Latest articles by Matt Owen
Gibson confirms the departure of legendary amp designer and Mesa/Boogie founder Randall Smith
The influential boutique amp builder joined the Gibson family of brands following the firm's acquisition of Mesa/Boogie in 2021
Sterling debuts new Intro Series, unveiling $199 Cutlass and $249 StingRay models
The firm looks to take on the beginner gear market's more established models with a range of nicely spec'd – and nice-looking – affordable electric and bass guitars
Jackson has made Phil Collen a Tele-style model with a neck twice as thick as a regular guitar’s
The Def Leppard guitarist has remained loyal to Strat-style models for much of his career, but he's developed a new affinity for single-cuts
Noel Gallagher’s Definitely Maybe Les Paul is going to auction – and it could sell for more than $100,000
The humble Cherry Sunburst single-cut can be seen in the Oasis music video for Supersonic
That time Rory Gallagher got crippling stage fright because he was performing in front of his guitar hero
Gallagher's brother secretly invited one of Rory's biggest heroes to attend a show at the Royal Albert Hall – and even had him introduce the blues rock legend to the stage
Phil Collen's first Def Leppard solo is one of his most famous – and he did it in one take
Recruited by Def Leppard in 1982, Collen was put straight to work on Pyromania, and contributed a rather notable lead effort he nailed in one go
Ernie Ball Music Man gives Jason Richardson’s signature Cutlass a serious upgrade, with touch-sensitive pickups
The prog virtuoso's latest signatures make use of some newly innovated humbuckers that are said to be the result of “decades of guitar string research”
This study claims to have identified the lightest tonewood of them all – and it’s not one you’d expect
This new research piece compared the weight of 466 solidbody guitars to found out which tonewood makes the lightest instruments
Jackson just made its genre-blurring American Series more accessible than ever with the Virtuoso HT
The latest addition to the firm's range of US-made workhorse electrics continues Jackson's quest to bring metal guitars to the mainstream
Fred Durst wanted to see if Corey Feldman’s viral guitar playing was real – so he went on stage to see for himself
Feldman is currently opening for Limp Bizkit on their Loserville tour, and caught some strays on TikTok after his guitar playing went viral
The Fender Duo-Sonic that helped launch Peter Green’s late-’70s comeback is going up for auction
The late Fleetwood Mac legend returned after nearly a decade away from the limelight to record In the Skies – and he did so with the help of this Duo-Sonic
Seymour Duncan's new guitar strings could be the key to unlocking “true vintage tone”
The pickup specialist has expanded its Antiquity range with a six-string set that looks to help players harness “true vintage tones of the most infamous guitars ever produced”
Fender’s Cobalt Chrome pickups will breathe new life into your Jazz or Precision bass – but developing an all-new bass pickup design wasn’t easy
Voiced by tone titan Tim Shaw, Fender's latest Jazz and Precision bass pickups look to help reduce noise and add extra flair to your low-end tone
Pixies’ new bass player on how she ended up joining the band – and why it forced her to change her approach to playing
Emma Richardson was recruited earlier this year to replace Paz Lenchantin in the alt-rock outfit – and that meant re-evaluating her playing
“We’d hit it against curbs”: Julian Lage radically DIY aged his father’s prized Telecaster
The jazz virtuoso has a close bond with the Telecaster, and one of his earliest experiences with the model involved some drastic relic'ing methods
Michael Lemmo on the surreal time he met Eddie Van Halen – who was dating his friend’s mom
Norms’ Rare Guitars’ resident virtuoso idolized Van Halen as a youngster, and miraculously crossed paths with him when a new kid arrived in town…
Ibanez doubles down on its quest to conquer the headless guitar market with revamped Q Series
As the popularity of headless guitars continues to boom, the Japanese firm has dropped four new models in a bid to make its Quest range more appealing than ever before
D’Angelico unveils third Bobby Weir signature model – and the Grateful Dead legend has been playing it at the Sphere
The semi-hollow stunner is the direct result of years of intense development and rigorous road-testing, and is said to be the pair's “best work yet”
Chris Buck plays Bernie Marsden’s $1 million Beast Les Paul at all-star event in honor of the Whitesnake guitarist
The Cardinal Black ace was invited to play the legendary LP at a recent festival that paid tribute to Marsden's memory
How an unsung session hero salvaged one of Cyndi Lauper’s biggest hits
It's considered one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded, but as guitarist Eric Bazilian explains, it wasn't always smooth sailing for the smash hit single
Peavey and Misha Mansoor’s versatile Invective amp head has been turned into a combo
Periphery's resident djent specialist was brought onboard to help produce a downsized version of his hugely popular Invective 120. Could this be the versatile modern metal combo amp to beat?
St. Vincent explains why Jimi Hendrix’s playing is fire, even if she doesn’t love the sound of his albums
During a deep dive into the songs that changed her life, St. Vincent also named a John Mayer track as “the worst song ever written”
A massive 62-foot guitar honoring Rick Nielsen is heading to Illinois
The Cheap Trick star's Hamer Standard will be recreated as a monster installation that will sit outside the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford
