Matt Parker
Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
Latest articles by Matt Parker
I’ve tried every home practice solution under the sun, but nothing stuck. Then I plugged in a headphone amp – and now I’m playing for hours
By Matt Parker published
As a busy guitarist and parent, Boss’ new Katana:GO has been a revelation when it comes to my playing time – but it’s the way it feels that’s got me hooked
“That take was live from beginning to end, 7 minutes of pure guitar energy without a single miscue”: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s producer and bassist recall being in the room when SRV tackled his game-changing cover of Voodoo Child
By Matt Parker published
SRV’s other massive Hendrix cover proved a pivot point in his playing career – helping the Texas bluesman to find his way through his fraught second album sessions
“I thought, ‘Oh, God, this could go really bad…’ I’m telling him that I can’t remember playing with him on a No. 1 record”: Earl Slick says he was too high to remember meeting John Lennon during David Bowie’s Fame recording session
By Matt Parker published
The guitarist and session man met The Beatle while recording David Bowie’s Young Americans and was invited to play on Double Fantasy
“Who better to mod the mod than the engineer who designed the circuit in the first place”: Original Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura just overhauled one of the most popular Ibanez TS9 mods
By Matt Parker published
The latest collaboration between Godlyke and the venerated designer attempts to offer a level mod that doesn’t compromise the classic TS tone
“Because vast ambient sounds shouldn’t just be for larger pedals with vast price points”: Walrus Audio democratizes atmospheric reverb tones with the affordable Fundamental Ambient
By Matt Parker published
The boutique builder’s back-to-basics line offers a cheaper alternative to high-concept, high-priced atmospheric pedals
“Bruce Springsteen was in the next studio… He had a Gretsch Country Gentleman, and I asked him if I could borrow it”: How a loaner from The Boss powered the iconic spaghetti western line in Blondie’s Atomic
By Matt Parker published
Former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante has revealed that he recorded the twanging lick using a Gretsch belonging to the blue collar rock icon
“Puts authentic sounds from the stage class Boss Katana amp series at the instrument’s output jack”: Has the Katana:GO just changed the headphone amp game forever?
By Matt Parker published
Full-fat Katana tones in a jack – for $119? Boss has seriously upped the stakes when it comes to guitar and bass headphone amps
“Is there an expanded one? Is there a smaller footprint version? Is there a native version?” Fender’s Justin Norvell teases next steps for the Tone Master Pro range – and confirms tweed FRFR speakers are “definitely on the list”
By Matt Parker published
The floor modeler has already established a firm ‘foothold’… but it seems Fender’s just getting started
“A celebration of unity and togetherness in these uncertain and divisive times”: Slash announces the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. traveling blues festival – set to feature Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’, Larkin Poe, Eric Gales and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram
By Matt Parker published
The Guns N’ Roses icon has unveiled a fundraising festival run in support of his new blues album
“There were times, I admit, when I had to pinch myself”: Eric Carmen – the All By Myself and Hungry Eyes hitmaker, and the man who sold Joan Jett her Melody Maker – dies aged 74
By Matt Parker published
Carmen’s music with The Raspberries influenced everyone from Springsteen to Axl Rose, but he also enjoyed huge success as a solo performer and even played with Ringo Starr
“He didn’t just work here – he lived and embodied the spirit of the brand”: Mike Lewis, the head of Fender’s Custom Shop – an industry legend who played with Chuck Berry and toured with the Rolling Stones – has passed away
By Matt Parker published
From sideman to session player, retailer and 30-year Fender employee, Lewis worked on everything from the firm’s amps to revamping Gretsch and launching the first mass-produced humbucker Strat
“An important piece of the low end theory”: T.M. Stevens, bass legend and session pro who performed and recorded with the likes of Steve Vai, James Brown, Bootsy Collins, and the Pretenders, dies at 72
By Matt Parker published
Stevens manned the low-end on Vai's Sex & Religion album, and played on James Brown's latter-day hit, Living in America
“It was so destroyed you could take the paint off with your hands”: How Rich Robinson brought his ’68 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop back from the brink after Hurricane Sandy
