Jackson Maxwell

Jackson Maxwell

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.

Articles by: Jackson Maxwell

Aaron Marshall, and the Guitar World Essential Guitar Tracks logo

Wolfgang Van Halen’s favorite guitarist tears it up while death metal has never sounded more alive: this week’s essential guitar tracks

By Michael Astley-Brown published

Round out the week with our curated list of unmissable songs from Intervals, Alluvial, Sophie Lloyd, Santana, Kvelertak, Sleater-Kinney and more

(from left) Phoebe Bridgers, Ariel Posen, Taylor Swift and Jeff Tweedy

How rubber bridge guitars became the hottest trend for the next generation of players: 10 songs that tell the story of its unstoppable rise

By Jackson Maxwell published

From its beginnings on tracks by alt-rockers like Phoebe Bridgers and Blake Mills, this fascinating mod made its way onto chart-topping albums by the likes of Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo

(from left) Snowy White, Michael Landau, Lee Ritenour and Tim Renwick perform onstage

The guitarists who recorded with Pink Floyd (whose names aren't David Gilmour, Syd Barrett or Roger Waters)

By Jackson Maxwell published

A number of session kings – and a one-time member of Thin Lizzy – all made six-string contributions to the band's catalog

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken performs onstage during the launch of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative at the U.S. Department of State on September 27, 2023

“If this doesn't clear the house...” Watch U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cover Muddy Waters on his Fender Strat – at a state dinner

By Jackson Maxwell published

Now that's how you incorporate your artistic passion into your day job...

Juho Ranta-Maunus playing guitar in the music video for The Drift

A Young Guitarist of the Year returns and Toto’s Africa meets extreme metal: This week’s essential guitar tracks

By Matt Owen published

Fresh new tunes you need to check out this week, from Juho Ranta-Maunus and Marnie Stern to U2 and Bernie Marsden

Bernie Marsden poses with a Gibson Les Paul

“Knowing Bernie's eagerness to get the album out there, we want to follow his wishes and release it as planned”: Posthumous Bernie Marsden album set for release in November

By Jackson Maxwell published

The late Whitesnake alum was able to finish recording the album, and oversee and approve its sequencing, mastering, and artwork, before his death in late August

Carlos Santana (left) and Eric Clapton perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on September 24, 2023

“The doctor's in the house”: Watch Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton tip their caps to Peter Green with searing Black Magic Woman at the 2023 Crossroads Festival

By Jackson Maxwell published

Guitar legends who had passed on since the last Crossroads gathering in 2019 were on the minds of audience members and performers alike at this year's festival

Billy Gibbons performs onstage with ZZ Top at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee on October 23, 1973

“It was considered a no-no to chain two Fuzz-Tones together. But I saw Hendrix chain five of them!” Billy Gibbons remembers opening for Jimi Hendrix with his pre-ZZ Top band the Moving Sidewalks

By Jackson Maxwell published

Before the long beards, sold-out arenas, spinning fur guitars and MTV stardom, Billy Gibbons cut his teeth in a psychedelic group called the Moving Sidewalks, who opened for – among other A-tier rock acts – one James Marshall Hendrix...

Yasmin Williams playing acoustic guitar, with the Guitar World Essential Guitar Tracks logo overlayed

’90s alt-rock giants unite and blink-182 make a surprisingly heavy return: this week’s essential guitar tracks

By Matt Owen, Michael Astley-Brown, Matt Parker, Jackson Maxwell published

Tasty new guitar tracks that need to be on your radar from Johnny Marr, Yasmin Williams, Art of Anarchy, The Vaccines, Bleachers, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Chelsea Wolfe and more

Poison Noises' new Not for Josh pedal (left), Josh Scott

"Not for Josh": JHS's Josh Scott is banned from owning this new fuzz/overdrive pedal

By Jackson Maxwell published

Poison Noises has banned the popular YouTuber and pedal fanatic from owning its new four-knob creation, and he's responding to the trolling in (mostly) good humor

Manual Gardner Fernandes of Unprocessed playing guitar in the Thrash music video

“A moment for modern guitar playing” that reaches new technical heights and Spinal Tap’s antidote to the Barbie hype: this week’s essential guitar tracks

By Matt Owen published

Hot new cuts courtesy of Unprocessed, Derek Smalls, Meet Me @ The Altar, Wargasm, While She Sleeps, Erja Lyytinen, Wilco, Big Thief and more

Steve Hunter (left) and Lou Reed perform at Marni in Brussels, Belgium in November 1973

“I still remember writing the intro to Sweet Jane sitting on a couch in my living room”: How a session guitar legend resurrected Lou Reed’s career with hard-rock lead heroics – and help from Blood, Sweat & Tears’ Steve Katz

By Jackson Maxwell published

He was the ghost player on Aerosmith's Train Kept a Rollin’, and defined many a classic Alice Cooper album with his stinging, melodic leads, but Lou Reed's ferocious Rock ’n’ Roll Animal live album may just be Steve Hunter’s finest hour – and contains one of the most underrated twin-guitar solos of the ’70s

Gabriel Bergman (left) and Mason Marangella explore Eric Johnson's custom Dumble rig

“All of the Eric Johnson signature sounds are inside this preamp and power amp”: Vertex Effects played Eric Johnson’s $400,000 Dumble rig – here’s what it sounds like

By Jackson Maxwell published

The “rarest of rare” in the Dumble line, this custom-made Manzamp preamp and Odyssey power amp are said to be among the legendary amp builder’s “weirdest and most unobtainable” builds

Victoria De Angelis and Thomas Raggi of Måneskin perform at San Siro Stadium on July 24, 2023 in Milan, Italy.

Remarkable returns from the Rolling Stones and Måneskin, plus a Tool bassist’s sonic experiments: this week’s essential guitar tracks

By Jackson Maxwell published

Besides stadium and arena mainstays, we’ve got fresh cuts from The Gaslight Anthem, Dead Poet Society, Shylmagoghnar and an eclectic Justin Chancellor side-project

(from left) Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney perform onstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 12, 2012

“You know, I've never played slide before, but it just started doing things on its own – I didn’t even have to try”: That time Paul McCartney channeled his inner bluesman – with the help of Nirvana, and a wild 4-string cigar box guitar

By Jackson Maxwell published

Matty Baratto's guitars have been played by Slash, Keith Richards, Zakk Wylde, Prince, Josh Homme, Joe Perry, and countless others. Seeing the Beatle use one of his four-string creations live with Nirvana, though, was a truly "surreal" moment for the luthier

Marnie Stern of the 8G Band performs on July 23, 2015

Pantera-inspired groove-metal throwdowns and the return of one of the 21st century’s foremost tapping talents: this week’s essential guitar tracks

By Michael Astley-Brown published

New releases you can’t afford to miss from Marnie Stern, Jason Hook, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Lynch, Ty Segall, Blackberry Smoke and so… much… more!

Jackson's Andreas Kisser Pro Series Signature Soloist Quadra model

"Finally!" Jackson cements its relationship with Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser with a single-pickup, skull-emblazoned Soloist

By Jackson Maxwell published

After three decades, the thrash metal guitar icon finally has a signature Jackson – and it certainly stands out from the Soloist pack

Two of Gibson's 2023 Custom Color Series Les Paul guitars

“Make a bold statement”: Gibson gives the Les Paul Standard a 2023 makeover with vibrant finishes that are anything but sunburst

By Jackson Maxwell published

The firm's US-made Les Paul Standard 50s and Les Paul Standard 60s models can now be purchased with plain or figured tops – with six arresting finishes for each option

Dean Parks (left) plays guitar while Mason Marangella looks on

“We all loved Larry Carlton’s guitar, it was just magic… We were all looking for guitars with chunky necks, to try and get the sustain that he had”: Session legend Dean Parks reveals the secrets of his most iconic Steely Dan and Eric Clapton guitar parts

By Jackson Maxwell published

You can hear Parks on Josie, Haitian Divorce, Change the World, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number and innumerable other songs – here, the guitarist unpacks the gear and recording sessions that forged them

Bernie Marsden plays his legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul, The Beast

“As I came off the stage I said, ‘How much do you want for it?' He wanted the princely sum of 600 pounds”: Bernie Marsden plays the blues on “The Beast,” his legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, and reveals its origin story

By Jackson Maxwell published

Gary Moore was in awe of its tone, and Jeff Beck played Scatterbrain on it... Here, the late blues-rock guitar titan tells the story of the most famous six-string in his collection

Emily Wolfe performs onstage at the Haute Spot in Cedar Park, Texas on June 26, 2021

Gossamer tremolo picking and the stuff of Phrygian nightmares: This week's essential guitar tracks

By Matt Owen published

Unmissable new songs from Fiddlehead, HotWax, Guns N’ Roses, Emily Wolfe, Born of Osiris, Babymetal ft. Tom Morello, CLT DRP, and more

James Burton

“An absolute groundbreaker as a player”: His Telecaster mastery was the backbone of records by Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, and countless others – watch James Burton demonstrate his incredible chicken pickin’ technique

By Jackson Maxwell published

Beloved by Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Brian May, and innumerable other rock guitar giants, Burton's skill and list of stage and studio credits are mind-boggling

YouTuber Bernth plays a neckless Ibanez guitar

“I never thought I could actually play a solo on this thing”: YouTuber creates a ‘neckless’ guitar – and even manages to record a song with it

By Jackson Maxwell published

Djenty-crunch, "extreme vibrato," whammy-like bends... Bernth Brodträger gets a surprising amount of range from his crazy Ibanez in this original composition

The Joy Formidable's Rhydian Dafydd (left) and Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan perform at The Fillmore Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina on October 19, 2022

Palm-muted gut-punches and Strandberg shred that sounds like Plini meets Mario Kart: This week’s essential guitar tracks

By Michael Astley-Brown published

Fresh, guitar-driven cuts from Bleed From Within, The Joy Formidable, Ottto, Angra, James Bay, Eliza McLamb, and loads more

Stanley Jordan performs onstage, with two guitars

Steve Hackett called him “probably the most proficient tapper out there”: Watch underrated tapping genius Stanley Jordan apply his masterful technique to Stairway to Heaven – on two guitars at once

By Jackson Maxwell published

The visionary virtuoso put a jazzy and classical spin on a technique most often associated with hard-rock, and applied it to a bold reimagining of the Led Zeppelin classic

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