guitarist who went to school with SRV and inspired Brian May to tap
- “Someone pinch me… actually don’t, because I want to keep living this dream”: Kiki Wong brings a metal edge to her debut Smashing Pumpkins performance after beating 10,000 guitarists to the gig
- “My hand was starting to swell up and blood was coming out of my ears. If I hadn't worked on that stuff, there's no way I could have done it”: Basil Fearrington breaks down his bassline on Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s Back Together Again
- June 9
- June 8
- June 7
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- “Jimmy Page said, ‘Wow, I love the way you play that song.’ I was like, ‘God, I could die now’”: Heart’s Nancy Wilson on their long road to the top, grunge friends – and that cover of Stairway to Heaven
- “I like to have a blast plugging into my Engl amp – even if it's just to wake up the neighbors”: Ritchie Blackmore swapped rock for Renaissance music – but says he’s still not above cranking a tube amp once in awhile
- “I was not expecting that much demand!”: Sophie Lloyd announces her highly-anticipated first headline show – and sells it out in five minutes
- “I'm not gonna try and play this, are you crazy?!”: This nine-year-old’s lightning-quick arpeggio workout has players apologizing to their guitars
- “I played the solo perfectly – and there was silence in the room. It was crickets. Everyone was looking down, I couldn’t believe it”: Elliot Easton on The Cars’ early years – and the guitar solo that moved him to tears of rage
- “Fewer things give guitarists that fabled ‘riff face’ more than a fuzz mixed with an analog octave down”: Catalinbread’s Perseus Dio crams its two favorite octave-down styles into one face-contorting pedal
- “Joe Bonamassa's gonna come out right now and shred it up”: It’s PRS vs Gibson, as Orianthi and Bonamassa give their studio collaboration First Time Blues a masterful live outing
- “I’m finally making an artistic statement that is cohesive. The dragon is in harmony”: Fingerstyle virtuoso Marcin has announced his debut album – and the first single features Polyphia’s Tim Henson in fiery form
- “Our mission at Orange Learn is to make education accessible to all”: Orange launches FREE guitar and vocal courses through Orange Learn
- June 6
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- “At the beginning John Lydon really loved it, and there was a real sense that it was great. And then, of course, it got very dark”: Jah Wobble on PiL, going back to his P-Bass – and why he’s reworking Metal Box
- August 2024 Guitar World lesson videos
- “An improvement in both dynamics and string-to-string balance”: DiMarzio and Billy Sheehan have reinvented the P-Bass pickup with a new patent
- “An insane synth buzz bazooka sound on the EarthQuaker side and a remorphinator of cosmic waves on the Death By Audio side”: EQD and Death By Audio revive their cult collaboration pedal, Time Shadows
- “A powerful and portable guitar rig for any sized stage or studio”: Barefaced Audio’s Activier turns its guitar cabs into modeling-friendly power amp combos
- “After one of the shows, Ginger said, ‘You are a great bass player after all.’ I couldn’t believe it – he’d never once said that in all the years”: In 2005, Jack Bruce reunited with Cream after 36 years – and realized how much his bass playing had changed
- 8 ways to make your beginner acoustic guitar play and sound better
- “A brand-new Marshall and an Epiphone, if you dial it in right, can sound like a sunburst Les Paul through a vintage Bluesbreaker”: Joe Bonamassa explains why great tones are “much cheaper than people realize”
- “There are no shocks on this album. I like bands to stay true to the sound that works. I’m happy that AC/DC have been making the same record for 50 years” Kerry King on his unapologetic solo debut – and how long before Slayer jump back into the coffin
- “I would know if the ‘Red Eye’ was a good guitar even if I was stone deaf – you can feel it vibrating”: Gibson’s Custom Shop has recreated Jason Isbell’s prized 1959 Les Paul – formerly owned by Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King
- “I flirted with a more professional-looking ’board on the Periphery tour… but went back to the cracked, Velcro-covered piece of plywood I made with my dad”: It may not be flashy, but Mike Dawes’ acoustic rig is truly mind-bending
