
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 as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, Record Collector, Planet Rock, Rhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing 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 handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).
Latest articles by Amit Sharma

From the Tiger to the Wolf, meet the guitar maker who bought Jerry Garcia’s designs to life
By Amit Sharma published
This is the story of Tom Lieber, the aspiring guitar builder who wouldn’t take no for an answer and ended up making prized instruments for the Grateful Dead

H.E.A.T’s Dave Dalone on taking rock back to the future, learning from Gary Moore, and why he's a Kramer man through and through
By Amit Sharma published
They may have titled their latest album Welcome To The Future, but make no mistake, Swedish rockers H.E.A.T are paying homage to the past, with Dalone's scorching riffs and solos leading the way

Best hollowbody electric guitars 2025: Our pick of the greatest hollowbody guitars you can buy today
By Amit Sharma last updated
Want increased resonance and a beefier sound, all the while looking spectacularly cool? You’ll want one of the best hollowbody electric guitars then

From his live show, to cutting classics, Yngwie Malmsteen has always lived off-the-cuff
By Amit Sharma published
He explains why his guitars are numbered, not named, his warts-and-all approach to studio work – and why his “I won’t conform or follow” attitude has nothing to do with arrogance

Dean DeLeo explains why the ‘worst’ guitars are also sometimes the best
By Phil Weller published
The Stone Temple Pilots guitarist took a deep dive into his vast gear collection for his latest project, One More Satellite

The best electric guitars under $500
By Amit Sharma last updated
Our top cheap electric guitars that deliver killer tones, slick playability, and serious bang for your buck from Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha and more

Why Yngwie Malmsteen isn’t too bothered about his legacy
By Janelle Borg published
The neoclassical guitar trailblazer celebrates the 40th anniversary of his influential Marching Out record this year

Yngwie Malmsteen filmed the music video for one of his most iconic tracks on the Conan The Barbarian set
By Phil Weller published
“The director told me to throw my guitar. I think I took the dragon’s ear off,” Malmsteen remembers of the none-more-metal music video shoot

Bonnie Trash’s Emmalia Bortolon-Vettor on the pursuit of new sounds with $1 ring slide and a looper
By Amit Sharma published
Meet the Canadian quartet twisting post-rock with gothic noise and avant-garde surrealism, whose freewheeling approach requires economical gear and a curious mind

Richard Z Kruspe explains why guitars are like kisses, reverse kill-switches – and how he launched Rammstein with a riff
By Amit Sharma published
Fresh from launching his new RZK-III signature model, the German fire-raiser discusses the Custom Shop guitar that changed his thinking on collecting – and how he manages to live and let live with colleague Paul Landers

Mattresses for isolation? How Jonathan Hultén recorded an entire album in his walk-in closet
By Amit Sharma published
The former Tribulation guitarist goes full on dream pop on his sophomore release, Eyes of the Living Night

Richard ZK on the coffee shop rendezvous in East Germany that got him his first Fender
By Phil Weller published
The Rammstein riffer wanted a Strat to imitate his hero, Jimi Hendrix – but getting hold of one took some serious work
![The Night Flight Orchestra all glammed-up in stage clothes and photographed against a green backdrop: guitarists Rasmus Ehrnborn [second from left] and Sebastian Forslund [fourth from right]](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Wy6UcSKUxjjiWvEWzYf3y3.jpg)
Sebastian Forslund on the triumphant return of the Night Flight Orchestra and his always-on chorus
By Amit Sharma published
Recovering from the death of guitarist David Andersson, the Swedish rockers rallied to make the feel-good album of 2025. Guitarist Sebastian Forslund reveals how it happened

With plentiful, far cheaper clones, why does the Klon Centaur remain a holy grail pedal?
By Amit Sharma published
Klons have been used by Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Joe Perry, Ed O'Brien, and countless other guitar heroes, and are often spoken about as a sort of overdrive sword of Excalibur. But what exactly sets them apart? And how did they become so darn valuable?

Wednesday 13 on getting his guitar confidence back, and the Murderdolls future that never happened
By Amit Sharma published
He always worried people would think he was fake, and began to suspect he couldn’t play. But as he reflects on his new album, Mid Death Crisis, Wednesday 13 is feeling good about returning to where he started

Mark Morton explains why he’s jamming with Grace Bowers and Jason Isbell – and those Gibson signature rumors
By Amit Sharma published
His second solo album, Without The Pain, features Troy Sanders, Jason Isbell, Jared James Nichols, Grace Bowers and a stack of guitars from his frighteningly valuable collection

Wednesday 13 says the late Alexi Laiho once came close to joining him and Joey Jordison in Murderdolls
By Phil Weller published
The late Children of Bodom virtuoso nearly featured on the group’s second and final album

Dumble amps have an almost mythical reputation. But what's all the fuss really about?
By Amit Sharma published
The late Alexander Dumble built only a handful of meticulously crafted, much-sought-after amplifiers every year – and they ended up in the backlines of many of the greatest guitarists of all time. So where exactly did the magic come from?

Kirk Hammett on his favorite Metallica solo and tone – and his most prized purchases from other guitar heroes
By Amit Sharma published
The Metallica great is celebrating his remarkable guitar collection in a new Gibson book. He explains how he came to own prized guitars from John Frusciante and Michael Schenker – and why he doesn’t cut cash deals anymore

Kirk Hammett owns over 100 guitars but none of them are PRS. He explains why
By Phil Weller published
The Metallica guitarist has an enviously extensive guitar collection, but it doesn’t feature any of Paul Reed Smith’s builds

Joe Satriani on reuniting with Eric Johnson and Steve Vai and the devil in the detail of Eddie Van Halen's playing
By Amit Sharma published
He has the G3 tour, the Best of All Worlds Tour, an album with old friend Steve Vai and the Satch/Vai tour incoming, but somehow Satch found time to check in with GW to talk tone, Van Halen and the danger in Jeff Beck's performances

Kirk Hammett on the time Jack White played the original Greeny onstage
By Jenna Scaramanga published
It turns out the two have a history of sharing gear – and White has sent the Metallica guitarist some "totally psycho" kit

“The X100 is very good at what it does – some might say even too good”: MXR Rockman X100 review
By Amit Sharma published
The legendary Tom Scholz headphone amp and signal processor gets reborn in pedal form
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