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May 2025

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245 articles

May 31
- "With a little patience and dedication to experimenting, you’ll unlock a satisfying range of serviceable sounds": Harley Benton DNAfx GiT multi-effects pedal review
- “It’s a bit of an investment, but I think these power supplies will truly go the distance if you let them”: Walrus Audio Canvas Power series review
- “Everything in Double Trouble was a spontaneous thing – there was no plan”: How bassist Tommy Shannon stumbled onto the funky foundation for one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s biggest radio hits
- “Any fan of Geordie Walker or Billy Duffy will be won over in seconds by this imperious, gothic riff”: May 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
May 30
- “The perfect choice for anyone seeking an affordable amp for practice, recording, and performance”: Laney rolls out the LF-Supertop – a 120W solid-state powerhouse with a classy design and tricks up its sleeve
- “It’s a joy to play”: Reverend’s newest signature for Bob Balch is a hot-rodded rock machine fit for a fuzz metal pioneer – and it comes fitted with a Floyd Rose
- I’ve been watching acoustic guitar prices all year and Guitar Center's up to 35% off sale is the best I’ve seen – especially if you want an A-list model
- Former Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist Josh Klinghoffer avoids jail term after accepting plea deal in vehicular manslaughter case
- “An easy insert into any small pedalboard or studio setup”: Cioks Sol Future Power Generation review
- Andertons just shaved a massive £456 off one of the best-looking PRS guitars I've ever seen – and yes, the sale also includes the Custom 24 Floyd
- Harley Benton’s latest affordable build is a sub-$230 solid top dreadnought that looks destined to become a key player in the beginner budget acoustic market
- “I don’t remember any conflict inside the band. We were determined to grab back the reins from anyone who was holding them and do the album the way we wanted it to be done”: Bob Mould on myth vs reality and the making of Hüsker Dü’s New Day Rising
- “Noel said, ‘What’s that tone?’ He started fiddling with the controls on the amp, and I thought, ‘Will I tell him to stuff his band now, or will I stick around?’”: Eric Bell recalls his very first rehearsal with Noel Redding – who hated his guitar sound
- Gretsch glow-up: One of our favorite parlor guitars just got a limited-edition makeover – and at $249, it’s still irresistibly affordable
- “I really like using small amps in the studio. It’s an old Led Zeppelin trick, right? But they just sound pretty incredible”: How Samantha Fish used raw amp energy and some “wild, funky, weird little guitars” to make her new album come alive
- “If you’ve seen any of this stuff, please let us and the authorities know”: A shipment of Reverend guitars has been stolen in transit – and the firm is appealing for help
- “I had 30 days left on my visa or they’re gonna throw me out of the country. I didn’t know they’d already auditioned 24 guitarists”: Scott Gorham recalls his nerve-racking Thin Lizzy audition – and his first impressions of Brian Robertson
May 29
- “Everyone who met him will carry Chris’ enthusiasm and love for music of all kinds. It was impossible not to be affected by it”: Chris Bird, Guitar World Lessons Editor and former Total Guitar Editor, has died aged 48
- “Sonically, it’s astonishing. You plug in, turn it on and there it is – there’s the Andy Timmons sound”: That Pedal Show’s Daniel Steinhardt reveals his top 5 pedals (from the past 5 years)
- “It was about being a competitive guitarist in the '80s. That was a completely different playing style than Ace was known for”: In 1985, Kiss needed the best and got the best – his name was Bruce Kulick
- “Gilby had left the band. Axl called me up and said, ‘Do you want to get together and jam?’” Zakk Wylde on the time he almost joined Slash and co in Guns N’ Roses
- "It’s certainly worth considering against the start-point of the Gibson USA Les Paul range. The lines are getting blurred": Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue review
- “What led to the end of my time with Steppenwolf? Egos and drugs”: Michael Monarch was just 18 when he tracked one of the most iconic riffs of the ’60s – next came Janis Joplin, Jimmy Page and Free’s Andy Fraser
- “The guitar player got caught in a snowstorm and couldn’t get down for the gig. They were looking for somebody and I said, ‘I know all that stuff’”: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter went to a James Brown gig – and had to step in as his sideman at the last minute
- “My pickups melted!” Guns N’ Roses’ show in Saudi Arabia was so hot that Richard Fortus’ guitar pickups started to melt
- “I remember thinking, ‘Don’t panic, maybe he’ll come over’”: How a chance encounter at a guitar store led to Leo Abrahams becoming Brian Eno’s right-hand guitar man
- “The cops saved the show”: Busker nails a Brian May solo as officers take down a suspect behind him – and he doesn’t miss a note
May 28
- “Not forgetting this one anytime soon”: Grace Bowers taps into her inner shredder with surprise All-American Rejects guest spot
- From Chuck Berry to Eric Clapton and Slash, every player uses the minor pentatonic – here’s how you can leverage the guitar’s most-used scale in your own playing
- It was the era of the Superstrat, but along came an all-new high-end guitar that found fans in Al Di Meola and Ted Nugent – celebrating 40 years of Paul Reed Smith’s first production model, the PRS Custom 24
- “I’m not thinking about an epitaph with, ‘Look, it’s Yngwie, the man who conceived classical metal through guitar!’ I don’t care”: Why Yngwie Malmsteen isn’t too bothered about his legacy
- “I always dreamed of playing Whole Lotta Love! I took 20 different fuzzboxes in with me. Finally, I get to play some metal”: Marc Ribot went into a session with Robert Plant equipped with Zeppelin-esque gear – only to find out it was a folk record
- “His passing leaves a void in the music world, and he will be deeply missed”: Rick Derringer, legendary rock pioneer who played with Johnny Winter and Kiss, dies aged 77
- “More like a complete rig than ever before”: Kemper gives its Profiler lineup a much-anticipated upgrade – can the MK 2 range fend off fierce competition from Line 6 and Neural DSP?
- “Trying to impress works great on socials, but you catch people by the emotions. A flashy solo still needs to end with a beautiful note”: Dirty amps, unplayable tunings and a DIY plugin build – this is the story of Novelists’ remarkable rebirth
- “The way we played guitar, the way I voiced against Tom, we found it on American Girl. I thought, ‘This is us.’ Those two guitars helped make it happen”: Mike Campbell on how his lifelong musical connection with Tom Petty was forged in a matter of days
- “We had a remote control at home for my TV. I was messing around with that…”: The unlikely origins of Strandberg’s innovative EndurNeck – which was partly inspired by a humble household object
May 27
- “I was bartending, and I was like, ‘Hey, Mom, can you just watch the bar for half an hour? I have an audition across the street’”: Mars Volta bassist Eva Gardner recalls her audition with one of the world's biggest pop stars
- “I had turned everything to 10, as there was no 11 back then. The engineers asked me to turn it down because it was too distorted”: How the then 18-year-old Steppenwolf guitarist recorded the solo that came to define the band's career
- “Ever imagined running an entire gig with just one pedal?” Valeton’s $80 GP-5 looks to take the TONEX One’s crown – and makes a serious play to become the all-in-one mini rig solution to beat
- “Did the label put pressure on us? Big time. I wish they had won, looking back. We often ask ourselves ‘what were we thinking?’” Simple Minds guitarist Charlie Burchill on the regrets and rewards of making their ’80s classic, Once Upon a Time
- “I was like, ‘What’s the story with this guitar because it is god ugly’”: Bon Iver swapped an expensive 1960s Martin for a “hideous” budget Ibanez that had been rejected by a rehab center for his new album
- “I hadn’t been playing guitar for that long. I’d just make up chords with the least amount of fingers possible”: In 1985, J. Mascis was a beginner guitarist stumbling upon a sound – yet Dinosaur Jr.’s debut would shape a generation of players
- “It was the closest I’ll ever get to Indiana Jones. You find this artifact and you’re scraping away until it’s the dinosaur bone showing”: The story of Brad Paisley’s Lost Telecaster – the ‘hippie vomit’ reject that became one of Fender’s rarest finds
- “I realized I made a huge mistake”: JHS Pedals’ Notadümblë has been discontinued after two weeks – because it was accidentally fitted with an even rarer Dumble circuit
- "When all the computers fall apart, when the world burns to the ground, there's going to be a guitar left": Courtney Barnett talks the godfather of grunge, fingerstyle, AI and music, and her next move
May 26
- “I always played B.B. King. His style was commercial, not like the gutbucket style”: You may not know his name, but Jimmy Johnson was a contemporary of Buddy Guy – and the ultimate example of a Chicago blues virtuoso who ventured well outside the box
- Don't sleep on these massive second-hand bargains in Reverb's Memorial Day sale – save up to 66% on used, B-stock, and new gear
- “I really like the end of And She Was with that distorted guitar. I thought it sounded like Neil Diamond’s Cherry, Cherry”: Jerry Harrison on the outtakes and off-brand inspirations behind Talking Heads’ Little Creatures
- Memorial Day might be over, but one of the best guitars I've reviewed this year still has a whopping $130 off at Guitar Center
- “It’s the Kinks meets AC/DC. I had to play around with the riff because I didn’t want it to sound like You Really Got Me – you don’t wanna get sued”: Jim Babjak revisits 5 classic Smithereens riffs – and reveals the gear and stories behind them
- “I not only learned the set, I learned a whole new style of guitar playing”: John McCurry had only been playing guitar for five years when he joined Cyndi Lauper’s band – and featured on one of her biggest records
- “He was a huge fan. He could identify, ‘No, that’s not ’78 because Jerry’s playing through this pedal’”: John Mayer was a Grateful Dead fanatic – before he landed the Dead & Company gig
- Memorial Day is over, but here are 5 heavily discounted pieces of guitar gear that are still available at Guitar Center – starting from $129
- “It all started with Ozzy. He and Sharon were the first ones to believe that I could make them a great rock album”: How super-producer Andrew Watt pivoted from Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes to The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop
May 25
- “They looked at me like they had seen a ghost. They were like, ‘We’ve got to make this for people’”: Brad Paisley’s new signature Telecaster is based on a vintage gem so rare Fender couldn’t believe he had one
May 24
- "If you want an instrument that’s versatile enough to cover the guitar-playing styles of EVH and nail Nile Rodgers’ classic funk tones, then look no further": Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose review
- “I talk a lot about ‘the serious musician,’ and that's our opportunity to create the next generation of serious musicians”: Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto lays out one of the store's next biggest priorities for 2025 – and it isn’t selling gear
- “Bass players aren't supposed to have ideas. If you're a bass player in a rock band, you are by definition a moron”: He was Zappa’s bassist and remains a low-end enigma – but Scott Thunes has never held back on his opinions
May 23
- “Already a versatile instrument, the addition of the series circuit makes it even more of a multi-role guitar”: Fender Player II Modified Telecaster review
- “This guitar offers a one-of-a kind connection to the legacy of Joel, Ellie and the enduring spirit of survival”: Taylor capitalizes on The Last Of Us hype with a custom replica of the acoustic played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey on the hit HBO series
- I couldn’t believe there was no Sweetwater Memorial Day sale this year – until I saw up to 50% off guitar pedals and amps
- Fender’s Memorial Day sale has up to 20% off 132 items – here are 5 sweet guitar and accessory deals I’d grab
