Latest Updates

Yvette Young’s fretboard wizardry was a wake-up call for modern guitar playing – but with her latest pivot, she’s making music to help emo kids go to sleep
By Janelle Borg published
Young is in her musician-artist-producer era – leaning into soundtracks, generating ideas with her signature Qi pedal, and reclaiming control of her career, as epitomized by her latest collaboration with Hatch: a suite of Emo Sound Baths

Jimmie Vaughan says your fretboard choice doesn’t make a difference – and SRV is his proof
By Matt Owen published
SRV played Strats with rosewood and maple fingerboards, and although he's more commonly associated with the former, his brother says he performed the same on both

Lenny Kravitz guitarist Craig Ross has been playing Jeff Beck’s $490,000 Yardburst Les Paul onstage for an entire tour
By Janelle Borg published
Keen-eyed attendees of the European leg of Kravitz's Blue Electric Light tour could spot one of the most iconic guitars in history

Rare footage of Andy Summers teaching John Mayer how to play Message in a Bottle surfaces
By Jenna Scaramanga published
Backstage footage from 2007's Live Earth benefit concert shows the Police guitarist rehearsing with Mayer and Kanye West

The freak injury that changed the way Chris Poland played guitar – and informed the sound of Megadeth’s Rattlehead
By Matt Owen published
The former Megadeth guitarist had a stand-off with a 200lb oak door, resulting in an injury that would forever change how he plays guitar

Mark Tremonti’s PRS signature amp is one of the best affordable high-gain amps on the market – and it just got one major upgrade
By Matt Owen published
An all-new Archon Classic and 4x12 "mega-sized" cab have also been released

NAMM president responds to Trump's tariffs – urgently urging the administration to exempt the musical instrument market
By Janelle Borg published
NAMM president John Mlynczak warns that current tariff actions will lead U.S. musical instrument companies to lose their global competitive advantage

This metal fan ordered a new guitar from Sweetwater – but it ended up with the Slipknot guitarist
By Matt Owen published
Root randomly received a new Jackson that was destined for another player, after it went missing for a number of weeks

Eddie Van Halen's former wife, Valerie Bertinelli, rules out Van Halen biopic
By Janelle Borg published
Bertinelli reveals that she told her son, Wolfgang, to not approve any biopics until after she's dead

How a heckler helped J Mascis unlock his Dinosaur Jr. guitar tone
By Matt Owen published
Mascis first started playing guitar as a means to write and perform with Dinosaur Jr., but his tonal awakening came mid-gig thanks to a rather critical listener

The Smithereens’ love affair with The Who goes way back – yet when guitarist Jim Babjak got the chance to meet Pete Townshend, he turned it down
By Janelle Borg published
The Smithereens even released a covers album that pays homage to The Who's 1969 record Tommy

Fender’s elevated Player II Modified line brings the firm’s most sought-after guitar upgrades to the masses
By Matt Owen published
Speedy satin necks, upgraded pickups, expansive electronics and Floyd Rose tremolos headline the drop, which lifts the humble Player II line to new heights

Slash makes surprise appearance at former Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe's show at the Whisky a Go Go
By Janelle Borg published
Just a few years ago, the Guns N' Roses guitarist lent his soloing chops to one of Monroe's tracks

John Mayer has been spotted playing a Neural DSP Quad Cortex live for the first time – could this be his new amp modeler of choice?
By Matt Owen published
Mayer swapped his usual Fractal for a Quad Cortex for his guest performance with Zedd at Coachella

The heaviest acoustic guitar ever made? Two budding builders craft an acoustic entirely from concrete because they “thought the idea was really funny”
By Phil Weller published
Weighing 62.8lbs and loaded with nuts and bolts tuners, the build brings a whole new meaning to heavy guitars

Yngwie Malmsteen names the guitar picks that don’t work for shred
By Phil Weller published
The Swedish virtuoso says your pick may be holding you back

The Byrds needed a hit or they’d be dropped. Releasing a cover of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man as their first single was a gamble that paid off
By Janelle Borg published
Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn was the third person to ever own a Rickenbacker 12-string, following George Harrison – and his timely purchase would completely transform the Dylan song, and the band's entire trajectory

Buskers banned from London’s Leicester Square as performances likened to “psychological torture”
By Phil Weller published
The tourist hotspot will fall quiet on April 17 as Westminster Council says it had “no choice” but to tackle “increasing noise disruption and anti-social behavior”

Brian May with Benson Boone, Green Day with the Go-Gos, and Lady Gaga rocking a Suhr – Coachella’s first weekend delivered the guitar goods
By Phil Weller published
Boone and May’s Bohemian Rhapsody rendition headlined a weekend of high notes from across the festival’s opening installment

Matteo Mancuso has become one of the hottest guitar talents on the planet – now he’s finally announced his first headline US tour
By Phil Weller published
The generational guitar player will be heading out on his first extended run of headline dates in the US and Canada this year