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November 2025

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306 articles

November 30
- The Squier Debut Series Precision Bass might be the cheapest bass Fender makes, but it's not just useful for beginners – save a huge 20% on it with this unmissable Amazon Black Friday deal
- My plucky and dependable Yamaha F335 was the first guitar I ever owned, and it's a perfect beginner acoustic for yourself or a loved one – get it for more than 40% off with this killer Black Friday deal
- Deal alert! These are the cheapest Fender Player IIs on the internet right now
- I've never really understood the Les Paul hype – until this ’60s-inspired Gibson Les Paul Standard totally changed my mind
- I’d be a worse guitar player without a looper pedal. Here’s why I think every guitarist should own one – especially with deals starting at $59
- I've never modded a guitar but now the cheapest Squier Strat on the planet is even cheaper – so I think I've found the perfect DIY project platform
- Stuck on a Christmas present? Give the gift of music with these budget-friendly guitar starter kits for kids and adults alike
- David Gilmour’s iconic Black Strat sold at auction for nearly $4,000,000 – but you can get one that looks the part for just $649 thanks to Guitar Center
- “Once you get the hang of it, this looper has many practical applications and is a fun creative tool”: Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper review
- “I carry one in my luggage at all times”: Steve Vai doesn’t leave the house without this mini amp – and now you can pick up his new favorite piece of gear for $50 less
- “You always get some guitar player stealing everyone’s thunder. Bass is mega-important – anyone who’s got an ounce of groove in them realises that”: How a hypnotic ‘Mani’ bassline propelled one of the Stone Roses’ finest moments
- “The origins of its nickname remain obscure, but, thankfully, the rest of its particulars were easier to pin down”: You know Greeny, now it’s time to meet Stripe – Gary Moore’s other go-to ’59 Les Paul, and a guitar of incalculable vibe
November 29
- I've long been a bit of a PRS skeptic, but this 20% Black Friday discount on the SE Custom 24 has me considering taking the plunge
- This is the perfect time to be a beginner or young guitarist – you can currently score more than $250 off our fave entry guitars from Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha and more
- The TONEX One is the best-selling amp modeler and you can bag it for $149 at Guitar Center – trust me, this is one deal you don’t want to miss
- I am determined to find great tone for under $100. Behold! I have unearthed the best cheap pedal deals from Boss, MXR, Electro-Harmonix, JHS, Walrus Audio and many more
- “Not your typical guitar pedal”: Gamechanger Audio Motor Pedal review
- I saw Squier Hello Kitty Strats traded for $700 on the used market – but right now you can bag one for $399 at Sweetwater
- I've just unearthed the sweetest Black Friday deal on my favorite guitar string brand – and it's one that will cost you just $4 per string set
- “I’ve probably spent all my royalties on the endless pedals that arrive at the door to my wife’s displeasure”: How Marillion’s Steve Rothery forged a new musical alliance – and got addicted to buying pedals in the process
- “Playing a 5-string bass is a different world, but I feel way more funky with just four strings”: L.A. session bassist Pops Magellan on swapping stadium shows with megastars to shine the spotlight on her own material
- Bassists, this one's for you – 9 great Black Friday bass guitar deals with up to $250 off Fender, Yamaha, Darkglass, Line 6 and more
- I spent 2025 modifying a Gibson Flying V, and now, with $150 off this stunning Silver Burst Epiphone in the Guitar Center Black Friday sale, I've just found my next project
- “Could make your pedalboard truly portable with enough power to get you through a gig”: Walrus Audio Canvas Power USB review
- The Martin D-28 is quite simply the best acoustic guitar you can buy today – get one for a huge $200 off this Black Friday at Guitar Center
November 28
- Guitar Tricks just dropped a whole year of guitar lessons to only $99 thanks to this impressive 89% off Black Friday offer
- Shock therapy, Bats in Flight and Aurora sparkle – Guitar Center is looking different this Black Friday with exclusive new finishes on Fender, Gibson, Martin and Schecter models
- You can buy a Friedman amp for $99 in this bonkers Black Friday deal – so you can harness the sounds coveted by Eddie Van Halen and Steve Stevens even on a tight budget
- Joe Bonamassa’s recent hearing scare is a reminder that we should all be taking better care of our ears – and with big Black Friday deals on Loop earplugs, now is the time to make a change
- I'm feeling this! The ultimate Squier Sonic Strat for budding Tom DeLonge fans is now even cheaper at only $161 for Black Friday
- “Self expression through music and art does a lot of good for people’s mental health”: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs launch Christmas appeal for unused gear to give to musicians who can’t afford their own
- “A bunch of people fancy themselves guitar gods and are annoying about it. But she actually is”: Lucy Dacus joins John Mayer in singing the praises of this emerging guitar genius
- “The perfect marriage of Aerosmith and the Cult. An Aerocult, if you will”: November 2025 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
- Triplecasters, Pano Verbs… Eminem! Jack White just lit up the NFL halftime show at Ford Field with White Stripes classics and a cameo from a Detroit rap legend
- “We’ve assembled a team of top talent to turn ideas into world-class instruments”: Former Gamechanger Audio employees have launched a new firm – and their first pedal is inspired by the human voice
- In my book, Boss’ Katana:Go Mini is the headphone amp to beat – and now it’s the best value, too – undercutting Fender, Blackstar and even NUX at just $99
- Been waiting to buy your dream guitar? Guitar Center has just introduced a 15% off coupon for Black Friday – for a limited time only
- “It’s a true privilege”: YouTuber gets the chance to try Gary Rossington’s legendary Free Bird Gibson Les Paul/SG – so he plays Free Bird
- I played a John Mayer Silver Sky for the first time ever this year and it blew me away. With 20% of all PRS SE and Core guitars at Guitar Center for Black Friday, I’m *this close* to getting one of my own
- “When I played the Purple songs and took it out, some of them – a certain percentage of them – just hated me”: Steve Morse on the challenges of putting his own stamp on Deep Purple’s material
- “If you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there, your career is over”: Nuno Bettencourt reflects on Wolfgang Van Halen's absence at Back to the Beginning
