Brian May Guitars seeks inspiration from the Barbie color chart to give the Special LE a high-Kenergy Hot Pink makeover By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 It’s the Red Special as you’ve never seen it before – meet the Pink Special
Gibson’s paint-room party continues as it refreshes the Les Paul in a Dark Purple Burst By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 Hot on the heels of the Custom Color Series is a pair of limited-run Dark Purple LPs that offer an eye-catching figured top alternative to the Exclusive Collection's Deep Purple models
“I’m honored”: Tony Iommi walks onstage to play Paranoid at the Black Sabbath ballet – and the entire ensemble bows at his feet By Matt Parker published 25 September 23 The father of metal guitar was given a humbling tribute during a surprise appearance at the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s new Sabbath-themed show
Thomann's epic Harley Benton sale is back - score 25% off 25 guitars, basses and amps for 25 days By Daryl Robertson published 25 September 23 From incredible value electrics to solid-topped acoustics and thunderous basses there's something for everyone in this epic sale
Corey Taylor unmasked and unplugged: The Slipknot frontman goes acoustic on Gibson’s ‘king of flat-tops’ in this Guitar World exclusive By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 Taylor dropped by Guitar World Studios with his SJ-200 to perform Silverfish in this intimate video session
John Mayer trades solos with H.E.R., covers Grateful Dead with his blues trio, and reunites with the Fender Monterey Stratocaster (again) during jam-packed Crossroads 2023 concert By Matt Owen published 25 September 23 Mayer brought his rhythm, lead and tonal A-game to the star-studded festival, during which he had an especially busy itinerary
“We’re going to pay tribute to the man himself right now”: Joe Bonamassa and John McLaughlin honor Jeff Beck with a hair-raising rendition of Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers at Crossroads 2023 By Matt Parker
Brian May Guitars seeks inspiration from the Barbie color chart to give the Special LE a high-Kenergy Hot Pink makeover By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 It’s the Red Special as you’ve never seen it before – meet the Pink Special
Gibson’s paint-room party continues as it refreshes the Les Paul in a Dark Purple Burst By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 Hot on the heels of the Custom Color Series is a pair of limited-run Dark Purple LPs that offer an eye-catching figured top alternative to the Exclusive Collection's Deep Purple models
“I’m honored”: Tony Iommi walks onstage to play Paranoid at the Black Sabbath ballet – and the entire ensemble bows at his feet By Matt Parker published 25 September 23 The father of metal guitar was given a humbling tribute during a surprise appearance at the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s new Sabbath-themed show
Thomann's epic Harley Benton sale is back - score 25% off 25 guitars, basses and amps for 25 days By Daryl Robertson published 25 September 23 From incredible value electrics to solid-topped acoustics and thunderous basses there's something for everyone in this epic sale
Corey Taylor unmasked and unplugged: The Slipknot frontman goes acoustic on Gibson’s ‘king of flat-tops’ in this Guitar World exclusive By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 Taylor dropped by Guitar World Studios with his SJ-200 to perform Silverfish in this intimate video session
John Mayer trades solos with H.E.R., covers Grateful Dead with his blues trio, and reunites with the Fender Monterey Stratocaster (again) during jam-packed Crossroads 2023 concert By Matt Owen published 25 September 23 Mayer brought his rhythm, lead and tonal A-game to the star-studded festival, during which he had an especially busy itinerary
The boutique electric guitar of the year? By popular demand, Nik Huber unveils the Krautster III, a high-end single-cut dream machine By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 Players kept asking for a Dolphin/Krauster Hybrid, and now it’s here – and there are plenty of custom options available
“Some of what you practice should sound s**t, because then you know you’re working on something that needs to be worked on”: Guthrie Govan on the art of improvisation – and how to make practice as effective as possible By Matt Owen published 22 September 23 The Aristocrats virtuoso is one of the finest guitar players of our generation, so when he offers advice on becoming a better player, we listen
“The ultimate 100-watt, all-tube high gain amp”: Engl’s best-kept secret, the tube-guzzling E670 Special Edition, is entering its standard lineup By Matt Parker published 22 September 23 With the E670FE Founder’s Edition, the German amp maker is making a compelling bid for the turbo tube amp title
“It was considered a no-no to chain two Fuzz-Tones together. But I saw Hendrix chain five of them!” Billy Gibbons remembers opening for Jimi Hendrix with his pre-ZZ Top band the Moving Sidewalks By Jackson Maxwell
“Barry was yelling at me, ‘Play!’ He could tell I was nervous”: How Barry Johnson inspired a young Marcus Miller By Chris Jisi published 25 September 23 The session ace-turned-solo artist recalls his earliest bass hero, and the swung-funk bassline on Don Blackman’s Heart’s Desire
