NAMM 2026 live! The biggest guitar news as it happens
All the hottest news and biggest surprises from the world’s premier guitar gear trade show
Latest News
Slash and Magnatone slither into the fray with the Lil’ Viper, a compact but venomous 8-watt combo amp
It features High/Low gain voicings, a 12AX7 preamp tube, and a pair of NOS 6AQ5 power tubes... and Slash reckons it can punch well above its weight
NAMM 2026: rumors, predictions and breaking news from the world's biggest guitar gear show
All the latest and greatest gear drops coming out of the largest music trade show in the world – with new launches from Ibanez, Taylor, EVH, Marshall and more
Suhr unveils its 2026 line-up – kicking off with new signatures for Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden and Lady Gaga’s riffer Tim Stewart
There’s also the return of its short-scale OSO models, and T-types aplenty
Gibson had a secret offset prototype hidden in its private room at NAMM 2026 – meet the Atomic Age
We sat down with the unlikely retro-futuristic concept guitar and brand-new body shape
JBL unveils the BandBox, an AI-powered amp and speaker that might just change the way guitarists practice
Available in Solo and Trio versions, the BandBox can also be connected to the JBL ONE app, from which players can access a number of amp models and effects
Strandberg collaborates with Jamstik on a software-controlling MIDI guitar
An ergonomic-focused Starndberg at its core, it comes loaded with a high-performance MIDI pickup for a new world of sounds
Seymour Duncan goes toe-to-toe with Fishman with its triple-voiced MortalCoil active pickups
Offering three distinct voices in one package and promising fast, dynamic response and long battery life, these might be SD’s most modern pickups yet
Why Mick Box is missing Uriah Heep's farewell shows
His stand-in has the founding member’s blessing, but is left joking about “existential panic” and “very big boots” to fill
Blackstar unveils a high-powered floor modeler series with “insane versatility”
Packed with tone-sculpting features and a focused amp collection for electrics, acoustic, and bass, the British amp firm is bringing its firepower to the modeler market via the new ID:X Digital Floorboard series
Artists
Josh Menashe of Frankie and the Witch Fingers has some advice on riff writing – just up your step count and let them come to you
Trash Classic is an album that does not hang around. Riffs come at at you fast – get in, get out is FATWF's credo, says Menashe
The Cribs on swapping guitars, tracking a stolen guitar and why it’s not their fault that you can’t get their signature Squiers
Ryan and Gary Jarman remember Steve Albini as much nicer than you’d think, share the crazy story of a missing Mustang, and tell us how a Tube Screamer can make a guitar sound like a synth
How three session aces and an inspired intervention from a “wunderkind” Steve Lukather saved a ‘70s soft-rock classic
England Dan and John Ford Coley's Love Is the Answer might not sound like the guitar track of nightmares but it took a lot of guitar talent to get it onto tape
![The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Jimmie Vaughan [left] and Kim Wilson do their thing at Rockefellers in Houston circa 1984...](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QNeXPUasV8vjS8djbycRLe-840-80.jpg.webp)
Texas blues legend Jimmie Vaughan on longevity, Strats and collabs with a Beatle on the Porky’s Revenge OST
A new Fabulous Thunderbirds box set is bursting with powerful stuff by Jimmie Vaughan & Co. – including an entire unreleased album from 1978. Here, Vaughan talks T-Birds and Strats and Fender amps, and tells us what flips his switch
Reb Beach on the story of his ’90s Ibanez signature guitar – and the mystery behind its sequel
The year is 1990 and Reb Beach is on the cover of Guitar World with his Ibanez WRB-3, a super-cool weird shape electric. But what happened to the WRB-1?
Kool & The Gang’s Robert Bell on how he laid down three top 10s in a single session – and became one of the most sampled artists in history
The funk masters’ only surviving original member explains the humble beginnings of most of their hits, how they put them together and why he isn’t going back to big rigs even if everyone else is
How the Velveteers' Demi Demitro learned to speak through baritone fuzz riffs
With Dan Auerbach at the helm once more, the Velveteers' A Million Knives holds the brute force of low-end guitar and melody in equilibrium while two drummers pummel their way through the mix
Keith Urban tells the tale of the Dumble that got away – and why he let down the buyer of his ’Burst
The country superstar shares his love for holy grail amps, writing riffs on cheap guitars, and the Nocaster once owned by Cinderella’s Tom Keifer that’s “worth every cent”
Randy Holden’s 1970 album pioneered doom metal. But he was never told it had been released
Two decades after he’d been sickened enough to quit playing, Holden discovered he was a guitar hero. He picked up the guitar again straight away, but he’ll never return to the industry that burned him
Gear
Best impulse responses: the secret sauce of great recorded guitar tone
Take your recordings to another level with these high-quality cab IRs from York Audio, GGD, Ownhammer, ML Soundlabs, and more
Best delay pedals: our pick of the coolest delay pedals for your pedalboard
Whether you prefer digital or analog delay pedals, the options in this round-up will help boost your creativity on the guitar
Best reverb pedals: from spring to shimmer, these are our top picks for your pedalboard
Take a deep dive into the cavernous world of 'verb and explore the best reverb pedals for every budget
Best amps for metal 2026: my top picks for high-gain heroes
These powerhouse metal amps from PRS, Orange, Friedman, EVH, and more will have you primed to seek and destroy
