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March 2025
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115 articles
- March 15
- March 14
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- “Scrapes and dings that let you know this axe has been around the block a few times”: Charvel gives its hot-rodded So Cal Superstrat the heavy relic treatment – and it won’t just appeal to shredders
- “Vintage charm and modern performance”: Gretsch and Guitar Center go green with an exclusive Streamliner that features some rather unusual f-holes
- “I think people are cottoning on to the fact that it’s just a good idea”: Why are so many players turning to headless guitars? We asked Plini, one of the biggest names in the game, to find out
- “I’m sitting on the couch with a guitar, and Jeff is standing over me. He pulled out a notebook with lyrics and doodles, started singing, and that was Grace”: How Gary Lucas made guitar magic with Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart and Chris Cornell
- Guitar World deals of the week: get up to $800 off Gibson, save $120 on a Yamaha Revstar, plus a mega sale with up to 50% off electric guitars
- “Remove the barrier between you and your music”: Revv collaborates with modern blues hero on new signature amp
- “It must have been a big shock when little Peavey in Mississippi got the biggest guitar hero out there. But Ed just appreciated the quality of craftsmanship”: The story of Peavey and its era-defining Van Halen collaborations – and why they came to an end
- “This time, we’re going beyond 11”: Spinal Tap sequel’s teaser trailer reveals Nigel Tufnel’s surprise new electric guitar of choice
- “I don’t think I have the agility on the neck to do a traditional guitar solo – I’m more from the Kurt Cobain school”: Interpol frontman Paul Banks on making landmark records, his favorite John Frusciante solo and why he’s no fan of the Fender Twin
- “Captures the essence of cherry blossoms”: Fender Japan stakes a claim for 2025’s most breathtaking electric guitar with the Sakura Telecaster
- “An effortless way to customize your TONEX pedals for the stage”: IK Multimedia answers players’ prayers and gives its best-selling TONEX units their biggest upgrade to date – a dedicated editor
- March 13
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- “My tone was brighter compared to using a cable – but to my surprise, I actually preferred it”: Fender Telepath Wireless System review
- “People think I’m not a good guitar player because it sounds really sloppy. I play in an avant-garde death metal band – you shouldn’t be comfortable”: How Imperial Triumphant became one of the most garishly experimental metal bands of a generation
- “There is no-one who can do this process with me as well as he can”: Alex Van Halen says a new Van Halen album is in the works – and he’s recruited Steve Lukather to help him complete it
- “It can give you pristine cleans, crunchy classic rock, slapback slathered blues, and even modern metal”: Blackstar Fly 3 review
- “I used to visit my local GC frequently. That all stopped when they started locking everything up”: How can Guitar Center improve its stores and reclaim its former glory? Guitar World readers have their say
- “Dime recorded tons of unfinished riffs, and there were things he had lying around... hidden gems”: Zakk Wylde says there have been talks about recording new Pantera material based on unreleased Dimebag Darrell demos
- “When I met Billy, I didn’t really have an amazing guitar. He said, ‘Oh, you gotta have a Les Paul, mate’”: Steve Stevens on why the ’80s were Hamer time for the Billy Idol guitarist – and it was all thanks to Paul Stanley
- “Jimmy was still playing the Telecasters that he played in the Yardbirds. I laid it on him and said, ‘Try this out.’ I gave him a good deal, about 1,200 bucks”: How one of rock's most storied Les Pauls changed hands from one guitar hero to another
- March 12
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- “I brought a musicality that Tom wasn’t capable of. I had techniques that I could express to him in his songs that he couldn't have done on his own”: Mike Campbell on what he brought to the Heartbreakers as Tom Petty’s guitar foil
- “I’ll have to scratch my chin to think about it. Can I still make a profit?” Electro-Harmonix founder Mike Matthews reveals legendary pedal firm’s struggles in the face of Trump’s tariffs
- “The guys were like, ‘Just go for something crazy, and then make it crazier.’ They just couldn’t stop me, man!” The wildest bass solo you’ve never heard? Robert Sledge cranked the fuzz for this Ben Folds Five classic