“We know amps and guitars are important, but your own DNA is bigger than that”: Nuno Bettencourt on why, when it comes to tone, your personality always comes first By Amit Sharma published 25 September 23 The Extreme guitarist drops some tone wisdom and explains why you should be looking for a rig that gets out of your way and lets you be you
“How far can we push the prog, without sounding like it’s a cliché of a prog album?”: Nothing But Thieves are one of the UK’s breakout guitar bands – but their tonal tastes are anything but conventional By Jenna Scaramanga published 22 September 23 On concept album Dead Club City, Nothing But Thieves not only ditched the amps, but the speaker sims as well. Dominic Craik and Joe Langridge-Brown share their love of “honky” tones, stacking Queen-esque harmony guitars and how Dave Grohl shaped the sound of the record
“Shredding over the top is what all prog-metal does – we have a Pink Floyd approach to lead rather than John Petrucci”: Nobody djents like TesseracT – and two decades in, the tech-metal heroes are making their most mind-bendingly intricate riffs yet By Ellie Rogers published 22 September 23 Influential UK seven-stringers Acle Kahney and James Monteith on the secret to mastering their shape-shifting time signatures, recording their most challenging riffs and why the Quad Cortex is their new amp modeler of choice
“You played on Midnight Train to Georgia? You don’t need no other credits!” How Bob Babbitt bolstered a ‘70s soul classic with a touch of James Jamerson By Chris Jisi published 22 September 23 A graduate of “Motown Funk University,” Babbitt said that he took from James Jamerson, but rightly so: “he was the original”
“If Greeny was broccoli then Sunny is mango”: Kirk Hammett is selling a 1960 Gibson Les Paul that ranks among the finest ever made – he reveals how it compares to his most famous ’Burst By Matt Parker published 21 September 23 Fame, flame and punchy tone – meet the ’Burst that has it all. And it’s yours for $500,000...
“It’s all about what sounds cool… Not theoretically what you’re supposed to do”: How guitarists from Drug Church, Militarie Gun and Scowl are leading the melodic movement in hardcore punk By Jim Beaugez published 21 September 23 Nick Cogan of Drug Church and Militarie Gun joins Malachi Greene of Scowl to share the state of play in U.S. hardcore, a formerly rules-based art form that is now a free for all creatively
“I started with Strats, but then I got hooked on Les Pauls. I like that I have to pick a fight with them when I'm playing”: How Leilani Kilgore went from aspiring punk player to college dropout playing searing blues-rock for a living By Andrew Daly published 21 September 23 Leilani Kilgore's dream was to ring out power chords on the Warped Tour. Then she studied the blues greats and started to “take the guitar seriously… as a means of conversation rather than just shouting”
From the Bat Strat to Arm the Homeless and the Dean from Hell: 10 all-star guitars that defined the ’90s By Andrew Daly published 20 September 23 As hair-metal met its end and the alt-rock explosion reinvented guitar anew, a fresh breed of electric guitars were getting plastered on bedroom walls
Every guitarist wishes they were better at fingerstyle – and this lesson may make you want to ditch the pick for good By Chris Bird
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 Eddie, 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
Learn the vibrant guitar styles of bossa nova, tango and rumba with this lesson in South American rhythms By Jon Bishop published 18 September 23 Expand your musical vocabulary with this guide to six of the most important South American guitar styles
With credits spanning Miles Davis to John Mayer, John Scofield is one of jazz guitar’s most idiosyncratic players – and his mind-bending solo phrasing is a must-learn By John Wheatcroft published 17 September 23 A John Scofield lesson is a lesson in melodic choices. In this tab and audio lesson, we dive into his genre-spanning style to hone your jazz chops
A Flying V pioneer who inspired Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Albert King was king of the blues – find out why with this lesson in his vocal playing style By Phil Short published 11 September 23 King was a player who could say more with less, with a vibrato that give his licks a vocal quality, and this lesson with tab and audio unpacks his style
Bonnie Raitt may be best known for slide, but she's an expert fingerpicker, too – and her Americana-indebted style will improve your acoustic playing By Stuart Ryan published 6 September 23 In this video and tab lesson, we unpack the acoustic fingerstyle approach of one of America's great songwriters, and give you ideas for how to embellish chords and use inversions
Michael Romeo is one of the world's elite shredders – test your soloing skills with this lesson on his devastating abilities By Charlie Griffiths published 4 September 23 Influenced by the orchestral sweep of John Williams and the neoclassical madness of Yngwie Malmsteen, the Symphony X mastermind is a formidable shred talent, and this tab and audio lesson isn't for the fainthearted
“This guitar is a real ‘blues machine’, and I really love it!” Joe Bonamassa explains why every blues player needs to try a Gibson ES-345 as he shares his favorite licks By Joe Bonamassa published 1 September 23 The Varitone control makes this semi-hollow unlike anything else in the Gibson catalog – Joe Bonamassa shows us the tones and licks that made it such a classic electric
