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December 2020
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258 articles
- December 28
- December 24
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- Balaguer Guitars unveils '80s synthwave-inspired limited-edition Espada model
- Leslie West, 1945-2020: the guitar world pays tribute
- Leslie West talks jamming with Jimi Hendrix and seeing Eddie Van Halen for the first time in this classic 1987 Guitar World interview
- 4 guitar tricks you can learn from Gary Clark Jr.
- Suzi Quatro: ”I grew up in Detroit, so I was weaned on James Jamerson. He’s still the best. I very much take my style from him”
- December 23
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- Guitar legend and Mountain frontman Leslie West dies aged 75
- St. Vincent continues her streak of stellar covers with an acoustic take on The Beatles’ Martha My Dear
- Watch Sophie Lloyd sleigh a shred guitar version of festive classic All I Want for Christmas is You
- Kirk Hammett wishes he could redo the guitar solos on Metallica‘s Kill ‘Em All
- Ariel Posen shares his compact, tone-rich rig in this pedalboard playthrough
- Clutch's Neil Fallon collaborates with nine-year old fan to record a new song and make their dreams come true
- PRS announces a Virtual Launch Party for its 2021 guitar lineup that anyone can attend
- Lianne La Havas initially rejected the guitar because she thought it was just for boys
- Paul Reed Smith once attempted to build Carlos Santana a guitar with 25 onboard effects
- Nuno Bettencourt recalls two-hand tapping in front of Eddie Van Halen: “He stops me and goes, ‘Hey, none of that silly stuff!’”
- How to play 7th-chord arpeggios in four-note sequences
- GA-20's Matthew Stubbs: “By 16, I really had the blinders on for that early electric blues sound”
- M-Audio unveils $39 audio interface, including Eleven Lite guitar amp modeling plugin
- 60 years of the Fender Jazz Bass
- Orange Crest Edition Wireless Headphones review
- December 22
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- 10 classic Fender electric guitars you can snap up on eBay
- Tony Iommi: "In them days, you had to MAKE your sound – you couldn’t buy a gadget that made whatever sound you wanted"
- Joe Bonamassa: what you need to understand about buying gear online
- Eddie Van Halen honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Guitar Museum
- John Mayer explains why there will never be a sunburst PRS Silver Sky
- Mike Papapavlou named Guitar Teacher of the Year 2020
- Introducing your 2020 Bassist of the Year, Danny Sapko
- Your Electric Guitarist of the Year 2020 winner is Igor Paspalj
- Juho Ranta-Maunus wins Young Guitarist of the Year 2020
- Keep your guitar in perfect pitch with Grover’s Rotomatic locking tuners
- Marty Friedman talks jamming with Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro, his love of Fleetwood Mac and why he wishes his playing was more accessible
- The history of Jackson Guitars
- Wolfgang Van Halen confirms Van Halen will never return without his father
- NAMM’s Believe in Music unites the music industry in a virtual convention and marketplace
- Paul McCartney and Idris Elba-signed Cort acoustic goes up for charity auction
- John Petrucci details Terminal Velocity track by track: "These songs had to have a message. And the best way to do that is through melody"
- 4 guitar tricks you can learn from Jimmy Page
- Fender Vintera Road Worn ’70s Telecaster Deluxe review
- Justin Johnson bought two guitars on eBay for $1,000 – and he’s giving one away to a lucky viewer
- December 21
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- The Lemon Twigs: "This record kind of comes at you and either hits you positively or negatively"
- This full-bodied guitar is built out of 5,000 coffee beans
- The life and times of Frank Zappa – composer, satirist and towering giant of the electric guitar
- Eddie Van Halen once asked Michael Jackson guitarist Jennifer Batten to teach him the Beat It solo
- 5-minute sneak peek of Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back documentary released
- Paul McCartney was in talks with Gibson to make a signature Epiphone Casino
- February 2021 Guitar World lesson videos
- Slash’s son London Hudson on why he plays drums instead of guitar
- Guitarless practice: how to learn without the instrument, and improve your musicality anytime, anywhere
- Best bass strings 2025: Get the best tone, feel and lifespan from your bass guitar with these recommended string sets
- Kirk Hammett reveals his 3 favorite Metallica guitar solos
- 20 times Guthrie Govan proved he was the funniest guitarist on the planet
- Bass guitar pickups explained
- Ed Sheeran releases his first new music in almost 18 months – listen to Afterglow now