- “That was a riff that I really liked, and that was Eddie Van Halen’s favorite”: Tony Iommi reveals the Black Sabbath riff EVH was always asking him to play
- “If you don’t want to play Eruption by Van Halen, don’t practice it. There’s no reason to do it. You want to practice what you want to do”: Buzz Osborne on how he forged a unique voice in heavy guitar playing – and why new guitars are better than vintage
- “I was in shock for the first few days – I never thought I'd meet a Beatle, much less play with one”: Rusty Anderson on how he became Paul McCartney's guitarist
- June 5
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- Everything you need to know about guitar cables – from what they’re made of to how they work
- “Where’s the noise? Where is the ugliness that we find compelling in beauty?” The Dandy Warhols’ Peter Holmström and Courtney Taylor-Taylor on their struggles with the wrong guitars and boring amps, and how they collaborated with Slash
- “I have struggled with this decision but realize I cannot continue touring at this time”: Robin Trower cancels North American tour due to health concerns
- “I’m funny with amps. I love Marshalls, but I also love old Fender Deluxes. Dumble built one for me just before he passed away. I think it was the last one he ever built”: With Strats, Magnatones, and plenty of all-star guests, Slash embraces the blues
- “I play chords on the bass like a bluegrass or country picker would. It really works with the 12-string”: Dug Pinnick on pushing hard rock’s boundaries with King’s X
- “I said, ‘The winner is…’ and pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket – and said, ‘Edward… uh… Van Halen!’” Unseen footage of Eddie Van Halen and Leslie West's onstage jams and backstage hangs has been unearthed
- “I never thought I would like coated strings, but these are silky, easy to play, and lasted 9 shows”: Jared James Nichols and Henrik Linder have a new favorite set of strings – and they're designed to “get more from your guitar”
- “A gnarly octave fuzz tone that interacts with your dynamics, optimized for bass”: Is octave fuzz the pedal your bass ’board is missing? Electro-Harmonix sure thinks so
- “The perfect electric mandolin is back”: A Firebird-shaped electric mandolin headlines Epiphone’s new Bluegrass collection
- “Guitar’s versatility is unparalleled. But it’s also an instrument with a lot of baggage. We all know the tropes we’re trying to avoid”: St. Vincent on returning to real amps, stealing Josh Homme’s secret weapon – and how she overcame her fear of Strats
- “It's the end of anything that that could have been tribute-wise”: Michael Anthony gives his thoughts on Alex Van Halen selling all his gear
- “A brand new range of tones and ergonomics”: We're calling it now – Harley Benton just dropped the best-value electric guitar of 2024
- “I wondered if she would fit in, because I knew her as more of a metal guitarist… She just felt like a real breath of fresh air”: Billy Corgan reveals how many guitarists the Smashing Pumpkins auditioned in person – and how they knew Kiki Wong was the one
- “We didn’t really tune our guitars. We’d tune to the track. He’s like, ‘No, listen to what you’re playing’”: IDLES explain why Radiohead’s producer banned them from using guitar tuners
- June 4
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- “It's the one he took around with him – the one he went back to the hotel with after gigs”: Up close with the 1974 Martin that Eric Clapton used to write Wonderful Tonight
- Fender just dropped the biggest Tone Master Pro update since the launch of its flagship amp modeler – including all-new models for the first time
- “I spent an entire summer solidly trying to get inside Brian’s playing, hearing all the little details”: The Last Dinner Party’s Emily Roberts on how a Brian May tribute gig radically changed her guitar playing
- “When I left the band I took most of my Aerosmith guitars, put them in road boxes, and left them there”: Joe Perry on the lost golden-era Aerosmith guitar he misses the most
- “We’ll spend hours trying to get the grossest, most evil sounds we can. We DI’ed a fuzz and it sounded like vomiting”: Battlesnake are the triple-guitar lovechild of Queen, King Gizzard and Judas Priest you never knew you needed
