30 instrumental masters, starring Tosin Abasi and Joe Satriani – only in the new Guitar World

Ah, yes, the May ’22 issue! There’s so much to tell you about; where should I start?

Well, first all, we’ve got Joe Bonamassa showing you how to come up with creative and useful blues turnarounds. A few pages later, Kirk Fletcher helps you explore the Chicago blues styles of the late, great Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Magic Sam.

We’ve also got the exclusive first look at Line 6’s brand-new DL4 MkII delay – the followup to the beloved Line 6 DL4, which was produced continuously for 23 years (until just recently). During that time, it truly earned its status as a classic of the digital modeling era.

For some reason, a lot of respected manufacturers are celebrating major anniversaries in 2022 (as you’ll see in upcoming issues). In this issue, we celebrate 30 years of Eastman Guitars. Find out how they’ve successfully brought handcrafted stringed instruments to the masses.

We’ve also got an ode to Eddie Phillips of the Creation – the guitarist who, not so famously, used a bow on his Gibson long before Jimmy Page did it.

But the actual theme of this issue is instrumental guitar music. In our main feature, we celebrate 30 active, hard-working instrumental masters of all ages and genres – and, in many cases, we get their exclusive advice on how to keep your own instrumental music interesting. We hear from Plini, Lari Basilio, Yvette Young, Guthrie Govan, Angel Vivaldi, Jason Becker and many more.

We also shine a gigantic spotlight on four guitarists from that master list – providing full features and exclusive interviews with Animals As Leaders’ Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes (new album!), plus Joe Satriani (new album!) and jazz/fusion great John McLaughlin (new-ish album and a recent run-in with the law!).

Sticking with our instrumental theme, we offer up a transcription of Mateus Asato’s new take on Crowded House’s killer 1986 tune, Don’t Dream It’s Over. In Tonal Recall, we explore Jeff Beck’s tone on Freeway Jam, one of the greatest instrumental tracks in all of guitardom.

Meanwhile, we catch up with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (and his new signature ES-335), the guys from Khemmis, Billy Strings, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford from Squeeze, the Flower Kings, Volbeat and Haunted Shores, a band featuring Mark and Misha from Periphery.

Gear reviews and song transcriptions

This month’s gear reviews include the new Blackstar Dept. 10 valve pedals, the new Martin SE-10E, the unique Emerald Virtuo guitar, the Fender Acoustic Go amp and more. This month’s song transcriptions are Don’t Dream It’s Over by Mateus Asato, plus XYZ’s Inside Out and Alice In Chains’ Heaven Beside You.

The new issue of Guitar World is on sale now.

You can buy new issues of Guitar World at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hudson News, Books a Million and other stores – and online from Magazines Direct. And, while you're at it, why not save on every issue by subscribing?

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