- “I was playing a gig at CBGB’s Canteen, and Cyndi showed up. She heckled me throughout the show”: Knox Chandler has played with Cyndi Lauper, and been a part of Depeche Mode, Psychedelic Furs, and Siouxsie & the Banshees – now he's going solo
- “I liked Bad Company and Free. Those bands, like David Bowie and Roxy Music, were all pop. But their albums had deeper cuts. That’s what I hoped we could pull off”: Billy Duffy on the making of The Cult’s 1985 breakout album – and why Rain made him sweat
- “Playing the blues isn’t about scales… it’s pattern music. You need to learn the right patterns”: Sue Foley is a master at turning scales into solos – here are her 6 essential licks that all blues fans should know
- “The dragon that came up was spitting real fire at me while I was doing the solo. I could feel the heat”: Yngwie Malmsteen filmed the music video for one of his most iconic tracks on the Conan The Barbarian set
- “The surgeon said I actually died on the operating table”: Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham recovering after suffering near-fatal health scare last year
- “I saw Jimmy Page using a violin bow on his guitar, and it clicked. What if I could do this on an acoustic guitar?” Plectrums, move over – this inventor created a mini bow tailor-made for acoustics
May 22
- “Horsemeat sounds a lot like a good amp": PRS redefines transparent overdrives with its Horsemeat pedal – packing three essential, performance-ready functions in one
- “It’s like playing a concert for millions of people all at once, without ever stepping on stage”: A guitarist’s guide to sync licensing
- “Being a great guitar player is always coming up with the right part for the right song, or the right solo”: The Fleshtones’ Keith Streng explains what he learned from a misspent youth at CBGB’s – and the merits of pointless practice
- “My hand got totally trashed. I looked down and could see the bone of my pointer finger. I lost the ability to bend it”: An accident defined Chris Poland’s playing, but it didn’t stop him handling the high demands of Megadeth’s debut
- “There are more guitars than usual”: Tony Iommi lends his hellfire riffwork for his most obscure collaboration yet – a new single with the pop icon whose biopic starred a CGI monkey
- “I don’t have the words right now to express the loss of such a special man”: Jim Irsay, billionaire philanthropist and owner of the world’s greatest guitar collection, dies aged 65
- Guitar Center's Memorial Day sale has landed with up to 35% off a host of guitar gear – including $419 off one of the most unique Gibson Les Pauls you'll ever see!
- “The Höfner is so light, it encouraged me to play with a light touch and be more adventurous with it. I’d play it more like a guitar”: Why Paul McCartney’s violin bass was essential in creating his most playful bassline on Sgt. Pepper’s
May 21
- "An astounding number of features and a lot of bang for your buck, but is it too good to be true?": Mooer GS1000 multi-effects and amp profiling pedal review
- “Only Happy When It Rains has a solo and lot of that is backward guitar. We had to figure out how to play it – and flipped the two-inch tape reels over. I struggle playing that every night!” Garbage’s Duke Erikson and Steve Marker don't like to look back
- “You’ve gotta be able to learn the songs by ear – especially with Cradle of Filth. The tabs online are terrible”: Cradle Of Filth’s Donny Burbage and Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda on their theatrical metal roles – and what modern players miss about Marshalls
- Jack White gifted Vernon Reid his wild signature Telecaster after a random airport encounter – and now the Living Color legend is playing the Triplecaster on stage
- “The event organizer said, ‘You know that little fellow who followed you around with his briefcase? He’s Bob Dylan.’ I said, ‘Who’s Bob Dylan?’” Peggy Seeger on the first time she unknowingly met a future folk icon
- “If your idea works on an acoustic guitar, you can change the world”: John Mayer and Ernie Ball’s string experiments continue with the launch of the firm’s “most sonically complex” acoustic set yet
- “I’m getting arm cramps just watching this”: The brutal shred-fest that has quietly become one of our biggest playthrough videos
- “Did l know she was a future legend? Not at the time. I didn’t know how talented she was. Obviously, we all found out”: 40 years ago, session ace Paul Jackson Jr. turned up to record with a then unknown singer – her name was Whitney Houston
- “World-class recording, editing, and production capabilities”: Fender Studio is a free recording app that comes loaded with official Fender amp and effects models
- “The tone of a great-sounding single-coil and the positive characteristics of a humbucker”: PRS doubles down on its next-gen Narrowfield innovations and rolls out newly configured 3-pickup S2 and SE models
- “My employees are so valuable to me. They have this institutional knowledge and rely on their income from this job to support their families”: EarthQuaker Devices CEO reveals the Ohio-based business is at risk of going bankrupt amidst tariff uncertainty
May 20
- “We'll see each other on tour. Or rather, you'll see me – I'll hardly be able to see you in the audience”: Former Oasis bassist reportedly confirms his involvement in the band's highly-anticipated reunion tour
- “The volume was painful. The loudness came from Stevie, who had a Frankenstein wall of amps”: Marked by substance abuse, new members, and studio snags – Stevie Ray Vaughan's Soul to Soul was a classic that signaled trouble to come
- “Within the world of slide guitar, he is one of the greatest ever”: Joe Bonamassa explains the slide guitar genius of his hero and icon, Rory Gallagher
- “Used for the creation of the greatest recordings of all time”: Boss has brought 8 iconic effects pedals to the digital realm for the first time – and more are set to follow
- “Transcends nostalgia”: Kramer draws inspiration from its 1980s shredder heydays for the Volante – an all-new modern-minded Superstrat
