Latest articles by Matt Parker
Black Keys, Black Crowes and the next in line for Mastodon’s mind-expanding metal crown: this week’s essential guitar tracks
The must-hear licks, riffs, solos and six-string moments from BIG|BRAVE, Bring Me The Horizon, Dead Poet Society, Bodega, Slift, Waxahatchee, and more
NAMM 2024: “The first time in the history of guitar amplification”: Laney breaks new ground as its new BCC Ironheart tube amps are released alongside a matching plugin
The UK amp firm is erasing the lines between its physical and digital products with the Aurora DSP Ironheart digital plugin
“Do not try to play them like Edward – because you can’t”: Steve Vai says this is the secret to nailing Eddie Van Halen’s guitar parts in front of a live audience
Vai has been considering his experiences winning the hearts and minds of Van Halen fans back in the ’80s – as his friend Joe Satriani gets ready to do the same this summer
NAMM 2024: “Able to capture the essence of what we bring to music” – Neural DSP crushed it with Archetype: Gojira. Now the go-to metal plugin is about to become Quad Cortex compatible
The Gojira signature plugin is the latest addition to the firm’s updated line of overhauled X plugins
Magnum guitarist and founder Tony Clarkin dies aged 77
The songwriter wrote and performed on an astonishing 22 albums with the British hard rock band
“[We want] to recover the guitars and sell them to people who actually want to play them”: $80,000 worth of vintage guitars have been stolen from Guitar House of Tulsa. Now the owner – and Joe Bonamassa – are appealing for your help
15 vintage guitars – including ’50s/’60s Gibsons, PRS Private Stock models, and a ’61 Rickenbacker – have been taken
“NGL I thought this was a Chibson post at first”: Schecter’s utterly wild Machine Gun Kelly signature guitar, the Razor Blade, channels some familiar marketing – and the comedy brand is not taking it lying down
The pop-punk signature model comes across like a blend of the Tom DeLonge Strat and Gene Simmons’ axe bass. We’ll leave you to add your own sharp tuning gags, though...
“It's fun, it's loud, it's tricky in a few spots”: Guthrie Govan’s virtuosic trio the Aristocrats have just debuted their first new song in five years – and it’s about a duck going drinking
Listen to Hey, Where’s MY Drink Package? – the first taster from new concept album DUCK
Del Palmer, Kate Bush’s bassist, engineer and former partner, dies aged 71
The songwriter’s studio linchpin played and engineered everything from Hounds of Love to sessions with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton
“When that first one came off the line, I grabbed it… and it was terrible”: The first Fender Stratocaster builds had to be junked due to their horrendous tremolos
Guitar historian Tony Bacon has told Reverb the story of the ill-fated first Strats to come off Fender’s production line
“I’ve used 4x12 cabinets and heavy Marshall heads, but it almost felt unnecessary”: Jake Kiszka explains why he only used combo amps on Greta Van Fleet’s last album
The guitarist has been detailing his gear choices behind the band’s 2023 album Starcatcher
NAMM 2024: “All the headroom you could ever desire” – EarthQuaker Devices’ Blumes brings chunked-up Plumes tones to the bass world, with the firm’s first ever bass overdrive pedal
With bipolar power and twice the gain, EQD’s first bass OD does not do things by halves – indeed, it doubles them, but keeps the same $99 price tag
The world’s most influential guitar gear designers: meet the pioneers behind the innovations that changed the electric guitar forever
It’s not just star guitarists who have changed the way we play – these are the innovators whose inventions forever altered the course of the guitar itself
“This is going to sound really f**king strange”: Joe Bonamassa says his go-to BOSS dirt pedal is the Metal Zone – here’s why the blues ace rates the metal monster
The blues rock kingpin and gear obsessive places his faith in this heavy classic
“We determined, ‘Boy, with that checked finish, the acoustic guitar – which is a box that vibrates – really rings’”: Gibson's Tom Murphy on how Murphy Lab acoustics are taking aged guitars into new sonic territory
Gibson’s master artisan Tom Murphy has reinvented the process of guitar aging. Now he’s turned his eye and – perhaps, more importantly – his ear, to the firm’s acoustic line
“Joe Bonamassa texted me and said, ‘I know you love that black Les Paul. It’s at Carter Vintage right now. Call them ASAP!’”: Kirk Hammett says he only got his ultra-rare Factory Black ’59 Les Paul thanks to the help of his collector friend
The Metallica guitarist also reveals he had “30 guitars stolen” in a previous attempt to buy the unicorn electric guitar
Alien rhythms, god-level chops and samurai guitar duels: these are the best guitar albums of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers reflect on the finest fretwork captured on record this year
“At its best, the solo can tell a story, give us a sense of spectacle, and even offer a window into a player’s soul”: These are the best guitar solos of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers choose the outstanding lead efforts of the year – including “this decades's Eruption”
“Essentially a souped-up Guitar Hero for adults”: A New Zealand brewery has invented a beer vending machine that lets you pay with your guitar skills
Panhead Custom Ales’ Slay to Pay machine is the first of its kind and rewards shred with beer
“A rhythmic motif so simple that even the most basic living organisms on this great planet can get down to it”: These are the best guitar riffs of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers name the finest riffs of the year – a list that unites the worlds of metal, rock, indie and more…
“I'd move mountains for your sweet embrace”: A scammer is attempting to woo Joanne Shaw Taylor using a fake Joe Bonamassa profile – and it’s not going very well
Catfish blues warning! Do not give your bank details to people posing online as renowned guitarists
Devastating displays of double-neck tapping and Joe Bonamassa’s Christmas single: here are this week’s essential guitar tracks
Catch up with the best guitar tracks from the past 7 days with fresh cuts from Joe Bonamassa, Joanne Shaw Taylor, J Mascis, Felix Martin and more
“Some of the most-heard guitars in the history of popular music”: Gibson’s latest Certified Vintage drop raids the vault to offer some of the cleanest vintage Epiphones you’ll ever see
The vintage haul celebrates Epiphone’s 150th Anniversary with a host of rare, all-original finds – several of which come from Gibson’s own archive
“In keeping with Billy’s directive to ‘retain the gain or feel the pain’”: Billy Gibbons has helped Magnatone develop the Baby M-80 – its smallest and lightest tube amp yet
The ZZ Top legend’s feedback helped shape the gain structure of the “unbelievably versatile” new compact head and combo
