Features archive

April 2023

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77 articles

April 30
- The Lowlist: INXS's Kick was the sound of a rock band taking on modern technology
April 28
- How Jeff Beck passed the Telecaster torch to Jimmy Page and changed the course of rock history
- Watch two bassists shred-off using Tosin Abasi's selective picking technique
- Peter Dankelson on how guitar was shocked into his system by AC/DC, and why nothing was going to stop him playing
- Meet Coloma Guitars, the Canadian guitar company that TikTok built
- 5 ways to improve your acoustic guitar tone
- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 371
April 27
- Vinnie Moore: “The SG is a recent discovery of mine – I can’t believe I’ve never owned one. I didn’t realize how cool they were”
- How Nikki Lane found guitar empowerment with Josh Homme and an all-star band on her gritty new album
- How to choose the best microphone for your electric guitar amp
- That time Guthrie Govan covered Rage Against the Machine’s Bulls on Parade and took Tom Morello’s solo to mind-boggling new heights
- Ana Popovic: "The cancer took a lot out of me, and so did working towards getting better. I had to spend every atom of energy on playing guitar and writing songs"
- Pool Kids on finding a fan in Paramore’s Hayley Williams, the joy of alternate tunings and making math rock accessible
April 26
- Al Di Meola on Gibson Les Pauls: “My 1971 Custom is obscenely heavy and growls like nothing else”
- Watch Lonnie Mack, one of the original Flying V masters, trade licks with Tele titans Albert Collins and Roy Buchanan
April 25
- Custom Flying Vs, strange open tunings and massive bends: how Albert King created his own strain of the blues – and inspired Hendrix, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Watch Albert King reunite, jam with Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1983: “There's a lot of guitar players that just play fast, they don't concentrate on soul – but you got ’em both”
- Download and stream the audio from Guitar Techniques 348
- Derek Trucks names 11 guitarists who shaped his sound
- Melvins’ Buzz Osborne: “I’ll stop when I don’t feel like doing it anymore or when no-one cares. You can let us know when that is”
- How Alvvays harnessed the “glorious, devastating” power of truly dimed guitar amps, slacker tunings and Tom Verlaine on new album Blue Rev
- 11 ways to improve your tube amp tone
April 24
- Watch Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Joe Perry join Metallica for a pulverizing performance of Train Kept A-Rollin' at 2009’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony
- "With no disrespect to Cliff Burton, I think my picking brought a new tightness to Metallica. Cliff's sound wasn't very defined": An interview with Jason Newsted on the release of The Black Album
- The evolution of the Gibson Melody Maker – the original student electric guitar
April 22
- “Sometimes I think, 'What would John McVie do?' That’s how I wrote the bassline to Losing My Religion”: The secrets of R.E.M.’s Mike Mills
April 21
- How Drive-By Truckers, Rat-augmented lap steels and electric shocks shaped the alt-country sprawl of Wednesday's Rat Saw God
- Nikki Sixx “played his butt off” on Dolly Parton’s upcoming rock album
- We’re living in a new golden age for guitar pickups – here’s why
- 10 Jeff Beck deep cuts you need to hear
April 20
- How to choose the best microphone for your acoustic guitar
- Cliff Burton wrote one of Metallica’s heaviest riffs on a de-tuned classical guitar
- How the pandemic inspired Taylor’s Andy Powers to take a new minimalist path with the American Dream series
- Meet UK ‘glock-rock’ collective Lakes: the triple-guitar band where the drummer writes most of the guitar parts
April 19
- 18 ways to improve your guitar tone
- Jared James Nichols: “I was playing a lot of Strats and Telecasters. And then I tried a Les Paul Standard. The first thing I thought was, ‘Holy f**k, this feels like a Cadillac!’”
- Martin Taylor: “There are some guitars I play a few notes on and just put down. The sign of a good guitar is one you really want to play and don’t want to put down”
- Steve Lukather: "The bassline was easy. It wasn't like I had to be Jaco Pastorius"
- U2’s Adam Clayton: “The bass has to either be sexy or aggressive, or it shouldn’t be there as far as I’m concerned”
April 18
- Six-string psychonaut Kavus Torabi on the mythology of Gong, Hotel California moments with Steve Hillage and his epiphany with scales
- Phil Collen on Jeff Beck: “Jeff’s amp blew up and his pedalboard didn’t work, so they just brought in another Marshall – he sounded exactly the same. He didn’t even flinch”
April 17
- Watch Mountain’s Felix Papplardi and Leslie West tear Pennsylvania a new one on Mississippi Queen as they redefine ‘heavy’ for the 70s
- A.A. Williams: “I didn’t have lessons or learn other people’s tabs or anything. I think there’s a punk-rock quality in that”
- Dom Martin: “You got beat up for playing guitar where I came from, so it was always very insular learning how to play”
- Remembering David Crosby, a giant of American songwriting who gave the ‘60s a voice
- Code Orange’s Reba Meyers: “Growing up, I never listened to guitar players other than myself. I just did my thing”
April 16
- The Lowlist: Blondie’s Parallel Lines – the album that defined New Wave
- The 1973 Paul McCartney TV Special is not only the most ’70s thing you’ll ever see, it’s a fascinating snapshot of a post-Beatles McCartney
April 15
- "The Breeders, Hole, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins all had female bass players. That was definitely an inspiration": When Melissa Auf Der Maur went solo
April 14
- Jeff Beck’s 10 most iconic guitars
April 13
- "If you’re overplaying, you’re under-listening": Rocco Prestia on 50 years with Tower of Power
April 12
- Thundercat: “People are telling me to turn down, and I’m like, No! I’m trying to burn down the stage!”
- Slash on his love of Les Pauls: “That Kris Derrig Les Paul came in the 11th hour when we were doing Appetite. It just sounded f**kin’ perfect – like a gift from on high”
- 10 reggae records that every bass fan should know
April 11
- Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen and Mark Holcomb on how they lost sleep and cast aside some of the best riffs they’ve ever written to make Periphery V “as awesome as possible”
- Vivian Campbell on Jeff Beck: “It was equally inspiring and depressing to witness him live. You go there thinking you’re a guitar player and leave realizing you’re a guitar owner!”
- Nita Strauss: "A guitar solo is a way for the guitarist to tell a chapter of the song's story. That dictates my approach, rather than, 'Here's a bunch of cool notes'"
April 10
- Kiss's Tommy Thayer names 11 guitarists who shaped his sound
- Joe Bonamassa on why he loves the Gibson Les Paul: “Pretty much all of the English guitar legends of the 1960s, that’s what they were holding”
April 9
- The Lowlist: Def Leppard's Hysteria, the album that changed melodic rock
April 8
- “I had been warned I might be shot immediately but I decided to do it anyway": The unstoppable Charlie Haden
April 7
- Watch Donald “Duck” Dunn as Booker T and the MGs blow minds in Norway in 1967
- Joe Perry on his longstanding love affair with the Gibson Les Paul: “The neck is just right, the radius across the fretboard. It’s just an amazing thing they stumbled on”
- Jeff Beck – the lost interview: “There are many guitarists who can play like a typewriter. Technically they’re great, but that’s not my style”
April 6
- Watch Brian May make a TV presenter's day with an unaccompanied Bohemian Rhapsody solo through his epic Vox AC30 rig
- Fender CEO Andy Mooney: “I think the guitar today is in a better place than it’s ever been. I’m hugely optimistic about the future”
- The Van Pelt: "Skill does not write a good song. Louie Louie is better than any song Joe Satriani’s written, but the more skillful you are, the easier it is to execute your vision"
- Remembering Tom Verlaine, the cult hero who reconfigured guitar and inspired generations of alt-rock players
April 5
- Dunlop Cry Baby Bass Wah: the most recognizable effects pedal ever made?
- Yvette Young names the 10(+) guitarists who shaped her sound
- Paul Gilbert reveals the surprising guitars he used to emulate Ronnie James Dio's voice, the lead that took 100 takes and his grand guitar solo plans for Mr. Big's farewell tour
April 4
- Braid's Bob Nanna and Chris Broach discuss how octave chords and unconventional rhythms helped shape their Midwest emo landmark, Frame & Canvas
- Cory Wong on Jeff Beck: “I’m a diehard Strat guy. There are so many reasons why, but Jeff Beck was on that list of reasons”
April 3
- Deerhoof share the story behind some of the zaniest guitar recording methods ever committed to tape: “It sounded like the world was ending!”
- Meet The Curse of K.K. Hammond, the spooky resonator blues connoisseur who prefers modern guitars and gives them names like “Hell’s Belle” and “Swamp Bitch”
April 2
- The Lowlist: Chic's C'est Chic was pure groove genius
April 1
- Watch Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane trade guitar and bass solos with the Faces on Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed