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January 2026

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252 articles

January 31
- “It’s a challenge. But I would say that at no point was it ever not a challenge”: How Taylor is building quality acoustic guitars in the face of tariffs and uncertainty
- “We were packing up, then all of a sudden he goes, ‘Have you been down to the basement?’” The iconic EHX Holy Grail has been championed by Jim Root and John Frusciante – and now the lost prototype has been found
- “Will your world end if you pay a little more for something that you really enjoy and use to make music with?” Guitarists are looking for more bang for their buck – but does the cheaper guitar always mean better value?
- “Flamenco-inspired triplets, big trap beats, and – wait – is that a wah solo?” January 2026 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
January 30
- “Doors are immediately opened for us, but once you’re in the room they don’t necessarily give you the benefit of the doubt”: Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons on the realities of making it in the music industry as the sons of two Kiss legends
- “A twist for the fingers as well as the brain”: Players like Steve Hackett are masters of extended chords/harmony – here’s how you can use them too
- “Anyone who thinks he's sloppy is out of their minds”: Rolling Stones producer Don Was on why Keith Richards shouldn't be underestimated as both a rhythm and lead guitarist
- “I just said, ‘Sell all the assets…’ not really thinking that this instrument would accrue so much in value”: Facing mounting debts, Nick Beggs sold off the bass he used on Kajagoogoo’s Too Shy – 40 years later his fans helped him buy it back
- Is Gibson about to start making seven-strings and baritones? A NAMM tease all but confirms it
- “This is the best we’ve ever built. Period”: JHS Pedals says it has just made the ultimate first-stage overdrive pedal – and the inspiration came from a bona fide jazz legend
- NAMM 2026: The best new things in bass from the biggest music instrument event of the year
January 29
- “If old-school country or fingerstyle blues is your thing, you’ll like this, a lot”: Martin 0-10E Retro Jason Isbell review
- “He told Sharon, ‘I know a lot of guitar players. We don’t have to use him’”: Jake E. Lee recalls how his conflict with producer Ron Nevison impacted Ozzy Osbourne’s The Ultimate Sin
- “I turned around and the wall was on fire in just a small area. I unplugged my guitar and a guy opened the side door by the stage, and I went out into the parking lot”: Mark Kendall on Great White’s two big tragedies, and why he welcomed Nirvana's rise
- “He took offense to that and we hung up, and I don't remember speaking to him since then”: Ahead of Megadeth's final album, Dave Mustaine sets the record straight on why he and James Hetfield don’t talk anymore
- Alex Van Halen shares rare recording of a young Eddie Van Halen playing guitar to mark the late guitar great’s birthday
- “It’s four octaves up or down. Some people would argue that’s too much. We’d argue that we look forward to what people could do with it”: How Boss reimagined the wildest effect on your pedalboard
- “I traded Elliot Easton an old left-handed Telecaster for them. I did really well with that trade”: Lenny Kravitz and Craig Ross on how big dreams and gourmet tones shaped a ’90s rock classic – and why modern gear has nothing on vintage
- “He was forced to admit under oath that his statements were false”: Mötley Crüe score decisive legal victory in dispute against Mick Mars
- “The music meant a lot to me even before I was playing those iconic basslines”: Bassist Simone Marie Butler announces her departure from Primal Scream
January 28
- “Those cleaner tones are very characterful and usable, evoking classic tube-driven bass amps”: Ashdown Geezer Butler Pedal of Doom review
- “A complete, compact desktop solution”: Blackstar launches the Beam Mini – the world’s first amplifier to natively support Neural Amp Modeling
- “A brand-new guitar shape from one of the world’s oldest guitar companies. Will wonders never cease?” 10 things we learned at NAMM 2026
- “I fell in love with the Revstar because it was different from your Tele, Strat, Les Paul or whatever”: Chris Buck on how Yamaha nailed his new signature Revstar – and why you should reconsider the P-90
- “He was across the hall and I mentioned my tone troubles to him…” How Steve Stevens saved Steve Vai on his David Lee Roth debut
- “I’m fortunate to have a broad collection of guitars. This sets itself apart from the others”: Eric Gales’ hotly anticipated signature Kiesel is here
- “Our genre was blowing up with Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. So Prince paid for our first demo. Then he saw us live, which he did not like...” Warrant’s Joey Allen saw his own solos re-tracked in front of him – what he did next saved his career
- “His mastery of music, via the guitar, should probably be researched by scientists”: Meet the mystery guitarist rewriting a new future for prog – with a little help from superstar players Greg Howe and Mohini Dey
- “I thought he was on about the new Dime Guitarz, but then I re-read the message…” Ola Englund plays Dimebag Darrell’s actual guitars at Dimebash tribute show
- The demo was “dreadful” and the main riff drove the guitarist crazy – but with some inspiration from Yngwie Malmsteen, it became one of the biggest rock songs of the ’80s
January 27
- “For James Hetfield fans, this guitar is a no-brainer”: Epiphone Explorer 80s EMG review
- “It’s a versatile workhorse that I’ve been using for everything”: Ibanez shares first look at 2026 artist guitar lineup – and Nili Brosh’s long-awaited signature leads the charge alongside new Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Nita Strauss models
- “It’s like a baseball bat. It doesn’t play like any modern guitar I’ve ever used”: Geese guitarist Emily Green reveals the vintage guitar gem defining the breakout band’s sound
- From Neural DSP's much-anticipated Quad Cortex Mini, to signature Yamaha guitars and Iron Maiden-themed wah pedals, here’s the best stuff you can buy right now from this year's NAMM highlights!
- “It can make the solo sound and feel like an integral part of the song”: Cory Wong shows you how to solo over chords in a meaningful way
- “We’ve been through guitar player after guitar player. We get to the solo, and he nails it. I just thought, ‘Oh my God’”: Dave Mustaine recounts the hiring and firing of every Megadeth guitarist
- “A radical approach to fuzz – whether you’re a Muse fan or not”: Manson Guitar Works Supermassive Black Fuzz review
January 26
- Leo Fender’s favorite amp, recreated? Fender ’62 Super Amp review
- “My 1956 ES-225 was my only opportunity to get into that world at an acceptable price. The P-90s from that period are wild – it’s like trying to tame a beast”: How Georgie Hume’s “surf exotica” is taking instrumental guitar into a whole new world
- “An inspiring entry point into the Martin lineup and a pathway for players ready to take the next step”: Martin overhauls its affordable Road Series – and splits it into Retro and Modern builds
- “Brings ideas to life that I’ve been refining for over 17 years as a professional rig builder”: Gator teams up with Vertex Effects for a one-stop “unified pedalboard system” – complete with ’boards, bags and fasteners
- “Fast under the fingers and confident in any setting”: Two-Rock’s Studio Overdrive head is a small-but-mighty tube amp that promises both gain and clarity
- “Jim Irsay was so proud of having acquired this guitar. It was like the jewel in the crown of his collection”: Getting up-close with a $10m trio of guitars once wielded by Kurt Cobain, Eric Clapton and David Gilmour
January 25
- “A natural partner for the latest generation of modeler-based rigs”: Blackstar unveils Artist FR series of compact, competitively priced FRFR speakers
- “Exceptional sound quality and an ultra-compact PA for cafés, small-scale events, and personal studios”: The Cube Street Mini is Roland’s most compact portable PA yet – with high-headroom and long battery life galore
- “The soul of the ’60s but with the playability and reliability modern musicians expect”: Silvertone revives “one of the most recognizable guitar models in rock history” – favored by Chris Isaak and Elvis Costello – for the first time in decades
- “We ended up taking it down to the Royal Albert Hall, and played a concert with it with Eric Clapton the following night”: Laney puts the philosophy of Nathan East’s signature head into an all-powerful, dual-input preamp pedal
- “Can do everything the Strat doesn’t do”: Sterling by Music Man rolls out a more affordable version of Cory Wong’s signature StingRay II – plus the brand’s first-ever baritone
- “We didn't have enough time to do a proper powder coating on the hardware...” Up-close with Jack White’s NFL halftime show Triplecaster – built just days before his surprise gig with Eminem
January 24
- “Among our best in history”: ESP remembers Alexi Liaho and Jeff Hanneman as Slaughter to Prevail’s Jack Simmons gets his first signature in new 2026 lineup
- “Designed to meet the technical demands of Jason Richardson”: Sterling by Music Man offers scaled-back, but equally versatile, versions of the former All That Remains guitarist's signature Cutlass
- “Create and share effects that can’t be found in another pedal”: Polyend releases Endless, an open-source pedal that lets guitarists create effects from prompts
- “Beautifully built, made-in-Japan guitars with Golden-era construction”: Cult Japanese brand Tokai Guitars has gone from one-time pariah to collector’s favorite – now its returning to the US
January 23
- “Takes the most iconic Gibson body shapes and remixes them with modern, professional-grade features”: Epiphone looks to the future with its hot-rodded Futura guitars, as stainless steel frets make their Epiphone debut, and long-awaited signatures arrive
- “You gave him the world, and he gave you his music in return”: Former Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz dies, aged 71
- “We want to tell the handcrafted element of this; blood, sweat, and tears have gone into these guitars”: Gibson gives us a sneak preview of its 2026 guitars – including long-awaited signature models for two guitar legends
- “I wanted an acoustic guitar that I could play more technical riffs on”: Tim Henson launches premium versions of his Ibanez nylon-electric signatures, the TOD100N and TOD100FMN
- “This thing is a RIPPER. No B.S. One channel. One tube-buffered effects loop”: Butch Walker and Divided by 13 team up for signature head with switchable EL84 and 6L6 power sections
- “It kicks the ass of amps three times its size”: Slash and Magnatone slither into the fray with the Lil’ Viper, a compact but venomous 8-watt combo amp
- “A love letter to the retro sound and aesthetic that has shaped my music”: Suhr unveils its 2026 line-up – kicking off with new signatures for Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden and Lady Gaga’s riffer Tim Stewart
- “A lot of people say we’re their favorite running music”: Josh Menashe of LA post-punk freakazoids Frankie and the Witch Fingers has some advice on riff writing – just up your step count and let them come to you
- “Is this the next ‘Moderne’? Time will tell”: Gibson had a secret offset prototype hidden in its private room at NAMM 2026 – meet the Atomic Age
- “Johnny Marr got hit with a pint straight away. After the show we said, ‘That guitar is too fancy for touring with us!’” Stolen offsets, iconic bandmates and Coco Chanel’s advice – how the Cribs learned to be the best versions of themselves
- “He said, ‘I have to play on this. Give me a track’”: How three session-guitar aces and an inspired intervention from a “wunderkind” Steve Lukather saved a ‘70s soft-rock classic
January 22
- “With this breakthrough, it’s easier than ever to practice, improve, and enjoy playing music”: JBL unveils the BandBox, an amp and speaker with AI vocal and instrument separation technology – and it could change the way guitarists practice
- “Modern, ergonomic, and unapologetically performance-driven”: Tosin Abasi’s long-awaited nylon-string is finally here – and he collaborated with another guitar company to make it a reality
- Yamaha blends heritage with innovation for its 2026 lineup – spearheaded by Chris Buck’s signature Revstar and a single-cut Pacifica
- “To see my name on this Martin guitar, it was just a huge moment for me”: It’s a dream come true as Molly Tuttle gets two signature Martin guitars – and they're based on her 83-year-old model
- “Venture into a world of alternate tunings and non-guitar sounds to break new musical ground”: Strandberg collaborates with Jamstik for the Chameleon – an ergonomic, software-controlling MIDI guitar
- “Experience what happens when 50 years of pickup expertise meets modern active technology”: Seymour Duncan goes toe-to-toe with Fishman with its triple-voiced MortalCoil active pickups
- “I just couldn’t believe I was gonna be on a George Harrison record. He’d been listening to what the T-Birds had been doing”: Jimmie Vaughan on longevity, Strats and recording the Porky’s Revenge soundtrack – with a Beatle
- “If you got the Ibanez catalog that year, it was Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on the first three pages. They said, ‘Whatever shape you want’”: Reb Beach on the story of his ’90s Ibanez signature guitar – and the mystery behind its sequel
- “I know how much both the band and the fans will be wanting to see him back up there where he belongs”: Why Mick Box is missing Uriah Heep's farewell shows
- “Experience the dynamic sensation of an amp moving air”: Blackstar takes on the Fender Tone Master Pro, unveiling a high-powered floor modeler series with “insane versatility”
- “Whether it’s mounted on your pedalboard or standing at the heart of your shrine, this pedal is a torch held high for rock ’n’ roll”: Jim Dunlop drops an Iron Maiden Killers edition of its Cry Baby wah
- “Give the average guitar player the chance to own my live rig. The tone worth $100,000s”: Billy Corgan has shrunk his Smashing Pumpkins rig into a Laney pedal amp – and he tested it in front of 60,000 My Chemical Romance fans
January 21
- “Blends classic style with modern sensibility”: The Yamaha Pacifica single-cut is back for the masses – and the new-for-2026 version is loaded with cutting-edge kit
- NAMM 2026 live! The biggest guitar news as it happened
- “‘Labor of love’ gets thrown around too often, but collaborating with Yamaha to recreate my guitar has been exactly that”: The Yamaha Revstar pulled Chris Buck away from Strat loyalty – and his new signature model boasts some tantalizing personal touches
- “James Brown always said, ‘I’m the most humble man out there – and Kool, that guy’s number two to me’”: Kool & The Gang’s Robert Bell on how he laid down three top 10s in a single session – and became one of the most sampled artists in history
- “He would always show me this really horrible Stratocaster that had nine pickups on it”: The Cribs' Ryan Jarman explains why a guitar swap with Johnny Marr didn't work out
- “Size shouldn’t dictate what a professional rig is capable of”: Neural DSP debuts the Quad Cortex mini – putting the full QC experience into its smallest format yet
- “When I’d watch Meg and Jack White on stage... it felt really inspiring. Eventually I thought, what would it be like if we added another drummer?”: How the Velveteers' Demi Demitro learned to speak through baritone fuzz riffs
- “Honors Cliff Burton’s groundbreaking tone and legacy”: Aria marks 40 years since Metallica bassist Cliff Burton's passing by reissuing his posthumous signature bass
- “A PRS hollowbody baritone has never been done before”: Ed Sheeran teams up with PRS on a signature model that's a brand first – and is limited to a thousand pieces
- “This guitar carries my Malian roots and my voice”: Fatoumata Diawara makes history with her new Epiphone signature guitar
- “Common sense said to me, ‘That’s a lot of money to spend on an amp. Don’t be doing that.’ But God, I wish I’d spent the money”: Keith Urban tells the tale of the Dumble that got away – and why he let down the buyer of his ’Burst
- “A no-compromise amplifier solution”: Synergy teams up with Wampler and Friedman to launch its machine-learning power amp – and promises to change the game for tube modeling
January 20
- “Furious? That’s putting it mildly. I was counting how many people I was going to have to kill”: Randy Holden’s 1970 album pioneered doom metal. But he was never told it had been released
- “I started hearing about these guitar contests that he would enter every year in Texas, and he was the best guitarist for six years running”: Jerry Cantrell recalls the first time he met the “otherworldly” Dimebag Darrell
- “The straight-up, high-voltage voice of a masterfully designed single-channel amp”: Orange rolls out the OR60 – an all-tube guitar amp head that is the “most versatile it has ever built”
- “Making digital modeling a more viable option for those who miss the sound and feel of a real amp”: Line 6 Powercab CL 112 review
- “They played a lot of fast drop D, but they also played a lot of harmony power chords. You can hear a lot of that in our early music”: Kevin Jonas on his love for the Dove, and why you’ll almost always find the Jonas Brothers in DADGAD
- “Reimagines the hybrid amp experience for a new generation”: Vox marries old-school amps and modelers by introducing its most advanced iterations of the Valvetronix series yet
- “I wanted to fix every issue I’ve ever had dialing in metal tones”: Warm Audio crafts a signature overdrive for Ryan “Fluff” Bruce – and it's being billed as the perfect tube screamer for modern metal
- “Yo, is that a bike or a guitar?”: Brian May-approved Mexican guitar builders, Olmos Guitarras, team up with fast-rising LA band for a shreddable bike
- “The right gear really makes a difference”: Isaiah Sharkey is back in the studio – and he’s shared a first look at his potential Ibanez signature guitar
- “Atlantic Records told me, ‘Eric should be the singer. You’re just the bass player.’ So I cried in the corner while they came up with Strange Brew”: Eric Clapton was Cream’s biggest star, but Jack Bruce sang most of the band’s classic tracks
- “Giving guitarists an entirely new way to interact with their music”: Casio’s strap-mounted Dimension Shifter lets players control effect parameters with their movements
- “My main guitar is a Squier. My first guitar teacher gave me that. It’s a very important guitar for me”: How Thomas Raggi produced his raucous, all-star solo album, with a little help from Tom Morello
- “The night he died, I was at Buddy Guy’s club waiting for Buddy, Stevie and Clapton. Then we were told they’d all gone down”: Larry McCray on rubbing shoulders with blues royalty and playing through Joe Bonamassa’s epic rig
- “The world’s only guitar string upcycling mummy”: Turn your old guitar strings into sculptures with the String Thing
January 19
- “There would be a tremendous outpouring of applause – that annoyed Roger quite a lot”: Pink Floyd session guitarist says Roger Waters was “resentful” of Eric Clapton
- Jazz virtuoso and fusion pioneer Ralph Towner – composer of jazz standard Icarus – dies at 85
- “Does this young lady get it or what?” Joe Bonamassa and Slash team up for blues classics in New York – but did their young special guests steal the show?
- “If Hendrix were alive today and we were friends, how would he write an instrumental song?!” Mateus Asato is stepping out on his own with a debut solo album – and a track that pays homage to his hero
- “James Hetfield picked up the phone saying, ‘Have you tried an ESP?’” ESP unveils Joe Duplantier’s eagerly awaited signature guitar in time for NAMM 2026
- “Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation”: John Mayer pays emotional tribute to Bob Weir at public memorial
- “Sometimes we were recording a song and the power shut down because of the wind. Since we do everything live, we had to start over”: Assouf rockers Imarhan on how a Peavey amp, the weather and Stevie Ray Vaughan tapes were the making of their new album
- “Increasingly difficult for us to continue operating in the US”: Harley Benton closes its official U.S. Reverb store following tariff uncertainties
- “Our goal was simple. Build a guitar too good to be true”: Eastman enlists YouTuber to help create its most anticipated offset model to date
- “David Bowie had to mix him out of his own song because Tom drove him nuts in the studio”: Richard Lloyd on episodes with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, and his bittersweet relationship with Tom Verlaine
- “Playing with Vince Neil, opening for Van Halen, it got to be total rock ’n’ roll excess. I had to reassess why I was even playing guitar”: Steve Stevens on resisting shred, how Paco de Lucia made him go nylon, and Billy Idol’s eternal appeal
January 18
- “I don’t think any song had less than 130 tracks of guitar”: Sunn O)))’s new album might set a record for guitar layers
- “He came ripping into the hotel room and said, ‘Um, do you know this?’ He slapped down a lick that lasted 10 minutes”: When Jimi Hendrix gave Billy Gibbons a guitar lesson unlike any other
January 17
- “These instruments are building more than houses, they are restoring hope”: Fender joins campaign to support LA wildfires relief, turning wood reclaimed from the disaster into unique Custom Shop guitars for auction
- “It might just be the coolest offset guitar ever. And it’s finally back”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including some huge early NAMM releases
January 16
- “I know myself better musically thanks to this album”: Steve Vai features on the new Matteo Mancuso album – and he had one piece of advice for the young virtuoso
- Nuno Bettencourt’s new guitar company has gone live – and there’s a surprise new acoustic in the drop
- “Watching Steven Tyler and Joe Perry together, the compromise is the magic. But for me, it doesn’t work”: Why Yungblud will never join a band – despite collaborations with Aerosmith and the Smashing Pumpkins
- “A bass rig revolution in headphones”: Fender issues massive free update for the Mustang Micro Plus – and it’s the one bassists have been waiting for
- “Sometimes simplicity wins the day. Our namesake song, Black Country, was written by accident”: Joe Bonamassa on the art of writing a heavy guitar riff
- “Here’s a diary entry from July 24, 1974: ‘Argument with Bill Bruford. Bill says, ‘They might as well get a session guitarist’”: The making of Red, the album that pushed King Crimson to the brink
- “With that said, you all can stop asking me if I am buying it now. Muchas gracias”: Joe Bonamassa has his say on the future of Norman’s Rare Guitars
- “You can recognize Tom by his sound. I would love to do the same. I'm trying to find the right pedals”: Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi reveals the piece of advice Tom Morello gave him that defined his debut solo record
- “I was pretty concerned about the show. A few minutes later, we hear a knock… We answer the door to see Adam standing there”: The time Adam Jones saved Tool's support band from rental amp hell with a random act of kindness
- “He pulled out this D-28 and it sounded magical. It felt like this is the path I needed to be on. I committed to it completely”: How acoustic wizard John Smith went back to the future in search of acoustic transcendence
- “A variety of tonal options for not much outlay”: Vintage Distortion, Chorus, Delay and Reverb pedals review
January 15
- “Boss has packed some serious muscle into a small box... For its price, it’s going to be very tough to beat”: Boss GX-1B review
- “The one thing that’s making it very hard in the industry – at whatever level – is that there’s just too much choice”: Lee Anderton on guitarists' changing tastes, and why it’s not all doom and gloom for guitar stores
- "The build quality is outstanding, and the number of features gives younger and new players plenty to grow into": Boss GX-1 review
- “John's got this toolkit of unwritten rock riffs. I wouldn't say that he’s out and out, AC/DC rock – but he could easily do it”: How John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Dave Grohl channeled Eddie Van Halen on the F1 soundtrack
