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Amit Sharma
Amit Sharma

Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences. He's interviewed everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handling lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).

Articles by: Amit Sharma

Boss Waza Air on the floor next to a Stratocaster and smartphone

The 8 best guitar amp headphones 2021: practice in peace

By Amit Sharma

From studio headphones to noise cancelling cans - and even headphones that ARE the amp - these are the best headphones for guitarists, from Boss, Audio-Technica, Sennheiser and others

Iron Maiden's Janick Gers and Adrian Smith

Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and Janick Gers on Senjutsu, track by track

By Amit Sharma

How complex songs and tricky time changes make for an epic record and a testing time in the studio, and why you don’t need a $3,000 guitar to sound like a pro...

Jen Majura, Jerry Cantrell, Bill Kelliher, Lzzy Hale

16 guitar greats name their favorite moments from Metallica's Black Album

By Amit Sharma

Bill Kelliher, Jerry Cantrell, Lzzy Hale, Jen Majura and more look back on 30 years of a metal masterpiece

Bill Kelliher

Bill Kelliher: “Metallica practiced for three hours a night before playing onstage for another two. Meanwhile, we were sitting around drinking beer and picking our noses!”

By Amit Sharma

The Mastodon guitarist reveals what he learned from touring with the biggest metal band in the world, and shares his thoughts on The Black Album, 30 years on

The best hollowbody electric guitars

The best hollowbody electric guitars you can buy today

By Amit Sharma

Let's give a big hand to our favorite hollowbodies, including high-end models from Gretsch and PRS, and affordable beauties from Epiphone and Squier

Brody Uttley of Rivers of Nihil

Rivers of Nihil's Brody Uttley: “If you're building a solo, really consider what you're playing over, because it's just as important as what you're playing”

By Amit Sharma

The Pennsylvania guitarist on his approach to constructing leads, the challenges of playing slide, and why simplicity is key on the band's new outing, The Work

Kim Thayil

Soundgarden's Kim Thayil: "Badmotorfinger was our interpretation of the heavy, dark and psychedelic things we liked in music"

By Amit Sharma

On the 30th anniversary of the band's seminal album, the Soundgarden guitarist reveals the origins of his unique sound

Tom DeLonge

Tom DeLonge: “The secret to playing fast is masturbating. If you don’t masturbate, you can’t play punk rock!”

By Amit Sharma

The Angels & Airwaves and Blink-182 guitarist talks UFOs, the gnarliness of Shakespeare, keeping up with Travis Barker, and the band's expansive new release, Lifeforms

Jerry Cantrell

Jerry Cantrell: “Sometimes I’d be late for soundcheck and I’d show up to find Eddie Van Halen up there with the band, rockin’ out”

By Amit Sharma

Following the reveal of his Gibson signature "Wino" Les Paul Custom, the Alice in Chains icon discusses his favorite gear and his bond with EVH

Tube Screamers

10 of the best overdrive pedals for blues

By Amit Sharma

Stompboxes to help you channel the blues gods and bring your very best pentatonic licks to life

The Darkness

Justin Hawkins: "A note played with supreme confidence, no matter how wrong it is, will always be the right one"

By Amit Sharma

The Darkness frontman and guitarist shares some six-string live tips and encourages us to embrace mistakes… and learn to drop-kick a Tortex pick, stat!

Scott MeKeon

Scott McKeon on shaping a modern blues tone par excellence and how Joe Bonamassa persuaded him to release the SM Fuzz

By Amit Sharma

The bluesman and Tom Jones guitarist details the making of latest album New Morning

The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time

The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time

By Amit Sharma, Jonny Scaramanga, Ellie Rogers, Grant Moon, Jonathan Horsley, Sian Llewellyn, Henry Yates, Matt Frost, Joel McIver

From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you

Mike Kerr

How to sound like Royal Blood's Mike Kerr on a budget

By Amit Sharma

Learn the secrets behind the colossal dual-amp tone of the bass-wielding riff machine

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Jimi Hendrix, Prince

The 47 greatest live guitar moments: the most iconic, infamous and explosive onstage antics in six-string history

By Amit Sharma, Guitar World Staff

From legendary solos to infamous and (literally) incendiary performances, we’ve tracked down the best live moments in the history of guitar

Juanes

Juanes: "If you want to be a good player, you need to practice every day, take your instrument everywhere. Sleep with it"

By Amit Sharma

The Colombian singer-songwriter on his love for the Fender American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster, and how he incorporated Latin influences into his recent cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman

Cory Wong playing his signature Fender Stratocaster

Cory Wong: "When you design a guitar with Fender, you want to make it unique, so it stands out against all the other Strats"

By Amit Sharma

As he releases his signature Strat, the funk virtuoso discusses the six-string’s brilliant spec sheet, season two of Cory and the Wong Notes and the most important lessons he’s learned from the jazz community

Yasmin Williams

Yasmin Williams: "Don’t just look at the guitar as this thing to play four chords on. They're multi-dimensional – they’re like eight instruments in one"

By Amit Sharma

The acoustic fingerstyle prodigy picks apart her innovative approach to playing, breaking the boundaries of conventional acoustic technique and her eye-popping Skytop six-string

Adam Kerr

As Everything Unfolds' Adam Kerr: “You can have the heaviest riff in the world, but if there's nothing but palm-muted chugs leading up to it, it won't hit like it needs to”

By Amit Sharma

Rising UK metallers go for glory on their stunning debut album, Within Each Lies the Other

Best guitar amps under $1,000 2021: 10 top combo amps and heads

Best guitar amps under $1,000 2021: 10 top combo amps and heads

By Amit Sharma, Daryl Robertson

Looking for the best-sounding guitar amps under a grand? We’ve got you covered…

Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher from Royal Blood perform at Rock en Seine on August 25, 2019 in Saint-Cloud, France.

Royal Blood‘s Mike Kerr: “There are videos on how to sound like us on a budget of £1,500. And I’m always thinking, ‘Man, you could do it with £600!’“

By Amit Sharma

“This is a worldwide exclusive!” Kerr tells Total Guitar as he reveals all about his gear – from his preferred bass distortion pedal to signal-splitting and a bespoke baritone guitar that plays “like a giant bagpipe!”

Photo of Mikael AKERFELDT and OPETH

Mikael Akerfeldt on 20 years of Opeth's Blackwater Park: "I was bitter and beaten down – I didn’t have much hope for us. All I knew was I liked the music I’d written"

By Amit Sharma

The Swedish prog vet reflects on the gear picks, hybrid techniques and creative vision that led to the band's boundary-smashing landmark album

Nita Strauss, Jared James Nichols, EVH, Yvette Young, Plini

10 of today‘s brightest guitar talents discuss the everlasting impact of Eddie Van Halen

By Amit Sharma, Jonny Scaramanga

Yvette Young, Plini, Nita Strauss, Jared James Nichols and more salute the maestro

Ricky Warwick

Ricky Warwick: “I don’t have the patience to learn all the scales – it never interested me. My heroes were always the rhythm guys“

By Amit Sharma

The Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders frontman on his latest solo album, vintage gear over plugins, and covering Britney Spears

Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton: “I’ve never wished to be a shredder of speed, because the notes go by so quickly you don’t enjoy them“

By Amit Sharma

The talkbox-toting guitar legend discusses his new covers album, modded Marshalls and being reunited with his prized Les Paul Custom after 30 years apart