“Hopefully the neck isn’t… warped”: Kauer has made a Star Trek guitar that we actually want to play By Matt Parker published 2 October 23 Kauer’s latest custom build deserves to live long and prosper
“Santana, right? I love your choice of notes”: Carlos Santana recalls the time he met Jimi Hendrix By Matt Owen published 2 October 23 The PRS signature artist was certainly no stranger to praise as an emerging musician, but his meeting with Hendrix proved to be particularly influential
B.C. Rich adds Five Finger Death Punch's Andy James to its artist roster – and his first signature guitar is one seriously dangerous metal machine By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 Lord have mercy on anyone who crosses the path of Andy James and the Pitchfork headstock of his Assassin signature guitar
“If this doesn't clear the house...” Watch U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cover Muddy Waters on his Fender Strat – at a state dinner By Jackson Maxwell published 29 September 23 Now that's how you incorporate your artistic passion into your day job...
A Young Guitarist of the Year returns and Toto’s Africa meets extreme metal: This week’s essential guitar tracks By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 Fresh new tunes you need to check out this week, from Juho Ranta-Maunus and Marnie Stern to U2 and Bernie Marsden
Guitar World deals of the week: celebrate 40 years of Musician's Friend with up to 40% off a huge range of guitar gear By Chris Barnes published 29 September 23 We've been scouring the 'net for deals this week and found big savings on gear from Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, Focusrite, and loads more
“If this doesn't clear the house...” Watch U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cover Muddy Waters on his Fender Strat – at a state dinner By Jackson Maxwell
“Hopefully the neck isn’t… warped”: Kauer has made a Star Trek guitar that we actually want to play By Matt Parker published 2 October 23 Kauer’s latest custom build deserves to live long and prosper
“Santana, right? I love your choice of notes”: Carlos Santana recalls the time he met Jimi Hendrix By Matt Owen published 2 October 23 The PRS signature artist was certainly no stranger to praise as an emerging musician, but his meeting with Hendrix proved to be particularly influential
B.C. Rich adds Five Finger Death Punch's Andy James to its artist roster – and his first signature guitar is one seriously dangerous metal machine By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 Lord have mercy on anyone who crosses the path of Andy James and the Pitchfork headstock of his Assassin signature guitar
A Young Guitarist of the Year returns and Toto’s Africa meets extreme metal: This week’s essential guitar tracks By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 Fresh new tunes you need to check out this week, from Juho Ranta-Maunus and Marnie Stern to U2 and Bernie Marsden
Guitar World deals of the week: celebrate 40 years of Musician's Friend with up to 40% off a huge range of guitar gear By Chris Barnes published 29 September 23 We've been scouring the 'net for deals this week and found big savings on gear from Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, Focusrite, and loads more
“I’m going after the Klon”: Mark Tremonti is starting his own pedal company – and he’s already road-testing prototypes By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 The Alter Bridge guitarist, who plans to launch his own affordable brand with three new pedals, recently demoed his first unit – and it sounds pretty darn good
Al Di Meola in stable condition after suffering heart attack on stage By Matt Owen published 29 September 23 The virtuoso has since posted a statement on social media, reassuring fans he's “receiving the best care possible”
An astonishingly rare Blue Silverburst Explorer, dot-neck 1959 ES-335 and short-lived ultra-luxe Casino alternative: Gibson’s latest Certified Vintage drop has our attention By Matt Parker published 28 September 23 The new five-guitar release in the firm’s approved vintage program is full of beautiful obscurities
“Knowing Bernie's eagerness to get the album out there, we want to follow his wishes and release it as planned”: Posthumous Bernie Marsden album set for release in November By Jackson Maxwell published 28 September 23 The late Whitesnake alum was able to finish recording the album, and oversee and approve its sequencing, mastering, and artwork, before his death in late August
“When people say ‘jazz’, they get locked into ‘It's not this; it's this.’ I never looked at music that way”: Grammy-nominated virtuoso David Becker is nurturing the future of jazz guitar – and he’s encouraging them to break the rules By Alison Richter published 2 October 23 With two signature guitars to his name and multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations, Becker has notched up some serious accolades over four decades in the biz. He shares the secret to a long career – and explains how social media is (and isn’t) shaping the future of jazz guitar
“I grabbed a diaper and shoved it under the strings near the bridge”: How Tony Levin came up with his muted bass tone on Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up By Nick Wells published 30 September 23 Peter Gabriel called it the “super wonder nappy sound”