- “All I can tell you is what my father said to me: ‘Someone stole my guitar off the stage.’ Those were his exact words... he couldn’t find another guitar just like it”: T-Bone Walker and the guitar that gave birth to electric blues
- “Randy thought, ‘It’s not going to be good.’ He was so worried about it”: Why Randy Rhoads had reservations about Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman
- Fender forges surprise Samsung partnership to bring Fender Play to home TV screens for the first time
- Why Sting just paid $800,000 to his former Police bandmates, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland
- “I used it for two seasons and then it disappeared”: The story of the oddball Yamaha that Peter Capaldi played on Doctor Who – and its mysterious disappearance
- “Pro-level features on a bedroom budget”: Boss moves to take control of the entry level amp modeler space with the $229 GX-1 – going up against Mooer, NUX and Zoom
- “Jimmy had his own viewpoint when he started working with Robert again. It meant having to dive much deeper into the Led Zeppelin catalog”: How Charlie Jones became the ‘other bassist’ to work with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page
January 14
- “You still have to pay for the actual gig. No bands got paid, and most of the crew donated their time”: Jack Osbourne sets the record straight on how much Back to the Beginning actually donated to charity
- “The guitar wasn't always user-friendly, and the old-school lights often became red hot, leading to burns”: The Smoker, the Rocket-Shooting Les Paul… The one with, like, a million lights – here are Ace Frehley’s 5 most iconic Kiss guitars
- “It's the most iconic guitar shop in the world, and we are honored to help extend its story into the future”: Norman’s Rare Guitars acquired
- “It needed a louder pickup. That’s where the idea came from”: Slash played a Gibson SG at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show – and now its purpose-built Seymour Duncan humbuckers have been released
- “Redefines the possibilities of delay effects”: Ibanez looks to shake up the world of high-end delays with the Layer Delayer – its most ambitious pedal yet
- “It got nicked after a show in Leeds and went missing for years. Then I was reading an interview online and there, in the background, was the Mustang on the wall”: The story of the stolen Fender offset that unites three iconic indie rock bands
- “The ultimate modern headless guitar”? Donner’s $330 ergonomic headless build seeks to undercut Strandberg and Ibanez
- “I thought it was a prank, so I didn’t answer!” She put a video of herself playing bass on YouTube. Then Prince called
- John Mayer’s mystery Grateful Dead PRS Silver Sky became one of his most sought-after signatures – now it’s been officially released
- “The Stratocaster has been around for 70 years and it’s perfect. Now we come along and say, ‘You’re wrong!’ They don’t like it”: True Temperament wants to disrupt an industry built on heritage, but do its necks actually fix the guitar’s biggest flaw?
- “Tools to name the weird and wonderful chords you may encounter on the fretboard”: Demystifying chord names, starting with a Hendrix and SRV favorite, the maj9
- “There’s more ‘Fender’ to Fiore and more ‘Gibson’ to the SE DGT… Inspiring guitars from inspiring players”: PRS Fiore HH and SE DGT Standard review
- “Every artist we've put through it is like, ‘Wait a minute, that's the plugin?!’” Why Fender just launched its own recording software – and what sets it apart for guitarists
- “I'm playing the same thing over and over for an hour, sweating and exhausted”: When Keith Urban and Dann Huff got heated over a guitar solo
January 13
- Watch Eric Bell, Richard Fortus, and a 45-piece orchestra star at Phil Lynott tribute show in Dublin
- “We play three to four hours a night or more. I study in real time, 100 gigs a year. That's a great deal of practice”: Bob Weir's 6 principles of rhythm guitar
- “You guys are funny. Imagine playing Little Wing on a guitar that isn’t a Strat…” After leaving Suhr, Mateus Asato sets the record straight on Fender rumors
- “I might've invented the scooped guitar sound – I just took the midrange and put it on zero”: Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, reluctant guitar hero and master of the macabre
- “Don’t get the gig and then complain about it. If you can’t find something good in the music, that’s your fault”: What it takes to get to the top of the bass world, according to Victor Wooten
- “There is something really special that can happen when three musicians are playing off of each other and interacting in real time”: Jared James Nichols on why playing in a trio opens up your soloing approaches
- “You think of him as a songwriter and a singer really, but as a bass guitar player, it’s next-level”: Johnny Marr’s “mind-blowing” jam with Paul McCartney – and why he thinks Macca reinvented the bass
- “First of its kind”: Electro-Harmonix’s Effects Interface turns your pedals into plugins – and puts your prized plugins on your pedalboard
- “It may be based on a Tone Bender, but it can also be considered a generic fuzz – and we mean that in a good way”: Electro-Harmonix Bender Royale review
- “We weren’t allowed to play on our record... the Wrecking Crew guys all played. I’m looking through the window, going, ‘Wow, these are the cats’”: How Leland Sklar went from being banned from the studio to a session legend
- “A love letter to one of the coolest guitars on the planet”: Gibson pays tribute to Keith Richards’ 1960 ES-355 with 2 Collector’s Edition models – painstaking replicas of his main six-string
- “Some Squier guitars have more flash, panache and personality than many standard Fender guitars”: Why the stigma of budget electric guitars has disappeared over the past 25 years
- “You may feel that the whole TransAcoustic thing is a novelty… we’d urge you to put aside your preconceptions”: Yamaha TAS3 C review
January 12
- The Gibson SG Standard has been played by Angus Young, Robby Krieger, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, George Harrison... and the list goes on – but is it still underrated?