- I think the guitar deal of the year just landed with a staggering $300 off this 5-star rated Strandberg Boden Essential at Sweetwater
- Black Friday guitar deals 2025 LIVE: all the biggest savings at Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Fender, Amazon and more that are still live
- My bandmate gigged this Walrus Audio amp simulator and his tone was better than mine. Now its upgraded successor is $90 off for Black Friday and I’m about to join him
- Stop the presses! Musician's Friend just rocked Black Friday with up to 60% off a host of guitars from PRS to Fender, Martin, Ernie Ball, and more
November 27
- I challenge anyone to beat TrueFire’s Black Friday annual subscription deal for value – $6.58 per month to access over 80,000 online guitar lessons is unbelievable
- “It was the overwhelming reaction to my very first cat-themed pickguard, the Telecat, that gave me the final push to launch on Etsy”: Cat lovers, rejoice – this bassist is creating custom pickguards in the shape of your cat
- “It’s not every day you get to work for a player rightfully belonging on the pantheon of rock gods”: Steve Vai has reimagined Brian May’s Red Special in his own vision with the help of a UK boutique guitar builder
- Universal Audio is giving away a free plugin for Black Friday but hurry, you've only got a few days to get yours – choose one of ten different plugins
- “James Brown told me, ‘Son, you can’t come on my stage with that funny-looking thing!’” When a young Bootsy Collins joined James Brown’s band, the Godfather of Funk bought him a Fender Jazz Bass. Now it’s up for auction
- “I saw Ace Frehley bending backwards doing a solo. That’s when it clicked with me: ‘I wanna be a rock guy now!’” Inspired by Kiss, Metallica and Dokken, DRAIN’s Cody Chavez is the hardcore hero who isn’t afraid to shred
- “Time to add a 5th JHS pedal to my rig? With 25% off this just-launched distortion, it’s hard to resist”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the unmissable Black Friday gear discounts I’m eyeing up
- “We shot this at the high school I went to”: Nuno Bettencourt solos while ‘ice skating’ – as he shreds guitar and shaves ice in new Extreme music video
- “From a bass-playing point of view, he was the best. Everybody wanted to be him”: Joy Division co-founder Peter Hook on his friendship with Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield – and how groove defined his bass playing
- “A generational leap in modeling technology”: Neural DSP just gave players 2 huge reasons to switch to the Nano and Quad Cortex
- “There’s no weight relief and limited colors, but this is the real deal with vintage vibe and feel”: 6 Gibson USA Les Pauls we love that won’t break the bank
- Positive Grid declares war on bad tone with its generous up to 30% off Black Friday sale - and yes, it includes the Spark 2, Spark Mini, and the new Bias X software
- “I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just a fellow musician, that’s fine,’ and he walked out with the case. When I went to get my guitar, it was gone”: Roger McGuinn on the Ovation 12-string that fell apart and the infamous Rickenbacker theft of ’65
November 26
- “Being able to simulate the body shapes of different guitars and spatial sounds is really special”: Touring guitarists, this one’s for you – Donner announces a 20% off sale on all models of its cutting-edge, travel-ready Hush series
- “An icon of late 1960s rock history”: George Harrison and Eric Clapton both married the same woman. Now the historic 1913 Gibson acoustic named after Pattie Boyd is headed to auction – months after it was listed on Reverb for almost $1,000,000
- “It’s like a playground. There are so many things you can do with this”: JHS Pedals retools one of its most underrated distortion pedals for its 10th anniversary
- “After getting minor surgery, we hired our good friend to give us a hand”: Gojira name stand-in guitarist after Joe Duplantier undergoes hand surgery
- “I get to express myself in ways that have been dormant for years”: Alissa White-Gluz leaves Arch Enemy – and launches her solo career with the help of Michael Amott’s signature guitar
- “My right ear pretty much lost 80 percent of its high end”: Joe Bonamassa reveals temporary hearing loss diagnosis following an incident at one of his recent shows
- “We parked up outside Steve Vai’s caravan. His guitar tech saw me. Next thing you know, Steve’s there, and I’m trying my best to play Tobacco Road”: He was a guitar god at 8, then he disappeared – the unlikely story of Thomas McRocklin
- "If heaps of retro charm and a sound that truly stands on its own are what you’re after, then you’ve just found your new delay pedal”: Strymon Olivera Vintage Oil Can Echo pedal review
- I've not found any Neural DSP Black Friday savings yet, but I did just uncover a way to get a free plugin of your choice when you buy a Nano Cortex
- I've always wanted these iconic tube amps for my studio and with UAD plugins starting at just $29 for Black Friday, now I can have them all
- “A single-note solo played over just bass and drums runs the risk of sounding empty… The solution is to include some chord tones”: How to use triads in blues solos like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix
- “One promoter just bailed… So we stole his PA and sold it for gas money”: The life and times of infamous Philly punk icons Ink & Dagger
- As a hopeless Gibson and Epiphone addict, these Black Friday deals are seriously testing my willpower – get $600 off a Les Paul Standard, $300 off a Hendrix Flying V, plus even more models
November 25
- “Eric said that the only way he’d play on it is if he sounded like the Beatles”: Legendary Abbey Road record producer, Ken Scott, explains how Eric Clapton ended up playing an uncredited solo on a Beatles classic
- I’ve found 3 epic Black Friday deals on beginner electric guitars you’ll take years to outgrow – including $50 off a Yamaha Pacifica I awarded 5-stars
- “Our most compact all-in-one unit ever”: Fractal goes up against IK Multimedia and Line 6 with the AM4 – its most affordable and user-friendly amp modeler to date
- “It was extremely humbling. It made me want to get really good at it”: Polyphia's Tim Henson on the challenges he encountered while learning guitar after playing the violin for years
- “I have a 1968 Plexi and Leslie West’s old Sunn amp, which Joe Bonamassa gave me”: Jared James Nichols owns a few vintage amp gems – but here’s why he still prefers Blackstars
- From Kalamazoo with love – score a colossal $1,300 off this gorgeous Heritage semi-hollow steeped in electric guitar history for Black Friday
- “The worst-kept secret in the amp world”: Joe Bonamassa’s new signature combo has landed – and it’s been built by a renowned disciple of Howard Dumble