- Epiphone Les Paul Standard '50s review
- Dial in the perfect distorted tone every time, with any amp, with One Control’s new Dyna Red Distortion 4K
- Recreate famous tones from EVH, the Edge, Dimebag and more with Positive Grid’s BIAS FX 2 amp and effects software
- December 20
- December 18
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- Ringo Starr recruits Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl and Joe Walsh for new EP
- TC Electronic adds the Helix Phaser and Viscous Vibe to the Plethora X5 in comprehensive TonePrint Pedalboard update
- Tom Morello and Slash discuss how their Interstate 80 collaboration came to be and made their fiercest Guitar Hero battles come true
- The 20 best guitar albums of 2020
- Joe Bonamassa is planning to make a “subway record” in New York City
- Keith Richards reveals his 10 all-time favorite Rolling Stones riffs and the stories behind them
- Nita Strauss: “If Stairway to Heaven came out today, people would be complaining and whining”
- ZT Amplifiers delivers power and portability with the mouth-watering Lunchbox Reverb 100-watt combo amp
- G&L updates its short-scale bass collection with the Fullerton Deluxe Fallout
- Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura supercharges the Maxon SD-9
- Gibson teams up with Adventure Time: Distant Lands for Marceline, The Vampire Queen-themed guitars
- Keeley partners with Daniel Donato for its first Artist Series pedal, the Cosmic Country Phaser
- Brian May pays tribute to his friend Eddie Van Halen: “I miss his presence in the world“
- How to play acoustic guitar like Eric Clapton
- Cold's Lindsay Manfredi: ”There’s a feeling when you’re playing bass. It’s different from other instruments”
- Eventide Blackhole review
- December 17
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- Misha Mansoor: "There’s something very raw about those original demos – it’s kind of nostalgic for me"
- From Taylor Swift's alt-rock awakening to a curveball-laced crusher: here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Behold the PeacePoti, a new pedal solution that eliminates accidental changes to your onstage settings
- John Petrucci: recording guitar is like beard trimming
- A petition has been launched to get Tosin Abasi and Misha Mansoor behind the wheel as Top Gear hosts
- Herman Li responds to criticism that shredders “don't have any feel or emotion in their music”
- John Petrucci-led prog supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment are back
- Watch Jay Leonard J tear it up on a “striking” Cort KX300 Etched electric guitar
- Andrew Watt on the making of Ozzy Osbourne's next all-star album, guitar battles with Post Malone, and what his all-star jam sessions are really like
- Mojotone claims to have "solved the soundhole pickup problem" with the Quiet Coil NC-1 acoustic pickup
- Line 6’s ultra-portable POD Go offers “state-of-the-art sound quality, dynamics and realism” in a compact floor unit
- Gary Clark Jr. tries the space-age Abasi Concepts Space T on for size
- Sick Riffs: Christian Lee Hutson teaches you the sumptuous acoustic fingerstyle lines of Talk
- Walrus Audio Julianna review
- Havok: ”It would be a disservice to play those songs live without a huge PA system that shakes your skeleton”
- Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin tease all-new Beatles documentary
- December 16
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- Corey Taylor: "I wanted this album to be stacked with the best songs that I have, because you don’t get a second chance to make that first impression"
- Haunted Labs and Dirty Haggard Audio's Hell Horse is a stallion of a fuzz/delay hybrid
- The 10 best guitar riffs of 2020
- What’s new, Pussycat? BITE launches fur-midable new custom bass
- Sick Riffs: Vanny Tonon teaches you his innovative 'Hybrid Slap' technique
- Stone Deaf seeks to "make good tones great" with the QBoost preamp/tone shaper
- Fender’s Player Series gets a new limited run with roasted maple necks and Custom Shop pickups
- Love as Laughter’s Sam Jayne dies aged 46
- Broadway and West End bassist Ian King: “Hamilton is an intense gig – I’m playing four instruments in the show!“
- Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Black Beauty Les Paul Custom review
- 20 ways to play guitar like Jimmy Page
- Mesa/Boogie’s “tighter, meaner” Badlander amps bring high-gain Rectifier tone screaming into the modern era
- December 15
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- Spotlight: Danny Miller of Lewis Del Mar
- Cort takes an exotic turn with new SFX-Myrtlewood acoustic-electric
- The 10 best guitar solos of 2020
- Gibson releases Peace Through Music streaming concert, featuring Keith Richards, Santana and Gary Clark Jr.