- “It was so secretive that I, as a curator of the Met, had no idea what was actually there”: One of the world’s finest guitar collections has been kept under wraps for decades – now it’s been donated in full to the Met
- “Everywhere I went with the picture, I would show it to ’em, and they was like, it was something evil”: Bootsy Collins’ Space Bass design was turned down everywhere he went – his ‘last straw’ proved the winner
- “CBS ran an ad that said, ‘6 million people have heard the sound of his guitar. Let us introduce you to him…’ That made a huge rift”: Barry Goudreau was there from the beginning of Boston – but has regrets about how things ended with Tom Scholz
- “Dive deeper into the depths of ambience”: Electro-Harmonix launches the Oceans Abyss – taking on the likes of Strymon and Meris with an immersive ambient reverb
May 19
- “Most players buy a Soloist for stank face riffs and shredding ‘til sundown. For that, the SL2DX is magnificent”: Jackson American Series Soloist SL2DX review
- “People were saying, ‘You’re not gonna make it.’ We just kept going. It took us six years”: The Smithereens’ Jim Babjak on how they went from broke to touring with Tom Petty – and became Kurt Cobain’s tonal reference for Nevermind
- “Muddy Waters told my dad, ‘Jimmie, when I’m gone, teach everybody how to play like that.’ He liked the way he played slide”: He's the son of Jimmie Vaughan and the nephew of SRV, now he’s carrying the weight of his family playing legacy
- “Those were the cocaine ’80s. They devoted a whole day to auditioning snare drum samples – just to double-up the actual snare”: Nancy Wilson knew Heart had to adapt to survive the excesses of the 1980s – but she didn’t expect their greatest success
- Thomann has acquired Hughes & Kettner – and is promising a bright future for the German amp giant championed by Alex Lifeson and Tommy Thayer
- There’s no need to wait for Memorial Day because Musician’s Friend is already offering over $1,000 off a Taylor acoustic, $450 off a Gibson Les Paul and up to 50% off elsewhere
- “It all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life”: Dave Navarro says there’s “no chance” that Jane’s Addiction will ever play again
- “He once made a chicken walk on varnish, to transfer the prints of its feet onto the guitar's body”: The bizarre vintage guitar used in Italy's Eurovision entry has caught eyes all over the world
- “No reason was given. I’m not angry, just a bit shocked and disappointed”: Foo Fighters have parted ways with Josh Freese – and will explore “a different direction” with their next drummer
- “Mayer on guitar, Grohl on drums. A lot of fun making this”: Ed Sheeran forms an unlikely hard rock power trio with John Mayer and Dave Grohl – and they've written a song for a Brad Pitt movie
May 18
- “My first love was always acoustic guitar. That was the element that I brought, the idea of embracing electric and acoustic sounds”: Nancy Wilson says she felt pressured to ditch the acoustics as Heart went for the mainstream in 1985
- “Geffen thought we were too young to write our own songs. Bob Dylan wrote a song, Bruce Springsteen had a song”: Ryan Hedgecock on Lone Justice's brief but fierce ’80s run – and how Tom Petty and Mike Campbell ended up penning a song on their debut
- “Some things you are supposed to touch, and some things you are never supposed to touch”: Remembering when Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme played George Harrison’s Rosewood Telecaster – and got so star-struck by the guitar he couldn’t speak
May 17
- “Connect with your heart and with just a few notes, you can do magic”: The Last of Us composer Gustavo Santaolalla shows off his “Guitarocko” Strat – a 1-of-1 Fender designed to mimic the ronroco
- “Keep your mind on the music. I never thought of myself as a ‘woman’ musician at all, but a guitarist and then a bass player”: Studio bass icon Carol Kaye on why it is not about who you are, but how and what you play that defines you as a musician
- “Our guitars were so bad, we couldn’t make them work for us. Glenn came over to my apartment with six guitars, three under each arm, and threw them onto the futon”: Sonic Youth are now alternate tunings icons – but the band opted for them out of necessity
- Buddy Guy said he would take the blues “into the future,” and he was a guitar brother-in-arms of Mike Bloomfield. An unsung blues great talks influences, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and crossing over into jazz
May 16
- “This bass has plenty of cutting power, and it's versatile enough to handle just about any gig”: Cort GB-Fusion 4 review
- “Johnny will sometimes come out with something and we’ll laugh at the bludgeoning nature of it”: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs on happy accidents with broken pedals, collabs with hip-hop royalty, and the riff that’s so heavy they can’t play it live
- “I like doing weird things like playing my phone through my pickups, and then looping that while playing over the top”: How Bonnie Trash’s Emmalia Bortolon-Vettor is reinventing guitar sounds with a $1 ring slide, a looper and her imagination
- "We wrote a song based on a riff I had. The idea was to be Mahavishnu Orchestra with vocals": After Deep Purple decided not to hire him after Ritchie Blackmore's departure, Clem Clempson almost formed a wild supergroup with Glenn Hughes and David Bowie
- “A rare and culturally critical guitar directly tied to the end of the Beatles and Cream”: A 1913 Gibson acoustic – played and owned by George Harrison and Eric Clapton – has been listed on Reverb
- “The first thing you need to do is listen to what the other instrumentalist is playing and see if what you’re doing can enhance that”: Cory Wong on the secrets of collaboration and how to stack and blend guitar parts that complement the song
- “If Bobby and Mickey want to do it, I want to do it”: Dead & Company’s Sphere residency is drawing to a close – but is new music from John Mayer and Bob Weir on the cards?
