Latest about Music Industry
Yes, Rick Rubin played the opening riff on Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Till Brooklyn – he looks back at recording a classic
While Kerry King's searing solo is the star of the show, Rubin sets the tone with his rhythm guitar work on the iconic rap rock track
Guitar Player magazine to cease print publication
The world's oldest continuously published magazine devoted to guitarists, guitar gear, and instruction, Guitar Player was instrumental to the careers of Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, and Yngwie Malmsteen, to name just a few examples
Why the ’70s was a time of innovation and folly for guitar gear
The ’70s gets a bad rep from some guitarists but it's too easy to say this was a bad time for Gibson and Fender and that's the story. There were some real treasures and technological breakthroughs
How Rick Rubin shaped the sound of Slayer’s first album by ignoring heavy metal norms
The 1986 record was the first metal album Rubin produced – and he singled out one of the genre's biggest names when highlighting what he thought shouldn't be done in the studio
How JHS founder Josh Scott built one of the world’s leading pedal firms by recommending his rivals
The JHS founder has become the internet’s go-to pedal guru. He tells GW about his pre-pedal days as a pawn-shop gear flipper, the Bad Monkey bubble – and the key to finding genuinely new guitar sounds
Super-producer Andrew Watt reveals his secret to convincing music legends to collaborate
From recruiting Paul McCartney and Elton John to play on the latest Rolling Stones album, to scoring a global hit with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Watt has quickly established himself as an artist matchmaker
David Gilmour tells all, plus Slipknot and Joe Bonamassa's ode to Eric Clapton's Fender years – only in the new Guitar World
Also starring Mike Campbell, Madonna's metalhead guitarist, the man who built Prince's axes, Grace Bowers, Justin Hayward, Les Dudek, the Music Man Axis reviewed and more
When the guitar world’s most prized woods are endangered, how can we ensure the future of tone?
The hunt for the perfect instrument is increasingly focusing on the production process – but with 15 billion trees unsustainably deforested every year, and prized species becoming extinct, that process needs to change
Joe Knaggs on the tonewoods, inspirations and story behind his high-end guitar craft
In partnership with Knaggs
For Joe Knaggs, making guitars was the opportunity to combine a love for art and music, and it is writ large in his designs. With Knaggs about to turn 15, he discusses the brand's evolution and explains the search for “the Knaggs ring”
How Dana Bourgeois led the OM-style guitar renaissance and turned Bourgeois Guitars into a guitar craftsmanship powerhouse
From earning the Bluegrass Hall of Famer's approval in his early days, to producing 500 intimately crafted guitars a year and landing an innovative partnership with Eastman, the experienced luthier is decades deep into the business – but still has an intense “infatuation with guitars”
