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August 2026
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80 articles
- August 9
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- “We had just left Vegas that morning. They called us in the chartered plane and told us to turn back”: James Burton on his electrifying tenure as Elvis Presley’s guitarist – and the tragic day it came to an end
- “I was all set to say goodbye, and Bruce asked me to come outside. There and then he asked me if I wanted to join”: Nils Lofgren on how the Bruce Springsteen gig saved his life at his lowest point
- “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It was like seeing an instrument from outer space. I said to myself, ‘That’s the future – that’s what I want’": The story of Eric Clapton’s Cream guitars
- “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve never done this before. If I move, he will fall over”: Dan Hawkins on the time he jammed “back to back” with Brian May onstage
- Don’t barre the F chord. Try embellishing it instead
- “Years later, he saw me playing it and he was mad at me. He said I took advantage of him. I was like, ‘You were gonna throw it away…’”: Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on his greatest gear bargains – and why Billy Gibbons now owns his two of them
- “Iron Maiden was the hardest to get right. Musically, it’s not the most challenging, but we choreographed the entire song”: You have to be top of the class – of 80,000 students – to make it on the School of Rock AllStars tour
- “He was one of the world’s top authorities on guitars. His depth of knowledge really was that astounding”: The life and times of game-changing guitar journalist Dave Burrluck
- “They’re looking at each other and not saying anything. Finally, they said, ‘We've auditioned a lot of people, and you're the only bass player who wants to play that song’”: The moment Doug Wimbish knew he’d joined Living Colour
- August 8
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- “A holy relic among blues devotees”: The story of Muddy Waters’ “The Hoss” Telecaster, the guitar that helped define the sound of electric blues
- 10 classic Yngwie Malmsteen quotes – the maestro in his own words: “What I play fast will also sound good at a slower speed. If you slow down the fast licks that a lot of other guitarists do, people would puke”
- Joe Bonamassa says “armchair quarterbacks” have turned guitar culture toxic: “What do you want him to do? Burn his guitar in effigy? The guy had to go to therapy! What’s wrong with people?”
- “I flew to his funeral in England, and I delivered a eulogy. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do”: Billy Morrison on collaborator and best friend Ozzy Osbourne, his partnership with Steve Stevens, and his all-star new album
- “I did almost die. I needed 29 stitches on my face. I did all this right before that”: The pedal that JHS Pedals’ Josh Scott was working on before his horror bike accident has been launched
- “He said, ‘We’re going to make a record, and we’re going to have two guitar players.’ Then we made the Layla album”: Duane Allman on the first time he met Eric Clapton and made an instant classic
- “We are witnessing a digital guitar tone revolution in real time”: My pick of the best new guitar gear launched this week – from free Line 6 plugins to a game-changing modeler update
- “It was only at the end of the day when he was heading home, he rang me on the train and freaked out – just a little – that he had had Rory’s Strat in his hands”: The life and times of the late guitar expert Steve Clarke
- August 7
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- Why Airbourne’s Joel O’Keefe swears by his Gibson Explorer onstage but never plays it at home: “It should come with a warning label that says, ‘Might cause physical harm’”
- Nikki Sixx confesses Mötley Crüe do in fact use backing tracks on stage – but promises they play all instruments live: “We enjoy being able to do what we did in the studio live”
- “I hate the term relic’d guitars. We don’t relic guitars. We age guitars”: Mark Agnesi explains the difference between relic’ing and aging guitars – and Gibson’s vision for making the vintage guitar experience more accessible
- “I don’t think Ronnie and Keith really like me doing it, but I do it anyway”: Mick Jagger on how his guitar playing adds another element to the Rolling Stones – even if his bandmates aren’t so keen
- Julian Lage reacts to surprise praise from Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy: “I find it hard to believe. They’re monsters”
- Pepper Keenan on the time he got to play Malcolm Young’s legendary AC/DC guitar rig: “It scared the crap out of me. There’s no overdrive – it’s just volume”
- “I was convinced I wasn’t playing well, but they kept calling me back. Before I knew it I was playing bass on the entire album”: How Becky Baldwin landed her dream gig playing bass for Tony Iommi