- “Young bass players should diversify their sound if they want to land gigs. Not everyone can be in Foo Fighters”: How Juan Alderete’s infatuation with bass gear made him one of the world’s greatest authorities on pedals and effects
- “Right before we get on stage, Paul said, ‘I don't want to discourage you, but you’ve got 4,000 people in the crowd – and a worldwide stream’”: Meet Magnolia Boulevard, the soulful rockers personally backed by Paul Reed Smith
- “I’m gonna fight this thing”: Great White guitarist Mark Kendall reveals Stage 4 cancer diagnosis
- “We drove two hours down to meet the seller, who ended up being someone who worked on production for Slash”: Kiki Wong recalls her biggest amp bargain – when she found a vintage Marshall on Craigslist
- Boss is slicing through the Cyber Weekend noise with sizable discounts on the practice-friendly Katana amps, our number one looper, and a classic distortion pedal for only $54.99
- “I’d put it right alongside any of the classic Fender amps. I think it’s earned that right”: 30 years of the Blues Junior – the Fender combo that came, saw and conquered the tube amp market
- “A no-brainer purchase for ambience freaks, shoegazers and experimentalists”: Source Audio Encounter review
November 24
- “It would have been okay if I had an acoustic guitar, but the electricity made it like ‘you're not allowed’”: Joan Jett on the battles she faced to become a rock guitar icon
- “It was the perfect guitar for him to pay tribute to Tony”: Kirk Hammett’s guitar auction shatters expectations – with his mystery Back to the Beginning SG fetching $70,000 more than anticipated
- These 5 audio interfaces came out on top in my testing gauntlet, and now they're all on sale with a hefty Black Friday discount – including $200 off a UA Apollo
- Every single JHS pedal has been given a Black Friday discount up to 25% at Sweetwater – and yes, it includes the Color Box, Morning Glory and Angry Charlie
- "I feel closer to what I'm playing, more connected in a way I've never really felt with other semi-hollow guitars": Orangewood Clementine review
- “Thank goodness it wasn’t painted”: John Entwistle’s Warwick bass triples in value after analysis reveals links to another rock great
- My favorite Klon-style overdrive just dropped by 48%! At just $99, this may be the smartest upgrade you can make to your sound this Black Friday
- “They each have their own weird little soul”: Tom DeLonge has unveiled 10 new Fender Starcasters – and they’re made with actual meteorites from the Moon, Mars and more
- “I couldn't stop vomiting. The room wouldn't stop spinning”: Ritchie Blackmore issues health update after tour cancellation
- “They can show you what a guitar is about right away”: Wolfgang Van Halen names the 2 classic rock tracks he plays to test any electric guitar
- Thomann's budget Harley Benton range just got even cheaper for Black Friday with huge price cuts on a range of guitars, pedals, and accessories
- I'm sorry, my beloved AC30, but with hundreds slashed off digital modelers and multi-effects, I've found your replacement this Black Friday - here are 7 units that are turning my head
- “If all you want to do is sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, you’re screwed. There was only one of him and he did it better than anyone else”: What Guthrie Trapp learned while escaping the country player label – and how the fretboard can change your life
- “Tony Rice is the closest guy to a shredder that I was fixed on – but he could only influence me so far because I didn’t really understand his vocabulary”: Robbie Fulks on the “miracle” of bluegrass and the ecstasies of improv solos
- “The guitar is the most difficult instrument to play. Trumpet players might argue with me”: Robben Ford on his favorite Tele, Dumble magic and why the guitar is a tough nut to crack
November 23
- “I’m so glad I got to play it again”: YouTube’s first viral guitarist has returned – and he’s re-recorded the cover from 20 years ago that paved the way for social media shred videos
- “I spent 14 years in the Iron Maidens. It was a great time… but I didn’t start playing guitar to be a professional tribute musician”: How Courtney Cox found her own identity bringing malevolent riffing to the coven of Burning Witches
- “Watch out, Silver Sky. You’ve got some stiff competition from another PRS signature…” All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the latest reissue of one of Gibson’s most sought-after signature models
- “I wrote that for my mom. I never thought about releasing it, but she passed away last year”: Fresh off his stint with the Goo Goo Dolls, Sammy Boller has a new EP – featuring two-handed tapping and an 8-string borrowed from Tim Henson
November 22
- “I met Billy Cobham on a Campbell’s Soup jingle and doing an Avon jingle with Herbie Hancock. It was an amazing time”: A pre-fame Stanley Clarke took chance after chance at a 1974 session with Aretha Franklin – and helped define a soul classic
- “My wife has told me, ‘I see from the outside that you can’t stop. This is who you are, this is what you do’”: George Lynch on resurrecting his band, what it would take for him to go back to blues, and chasing that elusive masterpiece
- “A really musical effect, perfectly implemented in a tiny footprint”: Electro-Harmonix Pico Swello review
- “I’ve never been a fan of slogging it out at auction. There are exceptions, though...” Joe Bonamassa says Gary Moore’s playing changed his life – now he’s just bought a piece of his guitar hero’s gear at auction
November 21
- “I’d heard these rumours that ‘it’s even been a sunburst’… I’ve read that one, too. But I could find no evidence of this”: Up close and personal with Gary Moore’s mythical 1960 Fender Stratocaster – the $330,000 Strat that lit up his Red House performance
- “I found it more rewarding playing bass than playing rhythm. I've always been into Northern Soul and funk grooves and it was like, ‘This is it’”: Anchoring Primal Scream and the Stone Roses, Mani proudly defied trends, and re-defined rock bass in the 90s
- Join the ranks of Billy Duffy, John Frusciante and Pat Smear, with a shiny new Gretsch guitar this Black Friday - here's my 5 top picks from Sweetwater, Guitar Center and beyond
- “I’ve picked up others… they were like a piece of plywood. But not this one”: Gary Moore’s iconic red Stratocaster sells at auction for more than $330,000
- Thomann just boosted their Cyber Week sale with a deluge of fresh deals on guitars, pedals, and more – save up to 70% on gear while stock lasts
- “People think you can just drop it a few times and drag it down the street… but it’s actually a really intensive process”: The art of relic’ing a Fender guitar – and why it’s harder than you think
