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June 2026

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135 articles

June 17
- Yvette Young has a new piece of signature gear – and it might be the one stop shop for all the ambient prog rock tones you’ve been waiting for
- “It’s like the wind is at your back when you’re playing it”: The difference between a PRS Silver Sky and Fender Stratocaster, according to a blues hero who plays both
- “The most important and influential bass guitarist in the 66-year history of the Precision”: Fender honors legendary Motown bass great with recreation of James Jamerson’s workhorse bass
- Polyphia announces 2026 world tour – and they're bringing two of the biggest names in guitar playing with them
- “In musical hierarchies, there was Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and I was like, ‘Where am I?’” Ed O’Brien opens up on his guitar insecurities in Radiohead
- “I’m creating music for the girls in the front row. Not the weird dude with a tripod trying to look up my shorts”: Grace Bowers has returned to YouTube and launched a new era on her own terms
- “We started talking about Black Sabbath, and Buzz goes, ‘You know they did this thing called drop D.’ We said, ‘What’s that?’” Kim Thayil on how Soundgarden took rock guitar into the superunknown – and the unfinished Chris Cornell tapes
- Was Neal Schon the godfather of ’80s glam metal? Tracing the surprising origins of Mötley Crüe’s seminal Looks That Kill riff
June 16
- “We had a new guitar tech. The first thing he did was cut all the guitar strings off. It was devastating”: Why Kurt Vile prefers older guitar strings – and hardly ever changes his
- “There was a lot of interference and push to be commercial. We went along for the ride – and got left in the middle of nowhere”: The thrash metal bands who deserved to make it – but didn’t
- “The downpicking approach was inspired by competition between Dave and I. Like, ‘Here’s a riff… Wait, you can’t play that. Hahaha!’” How James Hetfield wrangled Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax for metal’s biggest reunion
- “My next-door neighbor was Paul McCartney. We got to talking, but I never told him who I was. I had this fear that he wouldn’t know me”: YouTubers, sloppy solos, Paco de Lucía’s darkest tour secrets… in conversation with Al Di Meola and Julian Lage
- “Alex and I looked at each other and went, ‘Wow, I think we have a drummer… Now what do we do?’” Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on the inside story behind the Rush reunion
- “We are not going to let the legacy be erased, nor are we going to let it be diluted”: Fender CEO addresses Strat cease-and-desist backlash
- “I opened for Brad Paisley and his tech jokingly said, ‘Don’t do the B-Bender thing. That’s Brad’s thing’”: John Osborne on the time he got warned off the B-Bender – even though he didn’t have one
June 15
- “That is the most ‘Seattle’ riff I’ve ever heard in my life”: The recording of Nirvana's Bleach – and the band's “ultimate grunge song”
- “A full circle moment after all these years of making music side-by-side”: Billy Idol and Steve Stevens inducted into Guitar Center’s Hollywood Rockwalk
- “I want three Telecasters, rather than just one, because they’re sufficiently different to justify it!” Everything you need to know about 1950s Telecaster pickups – and how to build your own replicas
- Alex Lifeson’s Rush reunion live rig has been revealed – and there’s not an amp in sight on the Fifty Something tour
- “I must have rewound that solo on cassette 300 times, trying to understand what I had just heard”: Nuno Bettencourt pays tribute to Yngwie Malmsteen – and names the one thing most people get wrong about his playing
- “Dime played Dean Zelinsky’s MLs when he had braces on his teeth, and he died with one in his arms”: Dime Guitarz has officially launched – and its first model pays tribute to the Pantera legend’s most iconic guitar
- “Steve Albini died, a friend died, my father died, the father of my wife died. But I want to focus on the positive”: How a composer's approach and 40 DD-3 pedals helped noise masters MONO to heal their grief
- “It’s something I’ve always done all my life, and I can’t get away from it. I have to remind myself it’s okay to play the tops of chords”: Doug Gillard of Guided By Voices on finally going solo again – and the playing quirk he can’t shake
June 14
- “A lot of cats say you don’t have to play fast, but it can cause you to phrase better”: Why bebop master Wes Montgomery never used a guitar pick – and only played using his thumb
- “Van Morrison didn’t speak to us, and we didn’t speak to him. We just started playing through the charts”: How jazz bassist Richard Davis helped shape Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks
- “Paul went, ‘What are you gonna’ play?’ ‘I don’t know.’ There’s George Martin in the control room, a 50 piece orchestra waiting on me in the studio”: How Wings guitarist Henry McCullough recorded his one take solo on My Love
- “I showed up, plugged in, and it was over. Then I saw a video and thought, ‘I’m glad I didn’t dream it’”: When two of the world’s finest guitar players joined forces – Julian Lage on his jam with Derek Trucks
- “Weird, small, brilliant, respectful of pedalboard space. What more could you need?” This week’s hottest new guitar gear – including Alex Lifeson’s ES-355, Charvel’s US return and Ed Sheeran’s new Orange squeeze
June 13
- “I wrote 17 themes. Then they came back and said, ’Yeah, they’re great. Can you do another 12?’” How Barrie Cadogan wrote the Better Call Saul hook – one of TV’s greatest guitar theme tunes
- “The two heads onstage are now fake because Dom smashed so many amps”: How Yungblud’s guitar-throwing habits are forcing his guitarist to rethink his live rig
June 12
- "Tubes are not going to be around forever. But if this is the future of guitar amps, I’m OK with it": EVH 5150 III Hypersonic 6L6 2x12 review
- Keanu Reeves reveals the most important bass lesson he learned from Flea
- “One of the customs guys in Canada decided he hated Black Sabbath, so he smashed the neck with a hammer”: How Geezer Butler’s P-Bass survived a Sabbath hater’s attack – and ended up on the band's most iconic tracks
- The most advanced gig bag ever created? D’Addario has launched climate-controlled guitar cases with integrated humidity control
- “The bar made no profit from it, especially since producing costumes like these is not exactly cheap”: It turns out the fake Russian Angine de Poitrine isn’t actually a real band. Here’s what actually happened
- What are your thoughts on the new Polyphia single?
- “Be mercenary – get rid of five guitars to get one incredible piece”: 25 tips for finding your dream guitar (for the right price)
- “I fell in with some Texas boys and started jamming. They had these G&Ls. The first time I picked one up, I fell in love”: Jerry Cantrell on the magic and mods of his iconic “Blue Dress” G&L Rampage – and his gift from Eddie Van Halen
- “It was the nicest guitar at NAMM”: The Gold Caged Steelcaster is a $15,000, 24-carat T-style inspired by a Cadillac – and it takes James Trussart’s metalwork lutherie to new levels
June 11
- “We’re trying to bring more energy by making it heavier”: Polyphia have invented a new genre with their rave riffing new single, CAN YOU FEEL IT
- “I just don't like chords – I don't like playing them. Music is much more interesting when everybody plays a harmonic line that creates a wider picture”: How Death Cab for Cutie found their second act – by embracing the weird, and guitars from their past
- Pinch harmonics made easy: how to get the perfect squeal
- “A direct line back to where it all started”: Charvel returns to California with new USA-made Neo-Classic Superstrats
- “Ed’s own techs said the only person that could help was this girl outta Nashville. Joe called me and said, ‘Apparently I should be talking to you’”: How Joe Satriani found the amp builder for his dream Eddie Van Halen tone
- “She was a complete stranger. She was a bit intimidated at first because she’d heard of the band, but she wasn’t a Rush fan”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee on Anika Nilles’ rollercoaster audition for Rush's Fifty Something tour
- “Music doesn’t start in arenas or on streaming platforms. It starts in bedrooms and on street corners”: Ed Sheeran launches signature Orange amp range - could it topple the Roland Cube as the busking combos to beat?
- “I jammed with Prince once, and he was like, ‘What is that effect you have on your guitar?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’ He couldn’t believe it”: Lenny Kravitz on the time he blew Prince’s mind with his guitar tone
- “A proactive step to position these iconic brands for long-term success”: Dean Guitars owner files for bankruptcy
- “The guitar is based on a Strat I have, as well as my Jazzmaster. I’m biased, of course, but it sounds really good!” Guitar tone gourmand Ariel Posen spills the secrets to his sound
June 10
- “I looked at him like he had two heads and said, ‘Let me get this straight – you’re going to fire Jake E. Lee from his own band?’” Greg Chaisson waited years to reunite with Jake E. Lee. But then he had to quit, and couldn’t say why
- “I wanted to leave, but I didn't have the guts to quit. Just as I reached for the phone, it rang. ‘Hi, Flea, you’re fired’”: The call that ended Flea’s days as a pick-playing punk and set him on the path to worldwide fame with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Epiphone launches hotly anticipated reissue of Alex Lifeson’s iconic ES-355 – just in time for Rush's return to the stage
- August 2026 Guitar World lesson videos and more
- A signature electric for a fictional guitar hero? PRS has launched a new SE model for an anime character
- “We have regularly heard players request one change”: Gibson gives in to overwhelming fan demands and supercharges its Victory shred machine with one key upgrade
- Give your guitar-obsessed dad something he'll actually use this Father's Day – including a best-in-class desktop amp, an intriguing way he can recycle old guitar strings, and more
- “So common that it is depicted as a generic electric guitar in a dictionary”: When Fender went to court and lost – the 2009 court ruling that failed to trademark the Stratocaster
- “It is good news. Better than I expected”: Höfner has been bought out after filing for bankruptcy – and will be backed by Thomann for a new era
- “Possibly the best Revstar yet”: Yamaha 60th Anniversary RSP20B and RS02CB Chris Buck review
- “I was just playing, warming up for the show, and Glenn comes busting in… ‘What the hell’s that?’ ‘I don’t know, it’s just this lick I warm up with.’ He said, ‘No, that‘s an Eagles song, dude!’” The making of the Eagles’ 1976 masterpiece Hotel California
- The $330,200 Fender Telecaster that connects Danny Gatton to Lou Reed
June 9
- “I’ve been playing B-benders since 1999, so I was eager to get my mitts on this guitar”: Fender John Osborne Telecaster review
- “I woke up hallucinating. It felt like a really bad acid trip. I tried to talk about that in the song”: Failure’s Ken Andrews is one of alt-rock's most influential tonesmiths. He talks teaming up with Hayley Williams and his return from near-death
- “I was like, ‘Oh, this playing sounds weirdly familiar.’ And then I found the video. It was lifted note for note”: The moment Jack Gardiner realized Giacomo Turra had lifted his licks
- Extreme and Red Hot Chili Peppers classics among first tracks confirmed for Guitar Hero's spiritual successor, Stage Tour
- “Clapton in Crossroads, Gilmour in Comfortably Numb and Peter Green in Black Magic Woman… all have their own take on how they approach rhythms in the phrasing”: The secret to great guitar solos isn’t technique – it’s rhythm
- “The P-90s in it are ridiculously good. I’m still trying to work out quite why they’re as good as they are, if I’m honest”: What makes this 1957 Les Paul Special such a smokeshow?
June 8
- “I found myself sitting next to Keith Richards – just two guys playing the guitar. Doesn’t get much better than that!” From Eric Clapton to Daft Punk and Avenged Sevenfold, Greg Leisz has played with everyone. But don’t call him a session guitarist
- "A genuinely brilliant guitar that can do far more than its heavy metal aesthetic suggests": Ibanez Iron Label AZ41B1 review
- “In ’84 that was it. We were done. I was completely bankrupt. It was devastating”: How Mike Matthews saved pedal pioneers Electro-Harmonix from the brink – and managed to secure its longterm future
- “They don’t even say it’s not a real band. And they have a one-neck guitar”: A fake Angine de Poitrine has been passing themselves off as the real deal in Russia
- Rush play first show in 11 years, armed with double-neck guitars and deep cuts
- “Everyone in the room thought I was buying it. Maybe it helped – people weren’t bidding the way they were on some of the other guitars!” What Derek Trucks made of Jerry Garcia’s $11m Tiger guitar
- “We continue to fight for the return of Darrell’s guitar designs”: Dimebag Darrell’s estate responds after court rules in Dean’s favor in legal dispute
- Ed Sheeran is about to launch another piece of signature gear – and he’s already gifted it to a young fan
- Ancoats Granada Special review – a unique modern-retro design with a fresh approach to relic’ing
- “When Ozzy approached me, there was an inner warning light that said, ‘Don’t do that because you have just left UFO and Scorpions’”: Michael Schenker on his lifelong pursuit of self-expression and track-by-track guide to Don't Sell Your Soul
June 7
- “A fine, gig-ready instrument with a very good array of sounds on tap as well as premium build quality”: Taylor Gold Label 710E review
- “It’s fine to become a technical monster, but if you can’t come up with a good bassline it’s useless”: Lee Sklar shares his secrets for finding the perfect groove in the studio
- “I wasn’t shocked by Angine de Poitrine. Microtonalism has always been there. When Hendrix played 20 cents sharp, it’s the most beautiful thing he played”: David Torn is playing louder and heavier than ever, leaving a trail of trashed bridges in his wake
- Who’s the greatest Stratocaster player?
June 6
- “When Squeeze were first successful, we essentially had to dumb down to fit in with what was going on”: Glenn Tilbrook on the sounds that gave Squeeze a push, and the resurrection of the English rock legends' early recordings
- Troy Van Leeuwen debuts stunning Squier 12-string Telecaster while performing live with Michael Stipe on Jimmy Kimmel
- “A clone of a clone of a clone? Sounds ridiculous. Take my money now”: This week's hottest new guitar gear – including an AI-powered amp that wants to change the way you create tones
- “I borrowed that lick from Willie Weeks. By the time we hit my hometown, I had the entire solo under my fingers”: How Gerald Johnson’s twisting bassline culminated in a full-on solo – a rarity for a 1973 rock track
June 5
- “The knife flipped and hacked right on my knuckle… I play guitar in a weird way”: The bizarre gardening accident that changed the way Phoebe Bridgers plays guitar
- “He added his signature screaming guitar parts, and there it was”: Slash, Tim Henson, Guthrie Govan and Steve Vai have been assembled for an unlikely collaboration album – and it’s filled with A-list players
- “My guess was it was the PRS NF. So cool to know it was this”: New guitar, who dis? John Mayer just debuted his stunning new boutique T-style on his new collab with Lainey Wilson
- “We need our community’s help”: California music store appealing for aid following the theft of four Fender Custom Shop Stratocasters
- 15 hotshot NYC guitarists that prove the Big Apple’s still got some bite – from the Rat Queen to the most-hyped indie band on the planet
- “I don’t know how to say this without bragging”: This guitarist butchered classic riffs at Guitar Center to rage bait fellow customers. Then Jack White sent her his guitar
- “I found him at the studio. I said, ‘You never called me back. I got nothing going on my career, you left me in the lurch’”: Pete Townshend offered Peter Frampton his place in the Who – then blanked him
- “I’ve tried Strandbergs and other ergonomic guitars. They were all close, but they weren’t it”: Meet the Afghanistan war veteran who made it his mission to design the ultimate ergonomic guitar
- “I was just jamming to the track, and Michael came down with Brooke Shields. I asked, ‘Is this cool?’ He said, ‘Anything you want, Slash’”: The surreal beginning to Slash’s musical relationship with Michael Jackson
- “Some of these guitars have doubled in value between 2019 and now”: The best guitar bargains on Reverb – and how to get more for your old gear
June 4
- Fender keeps the pace with Neural DSP and Line 6 with a bumper firmware upgrade that gives players 15 new reasons to try the Tone Master Pro
- “I was broke, so I said yes to everything. I just knew I could never have a normal job”: How Henrik Linder went from struggling music student to overnight success with Dirty Loops
- If you learn one thing from Jake E. Lee it should be this: unlock bigger stretches for better shredding
- “Even the most cynical guitar techs were impressed”: The wireless system that finally convinced Radiohead to ditch their guitar cables for good
- “This might be the last time the Hydra comes out on tour”: Steve Vai might be retiring his monstrous triple-neck Ibanez
- Epiphone launches $229 Hummingbird Tribute to the acoustic beloved by Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards
- “I was on the way to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads festival and I got a DM from John Mayer…” Tom Misch on the time his guitar hero reached out of the blue and offered to join him on stage
- “I snapped, flipped him off, grabbed my coat, and stormed out of the studio. I told him to ‘get Steve Vai’”: Kim Thayil reveals his battles over Soundgarden’s Superunknown and Black Hole Sun
- “I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing”: The Jesus and Mary Chain call Eddie Van Halen one of the “worst guitar players in the world”
- “Without the guitar, I’d probably be a professional dog-walker or in jail”: The life and times of Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell
- “He was extremely let down by his manager. The guy ripped him off of so much money. To get Peter to talk about that, it was very painful”: Behind the scenes of the Peter Frampton documentary
- “I got wrecked, paranoid, the whole thing... and then they hit this riff that I still remember. I just wept”: Paul McCartney on the life-changing moment he saw Fela Kuti live while smoking with Ginger Baker
June 3
- Ace Frehley's main Kiss guitar, the 1975 “Budokan” Gibson Les Paul, sells for over half a million dollars at auction
- "The price might be chunky, but the playing experience, build and sonic delivery are tough to argue with": Ibanez Alpha A528 review
- “More Tim Henson than Bob Dylan”: An Elvis Presley guitar and Bob Dylan’s ultra-luxe custom Strat are up for sale – and could fetch a combined $1.5 million
- “Stone Gossard is the reason I picked up guitar in the first place. Having a front row seat to his playing has been amazing”: Josh Klinghoffer on Chili Peppers vs. Pearl Jam and playing in Andrew Watt's new wrecking crew
- “I kept seeing him out the corner of my eye, where he’d be with his guitar”: Mastodon’s first single with their new guitarist is a powerful tribute to Brent Hinds
- “It was the biggest mistake of my career”: JHS Pedals once mistakenly put an ultra-rare Dumble boost circuit into one of its DIY pedals – now it’s been launched as an $89 standalone stompbox
- “I was like, ‘Let’s freshen up the electric guitar.’ 60 years later, you’re still putting out tributes to the station wagon”: The story of John Mayer’s Fender fallout – and how it gave birth to the Stratocaster’s biggest rival
- “I wanted to dislike it!” Is Joe Bonamassa warming to modeling amps? He’s taken a Fender Tone Master on tour
- Best octave pedals for bass 2026: Pitch-shift your playing with my pick of essential pedalboard additions
- “I’ve got a little story about a chord you might like”: Paul McCartney is challenging fans to work out the mystery guitar chord that inspired his new album – and we’ve figured it out
- “It’s possible to play a great solo without many notes if the rhythm is interesting”: How to funk up your blues solos
- “Even though it’s a budget guitar, it’s great. Paul Stanley used to smash one up at the end of KISS shows”: The amps that defined punk, the custom electric that was “painted in a shed” – Bruce Watson on the gear behind Big Country’s sound
June 2
- “It’s a genuinely unique instrument – and it always raises a smile”: Nigel Tufnel's “World on Fire” guitar, used during Spinal Tap's Live Earth performance, is headed to auction
- “He only ever said one thing to me about sounding like anyone he’d played with before”: Rowan Robertson on the key piece of advice he received from Ronnie James Dio on how to faithfully play Tony Iommi’s riffs
- "Where many modeling amps of this ilk fail to impress me, I found the Reactor to be incredibly receptive, balanced and warm": Positive Grid Reactor 100 Intelligent Guitar Combo Amp review
- “A turning point for the industry”: TONE3000’s new A2 NAM modeling tech beat some huge hitters in a blind listening test – and it’s completely free to use
- “I was a child – he’d choose which records I would get royalties on and which I didn’t. He was stealing my money, and I didn’t realize it”: The untold story of “The Lost Beach Boy” David Marks
- “I suspect Fender decided against building Thinlines with this specification because they would have been too expensive to manufacture”: What two 1967 prototypes tell us about the evolution of the Telecaster Thinline
- Positive Grid branches out from the Spark with the Reactor – an AI-powered combo that can generate tones from images and adapts to your playing
- “Damon got very good, so it was pretty hard to write with him around – especially when he was rejecting your songs”: How Graham Coxon came out from his Blur bandmate’s shadow
June 1
- “If anybody could play like that, they must be crazy”: How Dave Davies wrote the savage solo for the Kinks’ breakthrough hit
- “If you think this is a bunch of throwaway crap to suck the dollar out of poor, unsuspecting Van Halen fans, it’s not”: Eddie Van Halen’s soon-to-be-released recordings are going to blow you away, according to Steve Lukather
- “I did four or five songs, then Ozzy said, ‘Welcome aboard’. I would have loved to have spent more time with him”: Randy Rhoads was his guitar teacher. Then he ended up in Ozzy Osbourne’s band
- “It’s a one-string instrument with a handle on it, and I hit it with a stick”: Les Claypool’s bonkers one-string leads the biggest (and strangest) bass releases of the month
- “Quirky and off-the-wall, it’s waiting to throw a spanner in the works of your guitar tone”: Electro-Harmonix Pico Atomic Cluster review
- “Everyone who is anyone has used one at some point in their careers”: The story of the Boss digital delay pedal that changed the world
- “He took some small songs of mine that nobody paid any attention to and turned them all into classics”: 11 cover songs that Jimi Hendrix made his own – including one that became Eric Clapton’s favorite Hendrix track
- Best overdrive pedals for bass 2026: The ultimate in bass saturation at all price points