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

Wolfgang Van Halen explains the technique quirk he inherited from Eddie Van Halen
By Matt Owen published
It's all over his most recent single, Take a Bow, but Wolfgang's approach to tapping is unlike many others – and he has his father to thank for that

“There were just ideas pouring out of him… then he got on that helicopter and took off”: The legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and what could have been
By Amit Sharma published
How SRV followed Texas Flood, wrestled blues guitar from the club to MTV and became the guitar hero everyone wanted to copy – all before passing too soon

This unassuming guitar teacher’s epic America’s Got Talent audition went viral. Here’s how he landed – and nailed – the gig of a lifetime
By Amit Sharma published
John Wines, aka Old Grey Guitarist, has over 1m followers on TikTok and blew audiences away with his Brian May and Eddie Van Halen-channeling audition. He tells us how he put together the perfect rock-guitar showcase, and the secret to bossing the electric guitar’s greatest solos on social media

“With those thicker strings he used, it was like he was in a battle, fighting them with his fingers”: How Stevie Ray Vaughan made Texas Flood
By Amit Sharma published
Texas Flood is a touchstone of blues guitar and Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton witnessed the magic first hand. He looks back on how SRV's Popeye strength and god-like tone made for a classic

His playing took Eric Clapton’s breath away and David Bowie called him the most exciting guitarist since Jeff Beck: how Stevie Ray Vaughan became a blues guitar hero
By Amit Sharma published
Inside the rise of the Jimi Hendrix-worshipping Stratocaster master, who delivered some of the greatest solos and tones in guitar history

Best guitar amps under $1,000 in 2025: 9 top combo amps and heads
By Amit Sharma last updated
Looking for the best-sounding guitar amps under a grand? We’ve got you covered…

Nick Johnston names 10 guitarists who shaped his sound
By Amit Sharma published
The Schecter-toting virtuoso on the guitarist with the deepest “licktionary”, the song that forever changed his approach to music and discovering Eddie Van Halen via Animaniacs

Steve Lacy on how Jack White and Scott Pilgrim inspired his fuzz-equipped Strat, creating Fender’s first “pink sunburst” and why he loves affordable multi-FX pedals
By Amit Sharma published
The superstar guitarist/producer has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat, and topped the charts with “nerdy chords” – now he has a radical new signature Stratocaster, but as he reveals, the ideas that didn’t make the cut were even more off-the-wall

That time Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner jammed with Tool: “It was pretty daunting... let’s just say it wasn’t like jamming some AC/DC”
By Amit Sharma published
The Flying V titan locked guitars with Adam Jones on a live performance of Jambi, but “almost throw up because of how technical the song is”

Eric Gales on his jam with Stevie Ray Vaughan: “Right at the end I asked him to sign an autograph for me – and he said, ‘Only if you sign one for me first!’”
By Amit Sharma published
Eric Gales looks back on the time when he was just 15 years old, a young blues-rocker with talent to burn, and had the chance to jam with his hero

Robert Trujillo: “We have more riffs than we know what to do with. With every handful of riffs we get out of Kirk, there’s another 500 we didn’t hear”
By Amit Sharma published
Now a 20-year veteran as Metallica bassist, Trujillo details the secret weapons that locked in with James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett's guitar tones on 72 Seasons, and the key to getting extra grit from fingerstyle bass

George Lynch shows us what’s on his pedalboard
By Amit Sharma published
Make that pedalboards, as Mr Scary reveals his fly-in ’board and his more well-stocked, Jeff Beck-inspired offering – and reveals what pedal he can’t live without

Steel Panther’s Satchel: “I really like the sound of single-coil pickups. It makes me play differently and feel like I’m David Gilmour. Or Yngwie!”
By Amit Sharma published
Steel Panther’s resident shredder discusses everything from Paul Gilbert’s picking method to super-expensive Strats, and explains why he doesn’t use amps in the studio

Session guitar legend Michael Landau reveals what it takes to play with the biggest artists of all time and explains why “Strats are the ultimate couch guitar”
By Amit Sharma published
As Fender releases two signature Stratocasters for the session guitar hero, he reflects on recording with the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell – and what it’s like to play on a Pink Floyd track in front of David Gilmour

How a Slash superfan ended up trading guitars with his hero… three times: “I was wondering if it was real life or if I’d died”
By Amit Sharma published
Guitar collector Todd Puma shares the surprising story of how he came to own a trio of the Guns N’ Roses legend’s personal Les Pauls – and why he bought two of Gibson’s ultra-limited Murphy Lab Greeny models

Ally Venable on Les Pauls: “They’re not just one-trick ponies – if you experiment with the controls, you can get a lot of different tones out of them”
By Amit Sharma published
The Texan blues hot-shot talks Gibson's famous single-cut, the Wounded Warrior she calls her own and that time Billy Gibbons told her she was playing Sunshine of Your Love wrong

Michael Landau recalls recording guitar in front of David Gilmour: “Playing for Pink Floyd was one of the most bizarre things ever”
By Matt Owen published
The session heavyweight was once brought onboard to record a lead line that Gilmour “didn’t want to do”

Crown Lands’ doubleneck devotee Kevin Comeau on his fearless guitar/bass multitasking, recording with Alex Lifeson’s acoustic and why Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream is a tonal benchmark
By Amit Sharma published
Comeau unpacks his multi-instrumentalist approach on the Rush disciples’ impossibly expansive sound, and explains just exactly where he got that super-cool doubleneck

Gabriel Akhmad Marin: “I don’t play many chords. I’m more of a melodic single-note player, and the fretless guitar is a great instrument for that”
By Amit Sharma published
Meet Consider the Source’s fusion wizard, who’s channeling the sounds of Eastern Europe and Asia through his fretless guitar and a trio of pedalboards

Kirk Hammett explains why he uses wah so much: "I can't think of anybody who uses the wah pedal as much as I do – I'm not ashamed of it"
By Jackson Maxwell published
The Metallica guitarist addresses criticism of his frequent use of the effect and explains what it unlocks in his playing

Al Di Meola on Gibson Les Pauls: “My 1971 Custom is obscenely heavy and growls like nothing else”
By Amit Sharma published
The maestro of jazz-rock discusses his relationship with the iconic Gibson single-cut, and the man who designed it

Satchel used a plugin rather than a real amp for most of his solos on the new Steel Panther record: “I don't think people can tell the difference”
By Matt Parker published
The glam metal player thinks that guitarists’ obsession with gear is dangerous: “If you keep f***ing around, you won’t write a song”

Jared James Nichols: “I was playing a lot of Strats and Telecasters. And then I tried a Les Paul Standard. The first thing I thought was, ‘Holy f**k, this feels like a Cadillac!’”
By Amit Sharma published
When it comes time to unleash a vulgar display of Blues Power, it’s all about expression – JJN explains why the Les Paul is “the best tool for the job”

U2’s Adam Clayton: “The bass has to either be sexy or aggressive, or it shouldn’t be there as far as I’m concerned”
By Amit Sharma published
The bassist for one of biggest rock bands of all time on cramming a stadium-ready rig into Fender’s first-ever signature bass amp, what prompted him to play an Ibanez on one of the group’s most iconic songs, and why he’s only just started exploring five-strings four decades into his career

Slash on his love of Les Pauls: “That Kris Derrig Les Paul came in the 11th hour when we were doing Appetite. It just sounded f**kin’ perfect – like a gift from on high”
By Amit Sharma published
The Guns N' Roses guitarist and rock icon talks about the guitars he treasures most – including buying and returning Joe Perry's Dark Burst LP – and reveals how his love for Les Pauls has inspired and shaped him as a player...
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