- “William Shatner is a force of nature. When I heard his spoken word back at the studio, he was speaking in perfect 3/4 time”: Chris Poland on writing to Captain Kirk’s voice and Nuclear Messiah’s Megadeth alumni club
- August 6
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- "The only limiting factor here for any style of playing is technique": Harley Benton ST-62HA review
- Fret Buzz
- “It’s insane. He died aged 25, only guitar players remember him, and yet he was the sound of the Pretenders”: Chrissie Hynde on the underrated guitar hero who defined the Pretenders
- “My medal looks like a guitar pick”: Elite swimmer wins Commonwealth Games gold – then uses medal to play Megadeth
- "Try to put yourself in the mindset of a music listener, not a music maker": Record better guitars at home with 8 of my pro tips
- When a 12-year-old Joe Bonamassa played with his blues hero: “He pointed his Telecaster at me. It was his way of saying, ‘Welcome to the big leagues kid. I’m testing you to see if you have it’”
- “The firm’s scattershot denial seemed unconvincing, like Mötley Crüe insisting they have no idea what happened to that attaché case of cocaine”: From string demos to fake influencers, AI’s main use case seems to be ‘ruining music’
- “I was watching a Brad Paisley video and saw this contraption attached to his strap: ‘What is going on here?’ I heard of this thing called the B-bender…” How John Osborne fell down the B-bender rabbit hole and came out with a signature Fender Tele
- “The name can be distracting – what’s important is the sound. Jimmy Page thought so”: How recycling chord shapes can unlock new and surprising sounds
- October 2026 Guitar World lesson videos and more
- August 5
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- "The Floyd Rose genuinely feels like the finishing touch this model always needed": Gibson Victory Floyd Rose review
- “Even without a guitar in my hands, the music just comes to me. I had 80 or 90 tracks”: Yngwie Malmsteen announces 23rd studio album, Hell or High Water – hear the first single
- “It carried me through some of the earliest and most important moments of my journey”: Marcus King’s new Epiphone signature recreates the prized childhood acoustic his father gave him
- Feel is more important than accuracy. Just ask Kim Thayil, Alex Lifeson and Jimmy Page
- “Billy shared that the Pumpkins had confirmed headlining Lollapalooza. He said sweetly, ‘If you wanna join us for a song, please do’”: Melissa Auf der Maur lifts the veil on her surprise appearance at Lollapalooza with the Smashing Pumpkins
- Line 6 launches free Helix Stadium plugin: every amp and effect you can play at zero cost
- Fender CEO responds to backlash after comparing cover bands to AI: “Great songs are born out of people’s lives – something no machine can ever replicate”
- "No amp can fix a guitar that feels like a plank of wood with strings, or even worse, won’t stay in tune": Are you prioritizing the wrong end of your signal chain? Two pro gear reviewers debate whether you should spend more on your guitar or amp
- Glenn Hughes announces retirement from touring due to health issues: “I really have no option”
- Steve Vai and Adrian Belew announce new BEAT tour, with lineup change
- “John Petrucci inviting me to Guitar Universe was insane. I thought it was someone impersonating him”: Is Baxty the future of shred?
- August 4
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- “I’m afraid if I started jamming on it, people would go, ‘What is he doing? That’s wrong! Is he having a moment?’”: Don Felder says playing the Hotel California solo note-for-note is his “obligation” to Eagles fans
- “I kept this under my bed. Then one day I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I took it out… within a night or two, it fell off the stand and got a chip”: How Keith Urban found Clarence, the Telecaster that's still his number one
- How to install LR Baggs’ HiFi Duet acoustic pickup – and yes, we’re gonna drill a hole in Chris Buck’s guitar
- Gibson Garage Vegas offers chance to make a whole different kind of drunken decision on the strip
- Bob Dylan recruits Jimmie Vaughan as blues legend becomes final guest guitarist during hectic US tour
- Steve Vai and Dave Navarro champion 16-year-old folk guitarist who has blown them away: “You have what it takes”
- “J Mascis put this guitar into my hands. He went to some store and the guy was trying to peddle this Jazzmaster, and J has so many of ’em…” Kurt Vile on meeting Neil Young, his prized vintage offset and why he prefers dead strings
- "It can go from barely there room sound to a drawn-out blooming reverberance": JHS 3 Series Reverb review
- August 3
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- The fastest rising digital amp tech has been added to another mainstream modeler – could this be a tipping point?