- “I saw the harmonica player, and he asked me, ‘Do you have any reefer?’ He also said, ‘Oh, Muddy just fired somebody last night...’” Bob Margolin had long admired Muddy Waters – then came a chance backstage encounter, and the gig of a lifetime
- Lowest price alert! A duo of limited edition Fender Player II models just hit a historical low for Black Friday with 30% off a Tele and Strat
- “It’s got one bit where I’m tapping on the frets. I got that idea from Eddie Van Halen”: The Last Dinner Party’s Emily Roberts reveals how she took a page from Van Halen’s book to craft the band's most popular track
- “You want to get through the tour for selfish reasons. In the meantime, your brother is ruining their life”: Gene Simmons on how he wished he’d handled his relationship with Ace Frehley differently
- “Watching him and the musicians rehearsing their songs while I was standing there waiting my turn, I started to get really nervous”: Jake E. Lee names the guitar virtuoso who had him sweating backstage at Back to the Beginning
- “When I finished, I sent Kirk Hammett a picture and said, ‘Do you want to use it?’ He replied in all caps, ‘YES!’” Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian has spent 4 years learning how to build guitars – and his prized SG was played at metal’s most historic concert
November 20
- “A rare chance to own a piece of rock history”: Dave Grohl’s DG-335 is one of Gibson’s most in-demand signature models – and now it’s back in an elusive new finish
- "Some players may bemoan its Chinese origin, but if it looks like a Falcon, plays like a Falcon, and squawks like a Falcon, it must be a Falcon": Gretsch Synchromatic Falcon review
- “Country Nirvana, I’m here for it”: The nylon-string guitar riff that has taken TikTok by storm – and been covered by John Mayer
- “A true giant of this city and a massive influence on anyone who’s ever picked up a guitar”: Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, legendary British rock bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, dies aged 63
- “He plays that amazing lead, and I'm like two feet from him. Can you get a better private concert with Van Halen, anywhere, ever?”: Charlie Sheen reveals the real story behind Eddie Van Halen’s legendary Two and a Half Men cameo
- “I’m not a music theory brother at all. He ripped my solo apart”: From soloing next to Misha Mansoor and Marty Friedman to meeting the demands of Josh Middleton, Heriot are next-gen metal guitar heroes in the making
- “We are sorry for any inconvenience”: Ritchie Blackmore’s band cancels all remaining tour dates, citing medical reasons
- “He was excited about doing shows. He was in such a good place, and he literally had an accident”: John 5 discusses the tragic loss of his friend Ace Frehley – and confirms he was set to feature on the Kiss icon’s next album
- “We wanted to allow every fan to say, ‘I helped put this statue here’”: The first images of a Gary Moore tribute statue have been released – but the campaign needs support to finish the project
- “I asked Eric, ‘Can I play them?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ So he went home and I had full licence to play his guitars”: Stephen Dale Petit on break-ups, cancer, Eric Clapton and why the original “blues hooligan” is no gun-for-hire
- “I found this Junior on Reverb and it turned out to be Billie Joe Armstrong’s signature. It doesn’t look like other Juniors – it looks like a Fender”: Anglo-French blues-rocker Laura Cox on Les Pauls vs SGs, and getting huge tone from a Junior guitar
- “An engineer made a fake pickup, and we used asbestos so the heat of the bomb wouldn’t harm the wood”: The daredevil ‘Smoker’ Les Paul that Ace Frehley used on his final Kiss tour is heading to auction
- Positive Grid Holiday Gift Guide 2025: Holiday gifts for every musician on your list
November 19
- “I hear a lot of music, and there’s a lot of great guitar players and bands out there – but Yungblud really had the stuff. So, we thought we’d throw our lot in”: Joe Perry on how Aerosmith ended up collaborating with Yungblud
- Who's the greatest guitar hero to emerge in the 21st century so far?
- “We’re not just serving customers. We’re serving fellow musicians and our friends”: Sweetwater’s customer service has been ranked as one of the highest-rated in the country
- “You only get one shot to do this correctly. And I think we nailed it”: Joe Bonamassa once called Eric Clapton his favorite guitar player of all time. Now, the two blues greats are set to collaborate on a B.B. King classic
- “I love to utilize unison bends, inspired by players like Ted Nugent, Pat Travers and Johnny Winter”: Jared James Nichols shows you how to build a guitar solo to a powerful climax
- “I’d heard about these fellows in England. There was quite a mystique...” John Fogerty walks Stephen Colbert through his iconic Acme Rickenbacker mods – which took inspiration from three British guitar greats
- Taylor just chopped $100 off over 60 different acoustic guitars for Black Friday – these are my 5 standouts
- “Guitars are total peacocks. It’s an extension of the performance”: Inspired by Brian May and Prince, The Rocket might be 2025’s wildest guitar build – NYC firebrand Des Rocs explains why it’s the “opposite of the Joe Bonamassa complex”
- “The kind of partnership guitarists dream about”: Gretsch puts Abbey Road Studio’s legendary tech in a guitar for the first time with purpose-built Studiomatic
- “A new type of product”: Players have waited months for Line 6’s next-gen Helix Stadium Floor XL to be released – now, the next-gen amp modeler is finally shipping
- One of our highest-rated delay pedals just fell to its lowest ever price in the Reverb Black Friday sale – get this Line 6 classic for 40% off
- “I am brutally honest, even at the risk of losing my gig. Ace loved it because he was surrounded by people who’d say he could do no wrong. I never did that”: Anthony Esposito’s unique career alongside the Spaceman, George Lynch and Jake E. Lee
November 18
- “It vacuum-packs superb tones and incredible utility into a compact space”: IK Multimedia TONEX One Bass Edition review
- “I had to keep Dad in check whenever he made a mistake”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his early gigs with Van Halen – and keeping Eddie in line
- “They plug me into Zakk Wylde’s amp. Next thing I’m going crazy. Ozzy goes, ‘Let’s get him on tonight!’” In 1988, a shred prodigy opened for Ozzy Osbourne. He was eight years old
- “I looked at the bass, Billie looked at me, and I picked it up. I thought, ‘Did I just become a bass player?’” Green Day’s Mike Dirnt looks back on his early bass days – as Epiphone launches signature version of his cult classic Grabber G-3
- Michael J. Fox jams with Jackson Browne at charity event – but what is that mystery guitar he’s playing?
