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April 2026

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101 articles

April 13
- “When I talked to the Warner A&R guy he said, ‘Oh man, Prince really screwed up. It sucks’”: The story of the Prince’s underrated 1986 classic – and the lip-smacking hit single that scared his record label
- “I got a call one evening, and they said, ‘Dumble’s in the Valley. You’ve got to go over’”: Larry Carlton on the first time he met a legendary amp maker – and received a private concert from a guitar great
April 12
- Before he went solo, Ronnie James Dio had already worked with two guitarists etched onto heavy metal’s Mount Rushmore. But players can also learn plenty from the oft-overlooked shredders who anchored his solo band
- “A piece of rock and roll history”: Guitars gifted, played and modded by Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen and Keith Richards are all going to auction – and expected to sell for more than $1,500,000
- “The SG sound is very unique – it forces you to play to what you’re hearing”: Warren Haynes on the mid-’90s SG behind his early Gov’t Mule tone
April 11
- “I’ve literally waited years for this to come out. It’s even nicer than I imagined it would be”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including another potentially game-changing AI practice amp
- “At home, you’re tempted to go over the top with everything. ‘Maybe if we put on another double guitar part – that’ll fix it.’ You can spend forever making a song worse”: Paul Gilbert on how the original POTUS's words opened new frontiers for his guitar
- “I’m a heavy hitter, so I had to calm down my attack. In the studio we nicknamed it ‘self-compressing’”: How fretless bass master Steve DiGiorgio embraced frets on Testament’s 2016 metal masterstroke
April 10
- “Own a piece of grunge history”: The backline used on Nirvana’s Bleach tour is to be auctioned off today
- “The amount of songs that were coming out of him is almost unprecedented”: Noel Gallagher's workhorse Epiphone – featured in the Wonderwall music video – is expected to exceed expectations at auction
- “This amp exists for one reason – to put my real tone in a box… No watered-down version, no extra junk”: Zakk Wylde’s signature Berzerker amp is here and it is a vicious 50-watter weighing under 5lbs
- “A guitar that sits at the intersection of love, collaboration and some of the most influential songwriting of the late 1960s”: The 1913 Gibson used to write Here Comes the Sun and Let It Rain – owned by Eric Clapton – is now up for auction
- “Protect your body and mind the way you would protect your gear”: How to stop burning out before you stop the music
- Mooer takes on JBL with its own AI stem separation tech – and it could change the way you practice your favorite songs
- “Bob let him play one overdub, then cut him off. George said to me, ‘Don’t let him do that again’”: The time Bob Dylan and a Beatle were at odds over a guitar solo
- “I thought it was a bit too bizarre, but you all went crazy for it”: The hottest new guitar gear releases of March 2026 – according to Guitar World readers
- “It’s a workhorse guitar. Say a producer in Nashville needs an SG, and they pick that thing up; this will do anything they want”: Sadler Vaden’s new signature SG is a working player’s guitar – and it could be Gibson’s 2026 sleeper hit
- “I’ve never been a real hot player, and a lot of kids are hot players. I’m slow because I walk slow, talk slow, sing slow”: B.B. King in his own words – the blues’ greatest guitarist on heroes, influences and his philosophy
- “I have an original Klon – three or four of them. I can’t go anywhere without it”: Joe Perry on the pedals he can’t live without and his top tip for boost and drive pedals
- “After hearing the finished track, I thought, ‘Wow, I never knew how busy playing one note could sound’”: The story behind the deceptive bassline on a politically charged ’70s anthem that was later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “I feel like I get one lawsuit served every week”: Neal Schon sets the record straight on claims made by Journey singer Arnel Pineda that he was pressured to go on tour against his will
April 9
- Elvis’ 1968 Comeback Special Hagstrom Viking II is heading to auction (again) – and is now expected to sell for more than $1 million
- “We wrote it on the board as ‘The Loudest Riff Ever Recorded by a Human.’ We had to put the mic four feet away”: Corrosion Of Conformity pushed hard on their new album. And the Bee Gees helped
- “It’s an honor to enter this journey”: Mateus Asato confirms he’s joining Fender – and might have given us the first look at his signature guitar
- Guitar Center's massive Guitar-A-Thon sale is officially underway with up to 30% off thousands of items including $700 off a Gibson Les Paul – here's 9 of the best deals from the sale