- "Relic’d or not, this is a great value instrument": Harley Benton TE-62LA review
- “I’ve never had to cancel a tour. Not even when I had my face totally ripped open in an early morning traffic accident in 1987”: Former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg cancels tour due to serious health issues
- “It is a daunting task, but it’s totally doable. Once you get it, it’s like breathing”: Eric Johnson has a valuable lesson for players “trapped in patterns”
- The Smashing Pumpkins reunite with Melissa Auf der Maur at Lollapalooza – and treat fans to a surprise team-up with Olivia Rodrigo and Yungblud
- “They had a picture of me up at the NAMM Show but I wasn’t an endorsee! I went to the Fender booth, and they said, ‘We want to give you a deal’”: John 5 is a modern master of the Telecaster – here are his 5 favorite Teles
- “A clever expanding pedalboard that solves a real gigging problem, but it isn’t without practical compromise”: D'Addario XPND 1 pedalboard review
- “Jack White is the last rock star that I can think of. He’s very dangerous. His approach to playing… you just don’t know what’s going to happen”: Billy Howerdel is trying to avoid being “too good”, as he writes A Perfect Circle’s next album
- “I’d love to go and see him but I probably wouldn't stay for the whole concert”: What Jeff Beck thought about Eddie Van Halen
- August 2
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- From Hendrix’s pyrotechnics to Cory Wong’s hot-buttered funk, for 72 years the Strat has revolutionized how we play guitar. These are the 25 players who wrote – and burnt – the playbook
- “It just sounds like doo-doo under a D chord”: Why muting the low E string is one of the most important lessons any beginner guitarist can learn
- “I came out to Los Angeles with $20. I was homeless. I lived off of two tacos and water a day”: Malina Moye reflects on the hardship that shaped her historic career
- “This is not a tuning I use often, but it turned out to be perfect here”: Spiritbox’s Mike Stringer on how extended-range guitars open up new chord voicing possibilities
- “Not your average digital delay by any means”: Beetronics Pollinator Hazee Delay review
- “I tend to cringe when I hear people who’ve obviously taken my style. I think it’s a joke that’s often played on me”: The Edge has never been impressed by players who try to imitate his sound
- “All I was using was one Fender Twin Reverb, which I stole off Bob Marley… I had it turned up to 10 the whole time”: Stolen amps and punk rivalry – inside the making of the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks
- “He said, ‘There's a room upstairs filled with guitars, but you can't see them – we’re only selling them all at once.’ We came back and waved hundred dollar bills in his face”: Blondie's Chris Stein on his greatest (and strangest) guitar shopping spree
- August 1
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- Who's the best guitar duo of all time?
- “As far as guitar players go, he’s one of the best conversationalists on the planet”: What Samantha Fish learned from trading licks with Buddy Guy
- “If you’re a guitar player out there, go listen to her – that is the way you should play guitar”: Brian Fallon on the lick that every guitarist should know
- “That group was like a dragster when it burns out – you get a lot of noise, but it doesn't go anywhere”: Bassist Tim Bogert on why Beck, Bogert & Appice fell short despite its all-star lineup
- “Most people don’t get to see guitars like these”: Meet the 1968 Gibson Super 400 that was customized for Merle Travis – the ultimate artist’s guitar (even if the materials aren’t that great)
- “Harrison lost interest in the Rosewood Telecaster well before Let It Be came out. In December 1969, he gave it away”: How George Harrison fell in and out of love with the Tele he played at the Beatles’ final performance – and where it is now
- “It all started during a soundcheck. I was playing a Telecaster, and I said to our drummer, ‘Hey man, play the train beat!’ I began playing what became the main riff in Let It Burn”: Charlie Starr on how to turn a simple, catchy riff into a killer song
- “I’ve lost count of how many SGs I have. But none of them match up to that one guitar”: Angus Young on his favorite Gibson SG from his collection – and the hunt to find a replacement
- “Harley Benton might have outdone itself. This is custom shop-level detail for under $350”: My pick of the best new guitar gear launched this week – and the new drops you might have missed