- “I was tired of not having a great tone. I could never figure out why I don’t sound good. So I started to experiment with how I pick”: Great tone starts with the pick – just ask Steve Vai. Here’s how honing your picking can improve your tone for free
- “These are the tracks people dream of being able to pick up and play”: New study names the most inspiring bands for aspiring guitarists – and The Beatles have been beaten to top spot
- “This guitar represents a whole year of my life”: This insane Jaws guitar was made using thousands of tiny pieces of paper from Guitar World magazines – now it’s going up for auction
- “I’m nervous of that guitar because it’s so expensive. I can barely look at it”: Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil on how you can shake the Earth with one finger, and why he fell in love with Kirk Hammett’s Greeny – even if he’s still Team Strat
- “I went to the Crossroads Festival when I was 7. I've been married to my Eric Clapton Strat since I was 13”: Meet NYC trio Tchotchke and their six-string hotshot Emily Tooraen – who caught the blues bug when she saw B.B. King and ZZ Top as a kid
- “Took us totally by surprise – sirloin steak quality for chicken nuggets price”: Jet Guitars JT-350 BKM H and JJ-300 P90 SFG review
November 17
- Guitarist Dave Burgess – of Tequila hit-makers the Champs – dies at 90
- “We certainly had differences, but that’s what family is about”: Kiss honor Ace Frehley with candlelit tribute at their first show in nearly 2 years
- “The six-string system never hooked my brain. With this guitar, none of the shapes work, so you have to think differently”: Jacob Collier taught me how to play his 5-string guitar – but I learned much more than just new shapes and tunings
- “I’ll do everything I can to make this guitar sing again and honor its story”: Ukrainian luthier restoring Gibson Les Paul that had been burned by Russian drone strike
- “I was just too frightened – it was too big a moment with everyone looking at the guitar player. I couldn’t do it”: Paul McCartney was meant to be the Beatles’ lead guitarist – then stage fright led him to George Harrison
- “I said, ‘If you let me borrow one for tonight, I promise I’ll come back.’ I didn’t go back until 5 or 6 years later”: The Rolling Stones legend who stole his first guitar
- The lowest price I've ever seen on a Fender Player II Strat just dropped over at the official Fender Black Friday sale – save up to 30% on a huge range of guitars, accessories, and merch
- “We were told a musician would be coming, but we didn't know who. Then the door opened and Ed Sheeran appeared”: Ed Sheeran donates Lowden acoustics to UK school following surprise visit
- “I was almost throwing down a challenge with some of those basslines: play me if you can!” John Paul Jones’ best Led Zeppelin basslines – including an eight-string classic
- “There are people who bought my signature Jaguar because of its reputation – they don't have to be a fan of my music”: Johnny Marr on reinventing the Fender Jaguar (again), the “biggest reunion of all time” and why Nile Rodgers deserves more credit
November 16
- “I made a critical mistake 35 years ago, and I try to walk away from it, but I end up coming back”: Why George Lynch is back with his band
- “I moved over to Fender for a couple of years, learning a lot of history there – but also how I didn’t want to make a guitar”: How John Suhr built one of guitar’s hottest boutique brands
- “I said, ‘We aren’t getting paid properly. I’m going back to New York.’ Duane Allman said, ‘I’m gonna go home and start a band with my brother’”: Jerry Jemmott played with B.B. King and George Benson – but two car accidents influenced him the most
- “Aim to clone the style of the high-end UK Custom Shop models… To be honest, we’re struggling to find any negatives”: PJD Origin Series Carey Pro and St John Pro review
- The Boss Katana 50 is my favorite practice amp – and it just hit the lowest price of the year thanks to this Amazon Black Friday deal
November 15
- “At one stage it sounded like Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain. It was so pompous and bombastic – just the worst”: It was a “nightmare” to record and reduced Thom Yorke to tears – but this difficult Radiohead song went on to be a viral smash
- “There isn't a person on Earth – if I put you in a blindfold – who could hear the difference between those two things”: Phish's Trey Anastasio on why he ditched his vintage pedals in favor of digital modelers
- “If you’re heading off on holiday any time soon and want a guitar-shaped companion with a good pedigree, look no further”: Furch Pioneer-ER A review
- “Jacob Collier’s 5-string guitar revolution is here to stay”: All the guitar gear that caught my eye this week – and the new launches you might have missed
- “Taking Klons on the road isn’t fun. It is an easy nick”: Jared James Nichols was gifted a Klon Centaur by Joe Bonamassa – here’s how he kept it safe on the road
November 14
- “A call for peace, justice, and unity in a divided world”: Eric Bibb pays tribute to blues pioneer Muddy Waters in new single – taken from upcoming album with John Mayer and Paul McCartney collaborator
- “After 50-plus years of an incredible journey with Deep Purple, Whitesnake, and Jimmy Page, it's time for me to hang up my platform shoes”: David Coverdale announces his retirement
- The Tube Screamer is one of the most iconic overdrives ever. It’s just been reinvented by the pedal pioneer who first developed it
- “We were afraid the record company was going to chuck us, so I started playing these chords. It all came about pretty quickly – like magic”: Dave Davies on the Kinks’ argumentative energy, mixed feelings on Van Halen, and Jeff Beck, the “loose cannon”
- “These are going to be pricey guitars, but they’re gonna be a lot less than an original pre-War D-45”: Martin is making replicas of the finest acoustic guitars it’s ever made – at $150,000 apiece
- “You have all these modern players like Tim Henson playing crazy stuff that sounds incredible, though they very rarely choose to bend anything”: Wolfgang Van Halen on what sets his favorite contemporary metal guitar hero apart from his peers
- “We built 19 different models. He more or less changed what we were doing”: EMG founder on why this Metallica guitarist’s pickup set was the most challenging he’s ever made
- “People talk a lot of poo about my tone. But it’s what I love and have loved since I was a kid”: Kiki Wong’s go-to amp at home is a budget combo everyone loves to hate
- “I’ll just grab ahold of the G string, pinch it and then bend it way up. You’re doing it to get a laugh out of the guys”: Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley on channeling Eric Johnson and Steve Morse – and why he’s called a guitar the “Jungle Gym”
- “Initially, Gary was very frosty. I said, ‘On this track, you used the “Greeny” Les Paul, didn’t you?’ And his eyes lit up”: Inside the final Gary Moore gear auction – from the amps behind his sound to the red Strat that unleashed his blues power
November 13
- “The guitar he used to teach a young Keith Richards”: Brian Jones' Harmony Stratotone from the Rolling Stones' early years is heading to auction
- "I’m just gonna warn you – these are the LOUDEST pickups I’ve ever heard in a guitar": Bare Knuckle Halcyon humbucker pickup review
- “Everyone was saying, ‘I wanna buy this guitar.’ They're not cheap, but they're very much worth it”: Orianthi requested a backup guitar from PRS – only for it to turn into a highly requested signature model
