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“Bass should stand on its own. It’s as powerful as the guitar”: Conrad Lant on his disdain for Ampeg SVTs and how he bought Andy Fraser’s Gibson EB-3 for £50 – “It was the exact one he played on All Right Now!”
Venom, the original black metal band, have been invoking Old Nick since 1981. On the bass, meet Conrad Lant – ‘Cronos’ to the (black) masses
“We were auditioning for bass players, but most of the guys who came in were too good. One day I just said, ‘What if I play bass?’” Shavo Odadjian on why he switched from guitar to the bass
Shavo Odadjian holds down the low-end in System of a Down, America’s most uncategorisable band
“All there was left for me in Minneapolis was to work for Prince, and I had no desire to – I’d heard too many stories. I got bored… I quit playing guitar for two years”: How Binky Griptite reinvented himself – and ended up playing with Amy Winehouse
Partly inspired by a copy of Guitar World he tried to steal, the Dap-Kings’ former rhythm powerhouse started out as a shredder, before he studied the rhythm guitar greats – landing gigs with Janet Jackson and Amy Winehouse along the way
“Session players don’t get the credit they deserve. Some of the signature licks they come up with are ones people won’t know they wrote”: Brent Mason on why session guitarists deserve more respect, and how he became Nashville’s hottest hired gun
Mason has played on over a thousand recordings, collaborated with A-listers such as George Strait and Shania Twain, and few are more capable with a Fender Tele. So why are there some days he wants to sound like anyone other than Brent Mason?
“It looked cool – especially when you took acid… those horns looked like the devil!”: The Doors’ Robby Krieger on his love of the SG, studio accidents and a challenging move away from his signature fingerstyle
The influential Doors guitarist is back with a new record. He explains how he’s (almost) found comfort in a new way of playing
How the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress became the go-to flanger for David Gilmour and Andy Summers, and remained a pedalboard staple for nearly 50 years
Was it the world's first flanger? Who cares. What matters is that the EHX Flanger/Filter Matrix can legitimately claim to be the coolest, and contributed to some classic recordings
“The message for tube nostalgists is clear: enjoy today what may not be here tomorrow”: Can the tube amp survive in the digital era?
As digital guitar amplification continues to wow the market and guitar players alike, is it realistic to assume that it will be business as usual for the tube amp?
“I remember running over to Carlos Santana and asking him to bless my pick to allow me to cross through the portal of his powers”: Porno For Pyros are NOT over – but Peter DiStefano already has a lifetime of tales from the band
DiStefano has lived a thousand lives: he refused to join Jane’s Addiction, wrote his band’s first hit about a murdered school friend, escaped a junkie death through an out-of-body experience, and cried with Perry Farrell after announcing their (no longer a) farewell tour
“I got a call from David Bowie’s people to record Let’s Dance. I became a big advocate of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the studio. Nobody else could play like him”: Session bass great Carmine Rojas shares the stories behind his awe-inspiring resume
Despite suspecting he used the wrong bass on Tina Turner’s Foreign Affair, the veteran dedicates himself to being a supporting player and learning every day with the likes of Keith Richards, Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons
