Henry Yates

“He had these tiny little picks and his strings were like baby hair but, when he plays, it sounds like the strings are made of bull rope. It was thunderous”: Richard Hawley remembers playing with Duane Eddy

By Henry Yates published 7 August 24

Hawley collaborated with Eddy on the late rock 'n' roll pioneer's 2011 album, Road Trip, and it was a musical education like no other

“You hear two notes and you know who it is. What a unique thing he created. Without singing a note in his entire life – what a voice”: The life, times and twangin’ tones of rock ’n’ roll pioneer Duane Eddy

By Henry Yates published 30 July 24

The good-humoured architect of twang died on 30 April, but his legacy is a guitar tone for the ages, forever evoking greasers, flick knives and hot-rods

“I had no idea who Thin Lizzy was. I’d never seen a picture of these guys, never heard their music. But I was told they’d had a hit with Whiskey in the Jar…’” Scott Gorham on his Thin Lizzy audition – and the moment The Boys Are Back in Town “exploded”

By Henry Yates published 19 July 24

Brian Robertson might have given Gorham the coldest of welcomes at his audition but the pair soon formed one of rock's most iconic guitar partnerships. Here, Gorham looks back on their chemistry and the Les Pauls behind his Lizzy sound

“When I was very young I didn’t have access to Western music. In 2016, I was first introduced to Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix”: Mdou Moctar is one of Africa’s premier guitar heroes – and he’s using his Stratocaster to spark a revolution

By Henry Yates published 28 May 24

As the Niger guitarist releases a bristling new collection of protest songs, he explains how injustice puts the fire in his fingers, what keeps him loyal to the Strat, and why everybody in his hometown wants to play guitar

“It was Clarkin alone who fed the band, writing the entirety of Magnum’s catalog and admitting in 2002 that he thought of little else”: Remembering Tony Clarkin, the driving force behind a British rock institution

By Henry Yates published 4 April 24

The Magnum guitarist died following diagnosis with a rare spinal condition, leaving behind a staggering body of work and huge affection amongst fans and industry peers

“We’re trying to avoid sounding like a conventional guitar band… Our goal has always been to expand what guitars can do”: Idles’ radical guitar duo dissect their “violent, dark tones” and explain why modeling is “wack”

By Henry Yates published 2 April 24

Savage, socially charged and allergic to cliché, Idles are less categorisable than ever on fifth album, Tangk, and its dynamic guitar partnership Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan are holding nothing back

“I was gonna have a year off after Knebworth, but when John rang up saying, ‘Look, I’ve got these tunes,’ I thought, ‘I’m in, mate’”: Liam Gallagher on why John Squire is like Hendrix and the best guitarist of his generation

By Henry Yates published 13 March 24

The former Oasis frontman talks Gallagher/Squire and pays tribute to the Stone Roses guitar legend in an interview that is 100 percent gold

“Jimmy Page once said to me, ‘Have Gibson not been onto you?’ And I said, ‘No, maybe I play too many Strats.’ I think it’s more likely they don’t know who I am”: John Squire opens up on his return to music with Liam Gallagher – and why he’s no guitar hero

By Henry Yates published 5 March 24

The reclusive guitar great invites us to his studio to talk classic riffs, career-ending injuries, what caused the Stone Roses reunion to fizzle out, and why music keeps pulling him back in

“Geordie was a true inventor of a massive sound that has influenced so damn many of us”: Remembering Geordie Walker, the sonic maverick whose playing could brutalise and beguile

By Henry Yates published 30 January 24

Guitarist remembers the Killing Joke guitarist, who died on November 26 2023

“So much music has been inspired by the sound of these little boxes. When BOSS released a new pedal, you simply had to try it out”: How BOSS pedals shaped guitar culture

By Henry Yates published 31 December 23

Inspiring artists and gear designers alike, BOSS gear has shaped much of the last half-century of music. Here, we consider the company’s impact on guitar culture

How BOSS became one of the world's biggest guitar amp companies in under a decade

By Henry Yates published 28 December 23

BOSS’s status as an effects heavyweight is set in stone – but lesser-known is how the visionary company reached the summit of the amp sector in under a decade

“There’s no player of my generation who doesn’t remember when they first heard that almost one-second delayed repeat. It was truly epic”: How BOSS's trailblazing delay pedals changed the world

By Henry Yates published 23 December 23

History repeating: BOSS’s delay pedals changed everything – now the modern range salutes the Japanese firm’s storied past while forging ahead with bold new creations

“Before BOSS, there just wasn’t a wide enough selection of pedals. They kicked it into high gear, eclipsed everything else…” How BOSS changed the soundscape of modern music in five decades

By Henry Yates published 16 December 23

The inside story of how BOSS revolutionized effects. The milestones that led the Japanese firm to the cutting edge of the modern music scene

Are BOSS's 50th Anniversary versions of the DS-1, SD-1 and BD-2 the ultimate collector’s editions?

By Henry Yates published 12 December 23

Limited to a production run of just 7,000 units each – and featuring one-off finishes – here’s why BOSS’s 50th Anniversary DS-1, SD-1 and BD-2 are the holy trinity…

“My Foo Fighters setup is the kind of beast you have when somebody carries your s**t around for you!” Chris Shiflett on his double-life as a jobbing solo artist and lead guitarist in the world’s biggest rock band

By Henry Yates published 26 October 23

The Foo Fighters stalwart tells us about the “blasphemy” of his new backline, holding his breath when he solos and why the kind of guitar playing he loved “became pretty much illegal”

“When I played Here I Go Again to Jon Lord he had a certain look in his eye. He said, ‘You’re a clever little sod, aren’t you?’”: Remembering Bernie Marsden, 1951-2023

By Henry Yates published 18 October 23

The Whitesnake co-founder and lifelong bluesman left us on  24 August. Guitarist remembers an all-time-great player, writer, collaborator, collector, mentor and friend

Steve Vai called him “the evolution of the guitar” while Al Di Meola said his playing was “light years ahead”. We meet Matteo Mancuso, the young guitarist redefining virtuosity

By Henry Yates published 15 September 23

The Sicilian virtuoso is at the forefront of technical guitar playing, but as he explains, “I’m not a shredder and I’m not a jazz player – I listen to a lot of different stuff and I wanted it all in my music… You need to be open-minded”

“It’s really taken off – Rabea Massaad has introduced players to a new way of delivering tone from a Strat”: How Bare Knuckle redefined the sound of the Stratocaster with its radical new Triptych single coils

By Henry Yates published 4 September 23

How the tones of Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer and Philip Sayce informed a signature set of single-coil pickups for one of guitar's most progressive players

“It needs a tune – but we’ll do that free of charge!” Meet the Gibson Firebird that Jimmy Page lost in a drinking game with John Bonham

By Jamie Dickson published 28 August 23

This heavily modified Non-Reverse Gibson Firebird III is a lost Led Zeppelin guitar with a fascinating history – we get the story behind the Page-owned beauty and the buoyant market for Gibson’s under-appreciated cult hero