- Sweetwater is showing the rest how it's done with its ginormous official Black Friday sale – and it includes a whopping $1,000 off a D'Angelico favourite
- “He asked if I would come to Wembley Arena. I thought he was joking”: Sam Ryder reunites with his childhood guitar teacher after 20 years – and invites him to play at one of the most iconic music venues in the world
- Looking for useful Christmas gifts for guitarists under $20? Here's my pick of 10 affordable accessories every guitar player actually needs
- “People always say Rory Gallagher and Stevie Ray Vaughan had acidic sweat – but this is what I think”: Why some of the most famous Fenders are so heavily worn, according to a Custom Shop Masterbuilder
- “Freddie King and T-Bone Walker both developed exceptional vocabularies of single-note turnarounds”: Sue Foley shows you how to nail classic blues turnarounds – and how to come up with your own
- “I used to be obsessed with being super-clean… Then I realized that was really boring”: Far Caspian made one of this year's best indie records, and he did it by paring down guitar layers (from “40” to three) and embracing dirt
- “Proving I’m not fake”: Marcin fights ‘fake playing’ claims with new music video – but it doesn’t quite go according to plan
- Guitar Center blow the roof off Black Friday with their "biggest sale of the year" – save up to 40% on guitars from Epiphone, Fender, Martin, and more
- “I already played guitar with a pick, so that’s how I played bass. I didn’t know you were supposed to play it with your fingers!” Kim Deal’s DIY attitude with the Pixies inspired a generation of alt-rockers
November 12
- “The record label called to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy. We were playing just before Slipknot and Disturbed at festivals”: As Guitar Hero turns 20, DragonForce’s Herman Li recalls how the game turned them into a household name
- “I thought it was the worst film I’d seen in my life! I was super-embarrassed. But that solo became part of the franchise’”: Stevie Salas on Bill & Ted, playing arenas with Rod Stewart then opening for Joe Satriani, and turning down both Van Halen singers
- “Returns to the classic design that made it relevant, played, and loved”: Gibson has brought back the Les Paul Junior and Special Double Cut – reviving the adored student models that became rock ’n’ roll staples
- “If that's not done properly, then the guitar won’t be playable”: The hardest part of building a Gibson guitar from scratch, according to CEO Cesar Gueikian
- Ace Frehley’s cause of death confirmed by autopsy report
- “Our manager came in with a stopwatch and timed it. He said, ‘You’ve got to cut that solo down. It’s way too long’”: The seismic ’70s rock solo that was saved by a vote
- “It absolutely nails the sounds of the ‘60s when palm muted and picked”: Gretsch Electromatic CVT Bass Double-cut review
- “I started crying. I never thought in these 42 years I’d see my work on the stage. I’m going, ‘Damn it, Joe!’” Maricela Juarez is a legend in the pickup game – and she was given the ultimate shoutout by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith
- “John Frusciante called me and said, ‘I’m sitting in a hospital and I don’t have a guitar. Can you loan me one?’” That time Dave Navarro lent John Frusciante a Les Paul – only for the Red Hot Chili Peppers legend to sell it
- “It’s a pedal that’s never existed before, no doubt about it”: Jack White’s Third Man Hardware and JHS Pedals have released a ‘horse-powered’ delay pedal – and it was all over White’s most recent album
- “I lost my mojo for a minute, but they propped me back up”: He was one of the great blues guitar talents of the ’90s, then the gigs dried up. Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith helped him get his game face back on
- “A guy offered me way more than I paid – it was too hard to pass up. I let it go and immediately regretted it”: Phil X on the guitars he’s loved and lost – and how Eddie Van Halen taught him to “enjoy and ruin” the instrument
- “I feel as if those who made music history are placing a hand on my shoulder, saying, ‘You’re on the right path’”: Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi steps out on his own with debut solo album – produced by Tom Morello
November 11
- The PRS pre-Black Friday sale is bigger than ever, with massive 40th anniversary discounts up to $220 on SE guitars and more – and yes, it includes the 5-star PRS SE NF 53
- "Not only is this Riviera the most Oasis-relevant guitar of the recently launched trio, it’s the most affordable too": Epiphone Bonehead Riviera review
- “The biggest update to our pedals yet. We’ve listened to our users”: Universal Audio just gave its UAFX pedals a major upgrade – and it gives players exactly what they’ve been asking for
- “I moved a refrigerator for them and they said, ‘Here, take this guitar for gas money or whatever’”: How Jack White came upon the castaway guitar he'd use to play Seven Nation Army at the Grammys
- “People love our amps because they’re loud. That one line has cemented itself as a tagline for the company”: Marshall has launched Spinal Tap amps that go to Infinity – here’s how ‘the loudest amp ever made’ came together
- “It’s the guitar pedal equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant”: 50 years ago, Electro-Harmonix set the template for the future of guitar stores – then it disappeared without a trace. This is the story of the Hall of Science
- “I wanted to create an instrument that feels classic but also pushes players to explore new tones”: Fender and Johnny Marr team up for a new signature Jaguar – which puts a distinct twist on the Smiths legend’s go-to guitar
- With a hefty discount on two five-star rated guitars and £212 off one of my favorite loopers, Thomann's killer early Black Friday sale just knocked it out of the park
- “Jim Carrey stormed the stage mid-song to air guitar his right leg like a maniac”: From David Bowie going rogue to George Harrison x Paul Simon, EVH and SRV – the 50 greatest guitar moments in SNL history
- “These are a total dream for me”: Jacob Collier's 5-string revolution continues with the arrival of 2 new Taylor signature guitars – which make the unique design more accessible than ever
- “When I first came into the band, it was split into factions. Now everything feels solidified”: Guns N’ Roses’ longest-serving guitarist Richard Fortus on his bond with Slash and why he’s as surprised as anyone he’s still in the band
November 10
- “There is a warmth to this pedal that is genuinely satisfying to play through”: Fender Hammertone Breakup Drive review
- “This is the bass I’ve wanted to make for years”: Sterling by Music Man releases signature bass with two dummy knobs that do absolutely nothing for MxPx bassist Mike Herrera
- "The building blocks of ’60s-style rock and roll, R&B and funk/soul": Ernie Ball Pino Palladino Smoothies flatwound bass strings review
- “This poor guy had to sell his guitar because of medical bills. He was so incredibly excited that it was gonna get played”: Lzzy Hale on swapping Les Pauls for Explorers – and finding her first on Craigslist
- “Jeff Beck would pick up my fretless and play the craziest licks. I was in awe”: Pino Palladino’s adventures with The Who, John Mayer, Eric Clapton and his Music Man fretless bass
- “Every time you put the capo on wrong, you pull the guitar out of tune”: Do you put your capo on ‘incorrectly’? Tommy Emmanuel says this is the correct way to do it – and it could save your tuning