- “A unique, genuine, and fierce guitar player”: Black Midi guitarist Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin dies at 26
- "There really isn't anything else on the market quite like this": Strymon PCH Stereo Active DI Box With Headphone Amp review
- “What’s Japanese for shameless?” Tosin Abasi's Animals As Leaders bandmate lambasts Ibanez's new Alpha guitar design
- “You look at everyone who’s ever stood in front of a band playing guitar and it all traces back to one man”: How T-Bone Walker invented electric blues guitar
- “He’s played with everybody, so he really saved us and rescued us tonight”: Dave Grohl thanks Jason Falkner for “rescuing” the Foo Fighters as they play their first show since Pat Smear’s bizarre injury
- “When I felt the Braille on this amp, my whole world changed instantly”: Blind guitarist brought to tears by specially-made Braille amp by Victory Amps
- “It sat in my closet until Guitar Hero III came out. I slapped the stickers for the controller onto the fretboard, and everything connected from there”: Stray Kids guitarist Garrett Jones on his journey from suburban Detroit to K-pop session pro
- “I’d say, ‘Man, that guitar riff sounded killer.’ He’d respond, ‘Well, I’m sure I’ll mess it up next time’”: John Mayer, Trey Anastasio and Steve Vai lead tributes to Bob Weir
January 11
- “Finally, they both ran out of steam. Silence. Then Keith said, ‘Are you sure you want to be the meat in this sandwich?’” The making of Don Was, the über-producer trusted by the Stones, Bob Dylan and John Mayer (and who’s a pretty good bassist too)
- “There is no final curtain here, not really”: Bob Weir, Grateful Dead guitarist, vocalist and founding member, dies aged 78
- “The brief I gave the team was simple, but extraordinarily difficult: make an acoustic guitar the way that Leo would have made it”: Ex-Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the birth of the Acoustasonic – and the happy accident that made it a reality
- “I thought I was fully content with my ampless rig, but this pedal has me thinking otherwise”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including an alternate reality Ibanez that’s set to shake up the prog rock guitar market
January 10
- “A friend of ours talked to my brother and said, ‘Have you ever listened to Bob Marley?' My brother said, ‘Well, no…’” Robert ‘Kool' Bell on how one of Kool & The Gang's most enduring hits came about
- “Back then people would come with some great old Gibson that had been under the bed”: Lenny Kravitz used to buy guitars from fans in parking lots at his shows – here’s why he’s stopped
- "A well-chosen feature set that really elevates it above similarly priced short-scales”: Cort GB-Short Scale Bass review
- “There was an advert saying, ‘Ozzy Zig requires gig.’ I said to Bill, ‘I know an Ozzy but it can't be him. He can't sing’”: Tony Iommi looks back at the birth of Black Sabbath – and their “horrible” first jam
January 9
- “Jim Irsay was an incredible collector with an eye for rare treasures”: Details emerge of the historic guitars in the Jim Irsay Collection auction – including David Gilmour’s Black Strat and Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang
- “I could never play a Strat – with Stevie Ray Vaughan being my first influence, every time I play one it’s like I’m 13 again, hacking through Pride And Joy”: Joanne Shaw Taylor on how the blues helped her find her voice, and why she'll always choose Teles
- “I heard Clarence White, and there were parts that I couldn’t physically do. Then I heard that there was this mechanism within the guitar...”: With Led Zeppelin over, Jimmy Page returned to the Telecaster, and embraced a particular, beloved mod
- NAMM 2026: rumors, predictions and breaking news from the world's biggest guitar gear show
- Lavender Haze all in our brains: Fender, Andertons and Chicago Music Exchange have released a range of exclusive guitars with new pickups and unique wiring mods
- Sick of your stompboxes getting stuck to your ’board? D’Addario’s Pedal Pry Tool is a mini crowbar that makes pedal removal easier than ever
- “Someone borrowed it and when it was returned the speakers were blown”: Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones is auctioning off his gear – including his Them Crooked Vultures amp that he left at Dave Grohl’s house
- “This offers the quality of tones I’d expect from a high-end plug”: IK Multimedia Tonex Plug review
- “It’s like players are stepping into a different musical skin”: Evolution or revolution? Taylor rolls out its Next Generation Grand Auditorium lineup – potentially its most advanced guitars yet
- “Engineered from the ground up”: Ibanez issues its answer to Ernie Ball and Abasi Concepts with the Alpha Series – its most progressive guitar design to date
January 8
- “It bothers me that there is a generation that has never plugged into a tube amp because they have a free one on their laptop”: EarthQuaker Devices and Dr. Z launch a tube-loaded preamp pedal – and it could be the missing piece of your digital rig puzzle
- “He was a fireman, and he’s like, ‘I make guitars with my dad. I’ll make you anything you want.’ I was like, ‘How about a light-up guitar?’” John 5 on how he dreamed up an LED Telecaster – and coincidentally found the perfect partner to build it
