Latest articles by Henry Yates
Run out of ideas? Try Scott Holiday's 'mind eraser' songwriting method
Sometimes it's the simplest fixes that yield the greatest results
Rival Sons’ Scott Holiday on his greatest gear hits and misses: “You can basically install a pair of EMG active pickups into a cardboard box and get the same sound”
Holiday is no fan of active pickups, and his life in gear involves a flaming Line 6 amp, a foolish trade that said goodbye to some PAFs, and the epiphany that TV Jones Filter'Trons are all you ever need
Remembering David Crosby, a giant of American songwriting who gave the ‘60s a voice
As architect of two ‘60s supergroups – and spokesman for the peace and love generation – Crosby will be remembered for his contribution to the counterculture, not the darkness in his life
The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time
From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you
Bruce Foxton: “We once butchered some Rickenbackers, putting in P-Bass pickups to make it sound like a Precision. But all it did was screw up a lovely guitar”
The former Jam bassist checks in to discuss his tonal experiments, writing with Paul Weller and why the Beatles can't sue him for the Start! bassline
How The Jam's Town Called Malice turned a cheeky Motown steal into a bona fide bass classic
Bruce Foxton on destroying Rickenbackers and the band's history of borrowing bass parts – plus, how to play Town Called Malice
Marty Stuart: “I appreciate the Stratocaster, but I really can’t do it justice. It’s two different planets, two different universes – and I’m a Tele guy”
Telecaster master Marty Stuart recounts a half-century love affair with the snub-nosed Fender model, from falling for the twang and surviving the honky-tonks, to the spookiest session with his iconic ‘Clarence’ Tele and snapping up Mick Ronson’s ’52 Esquire
Francis Rossi: “You really need to be a s**t-hot player to make a Telecaster sound good. Particularly when playing lead”
Status Quo’s Francis Rossi on baiting the purists, swapping guitars with Badfinger, and why he’s not an all-time-great Tele player
John Osborne: “The Telecaster is the most versatile guitar out there… Its simplicity allows you to find your voice. It’s a desert island guitar”
The Brothers Osborne guitarist on how he discovered the Tele, trading up and why bad B-Bender technique is like too much cologne…
Simple Minds’ Charlie Burchill: “Edge had his AC30, his delays and his black Strat. I picked up his Strat – and I sounded like Edge! I thought, ‘Jesus, it’s in the gear as well…’”
The Glasgow guitar legend talks vintage Gretsch, the rise of Simple Minds as a pop behemoth, eschewing powerchords, and what happens when you play through the Edge's epic rig
Lzzy Hale: “When you get your first Gibson, it feels almost like it could play itself because there’s some kind of intangible magic”
Hale talks cult guitars, her identity crisis, the darkness behind new album, Back From The Dead – and the drinking session that inspired her purist-baiting signature Gibson Explorerbird
Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter on recutting his classics, mad-scientist modding and hustling Guitar Center for parts in the ‘70s
The Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers legend sits down to share gear war stories, explain what makes a good session player, and discuss his first solo album, the brilliant Speed of Heat
Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin: “Most guitars are good for something. Even bad guitars can be fantastic because they force you to play a different way”
The British folk-blues guitarist talks lost Teles, ugly SuperStrats and the gear treasure trove that is Norwich Cash Converters...
Joe Satriani on his love of Marshall amps: “If there was ever an amp that makes you feel self-conscious yet emboldens you to play like a giant, it’s a Marshall”
The virtuoso on the sound that made him stop in his tracks – and also realize that there was no hiding place at high volume
Andy Summers: “The Every Breath You Take riff has become a kind of immortal guitar part that all guitar players have to learn”
The Police guitarist takes a trip down memory lane, opening up on how the band found their sound, being too good for punk, and why the creative tension was something to be embraced
Joe Satriani: “I’m not trying to sell myself as a guitar technician. I write songs because I want them to become the soundtrack to people’s lives”
Returning with The Elephants of Mars, the virtuoso king tells us about turning his back on amps, winging it on sitar and what he really thinks of Steve Vai’s triple-neck Hydra guitar
Joey Santiago: “The non-traditional sounds I get are just the way I attack the guitar. When we play Vamos, I’ll hit my amps, bite my strings – I just go bananas”
The Pixies guitarist reflects on a career that shaped the direction of alt-rock, and a playing style inspired by the most primitive tools in the toolbox
Bernard Butler: “The best thing about a Tele is that when you bash them, they look even better. You don’t say that about the 355!”
As the Brit-rock guitarist releases a reimagined take on his 1998 solo debut, People Move On, he revisits the no-expenses-spared sessions, the vintage guitars and the ambition in the air
Kiefer Sutherland: “The closest Jack Bauer ever would have been to a guitar was smashing it over someone’s head”
The Hollywood star and acclaimed singer-songwriter talks broken hearts, modded Teles, pawning presents for guitar money, and how hopefulness informs new album Bloor Street
Carlos Santana: “When I play guitar, I’m a kid with a first-class ticket to Disneyland, and I can go on any ride I want”
As the guitar god returns with a new all-star collaboration album, Blessings and Miracles, he joins us to talk Strats, snakes, improv and acid…
Jimmie Vaughan: “There’s nothing as cool as a Stratocaster. It’s like the coolest car you’ve ever seen”
The blues stalwart takes a trip down memory lane to talk about the day the blues came calling, the genius of his younger brother, and swapping wah pedals with Jimi Hendrix
Brian Setzer: “For guitar players, rockabilly is the best music you can play. You can do anything with it – you can inject jazz, country, blues into that style”
The rockabilly icon talks hot-rods, Gretsch, the importance of looking after your hearing, and explains why rockabilly requires a different skill-set from your traditional rock player
KT Tunstall: "Busking was the key factor in learning how to be a rhythm guitarist. It made me transfer to steel-string with a pick"
The Scottish singer-songwriter on how the early '50s rock 'n' rollers set the bar for rhythm guitar, playing hard, and why the looper is a mainstay on her pedalboard
Joan Armatrading: "When Mark Knopfler wrote Money For Nothing, he knew it was a hit. As the creator, if you don’t know, you need to do something different"
The legendary singer-songwriter on her approach to her craft, the importance of letting the song choose the instrumentation and why she can't put the guitar down