“Making digital modeling a more viable option for those who miss the sound and feel of a real amp”: Line 6 Powercab CL 112 review
Missing on-stage sound? Find FRFR cabs unnatural? Line 6's latest Powercab offers a traditional speaker, primed for digital modelers
Best acoustic guitar strings: our top-rated strings for your acoustic
We pick the best guitar strings for acoustic guitar from Ernie Ball, D'Addario, Martin, and more
Best budget guitar amps under $500 2026: cost-cutting amplifiers for every player
Get great sounds and features without blowing your budget – from affordable tube amps to wallet-friendly digital modeling amps and everything in between
Lessons
Best online guitar lessons 2026: I'm a professional guitar product reviewer and these are my top picks
Online lessons are the ideal platform for developing guitar skills at home or on the go – myself and our in-house experts have tested options for all playing levels, styles and budgets, including a free option
“Sometimes simplicity wins the day”: Joe Bonamassa on the art of writing a heavy guitar riff
In his latest GW video lesson, the blues-rock superstar recalls how some of his heaviest riffs came together, and to your shock – and maybe even horror – they were written in standard tuning
Demystifying chord names, starting with a Hendrix and SRV favorite, the maj9
A little knowledge with naming conventions goes a long way to understanding complex chords and how they might sound
Bob Weir's 6 principles of rhythm guitar
Often overlooked in guitar circles when compared to Grateful Dead bandmate Jerry Garcia, Weir was a brilliant rhythm player who blended jazz, folk, country, blues, and rockabilly influences into a style that any guitarist would do well to study
Jared James Nichols on why playing in a trio opens up your soloing approaches
Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Mountain, Rush... Jared James Nichols argues that three is the magic number, allowing guitar players to stretch out and the band to feed off each other
Cory Wong on how you can use double-stops in a melody or solo
Using the Fearless Flyers jam Anaheim, the funkmaster unpacks an essential technique for all guitar players, and shows us how it can be rhythm, lead, and both when you need it to be
“Albert King once advised Gary Moore to ‘play every other note’”: Why keeping it simple can improve your blues solos
Peter Green, George Harrison, Gary Moore, David Gilmour... These are just some of the players inspiring this lesson in stylistic restraint, all in the pursuit of the blues
Reviews
“Making digital modeling a more viable option for those who miss the sound and feel of a real amp”: Line 6 Powercab CL 112 review
Missing on-stage sound? Find FRFR cabs unnatural? Line 6's latest Powercab offers a traditional speaker, primed for digital modelers
“A variety of tonal options for not much outlay”: Vintage Distortion, Chorus, Delay and Reverb pedals review
The UK-based Vintage brand enters the pedal market with a baker’s dozen of budget-friendly models
“Boss has packed some serious muscle into a small box... For its price, it’s going to be very tough to beat”: Boss GX-1B review
Boss's GX range of multi-effects gets a bass-specific baby brother...
"The build quality is outstanding, and the number of features gives younger and new players plenty to grow into": Boss GX-1 review
Boss' new entry-level multi-effects delivers pro-level features on a bedroom budget
“There’s more ‘Fender’ to Fiore and more ‘Gibson’ to the SE DGT”: PRS Fiore HH and SE DGT Standard review
PRS has ignored its existing signature artists during its 40th Anniversary, but finally we get two new models that illustrate huge diversity, proving PRS does indeed make guitars for us players
“A wide range of everyday fuzz needs from thick and smooth to raspy and raucous”: Electro-Harmonix Bender Royale review
Electro-Harmonix revives the classic three-transistor Tone Bender and evolves it for more sonic variety
“You may feel that the whole TransAcoustic thing is a novelty… we’d urge you to put aside your preconceptions”: Yamaha TAS3 C review
Reading a manual to find out how to connect your acoustic guitar to Bluetooth might deter some traditionalists, but there is treasure to be found for the adventurous
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Buying Guides
Best online guitar lessons 2026: I'm a professional guitar product reviewer and these are my top picks
Online lessons are the ideal platform for developing guitar skills at home or on the go – myself and our in-house experts have tested options for all playing levels, styles and budgets, including a free option
Best impulse responses: the secret sauce of great recorded guitar tone
Take your recordings to another level with these high-quality cab IRs from York Audio, GGD, Ownhammer, ML Soundlabs, and more
Best delay pedals: our pick of the coolest delay pedals for your pedalboard
Whether you prefer digital or analog delay pedals, the options in this round-up will help boost your creativity on the guitar
Best reverb pedals: from spring to shimmer, these are our top picks for your pedalboard
Take a deep dive into the cavernous world of 'verb and explore the best reverb pedals for every budget
Best amps for metal 2026: my top picks for high-gain heroes
These powerhouse metal amps from PRS, Orange, Friedman, EVH, and more will have you primed to seek and destroy
Best acoustic guitar strings: our top-rated strings for your acoustic
We pick the best guitar strings for acoustic guitar from Ernie Ball, D'Addario, Martin, and more
Best budget guitar amps under $500 2026: cost-cutting amplifiers for every player
Get great sounds and features without blowing your budget – from affordable tube amps to wallet-friendly digital modeling amps and everything in between