- “If you look closely at the surface you can see bits of train sets, an old vacuum cleaner, and even a Covid test”: Luthier spends 3 years assembling sci-fi guitars – using model-building techniques lifted from Star Wars
- “Phil and Tommy Emmanuel were so encouraging. Phil said, ‘Most kids are listening to Limp Bizkit, and you’re playing Eric Johnson and Jerry Reed!’” Meet Joe Robinson, the Australian acoustic virtuoso who turned down major labels to make it in Nashville
- “When I sign any guitar I buy, it doubles or triples in price. So I always make money on any guitar I’ve bought”: Ace Frehley on his greatest gear finds – and the guitars he regrets selling
- “Super-compact, versatile, and lightweight practice amps”: Blackstar just made its best-value practice amp even better with one essential upgrade
- “It’s a very zombie, rock ‘n’ roll horror movie setting”: Pixies release first music with new bassist
- “I look for musicians who play live and aren’t just farming followers on Instagram. The lifestyle of sitting at an Ikea desk, shredding guitar, day after day… I don’t want any part of that”: Tracii Guns on his favorite modern players and going digital
- These 15 pioneering Fender Stratocaster players made the model their own – and learning their trailblazing approaches shows why the Strat is still one of the most versatile electric guitars
- June 3
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- “Enhanced features at more affordable prices”: Solar Guitars brings premium metal guitar specs to new $599 lineup
- “Shania Twain got me into alternate tunings. I use them a lot on gigs now, and they’ve seeped into my solo stuff”: What session bass supremo Derek Frank learned from playing with pop’s A-listers – and how he brings it to his own music
- “I got this tremendous electric shock and fell off stage. I came round with people saying, ‘Are you okay?’ and ‘Is your guitar insured?’” Art-rock’s elder statesman Bill Nelson on his wildest guitar stories – and why he still swears by the Line 6 POD
- “My intention when I buy them is to use them... You’ve got David Gilmour’s Black Strat. Are you gonna take it down to the local pub and jam?” Slash on why he won’t spend money on famous guitars
- “The guitar neck is made of rubber, and there are only two strings on it”: James Hetfield opens up on the guitar-based anxiety dreams he had ahead of Metallica’s recent tour
- “From supporting beginners to legends like Jimi Hendrix, it’s unquestionable the impact Manny’s has made on the world of music”: Legendary guitar store Manny’s Music poised to return after Sam Ash sells trademark
- “I thought, ‘This is my David Gilmour moment...’ The record label hated it”: Bryan Adams’ guitarist says their label thought (Everything I Do) I Do It for You would spell the end of his career
- Ibanez expands its Prestige range with a sleek new metallic gray finish option – and an RG with a twist
- Best nylon guitar strings 2024: top picks from D'Addario, La Bella, Ernie Ball and more
- “I made a dedicated spot for a Taylor guitar within each store and encouraged people to play by offering discounts of 5% off for one song”: The Taylor GS Mini just got a surprise makeover – from a mountain lifestyle brand
- “Yes, it did make my guitar look cooler – but it took a bit of getting used to…” I’d always wanted to try a Bigsby, so I put one on my Les Paul. It changed the way my guitar sounded – and the way I played
- “We took the train to Hoboken with the vodka, a couple guitars and a bag of ice that was slowly melting. We got to the studio and we just did it”: Lenny Kravitz on how he finally collaborated with his high-school classmate Slash
- “My friends make fun of me because I’ve got a big thing for selling and trading pedals… every pedal I’ve owned, I’ve had twice!” Meet Rory A Green, the Fender-championed, Strat-wielding jazz virtuoso who has a love/hate relationship with pedals
- “Some people really object to the sound of finger noise when they’re playing acoustic, and coated strings definitely mitigate that”: How different strings affect your acoustic guitar tone
- “Some of my first gigs were before I had a driving licence, so I had to walk a mile or two to get to shows”: With the help of Dan Auerbach, Nat Myers is making rootsy blues guitar relevant again – and keeping the one-man ramblin’ band tradition alive
- June 2
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