“It sounds like Lindsey Buckingham meets The Clash!” That time Duff McKagan played bass for the Manic Street Preachers By Nick Wells published 29 September 23 Nicky Wire on working with Duff and why Guns N’ Roses are the best band ever
“Every guitarist should be in search of their toothpaste tone!” Larkin Poe explain how good guitar tone can make your playing better By Amit Sharma published 29 September 23 Roots rock sister duo Megan and Rebecca Lovell on what makes drive pedals essential for shaping your soloing, why even blues players shouldn’t dismiss amp modelers – and what toothpaste tone actually is…
Are your drive pedals sounding the best they could? Here are 19 ways to get more from your overdrives, distortions and fuzzes – and make them work with your rig By Chris Bird published 29 September 23 Whether you’re using overdrive, distortion, boost or fuzz, there are plenty of ways you can tweak your setup for maximum tone
“I think a bass solo can be as exciting as a guitar solo – if not more”: Listen to John Entwistle’s live bass solo on The Who’s 5:15 By Nick Wells published 28 September 23 John Entwistle proves why bass solos aren't always a bad idea
10 times an iconic band swapped out their guitarist for a fresh face By Andrew Daly published 28 September 23 These star players swooped in to occupy a vacant guitarist spot – sometimes it made the lineup better, sometimes it saved the band entirely…
Types of guitar pickups explained: learn the difference between single coils, humbuckers, P-90s and active designs By Chris Bird published 28 September 23 If the wood is the soul of the electric guitar, the pickups are the brains of the operation. We walk through the most common pickup styles and what they mean for electric guitar tone
“Selective picking, to me, is drumming on guitar. Tosin Abasi brought this technique to the world and it made me excited”: Prog-metal visionary Pomegranate Tiger was ahead of his time. Now he’s tackling cutting-edge technique and AI head-on By Gregory Adams published 27 September 23 Eight years since the release of his last album, Martin Andres reveals what he learned from playing with Oni, Mark Morton and Gojira, how he discovered selective picking before it went mainstream, and why he’s creating an AI version of his musical self
Every guitarist wishes they were better at fingerstyle – and this lesson may make you want to ditch the pick for good By Chris Bird
Two-hand tapping is one of the most versatile guitar techniques you can learn – here are 5 ways to make it work for you By Simon Barnard published 29 September 23 Tapping lit up the guitar world with Eddie Van Halen, but in this lesson, inspired by EVH, Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt and more, you'll find all kinds of ways to add this legato superpower to your game
“Without a good ear at the helm, you could find yourself musically adrift at sea”: Steve Vai shares his course on ear training for guitar players – the ultimate guide to improving your musicality By Steve Vai published 28 September 23 Developing your ear is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a guitar player – and there is no better teacher than Steve Vai
15 icons of electric guitar tone – and how they can inspire your playing By Jon Bishop published 28 September 23 Go behind the players with some of the most legendary guitar sounds in history – and learn how you can steal their style and make it yours
The pentatonic scale is the most important scale for guitarists – and these 40 licks will take your rock and blues chops to the next level By David Gerrish published 27 September 23 When it comes to the guitar, the pentatonic is the one scale to rule them all, and despite its ubiquity, the possibilities are limitless – as our deep dive tab and video lesson demonstrates
Introducing polychords – the mind-bending guitar shapes that will take your playing into new harmonic and melodic worlds By Richard Barrett published 26 September 23 Polychords are a neat way to expand your musical vocabulary and can be used in your rhythm and lead playing, as the great Larry Carlton has demonstrated time and time again
“Typical scale practice is downright damaging for expressive playing… That’s not how singers sing”: Paul Gilbert shows you how to make your guitar solos more vocal and expressive By Jon Bishop published 26 September 23 In this exclusive video lesson, the legendary virtuoso treats you to a masterclass on transferring vocal phrases to the guitar
The whammy bar could be the key to unlocking your voice on the guitar – learn 5 ways to make it work for you By Simon Barnard published 25 September 23 We look at the whammy bar styles of Duane Eddy, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour and Jeff Beck – and how you can incorporate them in your own playing
Red Hot Chili Peppers survived 5 guitarist swaps, and each one shook up their sound. Here’s how the band’s guitar style evolved with each personnel shift – and what you can learn from them, too By Jamie Hunt published 22 September 23 From Hillel Slovak to the second coming of John Frusciante, we trace the RHCP funk-rock sound through five guitarists
5 ways to use Mixolydian scale – the Goldilocks mode loved by the Cult, AC/DC and Eric Johnson By Jenna Scaramanga published 20 September 23 Everything from feelgood rock to funk gets better with Mixolydian, a mode used to great effect by everyone from Guns N' Roses to Kool and the Gang