- “I’ll find an hour-long Swedish massage video and turn off the sound”: Why tapping genius Stanley Jordan practices guitar by soundtracking massages on YouTube
- Joe Satriani called her version of Always With Me, Always With You “the most impressive” he's ever seen. Meet Andrea Krakovská, the “aerial guitarist” combining fretboard acrobatics with real acrobatics
- “It was heartbreaking. I remember the day I saw that album and those erroneous credits for the first time. It was like a punch in the solar plexus”: Bob Daisley on not receiving credit for playing on Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman
- From guitars to amps, picks to pickups, a Slash fanatic shows you how to nail his iconic tone at home at various price points
- “People are gonna be like, ‘What is that?!’” PRS is championing a new tonewood – and it’s already been adopted for an artist signature
- “It was a very conscious decision on Peter’s part to come up with material that would make a very good and accessible record”: Guitarist David Rhodes on the making of Peter Gabriel’s chart-smashing classic So
- “If they were around in 1983, they would have been very popular. They have an unashamed appreciation for what came before them”: How K.K. Downing ended up working with fast-rising British metal stars Tailgunner
- “I don’t think that bassline is playable by anyone else”: How Stevie Wonder recorded one of the funkiest basslines in existence
- “A friend of mine called me up and said, ‘I’ve got a couple of guitars you might be interested in…’” Joe Bonamassa’s storied Lazarus Les Paul, which was once brought back from the dead, has been bought by a pop-punk guitar hero
April 8
- “They were sending me leftovers that other people hadn’t picked up. After Ultimate Sin, I felt I should have something a bit more personalized”: Charvel pays tribute to Jake E. Lee’s Ozzy Osbourne era with newest signature model
- “I hope this journey inspires more young musicians from our region to pursue their passion”: Ibanez welcomes its first-ever female Indian endorsee – fast-rising guitarist, Imnainla Jamir
- "An enlightening instrument that will force you to think about new ways to play the guitar – but it won't be for everyone": Taylor Jacob Collier Academy 22e 5-string review
- “It felt like the worst moment of my life. I walked up to the truck, saw the padlock on the ground, and my heart sank”: The moment Wings’ former sound engineer had to tell Paul McCartney his priceless Höfner bass guitar had been stolen
- Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Pete Thorn trade solos over Led Zeppelin classic at recent SatchVai Band show
- “I thought, ‘Is the guitar in open G tuning?’ But I soon discovered it wasn’t a standard guitar at all”: Charlie Starr on the magic of the B-Bender – and 5 bender-inspired licks you can play on any electric
- Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s alleged attacker charged with stalking and threatening his family for years
- “I didn’t expect this to inspire me so much”: Jackson finally releases Misha Mansoor’s Surfcaster – one of the most anticipated offset guitar releases of the modern era
- “I turned up at my first audition with my Squier Telecaster – that was all I owned”: The 18-year-old who replaced one of Britpop’s most revered guitarists
- “On our earlier recordings, we experimented with low tones that only dogs can hear”: Sunn O))) on the challenge of working with 130 guitar tracks and why their live shows are like jumping into a frozen lake
- Yamaha redefines the concept of the modern acoustic guitar with the TAS3 C TransAcoustic – which puts the entire creative process into one instrument
- “He’s not doing any of the lead work he’s known for. He came up with 10 tracks of textures and atmospheres”: His main band went on indefinite hiatus. Now this cult prog guitarist has enlisted Alex Lifeson and Peter Frampton for an all-star solo album
- “I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead”: ESP appoints new US CEO – as outgoing head retires after 39 years
- "What if your best song is the one you haven't written yet?" Songwriting For Guitar's free two-day live event will make you a better songwriter - here's how to sign up
- “If I can help wake up a new generation of African or female players, that makes me twice as proud”: Fatoumata Diawara on Hendrix’s genius, the making of her Epiphone SG – and the message she wants it to send
April 7
- “Guitars haven’t changed that much in the last 50 years. We’re about to change that”: Guitar Center is setting up its own in-house guitar brand – and it’s asking players for their help
- “I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, my right hand just wasn’t doing the job anymore”: Dethklok’s Brendon Small started struggling to play, so he took a lesson with a metal virtuoso
- “I was playing baseball in the backyard when I heard Eruption. That afternoon I decided what my life would be”: How recording in Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 Studios inspired Alter Bridge to make their most riff-heavy statement yet
