
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

What Guthrie Trapp learned while escaping the country player label – and how the fretboard can change your life
By Amit Sharma published
The session ace explains what’s wrong with modelers, why anyone emulating SRV is doomed to fail, and how he nearly missed out on jamming with Billy Gibbons

Anglo-French blues-rocker Laura Cox on Les Pauls vs SGs, and getting huge tone from a Junior guitar
By Amit Sharma published
On Trouble Coming, Cox cuts loose, recording with the No Money Kids and showcasing her formidable slide chops

Wolfgang Van Halen on his early gigs with Van Halen – and keeping Eddie in line
By Phil Weller published
Wolfgang also wanted to unearth some B-sides to help honor the genius of his predecessor once he stepped into the role

Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil on why he fell in love with Kirk Hammett’s Greeny – even if he’s still Team Strat
By Amit Sharma published
With their 10th album, Futique, Biffy Clyro remind us exactly why they are one of the most important rock bands of the modern age

How John Suhr built one of guitar’s hottest boutique brands
By Amit Sharma published
John Suhr knows a thing or two about tone. Hey, the guy oversaw repairs at Rudy’s Music in NYC, modded amps with Bob Bradshaw, became a Senior Master Builder and launched his own brand

Jared James Nichols was gifted a Klon Centaur by Joe Bonamassa – here’s how he kept it safe on the road
By Janelle Borg published
Nichols went from nearly having his borrowed Klon stolen to being given one of his own by the blues guitar icon

Wolfgang Van Halen on what sets his favorite contemporary metal guitar hero apart from his peers
By Phil Weller published
Wolfgang has praised this player's ability to bridge the generational and genre divide

Best Telecasters: top Teles for every taste
By Amit Sharma last updated
Whether it’s your first Telecaster or you’ve walked in the boots of guitar-playing royalty, our top Telecasters will help you get your twang on

Best Stratocasters: The best Strats for every budget and playing style
By Amit Sharma last updated
Find your fit with our top pick of the best Fender Strats

Made famous by David Gilmour, the Binson Echorec is a secret-recipe tool that helped define rock guitar tone
By Amit Sharma published
If you have even the most passing familiarity with Pink Floyd, you've heard an ethereal soundscape generated by the Binson Echorec. This is what it is, the unit's fascinating inner workings, and why it still matters

Guitar heroes are hailing him as shred’s next big thing – but Spiro is already planning a blues left-turn
By Janelle Borg published
Touted as the guitar world's next big disruptor by Tim Henson, Misha Mansoor and Tosin Abasi, Spiro Dussias reveals his next project and why he hopes to record a blues album before he turns 30

Eric Gales on his all-star blues tribute to his brother, the man who started him on guitar
By Amit Sharma published
With a stirring tribute to his older brother Manuel, who performed as Little Jimmy King, the master southpaw returns with one of the finest albums of his career

Nicolas Meier was hand-picked by Jeff Beck. Now he’s honoring the late guitar icon with a sound that seeks new horizons
By Amit Sharma published
Meier on what he learned from Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía, and how in Jeff Beck he found a kindred spirit for guitar sounds with no limits

We chart 25 game-changing Ibanez guitarists
By Amit Sharma published
While it’s easy to think of Ibanez as a company that’s solely at the cutting edge of metal machines for the modern age, they’ve also innovated much further afield, producing timeless acoustics, semi-hollows, and hollowbodies

One of the main guitars on Biffy Clyro’s new album was a tiny Fender with a built-in speaker – which is also beloved by Tom Bukovac
By Phil Weller published
The forgotten ’90s oddball was employed for some “cheap-sounding warmth” and sludgy goodness

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil is a Strat player through and through – but here's why he couldn't say no to Gibson's ‘Greeny’ reissue
By Phil Weller published
Buying such a pricey guitar wasn’t an easy decision, but he’s been making the most of his purchase
![Blood Incantation's Paul Rield [left] and Morris Kolontyrsky tear it up live in this artily shot action photos](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YCvQE8rCMG7uq7DQE88UJh-320-80.jpg)
How Blood Incantation’s Paul Riedl and Morris Kolontyrsky are opening the Stargate to take death metal to a higher cosmic plane
By Amit Sharma published
On album number four, Paul Riedl and Morris Kolontyrsky are taking their “Morbid Angel meets Pink Floyd” concept to new creative heights

The botched luthier job that convinced John Suhr to get into guitar building
By Phil Weller published
The celebrated luthier may have had a different career if it weren’t for someone else’s careless craftsmanship

Named after a Måneskin track, inspired by Queen and Arctic Monkeys, here’s how Baby Said became the UK’s hottest rock duo
By Amit Sharma published
Fresh from a triumphant run of festival dates, Veronica Pal checks in to give us the guitar story behind this sister act's stellar debut, BS! – and that's no b.s.
![The English punk-rock quartet University [L-R]: [from left] Zak Bowker,Joel Smith, Eddie Leighand Ewan Barton.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bz2zxGCkozhiN5fcVG9hm7-320-80.jpg)
University’s Zak Bowker on why your biggest inspiration should be yourself and his mission to entertain Xbox zombie slayers
By Amit Sharma published
University might be inspired by the Oasis ethos and the harmonies of the Beatles, but Bowker explains why they're going their own way

Jazz guitar phenom Pete Roth on the making of a trio that lives on the outer limits of improv
By Amit Sharma published
Fans of Joe Pass, Larry Carlton and John Scofield would do well to check out the Pete Roth Trio with Bill Bruford the next time they’re in town

From Billy Corgan to Big Thief, how Momma became one of alt-rock’s most addictive bands
By Amit Sharma published
On album number four, Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten find themselves at their most autobiographical, searching deep to channel the music – and employing pedals with secret powers

How Arve Isdal carved his own extreme metal path with Enslaved – and became Norway’s answer to Slash
By Amit Sharma published
The blues-schooled shredder shows off some unlikely examples in his guitar collection, explains why he quit an Iron Maiden icon’s band and shares the fate of his supergroup with Dani Filth, Rob Caggiano and John Tempesta

Carlos Santana on soul singer phrasing, the spiritual essence of playing and “visitations” from B.B. King, Miles Davis and SRV
By Amit Sharma published
Single-cuts are like merlot, solos are like grapefruit… the inimitable, peerless Carlos Santana shares stories from his legendary career and insights from the cosmos
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