Latest articles by Amit Sharma
Al Di Meola: “Les Paul would get on his knees to get an up-close look at my hands and say, 'Do that again – I don’t understand how you just played that!'”
The fusion virtuoso recalled the time Les Paul offered up some especially high praise for his playing style, saying the entire experience was “almost like a dream”
Wolfgang Van Halen: “You can feel the history emanating out of the Frankenstein. Picking up that guitar is almost a religious experience”
With a new album and a new signature EVH guitar, 2023 is shaping up to be another big year for Wolfgang Van Halen. He tells us what’s in store – and recalls the time he broke one of his dad’s guitars
Best pickups for metal: our guide to upgrading for high gain heaven
Looking for more firepower? Our round-up of the best pickups for metal guitarists has you covered…
Opeth and Ghost guitarist Fredrik Åkesson reveals what’s on his pedalboard
And he has Joe Bonamassa to thank for his favorite pedal
Sophie Burrell: “I don’t care too much about speed – I’d rather sound more like David Gilmour and play with feel”
One of the finest guitar players to emerge from the social media scene talks cranking up her EVH 5150 for new project Bxrrell – and why she can nail Cliffs of Dover but still struggles with Master of Puppets
Devin Townsend: “When you ask people about their favorite amp, the acceptable responses are always the cork-sniffin’ ones. If it’s an Axe-Fx, people go, ‘That’s sacrilege!’”
The Canadian prog-metal virtuoso discusses why he prefers digital amps to analog, the uncomfortable proportions of a Les Paul, and the magic of open C tuning
Björn Gelotte: “Gibson asked if I wanted to do a signature. I was flattered but most people who listen to our music won’t pay $4,000 for a guitar. I wanted something affordable“
The In Flames guitarist reveals the big metal production strategy behind new album Foregone, and tells us why touring with Chris Broderick is like having a personal guitar trainer on-call 24/7
Boss Dual Cube LX review
The eternally popular practice amp returns in a desktop-friendly format – and with more features than ever before
Wolfgang Van Halen plans to use a number of Eddie's "notable guitars" for his solos on the new Mammoth WVH album
Though much of the band's sophomore effort was recorded with his still in-development signature guitar, the EVH SA-126, Wolfgang plans on digging into his father's guitar vault for its leads
Bob Mould’s pedalboard: what the influential Hüsker Dü and Sugar guitarist sees when he looks down – and why a good compressor is so integral to his rig
Join the alt-rock icon as he offers a tour of the 'board that "covers the foundation" of his guitar tone
![[L-R] Zakk Wylde, Scott Ian and Gary Holt](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/82GXWxaFgTWfMssigR9xzC-840-80.jpg.webp)
Zakk Wylde, Scott Ian and Gary Holt on the furious riffs, high-octane gear and lifer philosophies that shaped their careers – and why everyone cheats with downpicking
Midway through their Anthrax and Black Label Society co-headlining tour with special guests Exodus, the metal legends share how they developed their distinctive tones and techniques, and why Tony Iommi is the “Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Lennon, McCartney and Burt Bacharach of riffs”
Why Madonna played Pantera’s A New Level on a Gibson Les Paul for an entire tour
How a Dimebag Darrell encounter and guitar lessons with the Queen of Pop led to one of the weirdest pop-metal mashups in live music history
Devin Townsend explains why "Les Pauls look s**t on me"
The prog-metal maestro also revealed why he prefers digital gear to analog in a new interview with Total Guitar
Jeff Beck's 10 greatest guitar solos
10 solos every guitarist needs to hear from one of the most influential players to ever pick up the instrument
Björn Gelotte explains why he turned down a Gibson signature Les Paul
The In Flames maestro was offered the chance to create a high-end Gibson signature guitar, but opted instead to go straight to the ranks of Epiphone
The 100 greatest guitarists of all time
A comprehensive rundown of the best guitarists of all time, featuring the trailblazers, the early innovators, the best jazz, rock, indie, blues, metal and acoustic players – and the top guitarists around today...
Paying tribute to Wilko Johnson 1947-2022: the hard-hitting rhythm king who shaped the sound of UK punk
An unlikely guitar hero, Johnson had a style like no other, and wielded his Tele like a machine gun – the punks and more were paying attention to his sound and stage presence
Willow on her quest to solo like St. Vincent, getting two-hand tapping lessons from Yvette Young and why her latest album is a love letter to rock music
Following her guitar-heavy creative reinvention, Willow traces her six-string journey so far, her love of heavy music “from Smashing Pumpkins to Lamb of God” and how she hopes to make “women and girls of color feel accepted” in the rock world through her music
Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson: “Getting the volume up has never been an issue for me!”
The drone metal Lord talks teaming up with vocalist Petra Haden and channeling Indian classical music on his latest solo outing, and why he's a “complete nerd” for fuzz and distortion pedals
Nickelback's Chad Kroeger reveals the 10 guitarists who shaped his sound – and they're heavier than you might expect
The Canadian rocker on the two guitarists he'd love to see face off in a downpicking contest, how a Dimebag Darrell solo ended up on a Nickelback song, and what it's like to play Angus Young's Gibson SG
A beginner’s guide to Polyphia: album by album
Let’s go headfirst into the kaleidoscopic fever dream of Tim Henson and Scott LePage’s imagination in search of lush arrangements, trap beats, and virtuosity as standard
Eddie Van Halen used to play this Nuno Bettencourt riff at “every single soundcheck”
The late guitar legend played the song so much that his guitar tech – then working with the Extreme guitarist – believed it to be a Van Halen riff that never got released
Dimebag Darrell’s guitar gear: everything you need to nail the game-changing Pantera guitarist’s sound
Trying to Reinvent The Steel? Or on the hunt for your own Vulgar Display Of Power? Well, here’s how to take your tones to A New Level…
Scott McKeon reveals what’s on his touring pedalboard and explains why the SM Fuzz is his MVP
GW checks in with the Tom Jones guitarist to talk pedals and ask, 'What's new, pussycat?'
Myles and Layne Ulrich on the epic signal-splitting rigs behind Taipei Houston's fuzz-heavy debut – and why their dad didn't give them any lessons growing up
The dedication to their craft may have been inspired by Metallica, but as the Ulrich brothers explain, Lars wanted them to pave their own way. And with the release of their scuzzy debut album, Once Bit Never Bored, the strategy sure paid off