- “I don’t have any favorite guitarists from the ’90s. I wasn’t following those trends”: He wrote some of the defining anthems of the decade with Smash Mouth. Now Greg Camp is focusing on his Nashville punk-rock supergroup
- “My student tricked me into getting an Instagram”: The off-hand advice from a student that helped kickstart Yvette Young’s career
- “After his funeral, me and my buddy snuck into his house and took the guitar”: Pepper Keenan got his first guitar after a tragic accident
- “It absolutely blew my mind”: Why Dave Grohl is obsessed with viral Canadian microtonal duo Angine de Poitrine
- “The guitar community came through and sent about one million solos to me”: The world’s buzziest guitarists fought to get on this Bilmuri track – now the winning solo has been revealed
- “I got acrylic nails, because my mom told me that’s what Dolly Parton did. It allows me to play in a flamenco style”: Ashley Reeve leads the low-end for everyone from Cher to Filter – and her right-hand tone is her most important asset
April 6
- “Is it worth the higher price tag? For some, it won’t matter, but for others, it is something to weigh on heavily”: Act Entertainment Sterling Vermin RAT Distortion Pedal review
- “Automatically you go into blues when you do that”: Big Country's golden guitar rule that steered them clear of the blues
- “I’d buy a ‘54 Strat, and then I’d sell it, buy one, sell it… I just kept trading them off. I’ve been disappointed in some of those”: Eric Johnson on why a guitar's age, value, and cool factor don't necessarily make it a better instrument
- “The company that handles all our equipment has completely boned us. We have literally nothing to play”: The All-American Rejects cancel show after gear is “mistakenly shipped across the country”
- “I certainly didn’t know how to build a studio. It was all Donn’s magic”: Donn Landee, the engineer who masterminded 5150 Studios, and helped shape Van Halen’s sound, dies at 79
- “I was 8 and Andy was my first guitar teacher – to me he was Mr. Summers with a funny accent!” Doug Pettibone on taking lessons from Andy Summers, touring with Jewel, and not getting fired by John Mayer
- “I put it in the freezer overnight and took a blowtorch to it”: Joe Perry put his “desert island guitar” through hell but it’s still his number one
- “That changed everything for me. ‘It doesn’t hurt. I could play like this all day long. And it sounds great!’’ How a Hendrix hack helped The Collect Pond’s Danny Moffat play through his health issues
- “There are really good ’Bursts, average ’Bursts and some that are not that good at all”: What this pristine 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard tells us about the myth of the ’Bursts
April 5
- “I wasn't trying to make a retro album. I went through a Fractal”: Avenged Sevenfold’s Zachary Baker rides alone on Dark Horse – cooking up a country album with little more than a modeler and an Epiphone acoustic
- “I told myself I’d stop buying JHS Pedals gear. At this rate, my pedalboard is going to look like a shrine to the company”: All the guitar gear that caught my eye this week – including the most outrageous Ibanez I think I’ve ever seen
- “I am 10 times the player when I hold a guitar pick the ‘wrong’ way”: A blues guitar hero showed me how he held his pick – and it changed the way I played guitar
- “I’ve never met Noel Gallagher, but I’ve heard he liked Strange Times”: The unsung 1986 album that inspired the ’90s Britpop boom
April 4
- “It was a lot of trial and error with Dave – a lot of just trying to find out what worked, fine-tune it and then do it again”: Jimmie Vaughan on the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Top 40 hit that got Al Bundy – and Hollywood’s – seal of approval
- “We continued being friends for 69 years. I don’t think there’s nobody living today that knew him as long as I did”: Bobby Rush salutes his old friend B.B. King
April 3
- “Something you’ll hear a lot of is, ‘Oh, you didn’t earn that relicing.’ But people who like it aren't thinking of it like that”: The real reason why relicing is so popular, according to a Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilder
- “He rolled up with his guitar on his back and his Fender Deluxe in his right hand”: Mark Lettieri on his jams with John Mayer, and how they ended up working together on one of the biggest PRS shows in history
- “They’re 16 bars, and that’s it. There’s no extended solos”: Adrian Smith on why making music outside of Iron Maiden lets him stretch his soloing wings
- Philip Sayce: The 5 techniques that define my sound
- “He will be remembered for his unwavering empathy and compassion, and his magnetic, inimitable presence on and off the stage”: Harm’s Way guitarist Bo Lueders dies at 38
- Who is the most iconic Fender Telecaster player?