- Angus Young names AC/DC's “most regrettable” song
- Tone Electronix unveils the Animalizzer, an all-in-one overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedal
- That Pedal Show and JAM Pedals join forces for the Harmonious Monk harmonic tremolo pedal
- George Benson’s vintage Polytone Taurus IV amp is up for auction on eBay
- Positive Grid brings the festive spirit with their epic Spark amp and BIAS holiday deals
- ESP launches a slew of new LTD Deluxe models for 2021
- Destruction's Schmier on his love of Dean basses and how Born to Thrash was bought with Jack and Coke
- Is Gator's new Frameworks design the “ultimate solution” to the seat/stand combo for guitarists?
- Martin's GPC-X2E Rosewood is the ideal holiday guitar for fireside singalongs, stage performances and everything in between
- RIP Custom Guitars partners with Municipal Waste's Ryan Waste for the none-more-pointy MW-AX
- The Black Dahlia Murder's Brandon Ellis and Brian Eschbach talk tone hunting, songcraft and keeping death metal fresh
- Fender American Professional II Telecaster & Stratocaster HSS review
- Mateus Asato cranks up the gain for a searing solo on Renforshort’s Feel Good Inc cover
- December 14
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- Sevendust: "We want to keep the energy alive, so the first thing we think about is what kind of songs will get people moving"
- ESP partners with Josh Middleton for the LTD Signature Series JM-II
- Crazy Tube Circuits seeks to recreate and reinvigorate classic tones with the Constellation fuzz and Memphis vibrato/preamp
- ESP unleashes a blizzard of new LTD models with the Arctic Metal Series
- Shake up your rhythm playing with shifting 16th-note accents
- Eddie Van Halen's cause of death and final resting place have been confirmed
- Eddie Van Halen 1955-2020: a visionary virtuoso who rewrote the rules of electric guitar
- Bag yourself an epic rock guitar with this ESP LTD EC-256 Christmas deal - less than $300 at Guitar Center
- Angus Young: “I’ve always said if I do anything music-wise, I can only do it the AC/DC way“
- Jason Becker shares never-before-seen footage of his visit from Eddie Van Halen
- ‘Tis the season to pick up a new guitar – and Guitar World’s holiday buyer’s guide is here to help
- Virtual reality air guitar is arriving in 2021
- December 13
- December 11
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- Save big on hundreds of guitar products in Guitar Center’s Christmas deals bonanza
- Novo Guitars unveils two new offset models for 2021 – the Voltur and Solus H2
- 9 reasons the GoPro Hero9 is the ideal vlogging camera for guitarists
- How Shirley Tetteh became one of the UK's most exciting new jazz guitarists
- Sick Riffs: Carl Marck teaches you the dreamy, bend-laden intro line of Advertisement's Pretty Money
- Hone your crosspicking skills with this lesson on the must-learn acoustic technique
- Fender conjures up the extravagantly appointed Tele Mágico
- Jimmy Page joins growing list of artists calling for fairer streaming payouts
- Jimmy Page's 20 greatest guitar moments
- Chris Cornell’s final album, No One Sings Like You Anymore, receives surprise release
- Add Jaco-like tones and colors to your playing with Isobella Burnham’s harmonics masterclass
- Looking for a cable that delivers crystal-clear sound with rugged dependability? Canary Cables has you covered
- December 10
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- Nickelback: "If you don’t leave a little bit of your sanity behind when you make an album, you haven’t dug deep enough"
- Marty Friedman announces “multi-dimensional” New Year’s Day livestream
- Eddie Van Halen among Google's top searches of 2020
- From returning goth-rock titans to space-age prog epics: here are this week's essential guitar tracks
- Show your love for your favorite independent guitar shops with Guitar Shop Tees’ limited t-shirt designs
- Taylor Swift announces second “surprise” album of 2020, Evermore
- Gear used by Eddie Van Halen and Prince has been stolen from a Nashville storage locker
- David Hasselhoff releases industrial metal jam with Austrian duo CueStack
- Longtime Cynic bassist Sean Malone dies aged 50
- Yamaha and Peter Hook auction signed, limited-edition signature BB bass to aid the Epilepsy Society
- Reverend Guitars announces a spectrum of new colors for 2021
- Yamaha offers boutique on a budget with the Pacifica 612VIIFMX and 612VIIX
- Ground Control Audio serves up an EQ and boost feast with the Noodles Tone Shaper
- Madina Lake's Matthew Leone: "I was so clueless, I brought my first bass to my first-ever show in a garbage bag"
- Christian McBride: “I was doing things on the double bass that I wasn’t supposed to. It helps to be a rebel sometimes“
- 5 things to check when buying a vintage guitar
- The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum put on a big, big show with BIG NIGHT (At the Museum)
- Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen unveil debut Smith/Kotzen single, Taking My Chances
- December 9
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- Biffy Clyro: "It's really special when you can go through a tough moment and come out on the other side with more confidence"
- Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 340
- Nita Strauss partners with Levy's for new signature guitar strap
- Alpha Male Tea Party's Tom Peters: "Throwing a simple major-key riff together wasn't doing it for me any more… I thought, 'How can I use melody differently?'"
