Features archive

August 2022

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71 articles

August 31
- Shane Theriot: "The best lead guitar players, like Eddie Van Halen, were great rhythm pocket players. Everything is rhythm"
- Nita Strauss on lighting Demi Lovato’s guitar fire and how fresh tones – and the 2nd position – are helping her introduce shredding solos to new audiences
- 10 essential Elvis Presley guitar tracks
- Stella Donnelly: “I would find refuge in my music, rather than have it be something I felt like I needed to turn up for”
- Randy Jackson on his return to Journey, what makes a great bassist, and playing football with James Jamerson and Jaco Pastorius
August 30
- Tim Henson: “Between every album, I think: how can I level my s**t up?”
- Black Midi’s Geordie Greep on how he learned to stop worrying and love his amp
- How wild gear changeups, Irish guitar lessons and "way too much" Boss Metal Zone helped Russian Circles make their heaviest album yet
August 29
- The greatest guitar albums of the ’80s: the rise of the next-gen guitar hero
- Def Leppard’s Rick Savage: “The bass player is the bridge between the rhythm and the melody... without you the whole thing will fall apart”
- Live Photos: KISS, Sydney 26/08/22
August 26
- The Chats: “We’re sounding better than ever right now, and I’m f***ing stoked with that”
- Steven Wilson on Porcupine Tree's triumphant return and his love of “guitar players that can play one note and break your heart”
August 25
- Robert Fripp in-depth: his quest to combine Hendrix and Bartók, what made King Crimson “problematic” and why he has “no interest in gear at all”
- Nova Twins: “When we’re on stage, we feel unstoppable. We want people to feel that energy when they’re listening at a show or at home”
August 24
- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar Annual 2023
- Gustaf’s Tine Hill: “Bass is one of those instruments that chooses you”
- The 30 greatest rock guitar albums of 1972
- Beddy Rays: “I think the music does a lot of speaking for itself”
- Best acoustic guitar strings for beginners 2024: Our top choices for getting to grips with acoustic guitar
August 23
- Rabea Massaad on his synth-equipped Neural DSP Archetype plugin: “You can make it super-wide and go all ‘80s… It absolutely does Stranger Things noises”
August 22
- How Chris Squire got his iconic bass tone
August 20
- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 362
August 19
- The greatest guitar albums of the ‘70s: Getting the Led out with Sabbath, the Who, Pink Floyd and more
- Live Review: Gang Of Youths, Melbourne 12/08/22
- Remembering Chris Squire – the bass pioneer who redefined the instrument in the ‘70s with prog icons Yes
- Reef’s Jesse Wood: “We worked in the way Keith Richards describes as ‘the ancient art of weaving’”
- Neal Schon on Journey’s greatest tracks: “After Don‘t Stop was done I turned to everybody in the room and said, ‘I think this song is going to be massive’”
August 18
- The greatest guitar albums of the ‘60s: From Beatlemania to Electric Ladyland, a rock ’n’ roll revolution takes shape
August 17
- Spotlight: Kate McGuire of VOIID
- Download and stream the audio from Guitar Techniques 339
August 16
- Charlie Parr: “If I get to touch the strings and play a little lick and make some sounds, everything else is gravy”
- Holly Montgomery: “Playing John Paul Jones’s basslines and singing Robert Plant’s lyrics is no joke”
- Gamma G25 and G50 guitar combo amplifiers review
- Richie Faulkner: “Getting the guitar back in my hands was what I needed to do to get back on track – to give me the strength to keep going”
August 15
- Dave Weiner: “For a long time I had no desire to pick up a guitar. The guitar has always been my coping mechanism and now it seemed silly”
- King’s X stalwarts dUg Pinnick and Ty Tabor take you inside Three Sides of One, the prog-rock trio’s first album in 14 years
- Norm Stockton: “I’ve always strived to make my music something that speaks to the heart”
- Warren DeMartini, Steve Stevens, Lita Ford and an all-star panel share their guitar highlights of the ‘80s
August 12
- Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik on taking the plunge on vintage guitars, longevity, and why he will never be a social media star
- Beabadoobee talks alternate tunings, “weird, strange” recording techniques, and the subconscious influence of ‘90s grunge and alt-rock
- Gary Holt: “I had one job in Slayer and one job only. Go out, play killer, bang your head and play a little bit of a guitar hero role. I wear a lot more hats in Exodus”
- Dune Rats: “We’ve been able to fine-tune our songwriting – we’re not a one-trick pony”
- How luthiers voice an acoustic guitar top
August 11
- 20 gear innovations from the ‘80s that changed the game for guitar players
- Jared James Nichols: “I’ll never forget the moment I first saw Zakk playing in the flesh with Ozzy – it was beyond powerful. I was mesmerized”
- John Scofield: “When you’re playing without a band, all kinds of subtleties in your playing come out, maybe good and bad… You really hear what you’re doing”
- How Blackstar’s St. James series made tube amps lightweight without sacrificing tone
August 10
- Beach Bunny: “The songs resonated with me a lot, but I’m happy to be on the other side of them”
August 9
- 40 Years of Squier: how Fender’s budget brand conquered the world
- Andrew Gabbard: “My love for Firebirds comes from Neil Young because he had a Firebird pickup in his Goldtop and they just cut through”
- Ian Crichton on rediscovering his mojo with Six by Six – a power trio that offers the perfect platform for his blazing prog guitar style
- Halsey guitarist Liv Slingerland emerges from the visceral heat of a pyro-laden pop show to discuss gear choices of a session ace and her debut solo LP, Hey You
August 8
- Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter on recutting his classics, mad-scientist modding and hustling Guitar Center for parts in the ‘70s
- 10 questions for Yngwie Malmsteen: “I’m an extremist in everything I do. More is more in everything”
- Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen on writing rock for a stadium audience and learning from ‘80s spandex cringe
August 5
- The Kooks: “I think the best thing you can do as a songwriter is be authentic and honest”
August 4
- The three pedals Steve Vai would rescue in the event of a zombie apocalypse
August 3
- James Hetfield: "I’m on this eternal quest to get the best guitar sound in the world, but my vision of what is 'the best' changes every time I go into the studio"
- Madison Cunningham: “As guitar players, we should be challenging ourselves and hurting our brains a little bit”
- Phil Demmel: “I wanted to do five really good songs that were like rapid punches to the face and then get out ”
- Spotlight: Matt Preen of Great Gable
August 2
- Rudolf Schenker: “We tried all our equipment from the ‘80s – the Marshall stacks, all this equipment – to find that original, old ‘80s sound”
- The magic of Fender Japan: how MIJ custom finishes and unorthodox builds dug a rabbit hole for collectors
- Gulfer: “Tapping is easy when it’s the same notes over and over. What we like is some kind of melodic component”
August 1
- Ross “the Boss” Friedman: “The Ramones were like our brothers... We were very different bands, but we both had the swagger and attitude”
- How your guitar’s control pots affect its tone
- Producer Max Norman recalls recording Randy Rhoads’ remarkable solos: “You could see it in his face... he was steeling himself, getting ready to pounce”
- Halestorm: “Everybody was just on 11, pushing ourselves and playing these parts as if the world was never going to get back to any semblance of normalcy”
- Sophie Lloyd on learning Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb: “It’s the precision of those bends that always blows me away”
- Jaguar Jonze: “The guitar, to me, is like a second set of vocals”