- “You can get up there and be a rockstar”: Gene Simmons is offering fans the chance to be his personal assistant and roadie for a day… for $12,495
- May 2025 Guitar World lesson videos and more
- “It’s amazing that we made it 25 years with the four of us”: Bill Kelliher opens up on Brent Hinds’ surprise Mastodon departure
- “I’m glad I found these performances. I hadn’t seen them in decades”: Footage of Dweezil Zappa and Jack Black’s cover of Crazy Train, featuring Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Rasta’ guitar, was never released – but now it’s been unearthed
- Marcin’s percussive fingerstyle is dropping jaws with its stunning mix of speed, complexity and explosive dynamics. The warm-ups that fuel his virtuosity are guaranteed to boost your own playing
- “I’ve used Teles and Strats, but I always find myself going back to that Jag – something about the Cobain Jag just sounded extra-beefy”: Courtney Barnett is one of indie-rock’s most celebrated southpaws – and the Nirvana Fender connection runs deep
- “A cult classic is reborn”: One of Gibson’s most obscure designs makes a comeback with the revival of the RD – and it's unlike any other Gibson Custom model around
- “I can play barre chords and my dad couldn’t. He had a strum that was identifiably his, but I learned from the Carter women. Mine is more of a Carter scratch”: How Rosanne Cash found her sound – and captured Johnny’s design flair in her signature Gibson
- March 11
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- “It sounds great, bridges the gap between guitar and bass-playing very nicely, and does so with heaps of character”: Shergold Telstar Standard Bass SBT14 review
- “Being mostly a humbucker guy, it’s a really cool tonal change”: Warren Haynes’ transition from humbucker loyalist to P-90 fan is complete – with the launch of his signature Gibson Les Paul
- “I did a shred solo on his cover of Billie Jean. That’s controversial among the fans… but he loved it”: When Chris Cornell left Audioslave, he turned to Jeff Buckley’s guitar foil to make his mark
- “Delivers uber-satisfying edge of breakup tube saturation that won’t annoy your neighbors”: Marshall DSL1CR review
- “I didn’t know the solo was that iconic beforehand! It was only when I started seeing all the comments that I realized”: Shane Fontayne isn't “a Jimmy Page kind of player” – but he had to play the Stairway to Heaven solo… in front of Jimmy Page
- “I remember thinking, ‘I’ll show them – they don’t realize they made a mistake.’ It’s not just the wins, it’s the determination you build from the losses”: Tommy Thayer’s junior high disappointment fired him up for success with Kiss
- “If tariffs persist, they could be highly disruptive and costly for the company”: Fender’s credit rating downgraded by Moody’s – with operating costs speculated to rise by $20 million
- It’s the flamenco technique that lit the rhythmic fire under Marcin and Paco de Lucía, and treats all four fingers and thumb as separate plectrums – why learning rasgueado will give your picking hand a huge turbo boost
- “All the idiosyncrasies of the original but without the threat of total collapse”: LCD Soundsystem used a ‘one-of-a-kind’ vintage pedal to define their fuzz tones – and now it’s been recreated by EarthQuaker Devices
- “I want some people to be outraged – I feel like that would be a true way to honor Type O”: Welcome to Nate Garrett’s Neon Nightmare, the Spirit Adrift guitarist’s ’80s horror-inspired tribute to Peter Steele
- “This combo could be a contender for the loudest, smallest amp… and it held its own against our loud rhythm section”: Orange O Tone 40 review
- March 10
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- “These $99 pedals are excellent not only for their price, but also their sounds”: Keeley x Sweetwater Soft Reverb, Super Bass Overdrive And Distortion and Suns Ultravoid Fuzz review
- “You already have your own distinct sound, which normally people take decades to find”: 11-year-old shredder stuns with Eddie Van Halen and Brian May solos during relentless Britain’s Got Talent audition
- “Didn’t know this would trigger so many folks”: Cory Wong says you’re not an advanced guitarist unless you can ace this one test
- “The tone of the note has so many moving parts to it. There are so many parameters”: Steve Vai on how players can instantly change their guitar tone – without buying new gear
- "Upgrading from your entry-level acoustic opens the door to an entirely new world of tonewoods, body shapes, and brands": 6 signs it's time to upgrade from your first acoustic guitar
- “He was my Michael Jordan growing up. I’m in it because of him”: D’Wayne Wiggins, influential Tony! Toni! Toné! guitarist who helped pioneer neo soul, dies aged 64