- Rivers Cuomo just released a treasure trove of unheard demos – 2,655 of them, in fact
- Afterlife's Andrew McGuire and Tristan Edwards deliver a clutch of seismic riffs in this dual guitar/bass playthrough
- 10-year-old viral sensation Nandi Bushell releases debut single, Gods and Unicorns
- Sons of Slash, Scott Weiland and Robert Trujillo take a pop-punk turn on new Suspect208 single, All Black
- Gibson announces its first-ever apparel collection in partnership with Aviator Nation
- Rammstein producer Jacob Hellner details the making of the industrial-metal icons’ 1995 debut, Herzeleid
- 4 slide guitar tricks you can learn from Little Feat's Lowell George
- 40 guitarists who changed our world since 1980
- Nile Rodgers: “It’s not streaming services we have a problem with – it’s the labels that are perpetrating this”
- December 8
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- Nothing But Thieves: "I think we need to move rock forward, because it died in its tracks for a reason"
- Watch Gretchen Menn demo the “standout” Cort Gold-OC8 Nylon acoustic-electric guitar
- Mattoverse’s Bad Passenger Fuzz MKII promises “bright aggressive grind to darker compressed filth” tones
- Devin Townsend once “took a shit” in Steve Vai’s guitar case
- How to play acoustic guitar like Jimmy Page
- Paul Gilbert sells pink 1987 Ibanez “Ice-Stroyer” guitar to aid former Racer X band mate Juan Alderete
- Dave Pegg and Testament's Steve Di Giorgio talk Jethro Tull, folk rock, fretless bass and Fairport Convention
- A 2008 Eddie Van Halen-played EVH Charvel Art Series guitar has hit the auction block for $30,000
- Dimebag Darrell reveals his 12 favorite metal tracks in this classic 1993 Guitar World interview
- Blackstar unveils the miniature, travel-ready Carry-on electric guitar
- Sick Riffs: Nick Wold teaches you the super-catchy arpeggiated riff of Dreamers' True Crime
- Vintage adds a 4-string acoustic-electric bass to its Paul Brett Statesboro Series
- December 7
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- PVRIS: “It’s just about wanting to be truthful and authentic to what is actually happening behind the scenes”
- The best-selling amps of 2020 have been revealed
- Wolfgang Van Halen criticizes EVH guitar auction: "The only place they’d possibly belong is in a museum"
- KHDK Electronics partners with Scott Ian for SGT D boost/preamp pedal
- Doja Cat left a string of apologies in Plini's DMs after MTV EMAs song theft
- Chris Cornell’s “Superunknown” Jazzmaster sells for $125k – but Clapton’s $1m 1954 Strat fails to attract bids
- Power up with Gator’s new low-noise, ultra-reliable Guitar Pedal Power Supply Series
- Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to take part in virtual Wayne's World reunion
- Watch Richie Castellano use the Blackstar Live Logic USB MIDI Controller to transform his software amplifier into a “real amp”
- Ayron Jones proves why he’s one of 2021’s rock guitarists to watch with incendiary Take Me Away playthrough
- Introducing your Young Guitarist of the Year 2020 finalists
- Here are your Bassist of the Year 2020 finalists – vote now!
