
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.
Latest articles by Jackson Maxwell

Tributes pour in for Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes
By Jackson Maxwell published
The hard rock guitar great passed away earlier this week after a battle with cancer

John Sykes, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist, dies at 65
By Jackson Maxwell published
The hard rock guitar legend had been suffering from cancer

Zakk Wylde on Ozzy Osbourne's guitar pet peeves
By Jackson Maxwell published
Though not a guitarist himself, the Prince of Darkness had some very specific pet peeves that he related to Wylde when the guitarist was a newly-hired young gun

Watch Al Di Meola play Race with Devil on Spanish Highway with Steve Vai
By Jackson Maxwell published
This intimate rehearsal clip shows the fretwork of both guitar legends up-close

Kepma disrupts the budget acoustic game with torrefied solid-topped models starting at $249
By Jackson Maxwell published
The $300 variations of the company's Fenix series of Grand Auditorium acoustics also come fitted with a busker-friendly pickup, preamp, and effects system

Watch a rare 1965 video of Jimi Hendrix backing an obscure soul duo on TV
By Damian Fanelli published
This vintage clip from the TV show Night Train is a rare video of the guitar legend's days as a sideman

Jennifer Batten, Samantha Fish, Lindsey Stirling, and more to feature at 2025 She Rocks Awards
By Jackson Maxwell published
Set to take place at the Hilton Anaheim Pacific Ballroom next Saturday, January 25, the annual event celebrates the achievements of women in music and audio

Ritchie Blackmore recalls the first time he saw two-hand tapping – at a wild show in 1968
By Jackson Maxwell published
Years before Eddie Van Halen put it in the early pages of the guitar textbook, Harvey Mandel was highlighting his performances with flourishes of two-hand tapping – grabbing the attention of onlookers in the process…

Peter Yarrow, guitarist, singer for Peter, Paul & Mary, and co-writer of Puff the Magic Dragon, dies at 86
By Jackson Maxwell published
A folk icon and dedicated political activist, Yarrow helped bring the songs of Bob Dylan to the wider public, but his career was later tainted by his conviction on child sex abuse charges

Jeff Beck took the Yardbirds in a new direction, but the constant Eric Clapton comparisons took years to shake
By Jackson Maxwell published
In the first stages of his career, Beck's relationship with Clapton was just as much (if not more) defined by Clapton's already-legendary reputation than it was by the man himself

James Hetfield explains the controversial mixing of Metallica’s …And Justice for All
By Jackson Maxwell published
The band's first album with Newsted, ...And Justice for All was marked by the band's increasingly progressive and technically intricate bent – and barely audible bass parts

Remembering the guitarists we lost in 2024
By Jackson Maxwell published
This year, we've sadly had to say goodbye to many guitar greats from across the world of music. Here, we recognize some of those guitarists, and their contributions to the instrument

The best guitar albums of 2024
By Jonathan Horsley published
The guitar albums that had the biggest impact in the guitar world and beyond, as chosen by GW editors and pro players

The best guitar songs of 2024 – as chosen by Guitar World editors and pro players
By Jonathan Horsley published
With the help of pals including Eric Gales and Vernon Reid, we run down the songs that lit up the guitar-o-sphere this year, including a remarkable hardcore breakthrough, a virtuoso collab for the ages and the prodigy that everyone’s talking about

Eddie Van Halen on the time Billy Corgan played through his rig – and why his setup shocked the Smashing Pumpkins frontman
By Jackson Maxwell published
Finding EVH's rig almost impossible to wrangle, Corgan figured, mistakenly, that there was something he could quickly disable to tame it

How the producers of the Timothée Chalamet-starring Bob Dylan biopic nailed Dylan's unique tone – with a particular tweak
By Jackson Maxwell published
In partnership with the film's producers, Gibson gave Chalamet a collection of pristine, handcrafted guitars – but the movie's head music director needed, for accuracy's sake, to dim their natural sonic richness

Guns N’ Roses are hitting the road in 2025 – and they’re bringing punk and hip-hop legends with them
By Jackson Maxwell published
Having last played live in 2023, Guns N’ Roses will play stadiums around the world – incorporating a number of countries the band have never played in before

Bill Wyman reunited with the Rolling Stones on their Hackney Diamonds album, but didn't like the track he played on
By Jackson Maxwell published
Intriguingly, Wyman added that he also contributed to a second song that has yet to see the light of day

Body Count rip through their Comfortably Numb reimagining on the Tonight Show, as Ernie C does his best David Gilmour
By Jackson Maxwell published
In an interview with host Jimmy Fallon, Ice-T recalled getting the approval (and assist) for the modern-minded reworking from Gilmour – while also getting the go-ahead from Roger Waters

Before the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman needed a good bass guitar – so he built a proto-fretless model
By Jackson Maxwell published
It's a tale as old as time: three guitarists, a need for a bass player, and no one wants the job. Eventually, Wyman took it on, and built himself a proto-fretless model in the process

Scott Gorham's disastrous Thin Lizzy audition inspired a key tweak he makes to all of his Les Pauls
By Jackson Maxwell published
Gorham wasn't unprepared for his tryout with the future rock legends – he just had a guitar that almost seemed to have a vendetta against him

Sweetwater Cyber Monday deals 2024: last chance to save at Sweetwater
By Chris Barnes last updated
Cyber Monday is over but you'll need to move quickly if you want to seal these deals

Guitar Center Cyber Monday deals 2024: last chance to save
By Daryl Robertson last updated
Cyber Monday has officially ended, giving you your final call for guitar gear discounts
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