Latest articles by Greg Prato
“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
The Fender fan, who plays bass and drums on a new ‘lost album’ by Children’s Hour, didn’t realize what an influence Andy Gill had been until he filled the late guitarist’s space
“He took the Ibanez Iceman off the wall and said, ‘I’ll buy it for you... If you promise me Celtic Frost is going to be a fantastic band.’ And I said, ‘OK. Deal.’” For Tom G. Warrior, the equation has always been Ibanez + attitude = murderous riffs
The black metal guitar icon inspired a generation of heavy players, including Dave Grohl and Mark Tremonti. Thomas Gabriel Fischer reveals what kindled his unending love of Ibanez, the benefits of writing bloodthirsty riffs on tiny practice amps, and the “absolutely crucial thing that people completely underestimate in achieving a guitar sound”
Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady on why he plays hollowbody basses, road-testing his Epiphone signature models, and the most pivotal point of his playing career
As he hits the road with Hot Tuna, the low-end legend talks all things bass, and recalls how Jefferson Airplane crafted their 1967 psychedelic rock classic, Surrealistic Pillow
The Lemonheads' Evan Dando on the 30th anniversary of It’s a Shame About Ray: “They’re some of the best songs that I’ve written”
As the band hits the road to perform their classic album in its entirety, Dando looks back on the creation of their major label debut and alt-rock’s stellar early ‘90s period
Pepper Keenan on why Corrosion of Conformity switched from “beat-to-s**t” Gibson SGs to ESPs: “James Hetfield said, ‘Man... these guitars ain't gonna make it!”
As the punk-metal crossover troupe gears up to hit the road, Keenan takes a trip down memory lane, looking back on touring with Metallica in the '90s and sharing his proudest COC guitar moments
Dead Kennedys' East Bay Ray: “Tape delay used to be like a galloping horse you were trying to hold onto. Now, all the horses are very well trained and in a box”
The Echoplex-toting punk-rocker reminisces about pushing sonic and gear boundaries on his group’s classic debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, ahead of its upcoming reissue
Gary Lee Conner on the Screaming Trees reunion that nearly was, trading guitars with Chris Cornell and making peace with Mark Lanegan before his passing
The veteran Seattle guitarist has returned with a series of solo albums that eschew tube amps for digital modeling – and sound all the better for it
Captain Beefheart guitarist Jeff Cotton talks jamming with Frank Zappa and "the eight months of emotional trauma" that went into making Trout Mask Replica
The former Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band guitarist looks back at recording one of the greatest experimental rock records of all time – and reveals what prompted him to return with his first new album in over 50 years
The 30 greatest rock guitar albums of 1972
In '72, Alice Cooper and Bowie grew ever more theatrical while the riffs of Iommi, Blackmore and co got bigger. 50 years on, we celebrate the best from a banner year for rock
Kim Thayil, Steve Vai and Wolf Marshall discuss legendary six-strings in these exclusive extracts from Greg Prato's Iconic Guitar Gear
Guitar World's Greg Prato has a new book, and it takes a close look at the gear choices of over 150 players, including Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads
Nile’s Karl Sanders: “If you took all the guitars out of Saurian Apocalypse, it would be an ambient/meditative record. But I like playing guitar, so there’s guitars”
Sanders returns with his first solo album in 13 years, and it is a haunting and hypnotic companion piece to Nile’s tech-death cacophony, featuring the genius of Rusty Cooley on acoustic
Kim Thayil names 11 guitar players who shaped his sound
From industrial rock titans and proto-punk pioneers to blues legends and rock ‘n’ roll royalty, the Soundgarden guitarist name-drops the players who have had the biggest impact on his playing
Bauhaus' Daniel Ash: “I don’t really pick out guitar players in bands – I listen to something for the whole package”
The goth-rock trailblazer goes in-depth on his guitar rigs and unusual writing approaches for Bauhaus tracks old and new
![[L-R] Tom Morello, Tony Iommi, Dimebag Darrell and Kat Bjelland](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mscVqL6YA465n5bYuTgHVm-840-80.jpg.webp)
The 30 greatest rock guitar albums of 1992
1992 was a seismic year for rock music. Three decades on, we chart the 30 best guitar-led LPs to land during that hallowed period
Dianthus guitarist Jackie Parry on balancing soloing with songwriting and how classical piano informs her guitar approach
Introducing the Charvel Desolation-wielding player, who performs with her twin sister in the wide-reaching metal outfit
Puscifer's Mat Mitchell: “Songwriting is like playing a three-way game of chess. What you do next is based on what the other player does”
The multi-instrumentalist discusses the Maynard James Keenan-fronted outfit's democratic songwriting process, finishing Existential Reckoning in lockdown and his vast setup ahead of Puscifer's first US tour since 2016
Ty Tabor: “I developed my entire sound and style around one type of guitar pick. If I use a different one, I can’t get the same tone”
The King’s X guitarist discusses modifying Mexican Strats, his latest solo album, Shades, and the guitar pick behind his career-defining tone
![[L-R] Adrian Smith, Eddie Van Halen, Dr. Know and Glenn Tipton](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hnjoqcbRduZjYa68vGLEuX-840-80.jpg.webp)
The 25 greatest rock guitar albums of 1982
40 years ago, a surge of classic albums birthed fresh genres and saw old favorites give their sound a new lease of life – we chart some of the very best rock records to emerge from this prolific era for guitar
The Aggros’ Parris Mayhew: “I can tell a musical story without a singer – I let the instruments tell it instead”
The former Cro-Mags guitarist on his new instrumental venture, the longevity of the band's 1986 album The Age of Quarrel, and the time he swung a guitar around in a music store during tense negotiations with an employee
Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain: "When I was 17 or 18, I transcribed Jason Becker's entire Perpetual Burn album. I still have the manuscript – it’s about a hundred pages!"
The Voivod metaller discusses his biggest influences, the impact of Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, and how he approached his instrument on the band's new LP, Synchro Anarchy
Kiss's Tommy Thayer: “My legacy will be a guy who came in, worked hard, and was the glue that kept the band together”
The rock icons' longest-serving lead guitarist on their massive End of the Road Tour, what the future holds, and his recent guest appearance on Carmine Appice’s Guitar Zeus 25th Anniversary Box Set
Nashville Pussy's Ruyter Suys: “Simple is not my playing style. Most of the time, my erratic side gets the best of me”
Suys talks channeling Malcolm Young with her single-pickup Gibson SG, and the band's explosive new live album, Eaten Alive
Nergal: “You don’t want to hear me play Behemoth songs with my Me and That Man setup – it would sound like someone farted!”
The extreme-metal rock 'n' roller on leading a double life in both bands, and tapping up his guitar heroes for Me and That Man's new LP, New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2
Gary Holt: “Making this album, we were under no time constraints. It was a perfect breeding ground for creativity”
Holt talks why if there was a “Big Five” of thrash metal, the final spot would belong to Exodus, and the making of the band's 11th album, Persona Non Grata, during the pandemic
Josh Klinghoffer talks touring with Pearl Jam, his relationship with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and his ambitious quest to make a solo album every year
Two years after his departure from RHCP, the guitarist reveals how he ended up joining the legendary Seattle rockers on tour, and what the future holds for his solo project, Pluralone