- Vote for the winner of Electric Guitarist of the Year 2020
- The secrets behind Elliot Easton's tone on The Cars' Touch and Go
- Lane UK Classic Blues 15 review
- December 6
- December 4
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- Witness Guitar World’s Paul Riario and FU-Tone’s Adam Reiver install a tremolo on an Allparts guitar body in minutes
- Watch Jay Leonard J write and record an entire song using only his Jammy modular digital guitar
- TC Electronic introduces none-more-black UniTune Clip Noir guitar tuner
- Red Witch’s Pristina pedal promises to conjure a “mountain of crystalline, sparkling clean boost”
- Ry Cooder’s original heavily modded “Coodercaster” Strat is up for sale for $150,000
- Two played-and-smashed Kurt Cobain Strats sell for more than $150,000 at auction
- This guitar mashup with Pastor Kenneth Copeland’s furious COVID-19 exorcism is the best metal jam of 2020
- Felix Martin launches FM Guitars with 12, 14 and 16-string double-fretboard models designed for tapping
- Jared Dines and Trivium’s Matt Heafy team up for new collaborative EP
- Greta Van Fleet announce new album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate
- Watch Billy Gibbons and Kirk Hammett perform The Green Manalishi in first official footage from all-star Peter Green tribute
- PJD Carey Standard & Carey Custom 10th Anniversary review
- December 3
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- Pillow Queens - In Waiting album review
- Signed John Petrucci and Thurston Moore guitars headline massive COVID-19 charity auction
- Trace Billie Joe Armstrong's roots and revisit an Eddie Van Halen rarity with this week's essential guitar tracks
- Slash named his new signature Les Paul after the person who stole his old guitars
- Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys Octavia pedal sells for $70,400 at auction
- 3 Eddie Van Halen guitars sell for $422,000 at auction
- Fender announces head-turning Tash Sultana signature Stratocaster
- A Bob Dylan-owned Stratocaster and Rory Gallagher's Gibson L6-S are headed to the auction block
- Joe Bonamassa shares his greatest finds from a lifetime of buying and selling guitars
- Marshall Plexi guitar amps: everything you need to know
- Old Blood Noise Endeavors Visitor review
- Ernie Ball Music Man announces its latest luxurious batch of Ball Family Reserve models
- Electro-Harmonix takes its analog vibrato/chorus game to the next level with the Eddy
- December 2
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- The Front Bottoms: “It was fun because we got to get into a room together and just jam out”
- The Pickport Studio is a pick holder that attaches to just about any part of your guitar
- The best-selling pedals of 2020 have been revealed
- Two played-and-smashed Kurt Cobain Fender Stratocasters are up for auction
- Harley Benton launches two ukuleles adorned with Hawaiian tattoo-style artwork
- Recording King unveils its second parlor-sized resonator, the Swamp Dog Parlor
- Watch Metallica, Mastodon, Dave Navarro, Kim Thayil cover Alice in Chains at MoPOP Founders Award virtual celebration
- Ibanez revives the RG565 with new Genesis Collection model
- Doug Wimbish looks back at 5 of his best – and worst – bass sessions
- Sick Riffs: Jacob Duarte teaches you the grungy drop-tuned riffs of Narrow Head's Hard to Swallow
- Gibson expands the Slash Collection with the “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop
- Classic gear: Gibson ES-345
- Guild Starfire I DC and I SC GVT review
- December 1
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- Obscura Hail - Siren EP review
- Yamaha unveils super-limited-edition Peter Hook Signature BB bass
- Are new Silvertone guitar models on the way?
- Joe Satriani says he was two-hand tapping before he ever heard Eddie Van Halen
- Mark Knopfler’s signed Strat, Eric Clapton’s autographed Martin and more raffled to support COVID-19 relief
- Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1964 Fender Vibroverb, used on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, is up for sale
- ESP teams up with fine artist Dino Muradian for jaw-dropping hand-burned Pyrograph Series
- Mr. Black unveils its latest ultra-versatile BBD modulation pedal, the Analog Chorus/Vibrato Deluxe
- U2's the Edge gifts 10-year-old superfan a signed guitar on live TV
- Eventide PowerMax and PowerMini review
- How to play guitar like Fender offset heroes
- Jeff Bridges: “What's great about the guitar is that it's very honest. The more you put in, the better you get“
- Tom Morello: “Trust me, there are plenty of new guitar sounds still to discover. I guarantee you that“
- Sick Riffs: Ben Greenberg teaches you the distortion-drenched guitar lines of Uniform's Life in Remission
- Boss teams up with Sola Sound for Waza Craft TB-2W Tone Bender fuzz pedal
- Best guitar pedals for beginners 2025: kickstart your pedalboard
