Articles by: David Mead

John Smith: ”The only way to cope with life is to write songs, for me. As soon as I picked up the pen, the songs started falling out”

By David Mead

Recorded at Real World studios last September, The Fray finds the acoustic ace exorcising personal turmoil in song – and leaning heavily into electric guitars

Lowden WL-25 & S-23 12-Frets review

By David Mead

It’s the age of the smaller-bodied acoustic – but being petite doesn’t mean you won’t stand out in a crowd, as these two new 12-fretters from the Lowden workshops set out to prove

Joanna Connor reveals her aversion to baseball-bat guitar necks and regret at trading in a ’64 Fender Twin

By David Mead

Bought & Sold: the blues guitar maven walks through her hits, misses and rules when buying gear

Taylor's acoustic guitar bracing options explained

By David Mead

Get to know your C-Class from your V-Class, and what this means for your acoustic guitar tone

Taylor GT 811e review

By David Mead

Taylor continues the rollout of its brand-new smaller-body Grand Theater acoustics with the latest C-Class bracing system onboard

How Taylor devised its new Grand Theater acoustic body shape

By David Mead

Taylor’s new acoustic outline is a bold step. We talk to designer-in-chief Andy Powers to get the full story behind it

Corey Congilio on growing out of his hair-metal B.C. Rich Warlock phase and his greatest gear finds

By David Mead

The Nashville blues dynamo and sessioneer mulls over gear loved and lost, and his mission to support small-’shop builders

Jakko Jakszyk on his greatest gear finds – including a Gibson ES-150D that piqued Robert Fripp's interest

By David Mead

The King Crimson guitarist walks through the guitars and amps he's loved and lost

Breedlove Premier Concertina CE review

By David Mead

A hand-built parlor-on-steroids from Breedlove’s Bend, Oregon, facility – and it’s full of surprises…

On the trail of the real Robert Johnson

By David Mead

Mythologized more than any other figure in modern music, A new book hopes to set the record straight about Johnson's life

The history of Gibson’s L-1 and L-00 acoustics, contemporaries of the legendary Robert Johnson

By David Mead

Acoustic guitars don't get much cooler than mid-1920s Gibson flat-tops

JD Simo on the best (and worst) guitars he's bought over the years

By David Mead

The psychedelic blues sensation shares his hard-won advice on how to buy a great guitar and avoid duds

Eddie Van Halen goes deep on his approach to tone, technique and guitar design in this classic 1993 Guitarist interview

By David Mead

EVH details the advent of Van Hagar, that time he took a belt sander to a 335, and why Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl is one of his favorite solos of all time

Sheeran By Lowden S03 & W02 review

By David Mead

Ed Sheeran and George Lowden combine forces to produce an affordable acoustic range that's small but perfectly formed

Steve Hackett: ”The wounds never healed from my dad’s guitar. He said, ‘You’ll get calluses’… but I just had fingers that were bleeding!”

By David Mead

The former Genesis guitarist on the story of his career, from the mouth organ to prog-rock trailblazer

Joe Bonamassa shares his greatest finds from a lifetime of buying and selling guitars

By David Mead

Here’s a guy who knows a thing or two about buying guitars – and it turns out he’s sold a few, too…

Gibson's Generation series comprises the G45 Standard [right] and slightly more affordable G45 Studio [left]

Gibson G-45 Standard and G-45 Studio review

By David Mead

The Gibson renaissance gathers pace with two brand-new mid-priced acoustics from its Bozeman, Montana factory…

What makes a great-sounding acoustic guitar?

By David Mead, Jamie Dickson, Dave Burrluck

Some of the world's finest acoustic builders discuss what goes into making a guitar sing

Walter Trout on his best guitar-buying tip, breaking a Les Paul in two, and why he'll always be a single-coil guy

By David Mead

Of all the gear the ex-Bluesbreaker has owned, it's the Gibson ES-335 that got away that he misses most

A guide to Martin acoustic guitar body sizes

By David Mead

Get to know the tonal differences between the iconic acoustic company's different body shapes

Geoff Tyson on the big gear questions, 20-kilo guitars and his Frankenstein “hodge-podge“ Strat

By David Mead

Satriani’s former student checks in to talk about the buying and selling of gear and that digital amp that sits by the door

Cort Gold-OC6 review

By David Mead

An all-solid OM acoustic that's Fishman-powered, feature-packed, with a price that won’t break your heart...

Bernie Marsden looks back on his final encounters with Peter Green

By David Mead

The Whitesnake and UFO guitarist shares his memories of his hero, friend and fellow rock legend

Larrivée C-03R-TE Custom review

By David Mead

A tribute to a Tommy Emmanuel studio favorite, the Larrivée C-03R-TE pairs understated good looks with captivating tone

Mike Landau: "Some people drive fancy cars - I went with a cheap Ford and bought a Dumble instead"

By David Mead

Bought and Sold: He’s played with artists like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Phil Collins, Miles Davis and Pink Floyd - but Mike Landau still mourns the ’61 Strat that got away...