- “It began as a sharp abdominal pain. A decade later I received the shock diagnosis – I had ‘Telecaster Rib’”: I spent thousands trying to identify the source of my pain – it turned out to be my Fender Telecaster
- “Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately?” Mastodon recruit YouTuber for first show following Brent Hinds’ shock departure
- “It was under my dad’s bed when I was a kid. When it slid out from underneath the bed… it was like the heavens were opening up”: How Zakk Wylde’s sparring partner Dario Lorina started a new chapter – with the help of a holy grail Les Paul
- “I put large erasers under the pickups. I play pretty loud with Mr. Big, so I take extra precautions to keep feedback to a minimum”: Paul Gilbert names his three favorite guitars – including one that was stolen very recently
- March 9
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- “Bonzo and I were great groovers. People would dance to our music. There aren't many hard rock bands these days that people dance to”: John Paul Jones breaks down his Led Zeppelin bass approach – and what separated his and Jimmy Page's riffs
- “Bruce goes, ‘Man, that's a lot of twang.’ I said, ‘Too much?’ And he said, ‘Uh uh!’” Joining Bruce Springsteen's post-E Street Band group, Shane Fontayne had the unenviable task of filling the shoes of Stevie Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren
- March 8
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- “The guitar was in horrible shape. The paint job was all flaked off, it didn’t have the original tailpiece... at one point, the headstock snapped off”: He's a hitmaker who owned Eric Clapton's “The Fool” SG, produced Meat Loaf, and played with Ringo Starr
- “You really can’t completely replicate what she does, which is a beautiful thing. She took it to her grave”: Sue Foley has spent 25 years researching the unsung female pioneers of guitar – these are the most important players she discovered
- March 7
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- “We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared, and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors”: Mastodon part ways with Brent Hinds
- “We’ve painstakingly restored Les Paul’s original gear”: The Les Paul Recording Studio opens in Hollywood – bringing the innovator’s revolutionary gear to a whole new generation of musicians
- “The Culprit, designed by Dimebag Darrell”: We finally have our first official look at the first Dime Guitarz model – and it revives a rare design masterminded by the Pantera great
- “I remember sitting with Gene and him saying, ‘You need to start growing your hair again.’ That was the discussion!” The moment Tommy Thayer knew he would be officially joining Kiss
- “He flips a bass upside down, and we do Otis Redding. Then I got a phone call, ‘Jimi’s in the studio. Would you come down?’” How a 3am jam with Hendrix led Andy Fairweather Low to guest on a Jimi classic
- “The real cost of Trump’s tariff tax”: Morgan Amps says new tariffs will add up to $1,000 to the price of its amp heads
- "I'm past my prime": 5 common excuses for not learning the guitar – and 5 body and mind-boosting reasons you should
- “Not many people will let you go as hard as they let us go. With Cobra Kai, it’s like, ‘Turn the gain all the way up!’” How Cobra Kai’s soundtrack senseis brought black-belt guitarists Tim Henson, Tosin Abasi and Charlie Robbins to their musical dojo
- “The musicologist looked me square in the eye and said it couldn’t be done”: Meet Lowen, the heavy trailblazers defying metal rules by playing prog-doom in Middle Eastern and North African styles – scoring them a support tour with Zakk Wylde
- “The most symbolic electric guitar of the ’70s”: Played by Rick Derringer and Aerosmith, effortlessly cool, the B.C. Rich Mockingbird was the ultimate ’70s guitar
- “This is no clichéd P.A.F.-repro pickup – it’s completely reinvigorated”: Bare Knuckle PolyPaf humbuckers review
- March 6
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- “One of the true pioneers of music – guitarist, songwriter, and true gentleman”: Brian James, punk rock guitar legend who played with The Damned and The Lords of the New Church, dies at 70
- “Are you kidding me?!” Amanda Seyfried shows off her dulcimer chops as she covers a Joni Mitchell classic on Jimmy Fallon
- “I had a huge cue sheet up on my amps. Except for the Comfortably Numb solo, there were no moments where I could say, ‘Forget everything. Just play’”: For David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s wildly ambitious the Wall tour was a blast – and a challenge
