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March 2020

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248 articles

March 30th
- Arrows frontman Alan Merrill, co-writer of I Love Rock ‘N Roll, dies aged 69 from coronavirus
- Get to grips with legato playing using this simple guitar workout
- Dream Theater's John Myung: "There are moments when I’m playing parts live that I wish I did on the album the first time round"
- Best electric guitars under $500: 10 epic electrics for smaller budgets
- Eric Clapton: 13 of his best under-the-radar solo songs
- Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, John Petrucci and more on why they love Mesa/Boogie’s Mark II amps
- How to make your guitar stay in tune
- Country music hitmaker Joe Diffie dies aged 61 from coronavirus complications
- Sick Riffs: Learn 2 monstrous heavy-hitters from The Browning's latest album, Geist
- Strymon Iridium review
- You can get an actual pedalboard in Animal Crossing - and guitarists are freaking out
- Line 6 Powercab 212 Plus review
- Drive-By Truckers: "These songs called for lyrical playing and slide guitar was a great way to achieve that"
- 10 best guitar tuners 2020: chromatic, polyphonic and strobe guitar tuners
March 27th
- From high-octane thrash-metal assaults to lonesome country ballads: here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Scientists develop revolutionary new bass strings that allow high notes to ring out louder and clearer
- Sick Riffs: Zach Bedsaul teaches you the smoldering 7-string chug of 3 monster Saul tracks
- 10 biographies, motivational manuals and killer guitar books to read during lockdown
- Synergy introduces high-gain Engl Powerball preamp module
- How to tune your guitar by ear
- Marshall gets smart with the Alexa-powered Uxbridge Voice speaker
- Soccer star Alexi Lalas on his love of guitar: "I’d always considered myself a performer, as an athlete and a musician"
- Positive Grid offers free BIAS FX Mobile download to help musicians “remain creative and positive right now”
- Framus D-Series Panthera Supreme review
- The history of the Gibson SG
- The Music Industries Association: your local music shop needs your support
- Beginner guitar: lock down your rhythm playing with this lesson in basic note durations
March 26th
- Sick Riffs: Will Knaak teaches you the delay-driven licks of Blue October's Italian Radio
- Dean’s new NashVegas T-style models offer “classic looks with original attitude”
- Godin hits the big leagues with the Stadium HT single-cut electric guitar
- Hagstrom Ultra Max review
- Out of the woods: the environmental challenges facing guitar makers
- This insane Epiphone Les Paul mod adds an onboard fuzz pedal, complete with joystick
- 21 underrated guitar solos you need to hear
- Dave Mustaine and daughter Electra play The Beatles’ Come Together while in quarantine
- Joyo Audio’s Baatsin packs 8 analog overdrives into one $59 pedal
- Yamaha CG-TA TransAcoustic review
March 25th
- Vicky Warwick: "I love playing Fender Mustang basses, but the Jazz has more punch"
- Steve Vai: "When I was a kid playing guitar too loud, the neighbors would complain... and my father would tell them to shut the f**k up"
- Bass legend Carol Kaye: “98% of bass parts cut in Hollywood in the '60s were done with a pick on flatwound strings”
- Good guitar deed of the day: Jared Dines just bought a brand-new Gibson Les Paul for a combat vet in need
- TIDAL's HiFi service is currently $4 per month for the next 4 months – get lossless quality for less
- Halestorm kick off Gibson's social distancing-friendly HomeMadeMusic video series
- Sick Riffs: Bumblefoot teaches you the finger-twisting runs in Sons of Apollo’s King Of Delusion
- Guitar World launches Sick Riffs video series to help guitarists affected by the coronavirus
- The house is rockin’: Devon Allman launches virtual tour from his home
- The secrets behind Johnny Marr's tone on The Smiths' How Soon Is Now?
- Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 Floor review
- Best guitar amps under $1,000 2020: our pick of top combo amps and heads
- 10 ways guitarists can keep busy while stuck at home
March 24th
- Nick Johnston: "I didn’t have a lot of money growing up - you learn to make gear sound good with what you have"
- Joe Satriani names the one solo he regrets writing and recording
- Fender American Ultra Jazzmaster and Stratocaster HSS review
- Lava Music’s new carbon-fiber acoustic-electric promises “bright, dynamic and open sound at a fraction of the size”
- Hällas: "We started with the plot and then made riffs that would fit the narrative. It was more of a soundtrack approach"
- Acorn Amplifiers’ Circuit Fuzz boasts a bonus boost circuit board mounted on the pedal’s face
- Mateus Asato covers a Nickelback solo - only to realize it was originally by Nuno Bettencourt
- Watch Virgil Donati guitarist Andre Nieri take jazz-fusion to its limits in this mind-bending guitar playthrough
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff review round-up
- Buy a Taylor acoustic guitar and get another for just $99 at Musician’s Friend
- How to cover a song and make it your own
- Best acoustic guitars for beginners 2020: 10 easy strummers for new acoustic guitar players
- The 10 best guitar lesson channels on YouTube
- There's much more to the Wingman FX Danger Zone pedal than its amazing graphics
March 23rd
- Lose yourself in the Walrus Audio Mako Series D1 Delay pedal's dazzling array of sounds
- Upgrade your solos by learning CAGED scales
- Watch Lamb of God's Mark Morton play fingerstyle acoustic in this exclusive All I Had To Lose performance
- Voyager's Alex Canion: "I knew absolutely nothing about being a DJ, so, I got my dad’s old basses out and started chipping away"
- Bite Guitars’ Dragon is a monster of a bass with 7 pickup configurations
- Victory VC35 The Copper review
- Brian May teaches you how to play the Bohemian Rhapsody solo while in self-isolation
- Fender debuts eye-catching new finishes for the American Original Series
- Gibson temporarily closes US operations to help fight coronavirus
- Inside the VPJR Tuner, Ernie Ball’s new 2-in-1 volume and tuner pedal
- Get 3 months of Fender Play for FREE – sign up for online guitar lessons to help you improve at home
- Musicians share their experiences dealing with the impact of coronavirus: "I don't know when we'll get to play again"
- Feel like your guitar playing sucks? Angel Vivaldi has one simple trick to turn that around
- How to use finger slides to create expressive, sitar-like sounds
- May 2020 Guitar World lesson videos
March 22nd
- Best electric guitar strings 2020: top guitar strings for all budgets
March 21st
- Country music legend Kenny Rogers dies aged 81
March 20th
- From groove-heavy djent to Hevy Devy's Quarantine: here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Buying these coronavirus tour t-shirts will help out-of-work tour crews
- Behold the 'mother of all volume pedal mods' for the Ernie Ball VP Jr.
- Founding Fender Custom Shop builder George Blanda retires after 35 years
- Diezel’s VHX head is an all-tube powerhouse with added digital effects and IR flexibility
- Can't choose between the Fender Acoustasonic Strat and Tele? Let Tyler Bryant and Daniel Donato decide for you with this epic guitar battle
- The best pedalboard power supplies 2020: overhaul your guitar effects with these recommended power supplies
- Standards’ Marcos Mena blends cross-handed tapping and percussive styles into the fruitiest guitar playthrough you’ll see all year
- How to create chord progressions that will bring your lead lines to life
- Electro-Harmonix Mod 11, Nano Operation Overlord and Bass9 Bass Machine review
- The Guardian is "a gig bag with the soul of a hardshell case"
- Classic gear: Fender Telecaster Thinline
March 19th
- Dimebag Darrell’s guitar gear: everything you need to nail the game-changing Pantera guitarist’s sound
- This bonkers Fender Jazzmaster mod crams a delay pedal underneath the tailpiece for on-the-fly insanity
- Kemper launches its “ultimate cabinet solution” for Profiler players with the new Kabinet and Kone
- Billy Sheehan names 5 of his favorite bass albums
- Learn Randy Rhoads' warm-up exercises and more in this complete 1982 guitar clinic
- Slaves blaze through their latest single, Bury a Lie, in this electronic-infused guitar playthrough
- Watch Zakk Wylde play a surprisingly faithful rendition of David Gilmour's Comfortably Numb solo
- Fender launches Made In Japan Heritage Series, offering historically accurate looks and specs at an attractive price point
