Latest articles by Amit Sharma
“As user-friendly as a guitar can get”: Strandberg Boden Essential review
The groundbreaking sound and feel of Strandberg's future-forward guitar designs arrives at a price more of us can manage, but does this craft translate to a more affordable instrument? You bet
Best Telecasters 2024: the top Fender Tele electric guitars for all budgets and styles
Figure out which is the best Telecaster for you - we pay homage to Fender's iconic electric guitar
Feeder’s Grant Nicholas talks fuzz, Jazzmasters, and why he hasn’t changed his strings in 8 years
As the UK rock heavyweights return with their first-ever double album, Black/Red, Grant Nicholas checks in to discuss his love of old strings, broken Tube Screamers and fuzz – lots and lots of fuzz…
Unprocessed’s Manuel Gardner Fernandes on returning to tubes – and why Polyphia’s support means more than anything
Just as Unprocessed rediscover the taste for metalcore on new rager...And Everything In Between, guitarist Manuel Gardner Fernandes was seeking out real tube tone
Joe Bonamassa explains why great tones are “much cheaper than people realize”
The blues ace and vintage guitar collector says you don't need expensive gear to get classic tones
Kerry King on his unapologetic solo debut – and how long before Slayer jump back into the coffin
As one half of Slayer’s fearsome guitar attack, Kerry King shaped the sound of extreme metal. With a new album and a new sparring partner, he hasn’t mellowed…
The Last Dinner Party’s Emily Roberts on how a Brian May tribute gig radically changed her guitar playing
Before The Last Dinner Party, Emily Roberts took the role of Brian May in a Queen tribute band
Matteo Mancuso talks tone, technique and Guthrie Govan’s key to improvising
The Sicilian guitar prodigy discusses the fingerstyle techniques, arpeggios and gear choices that have made him one of the most exciting names in modern guitar
Meet Morganway, the PRS-loving country-rockers playing John Mayer’s Silver Sky – and an offset called ‘The Badger’
The British Americana country rockers are influenced by everyone from Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty to Haim and The 1975 – and they’re ready to take on the US
“The perfect weapon to seek and destroy”: ESP LTD KH-V Kirk Hammett review
The latest signature model for the Metallica guitarist is a lot pointier than his previous offering – and the tones match the looks
What made Rory Gallagher a true guitar one-off – and how he ended up with his first Fender Strat by accident
Jim Kirkpatrick, one of the world's leading experts on Gallagher's playing, puts the late blues-rock hero's tone under the microscope, revealing the gear and approaches that made the Strat-toting phenom one of the all-time greats
How to get David Gilmour’s guitar tone, with Steve McElroy of The Australian Pink Floyd
The Australian Pink Floyd Show mastermind has bought just about every piece of gear Gilmour has ever used. He reveals the secrets behind his Strat tones and techniques – and settles a few myths and legends
“This disease won’t beat me”: Glenn Tipton on playing with Richie Faulkner and defying Parkinson’s
Metal God Glenn Tipton reveals the gear behind Judas Priest’s incendiary new album, Invincible Shield – and why he won’t be throwing in the towel any time soon
You’ll never guess what guitar thrash metal pioneer Kerry King learned to play on
Kerry King’s first guitar is as far away from his hellishly barbed electric guitars as you can get
“I’m never going to out-do Yngwie”: Richie Faulkner on Priest’s new album and why he’s no shredder
Judas Priest's Invincible Shield finds the British metal institution surviving against the odds. Its very own bionic man Richie Faulkner gives us the guitar POV on a venerable work of British steel
“Paul said he’d do anything to make it happen”: Herman Li on his switch to PRS
Paul Reed Smith wanted to do something but I had to explain it was my dream as a kid to have an Ibanez signature. Paul said he’d do anything to make it happen
Yngwie Malmsteen on Rising Force and the spectacular introduction of a neoclassical shred icon
Breaking out of Alcatrazz and releasing Rising Force in 1984, a young Yngwie Malmsteen took us all through a supernova of virtuosity that changed guitar forever
Best guitar amp headphones 2024: 10 options for when the neighbors need a break
From studio stalwarts, to fully fledged amps you wear on your head, these are the best headphones for guitar amps, from Boss, Audio-Technica and more
How Anna Calvi threw out the guitar rulebook to write the Peaky Blinders score
The UK guitar great explains how she approached writing for a prestige TV show, and why she shares a Telecaster obsession with her hero Jeff Buckley
How Raphael Saadiq moved to guitar and earned his new limited-edition Tele
The Grammy-winning producer has worked with the biggest names in music. He explains why the Telecaster has appeared on every album he’s ever worked on – and shares what he learned from Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Barry Gibb and countless others
12 blues guitar albums that chart the genre – and the instrument’s – evolution
From Son House to Eric Gales, John Lee Hooker to Albert Collins, these classics highlight how blues guitar has changed over the years – its stories, tones and techniques all passed down and reinvented
“This disease won’t beat me and I will continue writing and playing for as long as I can”: Glenn Tipton explains how Richie Faulkner and a ‘no surrender’ mindset has helped him adapt his Judas Priest role
Tipton stepped back from official touring duties in 2018, but continues to write and record alongside Faulkner as a crucial member of Judas Priest
“Playing at the Super Bowl is the easy part. It’s the musical director responsibilities leading up that’s stressful”: Adam Blackstone heads up the biggest gigs on the planet – now with a 5-string Jackson bass named after his grandmother
The Emmy and Grammy winner has led the musical charge for everyone from Rihanna to Eminem and Justin Timberlake. He explains why he went for Jackson over Fender for his signature bass, what makes five strings essential to his style, and how he leads the band while laying down the groove
“I could have headed towards blues or shred. I chose blues… Fast-forward to 2020, I decided to become a 12 year-old learning guitar again – I went the other way and got an Ibanez with a Floyd Rose!” Gary Clark Jr. is finally unleashing his inner shredder
On his powerful and experimental new album, Gary Clark Jr. is channeling the pioneering spirit of the greats and finding new shades of blue
“I have Marshall, Orange and Victory amps, but they just don’t have the bark I need for this project. The 5150 is what metal sounds like to me”: Meet Jaguar Throne, the UK metal big beasts following in the hoofprints of Mastodon
Steve Sears builds a bestial, musically adventurous sound with dark prog vibes, monster riffs and some serious production savvy