- “That is a victory, as far as I’m concerned. That’s very exciting”: Jacob Collier’s five-string Strandberg is proving the doubters wrong – it’s outselling the six-string version
- “That’s where we can win against Amazon. We’re not going to compete with the factory direct-from-China stuff. It’s not a winnable space”: How Guitar Center plans to beat its online competitors and safeguard the future of its physical stores
- “We were out to satisfy our animal instincts onstage. I think we spent $40,000 on gear that we smashed on Lollapalooza”: Nine Inch Nails made their name with infamously destructive live shows – this is the true story behind their epic guitar smash-a-thons
- “Phil Lynott said, ‘Gary Moore is out the band. Could you come over tomorrow?’ My initial reaction was, ’I’m not the guy you should be asking’”: When Midge Ure joined Thin Lizzy on a make-or-break US tour, he had just one day’s notice and no rehearsals
- “For Pink Floyd songs, David is happiest when I play an old Fender with a pick”: Session legend Guy Pratt on the Jazz Bass he bought from John Entwistle and how he conjured a “massive octave-pedal freakout” with Madonna
- “This is a technique that has been used to great effect by some of my biggest blues heroes”: By thumb-picking bass notes while playing a melody, you can be your own rhythm section – Jared James Nichols shows you how
- March 5
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- "If you’re starting out and practicing at home, you might be self-conscious about playing through even a small practice amp until you’ve got your chops up to speed": 7 low-volume ways to play and practice guitar without an amp
- Industry expert and YouTuber Adam Saunders launches new books to break down the barriers of music theory to make songwriting simple
- “A brand-new fuzz experience”: Why Wampler thinks its Swiss army Cryptid fuzz pedal is a “classic in the making”
- “The world’s most convenient all-tube amp head”: Steve Vai-backed firm Synergy has unveiled a tiny amp head that lets you swap in tones from some of the world’s biggest amp builders
- “The guitar that should never have been made”: Spinal Tap’s monstrous six-neck behemoth, The Beast, is headed to auction again – and it probably won’t go for as much as you think
- “They were like, ‘Is that going to be OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we’re both adults’”: Phil X on playing Livin’ on a Prayer with Richie Sambora – and how his predecessor plays the Bon Jovi classic differently
- Never-before-seen footage of Van Halen hanging with Black Sabbath and shredding at early shows surfaces after decades
- “One of the most distinctive looking guitar designs ever”: Gibson’s 1965 Firebird Platypus was the oddball model that marked a moment of transition for the guitar giant – now it’s been revived
- “USA-made craftsmanship at an exceptional value”: Gibson’s new Acoustic Specials series brings hand-crafted examples of its most beloved acoustic designs to lower price points
- “A sophisticated ambient soundscape-generating device that’s like an instrument unto itself”: Mooer Ocean Machine II review
- “I collaged it together on my phone, then said to my guitar tech, ‘Hey, you’re a luthier – could you make a prototype of this?’” How Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez started his own guitar company, Evil Instruments
- “This is the band that I always list as my favorite band”: Nita Strauss on the Swedish melodic death metal group she considers her “Beatles”
- “I don’t have my original Epiphone Casino anymore. It was stolen out of a dressing room. I was really heartbroken”: Daniel Kessler on making Interpol classics, the lessons he took from Fugazi and the art of six-string minimalism
- Jimmy Reed was one of the most influential blues guitarists to ever live – and his fingerpicking style makes an incredible launching pad for improvisation
- March 4
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- “George asked, ‘Is it OK if I do a little slide?’ I had a ’63 Strat, and that’s what he used. He was one of the best slide players ever”: They flew high with the help of the Beatles, and a few hits, then collapsed in a mess of mismanagement and tragedy
- “The Custom 24 has been our flagship design. Updating the 24-08 version for our 40th anniversary allows it to ‘sing’ in a beautiful voice of its own”: PRS's new semi-hollow stunner brings enticing updates to one of the company's very first models
- The gallop is the most important metal rhythm of them all – learn the breakneck guitar technique behind classic Metallica, Slayer and Iron Maiden riffs
- “More than an instrument”: Fender has announced its latest surprise brand collab – a St. Patrick’s Day Telecaster created with Jameson Irish Whiskey