- 10 easy guitar songs for beginners
- Supro Blues King 8 review
March 18th
- Al Di Meola offers a moving tribute to The Beatles with Across The Universe
- Jerry Cantrell discusses the five best bands he's toured with, soloing and partying with Dimebag Darrell in 2011 interview
- How to clean your guitar: the Guitar World guide to keeping your guitar in premium condition
- Woodpecker introduces the Travel Koa mini guitar - because you will leave your home again one day
- Stone Deaf brings unwanted noise to death’s door with the new Noise Reaper gate pedal
- Get 5 issues of Guitar Techniques for just £5 and improve your playing today
- The 9 best guitar amps under $500: top budget beginner and practice amps
- Strymon discontinues the OB.1 Optical Compressor and Clean Boost
- Get 5 issues of Guitarist for just £5
- Bandcamp will waive its cut of sales for one day to support musicians during coronavirus pandemic
- Your first guitar lesson: everything you need to know to start playing now
- He will rock you: Italian guitarist rips Brian May riffs from his Rome balcony during coronavirus lockdown
- Get a 5-month digital subscription to Total Guitar today for only £5
- Megadeth's Dave Ellefson: "With bass design, sometimes the best way forward is to go back in time"
- Lowden FMc review
- The best acoustic guitar strings 2020: our complete guide
- Victor Wooten: "Music is about more than the time spent on your instrument. It’s about the time spent on yourself"
- Go from Johnny Cash to Polyphia with these 6 diverse licks
- Get 5 digital issues of Bass Guitar today for only £5
March 17th
- Fuchs Audio’s Marshall-style Mantis 89 promises "everything from Plexi-like gain to metal shredding"
- What do you get when you combine Godin’s Radiator and Stadium models? Meet the all-new Radium
- The ultimate Spinal Tap moments: rock 'n' roll's biggest names share their most embarrassing stories
- How playing guitar in front of a mirror can improve your technique (yes, really!)
- Is the carbon-fiber Lava U the most technologically advanced ukulele ever?
- Watch Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Emmanuel (on electric guitar) and Josh Smith shred the blues on a boat
- How much is enough: is amassing a huge gear collection really good for your playing - or the planet?
- Line 6 recalls Relay G10 wireless system for potential “fire and injury hazards”
- Sacred Reich guitarist and founding member Jason Rainey dead at 53
- Fender Mustang LT25 review
- Eddie Kramer: "Jimi Hendrix was tough on himself, but when he made a mistake, he’d turn it into something cool"
- Joe Satriani recalls the time Slash spat on his wah pedal: “I should've saved it and put it in a box or something”
March 16th
- Headbanging Italian guitarist plays Slayer from his balcony during coronavirus lockdown
- Lady Gaga guitarist Tim Stewart: "We get pop fans come to see her, but we get the guys from Anthrax and Slayer, too"
- Fret-King 'Black Label' Country Squire Semitone Special review
- The evolution of distortion: how advances in gear paved the way for heavy music
- Gibson sued by Heritage Guitars over alleged trademark threats
- Black Mountain's Stephen McBean on how Judas Priest and Kiss fed into the stoner-rock vibes on new album, Destroyer
March 13th
- From poignant, moving pop-punk to wall-shaking metalcore: here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Technical ecstasy: Synergy unveils Bogner Ecstasy and Ubershall preamp modules
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony honoring Nine Inch Nails, Doobie Brothers and others postponed due to coronavirus
- What size truss rod wrench do you need for that guitar setup? Music Nomad has the answer
- 70 years later, the Fender Broadcaster is back
- The secrets behind Robin Trower's guitar tone on Bridge of Sighs
- Joanna Connor: "Besides the human voice, the guitar is the most expressive instrument there is - what’s more amazing than a killer guitar solo?"
- Take your lead playing even further with these unusual string-bending techniques
March 12th
- Which pedal is in the Guitar Crate this month?
- Godin invites you to dive into its striking new Imperial Laguna Blue acoustic
- Slash's guitar gear: everything you need to nail the Guns N’ Roses legend’s sound
- The 10 best distortion pedals 2020: top drive pedals and effects for guitarists
- Steve Vai offers a guided tour of his weirdest and wackiest guitars
- Epiphone Limited Edition Jason Hook M-4 Explorer Outfit review
- Riff-savvy guitarist plays 50 Avenged Sevenfold songs in five minutes - how many can you name?
- Joe Satriani names Nita Strauss as the next shredder to "explode on the scene"
- This Black Dahlia Murder guitar playthrough showcases the very best of modern extreme metal
- Best beginner electric guitars 2020: learn to play on these ace electric guitars for beginners
- PRS cancels Experience PRS 2020 guitar festival due to coronavirus fears
- Way Huge has built a pedal covered in chalkboard paint, so you can give it whatever ridiculous name you like
- Chelsea Wolfe: "Birth of Violence is a really f**ked-up version of an American folk record"
- Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto: "I would like Metallica to record on our equipment. What would they do to express themselves through that gear?"
March 11th
- Dean's new Exile Select guitars are sleek shred machines
- Dream Theater could be funding your music tuition with the launch of new Berklee College of Music scholarship fund
- Life of Agony's Alan Robert reveals his vintage bass guitar collection
- Ernie Ball’s new Classic Jaquard strap designs aim to secure your guitar in style
- Best acoustic guitars 2020: top strummers for beginner guitarists to pros
- George Lynch: “I wish Judas Priest would call me up and hire me”
- Seymour Duncan’s Polaron offers analog phase shifting with digital modulation control
- Four Year Strong weave infectious melodies into heavy breakdowns in this feel-good guitar playthrough
- Dashboard Confessional: "When you’re a one-man band, the audience can get bored if you don’t use every playing style you can think of"
- Iron Maiden's Steve Harris talks British Lion, songwriting, and why his SansAmp is a carry-on essential when touring
- Steve Morse: "Deep Purple used to put me in a separate van because I’d be playing the whole way between gigs!"
March 10th
- Save space on your pedalboard with Ernie Ball's 2-in-1 VPJR Tuner pedal
- STL Tones releases ToneHub, its “most powerful plugin ever”
- The battle is no more: Led Zeppelin finally win Stairway to Heaven copyright lawsuit
- Mahogany mastery: Brian Truesby demos the Taylor Builder's Edition 517
- Chapman's Battleworn models have arrived - and they look like no relic'd guitars you've ever seen before
- Watch Lamb of God's Mark Morton and Willie Adler blaze through Checkmate in this exclusive playthrough
- A guide to ambient guitar: channel your post-rock heroes using delay, reverb pedals and more
- Orchards’ Sam Rushton: “We’re told we’ve got happy breakdowns… metalheads seem to like it”
- The 10 best electric guitars 2020: top guitars for every playing style, level and budget
- Billy Strings: "I see a lot of similarities between metal guitar and mandolin, especially in tremolo picking"
March 9th
- Engl offers speaker cabinets “responsible for some of the most brutal high-gain guitar tones in history” as an IR pack
- Megadeth's Kiko Loureiro is selling a mountain of guitar gear - including a "Grammy-winning guitar"
- Flower Pedals rethinks the wah with the foot rocker-free Hosta
- Supro’s Blues King 10 teams affordable tube tone with a built-in Pigtronix overdrive
- Enter to win a grand prize package from Canary Cables
- Classic gear: Electro-Harmonix POG
- Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE Compact review
- Experience some arresting art-rock with dreamy delay textures in this exclusive SPQR playthrough
- The 25 best wah solos of all time
- Austin Meade: "Heavier songs give us more opportunities to create guitar tradeoffs"
- Stuart Zender: "I remember recording Just Can’t Stop with Jamiroquai and it felt as though the bass was flowing into me"
- Kirk Hammett loses Cry Baby Battle Royale to Mrs. Smith in shock wah-off defeat
March 6th
- Watch Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour and Les Paul Play Blue Suede Shoes with Stray Cats
- From politically charged metal to rootsy grooves and folk lyricism, here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Bob Rock recalls the first time he asked Metallica to tune down: "James Hetfield looked like he wanted to kill me"
- Save up to 35% during Guitar Fest at Musician's Friend
- Dynamo’s Flight Rig offers high-gain tube tones in a lightweight, travel-ready package
- Watch Eric Clapton jam with Van Morrison during all-star London charity concert
- Sunn O))): "Our music is not a violent, destructive thing. It’s an expressive thing"
- Beginner guitar: how to play powerchord riffs
- Dear Guitar Hero - DragonForce's Herman Li answers your questions: "I am a specialist in my own weird guitar sound"
- 10 best compressor pedals 2020: enhance your electric guitar tone with compression
- Submit your questions for Squeeze legends Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford
March 5th
- Get screaming guitar feedback at any volume with Blue Cat Audio's AcouFiend plugin
- Fender resurrects the mid-'60s Marauder offset, this time with a built-in delay circuit
- Steve Vai once told Ozzy Osbourne the first Black Sabbath album was out of tune - Ozzy's response? "What the f**k do you want?"