May 15
- “The first emotion was abject fear. Pick your poison, Michael Jackson, or Quincy Jones”: Session guitar great Dann Huff recalls his first time recording with the King of Pop
- “It’s really weird, being a teacher at Berklee College of Music: 400 students asking questions – I’m the instructor, and I’m the only one there who can’t read”: How Tommy Emmanuel deals with his lack of music theory – and when it lets him down
- “He was opening for Bobby Darin and the audience were going, ‘We want Duane! We want Duane!’ Poor Bobby was backstage, almost in tears. From there on, Duane finished the show”: Albert Lee, Joe Bonamassa and Vince Gill on the life and legacy of Duane Eddy
- “I rarely do straight down strokes. I haven't played Metallica in a while”: Tosin Abasi and Plini give a masterclass in virtuosity after writing and recording a song in a day
- “I had very few reference points – no one saying, ‘Try this.’ I just played through a bass amp then added a second amp”: Meet the Meffs, the Britpunk duo outnumbered by their amps
- I wasn’t expecting Fender’s Memorial Day sale to drop this early – here are 5 sweet guitar and accessory deals I’d grab with up to 20% off
- Bend it like B.B.: What you can learn from these 6 blues and jazz guitar greats
- “It's probably this year's greatest metal guitar so far, even if it lacks the pointy edges to prove it": Jackson Pro Series Lee Malia LM-87 review
- “I could imagine blues players like Joe Bonamassa getting their hands on one of these and shredding it. It's not for metal only”: Scott Ian is in his “Bruce Lee era” and giving his signature King V a solid makeover – complete with the classic Jackson logo
- “People forget that in the ’80s, the Fender Strat was like having an old car and someone saying, ‘Why are you driving that piece of crap?’” Yngwie Malmsteen explains how he broke the mold for rock guitar – and brought the Strat in from the cold
- “Compact and handcrafted charm with concert-ready charisma”: Gibson’s Parlor Rosewood EC offers a downsized, single-cut take on the SJ-200 shape beloved by Brian May and Johnny Cash
May 14
- “I was really fortunate that I got to work with Kurt. He had a real ear for a hook – playing bass with him was super-easy”: Krist Novoselic achieved harmony through Kurt Cobain’s chaos – and was the making of this Nirvana classic
- “A welcomed relief for our industry”: NAMM President reacts to the de-escalation of tariffs on Chinese goods – and discusses its impact on the musical instrument sector
- “I’m not going to die with a lot of money. I’m going to die happy”: This Kiss superfan just paid $12k to be Gene Simmons’ roadie for a day
- “We were getting comfortable being back together – that was part of the reason we went out on the road without a record deal. Another reason was that we couldn’t get a record deal...” Why Aerosmith’s ’80s misfire, Done With Mirrors, was the making of them
- “Al Di Meola was at one of the John Petrucci camps and he said, ‘Learn as much theory as you possibly can and then forget it!’” Progressive virtuoso Jason Richardson gives his take on the timeless ‘music theory versus ear training’ debate
- “When my first band was playing, I needed an amp. I traded this guitar and $60 to my drummer's sister, who had a Super Reverb”: Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo is selling his first-ever electric guitar on the band's relaunched Reverb store
- Fender Japan celebrates the ’60s with the return of its Traditional Collection – which features a rare Competition Jazzmaster
- “To be in this band, you’ve got to be able to play solos and straight-ahead blues, and be something of a bass player, too, to cover the low end guitar-wise. It’s hard to find someone who can do all that”: The resurrection of GA-20
- “Alice really wanted a signature riff. When I played it for him, he just smiled and patted me on the back”: The iconic Alice Cooper Poison riff started out as John McCurry’s warm-up routine – and it lives a double life
- July 2025 Guitar World lesson videos and more
- “We met Greg Sutton, who played for Bob Dylan. He said, ‘Let’s get Mick Taylor out.’ So we paid Mick, got some blow and wrote a few songs...” Anthony Krizan on what it took to perform Hendrix with Noel Redding – and best Alex Skolnick in an audition
- “Fender has standards. I don’t”: Brad Paisley will personally build 19 of his new signature Lost Telecasters – and he plans to get experimental
- “Epiphone has a few things they want to release...”: Alex Lifeson's iconic ‘Whitey’ Gibson ES-355 featured on almost every Rush album – and an affordable signature version could be in the works
- “Does a damn good job of delivering searing metal tones that go far beyond what you’d expect from the price point”: Jackson JS Series Dinky JS11 review
May 13
- “Distortion, distortion, gain and more gain were my digs before I joined the Smashing Pumpkins. But they’ve introduced me to a whole new world of pedals”: Kiki Wong on her life-changing audition, and what she's learned from Billy Corgan and James Iha
- “I got a call: ‘Can you be on a plane tomorrow to go to New Orleans to play one song with Paul McCartney?’” Brian Ray’s audition to join Paul McCartney’s band was a last-minute live performance – at the Super Bowl
- “When we did the final Slayer show for 60,000 people, Scott Ian used it as his primary tone”: Gary Holt's favorite budget pedal emulates Eddie Van Halen's iconic “Brown Sound” – and it retails for less than a $100
- “He gave the CD to George. The next thing I know he calls to ask if we’d play at their Christmas party”: How Robin Nolan went from busking on the streets of Amsterdam to collaborating with George Harrison – and hanging out with Paul McCartney
- Their job titles are ‘Wrangling Hellcat’ and ‘Waste Management’ – meet the multi-talented minds behind Jack White’s fast-rising pedal brand, Third Man Hardware
- “This gentleman was someone we looked up to. He was right up there”: Peter Frampton joins Pearl Jam and trades solos with Mike McCready over Black during Nashville performance
- “We’re an African band who make hard rock. Before Songhoy Blues, you’d never hear anyone do this. It’s like a little Rolling Stones from Mali”: Songhoy Blues’ Garba Touré created his own crossover guitar style – now he’s changing it up again