- “My rig broke on live TV. I started hitting it as hard as I could, but the bass would not break… so I threw it in the ocean”: L7’s Jennifer Finch on touring with Nirvana, gigging with Courtney Love and donating her Ghost bass to the Punk Rock Museum
- “I had doubts about the Red Special – I knew it sounded different from what everybody else was using, from a Strat and a Gibson. But hearing it back was thrilling”: Brian May on reworking Queen’s regal debut, bad reviews, and Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Magic”
- “I take the job of curating this very seriously. Not just to honor the living members of Black Sabbath but also Randy Rhoads”: Tom Morello is honoring one of Ozzy Osbourne’s greatest collaborators at the Sabbath legend’s final show
- “From fit to finish, it’s staggering how good this guitar feels and sounds – making it nearly impossible to fault”: Cort G250 SE review
- “George gets up and says, ‘Andy was not the first choice. There were seven guitarists and he was the seventh choice’”: Before Andy Fairweather Low joined George Harrison’s band, the Beatle was eyeing up Gary Moore and Alvin Lee
- March 3
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- “They said, ‘We need a good singer.’ We said, ‘What’s the matter with James Hetfield?’” NWOBHM survivors Raven on giving insecure Metallica their first national tour, and pioneering the 8-string bass and bass trem
- “I hope people hear these albums and go, ‘Oh, this is where that legendary American rock guitar archetype is from’”: This unsung guitar hero's band was called the American Led Zeppelin, and his virtuosic playing paved the way for Van Halen and Satriani
- “If someone had taken my riffs without acknowledgment or payment, it would have been deemed theft. The same standard must apply to AI”: Jimmy Page blasts new Artificial Intelligence proposals from UK Government
- “I carry my finger pick around all the time now, because it reminds me that I want to keep playing guitar”: After playing Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, Monica Barbaro claims she is a guitar player for life
- “His expertise and vision have always set the standard for what a great amplifier should be”: Matchless Amplifiers and Bad Cat Amps luminary Mark Sampson – one of the leading minds of the boutique amp movement – has passed away
- “That’s a little nod to a friend of mine. Freddie’s always with me”: Brian May’s new Gibson 12-string signature guitar has a subtle tribute to Freddie Mercury that you might have missed
- “Add a dash of smokin’ style to your tuning game”: Keef and Clapton fans, rejoice – Tunerette honors the heyday of rock ‘n’ roll with a clip-on tuner that looks like a cigarette
- “I can perform a screaming guitar solo while comfortably holding a conversation with an engineer, even though the beast seems to be screaming out”: Prog legend Steve Hackett explains how he conjures power without volume
- “Wanna sing with me?” Phil X and Richie Sambora team up as two eras of Bon Jovi combine to perform Livin’ on a Prayer at LA benefit concert
- “Gary’s approach to soloing was like placing a brick on a car’s gas pedal. Like SRV and Jimi Hendrix, he had infinite passion and musical ideas”: Joe Bonamassa explains the expressive soloing secrets of his hero Gary Moore
- “On Footloose, and Love Will Follow, I also use it. I do my impersonation of a guitarist”: How session veteran Nathan East managed to make his bass sound like a guitar on these Kenny Loggins hits
- March 2
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- “An unbelievably special musician, and an amazing person”: Joey Molland, guitarist, singer, last surviving original member of Badfinger, dies at 77
- “It was very much a management thing – ‘Find somebody to replace Clapton.’ Rory wouldn't have any of it”: When Rory Gallagher was asked to fill Eric Clapton's shoes in rock's pioneering power trio
- “The role of the bass guitar is groove and support: it’s about getting the most impact from the fewest notes”: As a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, James Genus is the best-kept secret on bass
- March 1
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- “The Boys Are Back in Town is at least as memorable for its guitar breaks as for its chorus”: Thin Lizzy inspired Metallica, Iron Maiden, and the Cure, practically invented twin lead guitar, and have had 15 guitarists. Here’s your guide to all of them
- “I’ve got Fenders of various ages and they all sound different. That’s not a Spinal Tap thing – they just do!” Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris on staying loyal to Fender, and the Gibson that sounded “horrible”