- “These guitars are not just for blues lawyers – you can rock with one of these”: Joe Bonamassa on the vintage Gibson that makes a great power chord guitar
- “I was like, ‘Joni, that’s gonna be terrible, we need an amp.’ She was like, ‘Would you just try it?’” Robben Ford on Joni Mitchell’s fuzz pedal experiments that shaped one of her most adventurous tracks
- “After the show, they handed me what is to this day one of my most prized possessions”: Jim Carrey remembers Chris Cornell and Soundgarden’s generous guitar gift as he inducts them into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- “When I was 15, I was hustling it out in the juke joint clubs – and then along came Mr. Buddy Guy…” From teenage prodigy to modern guitar royalty, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is ushering in a new era for blues guitar
November 9
- “Boldly established Ibanez as a new contender in the highly competitive Superstrat market”: How Ibanez’s era-defining RG550 transformed high-performance guitar
- “I wanted to write a Montrose album, and he wanted to write an album more like the Eagles – and I hate the Eagles”: Stevie Salas on being asked to join David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar’s bands – and why he turned them down
- “He used seashells as a pick, that's where he gets all that squank from”: Brilliant players of all persuasions have earned their stripes in Lynyrd Skynyrd's three-guitar army. Rickey Medlocke takes us through all of them, and what made them special
- “We weren’t allowed to talk about it at Guitar Summit, but the signature everyone was asking about is now here”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the crown jewel of PRS’ 40th Anniversary year
November 8
- “It’s less significant than your guitar strap being an inch higher or lower”: John Mayer on why fretboard radius doesn’t actually make that much of a difference
- “It's more than an effect. It's an instrument in itself”: Made famous by David Gilmour, and employed by Rory Gallagher and the Beatles, the Binson Echorec is a secret-recipe tool that helped define rock guitar tone
- “All I wanted was to be a punk rocker and play the bass guitar. I went completely in the other direction from jazz, and now I'm trying to catch up”: When Flea met Charlie Haden – and had much more in common than you might think
- “A shoo-in for completely natural drive sounds”: Nobels ODR-1X review
- “People that didn’t understand the situation wanted me to get out of the way and hear more of Joni”: Brandi Carlile was instrumental in bringing Joni Mitchell back on stage – but faced a lot of criticism for her efforts
November 7
- Yungblud, Dream Theater, Wet Leg, Turnstile among guitar’s heavy hitters at the 2026 Grammy nominations
- “I’ve had many people hand me their guitars, and I’m like, ‘No, thank you’”: Rick Beato was offered the chance to play guitars from Peter Frampton, Larry Carlton and more – here’s why he turned them down
- “I’ve seen people cover the tune, and one thing most get wrong about it is they’re not intentional about the sections in the way they should be”: Cory Wong on how to create a bigger, wider sound by layering baritone guitar parts
- “My vision closed up. I felt like I was gonna throw up. I started sweating profusely, but I was freezing”: Wolfgang Van Halen on the panic attack he suffered on the way to his Metallica support – and how it inspired his new album
- Every year, Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang write and record an album in a day. For 2025, they did it in an open Guitar Center – and used any gear they wanted
- “I was going everywhere – on the toilet, the bath, the taxi, and walking down the street – going, ‘What do I hear coming in there after those chords?’” How Eric Bell wrote one of Thin Lizzy’s most iconic guitar solos
- “The longer it goes, the better the guitar is going to sound”: Jason Isbell has shared his bizarre method for breaking in new acoustics – and you’ll never guess what it is
- “You never know what you're gonna get when you go to a Billy Strings concert”: Billy Strings shreds Bark at the Moon dressed as a werewolf – and nails Jake E. Lee and Ozzy Osbourne’s parts
- “It’s so hard when you come in to bands like Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers where the fans actually care who the bass player is”: How Oteil Burbridge set about replacing Phil Lesh to become Dead & Company’s new singing bass hero
- “If I could ever even get close to the feel or touch of that performance, I could die a happy man”: He’s inspired by Buddy Guy, played EVH in a Van Halen tribute band and made his name in GA-20 – say hello to Pat Faherty's new power trio
- Get the most from your tube amp with the Orange Valve Tester MKII
- “Son House rolled his eyes back and tossed his head – he seemed to go into a trance, snapping and slamming the strings”: Rory Block left home as a teenager then met and impressed her blues heroes
November 6
- “It's a testament to just how good beginners have it these days that I can’t find all that much to fault”: Cort G200SE review
- “The only way forward in this industry”: Ernie Ball fights battery waste with new rechargeable AA and 9V batteries that are tailored for effects pedals and active guitars
- “That’s all I had for weeks… People started banging on the wall – ‘Don’t play that anymore!’” Tom Petty wanted to turn a catchy riff into a much-needed hit. He didn't stop playing it until he did
- Explore open G tuning: a fresh perspective that reshapes your fretboard and inspired timeless blues and Americana songs
- “Maybe I’m playing into the hate I get from how cold the hyper-modern stuff can be – but I will do a 180 at some point and make people cry”: Guitar heroes are hailing him as shred’s next big thing – but Spiro is already planning a blues left-turn
- “Let me see you lay down a groove like Poundcake. That’s harder than getting up there and soloing”: The lead single from Van Halen’s 1991 album with Sammy Hagar combines a thunderous bassline with a revved-up power drill
- “Everyone was into rap and R&B. They would ask me, ‘Do you really like that old music?’” From humble beginnings to a cameo in Michael B. Jordan's Sinners – Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram is bridging the generational gap in blues
- “I wanted to learn a Nirvana song. The teacher was like, ‘Kurt Cobain is one of the worst guitarists in the world’”: Sub Pop-backed alt-rockers SPRINTS on guitar trolls, setting amps on fire – and the tonal benefits of olive oil
- “A level of authenticity you've never imagined”: IK Multimedia takes on Fender and Boss with the TONEX Plug – its first-ever headphone amp
- “There’s a synergy between you and a great instrument. That could be a $300 Squier or a $5,000 Gibson. It doesn’t matter”: Chris Buck on vintage “dogs”, signature model intrigue, and how rock royalty helped his regal blues-rock tap into America
November 5
- “I found this in a store and it sounded amazing. It cost about $500 less than a Fender would”: Geese are the latest indie-rock phenomenon – and their lead guitarist is repping this Billy Corgan-approved guitar brand
- “Bernie was playing right out of Randy’s pedalboard and amp. He said Randy’s pedalboard was doing changes on its own”: Bernie Tormé only played seven gigs with Ozzy Osbourne – but he saved the Black Sabbath frontman’s career
- “It was not only an honour but deeply moving”: Bernie Marsden’s $1million ‘The Beast’ Les Paul was just played on stage by Slash’s favorite current British blues rock guitar hero