- “His prized possession was a 1972 D-35 that he played for all those years. Shortly before he passed away, he gave it to me”: Rockie Lynne was abandoned as an infant – years later, his birth father left him his most important legacy
- “My friend found me a replica of John Frusciante’s Strat for €28,000. Spending that kind of money is ridiculous. It doesn't do anything for me”: Richard Z. Kruspe on why guitars are like kisses, reverse kill-switches – and the riff that launched Rammstein
- “I didn’t care if it succeeded or not. I just wanted to make fun of Bruce Springsteen”: Todd Rundgren reveals the real reason why he decided to produce Meat Loaf's off-kilter debut Bat Out of Hell
May 12
- “I gave the Nocaster to Stevie. I'd catch him playing it. Years later someone paid a million dollars or something for it”: Jimmie Vaughan on his three favorite guitars – and the story of the megabucks Fender he gave to his brother
- “I was advised not to do the show. I had to tape myself into this giant bulletproof vest”: When Suzanne Vega was warned against headlining Glastonbury, she took drastic measures to ensure she made history
- “How the gain sags and blooms is going to influence how you perform. When you track DI and change the tone, you lose the essence of the performance”: Connor Kaminski and Keyan on the secrets behind one of the year’s hottest guitar collaborations
- “My upbeat moment is, I'm alive”: Robert Fripp reveals he’s recovering from a heart attack
- “What better way to honor the past than by letting the YardBurst, once played by Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, live on through today's artists?”: Marcus King follows in Craig Ross’ footsteps to wield Jeff Beck’s iconic Les Paul on stage
- “I’m pretty sure that statement was not meant to be a compliment”: Gary Clark Jr. on the time he bumped into Eric Clapton at a show – and what Slowhand said about his tone
- “It’s about confidence. It makes it quicker to find the effect, you make changes faster and you focus more on your playing”: Guitar pedal footswitch toppers explained – and why they could be your pedalboard’s new best friend
- “An avatar of the purest spirit of rock and roll”: Lemmy honored with a towering bronze statue unveiled in the Motörhead legend’s hometown
- Mastodon recruit prog fusion virtuoso Nick Johnston as surprise new stand-in guitarist following Brent Hinds’ departure
May 11
- “It excels, positively stuns, at summoning the tight, immediate and percussive guitar tones of modern metal”: Fortin Meshuggah Preamp/Distortion pedal review
- “We shouldn’t have touched her music when she wasn’t around. I thought I would never see her again”: Knox Chandler on the less-than-ideal recording session that flourished into a decade-long working relationship with Cyndi Lauper
- Prince was a master guitarist with a singular musical vision, but he didn't always go it alone on the instrument. These are the oft-overlooked players who joined him onstage, and in the studio
May 10
- "With a rugged build and more gain than should be legal, this pedal is a must-have for any metal guitarist looking to chug": Solar Chug Lite high-gain distortion pedal review
- “Tom listened to it and said, ‘It sounds kind of jazzy.’ I went back and changed the chorus, and that’s the version I played for Don”: Mike Campbell on writing The Boys of Summer with Don Henley – after Tom Petty passed on it
- “I will use mattresses for isolation and try not to bother the neighbors too much… I was just following the songs to see what happens”: How Jonathan Hultén channeled Nick Drake’s Pink Moon and recorded an entire album in his walk-in closet
- “Paul Simon called Stax and said, ‘Who are those Jamaican musicians?’ They told him, ‘Those are some white boys from Alabama!’” David Hood on being starstruck by Aretha Franklin, what Otis Redding taught him, and tales from golden age of Muscle Shoals
May 9
- “Some of the most ambitious custom shop guitars I’ve ever seen”: These are the gear releases that have caught my eye this week – and the essential launches you might have missed
- “Even today, there’s little nuances that Eddie did, and I can get close, but it’s about trying to capture the feeling”: Why George Clinton’s P-Funk All Stars never shined so bright as when ‘Kidd Funkadelic’ and Eddie Hazel joined forces on Maggot Brain
- “Going on the road just got easer”: Gator’s Icon Take Two gig bag series offers a secure, comfortable and convenient solution for transporting 2 of your prized guitars
- “I’ve only seen it that once and just for about two hours. It was a piece of crap”: Steely Dan’s Denny Dias says his iconic Do It Again electric sitar solo was recorded on a lousy rental model
- “I was able to find three of them in the world. I wrote almost the entire score on this guitar”: Sinners composer Ludwig Göransson used vintage 1932 Dobros to write the movie’s music – and he scoured the globe to find them
- “Although the road has not always been enjoyable for me, it is usually easy. The best job I could ever have had”: Pete Townshend looks back at life on the road as The Who announce farewell North American tour
- “A personal crowning moment for me was having Lemmy ask me to play on a Motörhead record!” Alice in Chains’ Mike Inez on why Cliff Burton ruled, Paul McCartney's influence – and what John Entwistle told him (that he already knew)
- Kurt Cobain's 1989 Takamine expected to fetch up to $500,000 at auction – alongside guitars played by the likes of Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, David Bowie, Joe Perry and Melissa Etheridge
- Cory Wong and Joe Satriani are right – knowing where the notes are on the guitar is a skill all players should take seriously. Here are 10 ways you can master the fretboard
- “Bob is fearless. He’s always willing to take chances with music of any kind”: Bob Weir joins Joe Satriani and Sammy Hagar for Best of All Worlds guest spot – and plays Hagar’s Gibson Explorer
- “Listening to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert… all kinds of crazy-fast players. And you tried to keep up with them”: Andy La Rocque on why he is no longer a 120mph soloist – and what we can expect from the long-awaited King Diamond album
- “This was specifically wanting it to have the sort of grandiosity of a Comfortably Numb-type guitar solo but without really referencing that vocabulary”: Randy McStine reveals all behind his cosmically epic solo on Steven Wilson's The Overview