By Matt Parker published
The Black Crowes guitarist says his restored LP is a rare example of an instrument that (eventually) came back stronger following the 2012 disaster
“A versatile, state-of-the-art instrument designed to push your playing to new heights”: Fender’s 70th Anniversary Ultra Strat HSS offers us a glimpse at the future of the world’s most popular electric guitar
By Matt Parker published
The firm has unveiled the plush Ultra Strat alongside a new 1954 American Vintage II reissue – and a celebration of the once-maligned Antigua finish
“Forever ahead of its time”: Fender kicks off the Strat’s 70th anniversary party with star-studded Voodoo Child (Slight Return) mega-jam – featuring Tom Morello, Nile Rodgers, Mateus Asato, Ari O'Neal and Rei
By Matt Parker published
The fiery, tag-teamed take on the Hendrix classic is designed to showcase the Strat’s enduring legacy – and tonal flexibility
“No-one was looking at the Strat when Yngwie picked one up in ’86 – everybody had left it behind after Hendrix. It just continues to reinvent itself and get rediscovered”: Justin Norvell has to guard Fender’s glittering past, while securing its future
By Matt Parker published
Fender remains the world’s number one guitar firm, but as the firm’s EVP of Product tells us, it’s thinking about musicians first – not gear – that keeps it top of the pile
“The wait is over – now you can have it all”: Dave Grohl’s Epiphone DG-335, the most demanded signature model in its 151-year history, is finally here – and it costs less than you might expect
By Matt Parker published
We got an exclusive look at the Foo Fighters’ man’s new signature back in January – and now it’s available to order
“We think Marshall represents the rock and roll attitude”: Amp sales accounted for just 5% of the Marshall Group’s revenues in 2023 – but it looks like new digital amps could be on the way
By Matt Parker published
A recent Billboard report shows the Marshall Group’s home audio wing brings home the lion’s share of the newly merged firm’s revenues
“I hate modeling, I think it’s wack. You can hear it right away”: IDLES explain why recording with an amp modeler risks messing with your tone, your head – and probably your dog
By Matt Parker published
UK post-punk heroes Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan reckon modelers are best consigned to the role of live backups – and you shouldn’t let them near your recordings
“This song presents a kind of revisionist history where guitar solos were cool after all in the early noughties”: February 2024 Guitar World editors' picks
By Michael Astley-Brown published
From neoclassical tapping clinics to cosmic, spaghetti western-esque guitar soundscapes, this month has provided an embarrassment of six-string riches
“Vintage Firebird specifications at an accessible price”: Epiphone’s $1,799 Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V has landed – offering a high-spec take on Gibson’s first neck-through body build
By Matt Parker published
The Chinese-made model also comes in a hardtail Firebird I variant and features Gibson’s USA Firebird mini-humbuckers and a faithful nine-ply mahogany/walnut neck-through construction
“The camp is very protective, and has extremely high standards”: Fender says gaining the EVH endorsement was a crucial benchmark for the Tone Master Pro
By Matt Parker published
Fender’s EVP of Product Justin Norvell tells us that getting the EVH endorsement – the first of its kind on a modeler – was important to the team
“I could finally quieten down this noise in my head... the best in the room is sitting over there – and it doesn’t have to maybe be me”: John Mayer says that when Jeff Beck was in the room, he felt he could finally relax about his guitar playing
By Matt Parker published
Mayer has described a sense of a weight being lifted when in the presence of the formidable guitar talent
“I chipped my tooth – my mom was so mad at me!” John 5 says playing a Jimi Hendrix-inspired version of Star Spangled Banner with his teeth as a kid led to a dental mishap – and shows he can still nail the tooth-picked tune
By Matt Parker published
The Mötley Crüe member has appeared guitar in hand (and mouth) on the Howard Stern Show to demonstrate AC/DC, Queen and Rush riffs
“We talked about things like dampening, creating contrast, hand positions... There’s a bit of detective work involved”: Megadeth’s Teemu Mäntysaari explains the skillset that enabled him to leap into one of the most challenging roles in metal
By Matt Parker published
Stepping into shoes previously filled by the likes of Kiko Loureiro and Marty Friedman is no mean feat. The metal guitar hero-in-the-making tells us how he did it
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