- Check out the monster tones you can conjure with Revv's D20 amp head and G2 overdrive pedal
- Gibson donates guitars to musicians who lost instruments in the Nashville tornadoes
- Matt Bellamy and Graham Coxon supergroup The Jaded Hearts Club release debut single
- Suicide Silence: "Instead of trying to write like Malmsteen or Vai, I like making people go, 'What the hell just happened?'"
- The 10 best movies for guitarists
- Ryan 'Fluff' Bruce talks Riffs, Beards & Gear's YouTube success, Dragged Under and the marginal difference between mid-level and boutique gear
- How to lower acoustic guitar strings
- Best Telecasters 2020: top Fender Tele electric guitars for every budget
- A subscription service for guitarists? Guitar Crate has made it a reality
March 4th
- Tommy Emmanuel has a new signature acoustic guitar - and it isn't a Maton
- Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to Danny Gatton with new instrumental project the Sleep Eazys
- Steve Vai teams with Synergy for hugely versatile signature preamp module
- Genesis turn it on again (again) for The Last Domino? reunion tour
- The 20 heaviest songs before Black Sabbath
- The Analogues' Bart van Poppel: "A lot of Paul McCartney’s bass thinking came from him starting out as a guitar player"
- MXR M303 Clone Looper review
- G&L Guitars unveils retro-cool 40th anniversary CLF Research L-2500 bass
- Danelectro reissues the classic Deluxe as the 59 Divine
- Melvins’ King Buzzo and Hilbish Design bring the noise with new Pessimiser distortion pedal
- Grace Potter: “The guitar is inherent to my sound, and when I get onstage I can’t help it: I have to get to 11”
March 3rd
- Mojo Hand FX's Dream Mender promises iconic DMM delay tones from a compact pedal
- Everything you wanted to know about the B-Bender, a guitarist's ultimate secret weapon
- The guitar world is freaking out over B-Benders again - and it's all Rob Scallon's fault
- The biggest threat to the guitar? It could well be guitarists: how online hate endangers the instrument we love
- Gibson launches the 'Gibson Guitar Riff' with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale at Nashville SC’s inaugural Major League Soccer game
- Fender promises an "undeniable Strat playing experience" and innovative sonics with the American Acoustasonic Stratocaster
- Classic gear: DigiTech Space Station
- Ernie Ball launches 4 new Slinky string sets - meet the Turbo, Mighty, Mondo, and Skinny Top Beefy Bottom
- BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium Edition review
- Brian May’s guitar gear: how to sound like the iconic Queen guitarist
March 2nd
- Get all the tube and boutique amp sounds of your dreams with Blackstar's Silverline Series
- A rare John Lennon and George Harrison-owned fretless guitar just surfaced - and it's worth over $500,000
- Washburn Bella Tono Series acoustic review round-up
- H.E.R. rips on a custom none-more-black Fender Strat over A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s Me and My Guitar on The Tonight Show
- Get classic Sadowsky bass tone in a pedal with the company’s new preamp stompboxes
- 11 best guitar straps 2020: top picks for securing your guitar and boosting playing comfort
- Framus Pro Series Panthera II Supreme and D-Series Diablo Pro review
- Effectrode's Phil Taylor: "When I started making pedals, there were very few people building effects with tubes in them"
- Kerry King on new music post-Slayer: "Let’s just say Dean didn’t sign me for nothing!"