May 8
- “With its tone knob backed off this thing gets sasquatch-hairy without losing clarity. It’s a surprisingly killer stoner rock machine”: EVH SA-126 Standard review
- “It would be a great gift to the fans, and I don’t know how strange this sounds, but I feel like it’s a gift to Chris too”: Soundgarden's Kim Thayil gives an update on whether unreleased band material featuring Chris Cornell will see the light of day
- Eddie Vedder uses one of Jack White’s signature guitars to play a Pearl Jam deep cut – after receiving it as a gift from the White Stripes legend
- “I said, ‘You can’t make a guitar as good as my old one.’ They tried and it wasn’t great”: Vince Gill’s 1953 Telecaster is one of the most coveted Teles of all time – but the Eagles guitarist turned down Fender’s offer to make a signature recreation
- “I play the double-neck and trade solos with Joe Walsh on Hotel California. It’s a bit terrifying, but it’s the greatest thing ever”: Chris Holt landed The Eagles without an audition – but his gigs with Mike Campbell and Don Henley might have helped
- “What started out as an instrumental album quickly changed”: Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean DeLeo announces One More Satellite – a new collaborative project that stars a host of special guests
- “John Lennon hated doubling his vocals. The chief engineer at Abbey Road came up with a way to add a delay and put it onto another track. That’s what that pedal does”: The Cars’ Elliot Easton on the secrets of his pedalboard – and the wizard who made it
- “It's the unpredictability and suddenness of the tariffs. Companies do not have the time to plan, adapt or evolve”: NAMM CEO John Mlynczak on the impact of Trump’s tariffs in the guitar industry
- “Tom thought I was trying to make myself look like the guy who was behind Boston. After that, he said he wasn’t going to work with me anymore”: Barry Goudreau opens up on his bitter parting with Tom Scholz
- “A little thunder and lightning”: Slash dons a Gibson SG as Guns N’ Roses pay tribute to John Sykes with rampant cover of a Thin Lizzy classic
May 7
- “Prince writes, ‘Luka is the most compelling piece of music I’ve heard in a long time’”: Suzanne Vega on the time Prince sent her a handwritten letter to praise one of her most iconic tracks
- I bought the cheapest bass Fender makes from Amazon and it genuinely surprised me: Squier Debut Series Precision Bass review
- “I wasn't familiar with PRS. If anything, I was like, ‘The birds are too flashy!’ But the moment I played one I was like, ‘Whoa, I can play faster now!’”: Meet Mei Semones, the Berklee graduate reimagining New Orleans vibes with an intricate indie flair
- “I hear the promoter got a phone call from Eddie, who said, ‘If Yngwie Malmsteen is playing, I'm not playing’”: Yngwie Malmsteen claims Eddie Van Halen felt “threatened” by him
- Joe Perry announces his first big post-Aerosmith tour – and he’ll be playing with members of Aerosmith, Black Crowes and Stone Temple Pilots
- “A huge Achilles heel with the non-traditionals”: What’s the hardest part about designing a fresh guitar? According to Novo Guitars, it’s probably not one you’d expect
- “It’s a $20 plugin. It makes it sound like it’s coming off a tape that’s been recorded over three or four times”: Steven Wilson reveals his go-to guitar plugin – and why digital can successfully coexist with analog
- “How many weddings can you jam I'm Eighteen, Enter Sandman, and Cowboys From Hell?”: Nita Strauss shreds an Alice Cooper classic at her own wedding in newly shared clips
- “A lot of modern guitarists want to get all the notes right but if you listen to Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, it’s beautiful playing, with loads of mistakes”: Peter Brewis on Field Music’s ‘collage rock’ – and why he owes his career to Robert Zemeckis
- “Iggy left the Stooges and had a career – ditto Lou Reed with the Velvet Underground or Morrissey with the Smiths. Where’s Biafra’s solo career?”: East Bay Ray explains why the Dead Kennedys’ chemistry hit its peak on Fresh Fruit... and why it fell apart
- “We haven’t broken a string on a Les Paul for more than three years”: Joe Bonamassa swears by this easy string-saving hack – which was inspired by Jimmy Page and Billy Gibbons
May 6
- Faced with the loss of their founding guitarist and creative leader, Night Flight Orchestra are persevering with the big melodies and sonic largesse of rock's golden era
- “This song depicts all of the things Joe and I loved about pounding rock ‘n’ roll and the glorious guitar”: The SatchVai Band's second single is an ode to the instrument that made them famous – and it features Glenn Hughes on vocals
- “It’s unreal that my own name is one of the coolest finishes I think Fender has ever done”: Fender teams up with country superstar Brad Paisley on a signature Telecaster that brings back a cult classic finish from the 1960s
- “I realized he couldn't play well enough to put the video out”: Rick Beato weighs in on the Giacomo Turra controversy – and discusses their ill-fated collaboration
- Philip Sayce has some of the most potent guitar tones in modern blues rock – and now Seymour Duncan has recreated them with a signature single-coil set inspired by his go-to vintage Strat
- “We were trying to make the best guitar that ever happened in world history”: ESP’s latest Richard ZK ESP and LTD signature guitars are heavy rock riff machines of the highest order
- “There’s a sleek look to bands like Loathe, Spiritbox or Knocked Loose. Spiky shapes are engrained in our values – we want to wear our influences on our sleeves”: Employed To Serve are re-embracing metal guitars – but dropping amps
- “Save yourself a few hundred thousand dollars and experience the magic for yourself”: JHS Pedals has unveiled its latest DIY pedal kit – a $119 Dumble-style overdrive partly inspired by a one-off John Mayer stompbox
- “That was the infamous moment of my life when Dazed and Confused fell into the loving arms and hands of Jimmy Page”: Original Dazed and Confused songwriter revives copyright lawsuit against Jimmy Page
- “Tokai’s LS series are probably the best-built Les Paul-style guitars that have ever come through my shop”: How the Japanese guitar market came of age with ’80s Fender and Gibson clones – some that would rival the originals