- “The downstrokes and palm muting give the riff a very specific sound and feel that’s almost marimba-like”: Cory Wong on how you can use double-stops in a melody or solo
- Some say the Fender Stratocaster is a ‘perfect’ design, but there's a whole industry of aftermarket parts to better it – this company is trying to neutralize its biggest ‘Achilles heel’
- “A new chapter for Fender to further connect with Chinese artists”: Fender teams up with mega-star Li Ronghao – marking its first-ever signature model for a guitarist from mainland China
- “Robert Smith thanked us for supporting The Cure before they played Boys Don’t Cry. It was one of the songs my guitar tutor taught me. I burst into tears!” Just Mustard on learning from The Cure, growing up with Fontaines D.C. – and horrible impulse buys
- “The Beck and St. Vincent guitar wizard will be filling in while he’s on the mend”: Pat Smear pulls out of Foo Fighters gigs due to “bizarre gardening accident” – and his replacement has been confirmed
January 7
- “The acclaimed long-life strings are officially back”: Phil Everly’s iconic guitar string brand, Cleartone Strings, has been re-launched in the UK and Ireland – returning its innovative string treatment to players across The Pond
- “One of the most awesome gifts I’ve ever received”: Neil Diamond has gifted a signed acoustic guitar to Hollywood A-lister Hugh Jackman – who’s playing his impersonator in a new movie
- “At first I was like, ‘Was that good enough?!’” What Ozzy Osbourne said to Wolfgang Van Halen after his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Crazy Train cover
- “Those who were waiting for Origin to recreate an Ampeg Flip-Top will be delighted – it’s as good as you’d hope”: Origin Effects BASSRIG Fifteen review
- “He told me the story about a young guitarist he once let play his guitar at rehearsal. I said, ‘Brian, that was me’”: Steve Vai pays tribute to Brian May as he receives his radical custom Red Special
- “It’s one of the greatest rock albums of all time. If the support is not there, it will not be released”: Vinnie Vincent says his new record rivals Zeppelin, Hendrix and the Beatles – but he won’t release it if people don’t buy the single for $300 apiece
- “We submitted plans for a racquetball court”: Eddie Van Halen's 5150 Studios was decades ahead of its time – but it required a white lie to build
- “Albert King once advised Gary Moore to ‘play every other note’”: Why keeping it simple can improve your blues solos
- “Built to carry its sonic legacy into the future of listening”: Fender becomes the latest guitar and amp firm to enter the home audio space – but can Fender Audio stand up to Marshall?
- “Thanks to those who made this company one of the greatest brands in the history of this instrument”: Mateus Asato is parting ways with Suhr after 12 years – and fans are already speculating where he's going next
- “I didn’t really think about it. I did my best guitar work there without thinking. I just emptied my head!” How Frehley’s Comet sent Ace Frehley’s post-Kiss career into orbit
- “That would be a huge undertaking. It’s not ‘puppet show Megadeth’”: Dave Mustaine says he won’t reunite with former Megadeth members on the band’s farewell tour
- “A supremely versatile platform that blurs the line between solidbody and semi”: The PRS 40th Anniversary Special Semi-Hollow Limited Edition is $6,990, impossibly beautiful, and they’re only making 280 of them – but here’s why we want one
January 6
- "Hits the sweet spot of Fender’s heritage, sound, practicality and price": Fender American Professional Classic Precision Bass review
- “He told me, ‘Come in closer, I’ll tell you the secret of playing electric guitar’”: How an art-punk icon ended up playing with one of the blues’ all-time greats
- “We have tried about 800 different types of solos and we cannot get it right”: Some of the world's greatest guitarists are all fighting it out to get their solo on this track
- “I said, ‘Man, where’s my audition?’ They said, ‘You got the gig.’ So I got my job just by warming up”: How Dave Mustaine landed the gig with Metallica
- Speed bursts are the path to Shred Heaven: boost your rock chops with 6 jaw-dropping examples (that won't break your fingers)
- “There’s nothing here that’s radical, let alone modern. But that’s in its favor – it’s a considered design that irons out some of Gretsch’s historic quirks”: Gretsch Electromatic Jet review
- With Electro-Harmonix pedals from just $53.95 at Sweetwater, it's time to kick off 2026 with a proper tone upgrade for your 'board
- “2026 is going to be in the record books as one of the most exciting years for Fender”: Fender has announced its new CEO – what does it mean for the future of the iconic guitar brand? We met Edward ‘Bud’ Cole to find out
- “It ain’t gonna sit well with people, but he might be better than George Harrison”: Why John Mayer might be better than a Beatle, according to producer Don Was
- “He said the first guitar was an accident of God. By the fifth one he said, ‘OK, you’re a guitar maker’”: Carlos Santana was one of Paul Reed Smith’s earliest champions – but he thought his first guitars were too good to be true
- “If it sounds heavy on a classical guitar, then it will sound even heavier once I’m plugged in”: Foam swords, steel riffs – and medieval raga? Meet the queen of fantasy doom metal guitar, Castle Rat’s Riley Pinkerton