- “He screams across from the bar, ‘What you doing, boy! Put that guitar down. Nobody knows my tuning!’” Journey’s Neal Schon on that one time he tried Albert King’s mythical Gibson Flying V
- “Fender needed something to bring them into more modern times”: How Jim Root’s radical signature Telecaster updated a Fender mainstay for the 21st century
- I’ve been playing live shows for 20 years – these are my road-tested Christmas gift recommendations for gigging guitar players
- “This isn’t just about sound, it’s about community, creativity, and giving back to the music that made us”: Marshall launches initiative to support grassroots music venues in the UK – which are facing a fight for survival
- “No, that doesn’t sound right”: Robert Trujillo gatecrashes group Enter Sandman lesson at Guitar Center
- Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd reveals his fears surrounding Chris Cornell’s final tour – and names the producer of the band’s new album
- “It's really hard when you're going through that. I like to be able to give something back”: Tony Iommi is raffling off one of his Gibson SGs to support the hospital that treated his cancer
- “It was something we’d never seen the likes of”: The unexpected discovery in John Mayer’s iconic ’64 Fender Strat that helped shape the sound of the Silver Sky
- “I would like people to know that I was the true inventor of ska and reggae”: Ernest Ranglin on working with Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, James Bond – and how he influenced “almost every aspect of Jamaican music”
- “I didn’t have the brainpower to focus – I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe’”: Anxiety, wildfires, slap guitar: How Wolfgang Van Halen made the monster guitar album of 2025
- “There’s plenty of scope to craft some unique ambient textures”: Crazy Tube Circuits Mirage review
November 4
- “At this time I have to prioritize my health”: Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers drops out of this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony – after previously confirming reunion plans
- “A lot of the issues were to do with management and stuff that pitted me and Axl against each other”: Slash on his return to Guns N’ Roses, changing up the Sweet Child O’ Mine solo, and what needs to happen for a new GNR album
- “He spoke to my parents, and we were off to London the next day to talk about a record deal. I had no idea who he was”: When Joanne Shaw Taylor was discovered at 15 by an ’80s music legend – and the biggest piece of advice he gave her
- “I was saying, ‘It’s going to explode.’ I was terrified the place was going to burn down”: When Eddie Van Halen crash-tested one of EVH’s most iconic guitar amps – and risked 5150 Studios in the process
- “G&L is no longer – and we still have a lot of unanswered questions”: Former G&L employee speaks out following quiet closure of company – as Fender purchases the 'Leo Fender' trademark
- “Morello was like, ‘Hey, you can't do that. I think Metallica was gonna do that…’” Halestorm reveal the song they were originally set to play at Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final show
- “Do you want to recycle or try something new? I never chased popular opinion as much as I chased my inner feelings”: How surviving cancer inspired Ana Popovic to take blues guitar to the dancefloor
- “I never thought I’d get hired by a pop band. Opening for Coldplay with Willow Smith was never a career goal”: Few bassists can match the technical ability of Mohini Dey, thanks to her work with Steve Vai, Willow Smith and just about everyone else
- “I’m not sure why the tour ended so abruptly. I never got a bunch of my gear returned. People don’t get sacked from Sabbath – they just don’t get spoken to again!” Ask Jo Burt about Freddie Mercury, Brian Setzer and The Troggs – just not Black Sabbath
November 3
- "Some might say this is far from a valid Oasis signature guitar, having only come into play earlier this year": Gibson Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard review
- “On a guitar, it's built so weird with that one string in the wrong position, and so everybody plays the same crap all the time”: Phish's Trey Anastasio thinks all guitar music sounds the same – so he radically switched up his songwriting process
- “Absolutely fearless”: Teenager shredding Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name at her valedictory goes viral
- “A treasure trove of undiscovered harmonies”: She’s played with Bruno Mars and Jay-Z – now Ella Feingold’s signature string set brings her wild inverted tuning to the masses
- “Changing from active to passive was huge – I’d forget to change the batteries and have a meltdown pre-gig when my EMGs died”: Conjurer just dropped a modern sludge-metal classic – and they made it using custom guitars with satanic scale lengths
- “I’d say, ‘How is your latest record, Jeff?’ And he’d go, ‘Oh, it's a lot of rubbish’”: Ritchie Blackmore on Jeff Beck’s imposter syndrome
- “In all the years I’ve been playing since I was a child, I don’t remember ever adjusting a tone knob. I’m not going to miss it”: Why Tetrarch’s Diamond Rowe believes that tone knobs on guitars are overrated
- “Let’s hop to it”: James Hetfield wins Halloween by donning inflatable kangaroo costume to rip through a thrash classic – and he doesn’t miss a beat
- “The quality of guitars didn’t plummet overnight – some might argue that it remained high for at least a decade”: Fender CBS guitars get a bad rep – but what actually changed?
- “He had Double Trouble on a couple of his records. He had a relationship with Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a touring machine who did it the hard way”: Eric Gales on his all-star blues tribute to his brother, the man who started him on guitar
November 2
- “I would run across the stage and ‘break’ the bass over my head while our sound guy played samples of trees cracking”: Described as the 4-string equivalent of painting with a sledgehammer, Van Halen’s Ultra Bass was not your typical bass solo
- “From 1991 to 2016, I did no lead playing at all. By the time I started playing again for my YouTube channel, I’d forgotten everything I knew”: Why Rick Beato stopped playing solos – and why it was good for his playing
- “I had a really bad detox. I fell down a flight of stairs. I screwed up my shoulder and neck and couldn’t play guitar for a while. I thought God had taken it all away”: How Ace Frehley came back from the brink with his first solo album in 20 years
- “Instant, precise control right under your foot”: This innovation might have completely changed the way you dial in effects pedals forever
November 1
- “That’s the last barrier we have to tear down”: The one thing stopping headless guitars being embraced by traditional players, according to Ola Strandberg
- This Japanese guitar maker is fashioning phone cases that make your mobile look like vintage instruments – and the internet is going crazy for them
- “I hate new basses. I think they are terrible. I don’t want to have one in my hands”: How Sting’s 1953 P-Bass set the tone for this Police classic
- “A first-class build that’s impossible to fault… it would be criminal if this didn’t hit a stage”: Patrick James Eggle Oz-t Cabronita Thinline review
- “Who’d have thought the Oasis reunion would be such an event for signature guitars?” All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the Hummingbird’s evil twin
- “Me and Chino rowed a lot when we were working on it. It was a really abrasive process”: Deftones' White Pony was one of the first metal masterpieces of the new millennium. Its creation was anything but smooth sailing