- “B.B. King was in a wheelchair for maybe four or five years before he died, and I’m not on crutches yet”: Fresh off his cameo in Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners, Buddy Guy confirms he’s not done with performing just yet
- “Makes me feel closer to Pop every time I record”: Wolfgang Van Halen used Eddie’s legendary Frankenstein to track the slap riff – and the wild two-hand tapping sequence – in his new single
May 5
- “There's something really magical about it”: Bon Jovi's Phil X on why he prefers single-pickup guitars – and his one-of-a-kind neck pickup 'mods'
- Played by everyone from Magic Sam and Otis Rush to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robbie Robertson, Noel Gallagher, and Robben Ford, the Riviera remains Epiphone's semi-hollow superstar
- “Smashing Pumpkins taught me that music doesn’t have to fit neatly into a box… it’s not as easy as pie. It’s pie with a side of metal!” Billy Corgan asked Jenna Fournier to go back to bass, and she says the timing is perfect
- “I will miss laughing with her about sports and crying with her about politics”: Tom Morello leads tributes to groundbreaking singer-songwriter Jill Sobule
- “A true musician’s musician whose guitar spoke volumes”: Blues guitar great Joe Louis Walker dies at 75
- “I always used it with Whitesnake, which was perfect because it sounded like John Sykes' Les Paul”: Doug Aldrich on how Randy Rhoads’ inspiration helped him find a “killer” Les Paul – that was owned by the man who co-wrote Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven
May 4
- Free Eddie Van Halen mini-documentary explores the origins of Eruption and his two-hand tapping technique – and it’s partly narrated by the man himself
- Klon Centaur creator Bill Finnegan once said that the hype around his pedal was “ridiculous,” yet originals still fetch $10,000 or more on the secondhand market. With plentiful, far cheaper clones, why does the Klon remain a holy grail pedal?
May 3
- “Norm was like, ‘Do you want to play with Joe?’ Before I could say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ he brings Joe over and tells him, ‘Jason wants to play a set’”: Jason Sinay on jamming with Joe Bonamassa – and why his early sessions with Mike Campbell were a struggle
- "A very cool guitar with a lot of style, and fortunately, it has the substance to match its good looks": Squier Limited Edition Paranormal Offset Telecaster SJ review
May 2
- “I remember there was a video of Gary Moore and he played Red House on this Fiesta Red Strat, and I thought it was just the most incredible thing”: Is Toby Lee Britain’s next blues-rock superstar?
- “I love the guitar, but essentially it’s an instrument that belongs to the 20th century in many ways. So it’s a question of, what can you do to try to reinvent that vocabulary to make it seem relevant?”: Steven Wilson on the making of a cosmic prog epic
- “I had big shoes to fill, but I knew I had a lot to offer on my own. I think Billy Corgan saw that in me”: From Veruca Salt to the Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage, Nicole Fiorentino has become alt-rock's go-to bassist
- “At first, I honestly thought it was a joke. Even now, it hasn’t quite sunk in”: Eric Clapton recently named Toshiki Soejima as one of his favorite contemporary Japanese players – now, the neo-soul guitarist has finally met his guitar hero
- “Vince Gill is probably the best guitarist of any of us on that stage, but he isn’t doing a ton of heavy-lifting guitar-wise”: Chris Holt on how he got the Eagles gig – and what fans can expect from the new-look guitar line-up
- “After reviewing thousands of submissions from across the globe…” Chaka Khan has chosen her new guitarist after hosting open auditions – and it’s a popular Instagram shredder
- “I switched to a Stratocaster, then Lowell George showed me his MXR compressor”: Bonnie Raitt on how she developed her celebrated slide sound – and why you can’t teach feel
- Wolfgang Van Halen goes big on the two-hand tapping in new Mammoth single – and recruits Slash and Myles Kennedy for a horror-inspired music video loaded with an Eddie Van Halen Easter egg
- “That required some right hand training. It was like a tongue twister for my hands”: Mike Dawes has transformed a Sleep Token song into a solo acoustic guitar masterclass – and the results are awe-inspiring
May 1
- Fender Japan assembles all-star group of elite Masterbuilders for its most ambitious builds yet – the Deck O’ Cards Stratocasters
- “We both wanted to shred. Joey wanted to be as crazy on guitar as he was on drums”: Wednesday 13 on getting his guitar confidence back – with help from some heroes – and the Murderdolls future that never happened
- “I still use the Strat and Big Muff sound here and there for overdubs, but when I watched Eddie Van Halen play 3 feet in front of me, I learned that it’s about the hands”: Billy Corgan on critics, tone secrets, and how he keeps Smashing Pumpkins fresh
- “I would always insist that you know every single note right from the beginning”: Joe Satriani responds to Cory Wong's controversial statement about what it takes to be an advanced guitarist – and why he agrees with him
- “I subsequently became the world’s most famous guitarist with The Police. I wanted to play with somebody else to see how I’d do, like an experiment on myself”: At the height of his ’80s success, Andy Summers needed a challenge – he found Robert Fripp
- She wowed Sonny Landreth and Carlos Santana called her the “future” – Erja Lyytinen shares her 6 go-to slide licks for unlocking more expressive soloing
- “We had accidentally stored the bass in Seattle and paid $2,500 in rental fees!” 32 years ago, Jeff Ament rented a ’61 Jazz Bass from Norman's Rare Guitars to record Pearl Jam’s iconic Vs. record – and now he’s been reunited with it
- “Eddie’s musicianship blossomed when I joined the band”: Sammy Hagar on his musical dynamic with Eddie Van Halen – and why the virtuoso stopped releasing music in the 2000s
- “That is called ‘playing the s**t out of the guitar!’”: Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt and Smokey Robinson join forces on their own rendition of a Motown classic at the 2025 American Music Honors