- “The first time Sonic Youth went to England, people hated us: ‘Oh, you’re playing guitar? That’s so old-fashioned’”: Alt-rock icon Kim Gordon on the secret to making great music on bad guitars and why she never saw herself as a bassist
- “Other groups tell everyone they’re the ‘proper’ metal band on the bill, but they’re all using 8-string guitars”: Tailgunner are flying the flag for old-school metal (with a little help from K.K. Downing)
April 2
- “We would roll into, say, Portland, and go to the pawn shops. You could find a ’57 Les Paul for $200!” Melissa Etheridge learned more from a grouchy old man who’d lost his fingers than she did at Berklee
- “When I was asked who was the best up-and-coming guitarist, I had no hesitation”: Alice Cooper announces new 22-year-old guitarist, handpicked by Nita Strauss to be her replacement
- “It can get loud enough to annoy my partner, which is good enough for home use”: Laney Prism-Mini review
- Yes postpone upcoming tour dates due to guitarist Steve Howe requiring “essential surgery”
- Turnstile co-founder and former guitarist Brady Ebert arrested for attempted murder after allegedly hitting former bandmate's father with his car
- “That way, I can bend notes the way I want, and it also saves my hands”: How Joe Perry is changing his guitar setup to battle the early signs of arthritis
- “The two things I remember are the cool guitar stuff… and this never-ending scream”: Billy Corgan on the first time he met Courtney Love and witnessed Hole live
- “The whole rig went completely silent – 10,000 people started booing me”: The 17-year-old guitar prodigy who flourished with Dio, but got off to a nightmare start
- “Peter had such a glorious touch thanks to his wonderful simplicity. But then he went off the rails and became a gravedigger”: How 10cc’s Rick Fenn ended up working with David Gilmour, Peter Green, Mike Oldfield, and almost all of his other heroes
- “It will take time to build up the accuracy that the riff demands”: Welcome to Mike Stringer’s downpicking bootcamp
April 1
- One of Slash's Guns N' Roses reunion tour Les Pauls expected to fetch up to $400k at auction
- “What happens when you do more with dramatically more?” Quilter Labs unveils The Vamp, a four-wheeled, 200,000-watt guitar amp
- Paul Gilbert: What I learned and taught at GIT
- “Get the data-driven results musicians dream of”: Chibson and Acorn Amps team up for the definitely-not-Google Drive pedal
- “If you talked to me when I was 25 years old, I would have been frightened to take a solo after Joe Satriani…” Why Cory Wong is no longer afraid to trade leads with his heroes
- “Way more rare than a Klon”: JHS Pedals pays tribute to mysterious pedal builder with the Coyote – a new fuzz based on one of the rarest pedals of all time
- “I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t play this thing’”: Why Steve Vai struggled to play Brian May’s iconic Red Special
- “I got to play with Layne and Chris and Lanegan. Now they’re gone. What would they be doing now? That haunts me to this day”: Mike McCready opens up on his new rock opera, the Seattle jams that changed him, and the future of Pearl Jam
- “The phone rang. It was Paul McCartney. That’s when I knew we’d found it”: We meet the man who reunited Paul McCartney with his long-lost Beatles bass
- “Björn and I met and discussed what it could look like. It had to be shiny and sparkling”: How a Swedish luthier used by Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton created the iconic ABBA star guitar