January 5
- “For the Love of God, written by Steve Vai and performed by my 14-year-old son Roman”: Tom Morello says “there is hope” as his son shreds Steve Vai's For the Love of God
- “One of the most expressive effects ever conceived”: Cliché or pedalboard essential? How the Cry Baby wah pedal changed electric guitar – and why it’s still (kinda) underrated
- “Everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and Mr. Shred. That’s just a flavor of what he did”: Wolfgang Van Halen on one the most overlooked and underrated aspects of Eddie’s playing
- “Kirk Hammett’s in front of me with a guitar trying to teach me stuff. They’re like, ‘Get your stuff. You’re flying on the private jet with us’”: Daron Malakian on the time he saved a Metallica gig – and ended up filling in for an injured James Hetfield
- “Transcribing Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass really helped me on my journey. You can see the amount of joy they were bringing to the music”: How Italian maestro Andrea Rinciari is reinventing the great American jazz guitar songbook
- “It’s one thing to be a visionary, but it’s another thing to have the gift to pull off the vision”: Why Billy Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins collaborated with Yungblud
- February 2026 Guitar World lesson videos and more
- “The chord shapes are a little different than normal, but therein lies the beauty of an open tuning”: Charlie Starr’s open G slide soloing masterclass
- “I bought this on Craigslist at a parking lot in Nashville. Some random guy met me in this weird van”: How Stephen Wilson Jr. bought his workhorse, ride-or-die nylon-string guitar
- “I really have no recollection of doing it. I’d made a record in my sleep!” How Keith Richards wrote the iconic Satisfaction riff – without even realizing it
- “At first, I didn’t have high hopes. But then I saw that one picture and thought, ‘Bingo’”: This vintage Martin once belonged to Johnny Cash – and its current owner has spent decades trying to prove it
January 4
- “Like Bach, I think the Beatles are some of the only composers that you can play badly and it still sounds good”: Sting guitarist Dominic Miller on why the Beatles' harmonies are “indestructible”
- “All the grin-inducing firepower of the full-flight 5150 in a stripped-down model”: EVH 5150 Iconic Series 15W EL34 Head review
- “You don’t really see that a lot with competitors in other industries – throwing parties together, doing joint releases, supporting each other online”: The boutique pedal explosion and what comes next in this golden age of guitar effects
January 3
- “When I took it down for him to try out, he said, ‘I really don’t need any more of these’”: How a skeptical Slash ended up with one of the best ’50s Goldtops Gibson has ever found
- “Having grown up playing road hockey, I felt I had to hit the bass as hard as I could. Mr Carter taught me to refine my sound”: What Brandi Disterheft learned from her studies with bass legend Ron Carter
- “I was amazed it even worked… the scratchplate looked like somebody had used a hacksaw”: Unorthodox, powered by EMGs, Gary Moore's 1982 Charvel San Dimas was the battle-ready hot-rod he needed in the ’80s
January 2
- “Who knows? It was worth pursuing. They did okay without me”: Adrian Smith on the time he auditioned for Def Leppard
- “I showed up on the first day of shooting, saying, ‘This is a guitar I bought at Guitar Center. I want to use my guitar in the movie’”: Jack Black reveals he still owns the Gibson SG that characterized School of Rock
- “I’m not leaving things unfinished”: Dave Mustaine reveals the life-changing hand condition behind his decision to retire Megadeth
- “That belongs in a museum”: Mick Gordon is selling the Axe-Fx that soundtracked Doom – and it includes all of the original presets
- “A Tube Screamer is a Tube Screamer. It’s one of the great cons of the guitar industry. They got these dirt boxes right the first time!” Why Jared James Nichols stopped obsessing over gear – and honed in on his playing instead
- “It’s heavy, cutting, psychedelic and very off the cuff. It’s got the vibe of a madman”: Ace Frehley’s 6 greatest Kiss guitar moments
- “I sold my first guitar to my drummer. He paid me $50, put SpongeBob stickers on it, then lit it on fire”: Kiki Wong reveals her Smashing Pumpkins live rig, gear regrets and how a Line 6 amp made her the player she is today
January 1
- “All I remember is thinking that the bass turned into a snake. I broke all the strings, threw it down and left the stage”: Bootsy Collins was tripping on LSD when he took the James Brown bass chair to its most in-your-face level
- “I was broke. I only had $200 and we booked a gig. There was this guitar at a pawn shop that had been there for years...” How George Thorogood stumbled across the Gibson that became his go-to guitar – a week before his first gig with the Destroyers
- “I didn’t know him or trust him. But I gave him all of that money in the hope he would bring me a Strat. I had no idea if I’d see him again”: Rammstein’s Richard ZK on the coffee shop rendezvous in East Germany that got him his first Fender
- “I knew relic’ing was coming. I did it myself, to my own guitar, very crude and primitive. I put it on a stand at a guitar show, with no strategy. And it changed everything”: How relic’ing conquered the guitar world