Latest articles by Matt Parker
NAMM 2024: “All the headroom you could ever desire” – EarthQuaker Devices’ Blumes brings chunked-up Plumes tones to the bass world, with the firm’s first ever bass overdrive pedal
With bipolar power and twice the gain, EQD’s first bass OD does not do things by halves – indeed, it doubles them, but keeps the same $99 price tag
The world’s most influential guitar gear designers: meet the pioneers behind the innovations that changed the electric guitar forever
It’s not just star guitarists who have changed the way we play – these are the innovators whose inventions forever altered the course of the guitar itself
“This is going to sound really f**king strange”: Joe Bonamassa says his go-to BOSS dirt pedal is the Metal Zone – here’s why the blues ace rates the metal monster
The blues rock kingpin and gear obsessive places his faith in this heavy classic
“We determined, ‘Boy, with that checked finish, the acoustic guitar – which is a box that vibrates – really rings’”: Gibson's Tom Murphy on how Murphy Lab acoustics are taking aged guitars into new sonic territory
Gibson’s master artisan Tom Murphy has reinvented the process of guitar aging. Now he’s turned his eye and – perhaps, more importantly – his ear, to the firm’s acoustic line
“Joe Bonamassa texted me and said, ‘I know you love that black Les Paul. It’s at Carter Vintage right now. Call them ASAP!’”: Kirk Hammett says he only got his ultra-rare Factory Black ’59 Les Paul thanks to the help of his collector friend
The Metallica guitarist also reveals he had “30 guitars stolen” in a previous attempt to buy the unicorn electric guitar
Alien rhythms, god-level chops and samurai guitar duels: these are the best guitar albums of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers reflect on the finest fretwork captured on record this year
“At its best, the solo can tell a story, give us a sense of spectacle, and even offer a window into a player’s soul”: These are the best guitar solos of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers choose the outstanding lead efforts of the year – including “this decades's Eruption”
“Essentially a souped-up Guitar Hero for adults”: A New Zealand brewery has invented a beer vending machine that lets you pay with your guitar skills
Panhead Custom Ales’ Slay to Pay machine is the first of its kind and rewards shred with beer
“A rhythmic motif so simple that even the most basic living organisms on this great planet can get down to it”: These are the best guitar riffs of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers name the finest riffs of the year – a list that unites the worlds of metal, rock, indie and more…
“I'd move mountains for your sweet embrace”: A scammer is attempting to woo Joanne Shaw Taylor using a fake Joe Bonamassa profile – and it’s not going very well
Catfish blues warning! Do not give your bank details to people posing online as renowned guitarists
Devastating displays of double-neck tapping and Joe Bonamassa’s Christmas single: here are this week’s essential guitar tracks
Catch up with the best guitar tracks from the past 7 days with fresh cuts from Joe Bonamassa, Joanne Shaw Taylor, J Mascis, Felix Martin and more
“Some of the most-heard guitars in the history of popular music”: Gibson’s latest Certified Vintage drop raids the vault to offer some of the cleanest vintage Epiphones you’ll ever see
The vintage haul celebrates Epiphone’s 150th Anniversary with a host of rare, all-original finds – several of which come from Gibson’s own archive
“In keeping with Billy’s directive to ‘retain the gain or feel the pain’”: Billy Gibbons has helped Magnatone develop the Baby M-80 – its smallest and lightest tube amp yet
The ZZ Top legend’s feedback helped shape the gain structure of the “unbelievably versatile” new compact head and combo
The world’s biggest amp brands are not who you think they are: these are Reverb’s best-selling guitar amps of 2023
The used and new retailer's shared its top-selling amps this year – and it asks some serious questions of legacy names
“A traveling museum of rock music”: The Jim Irsay Band is playing a free show in LA next month featuring Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Kenny Wayne Shepherd – and some of the world’s most valuable guitars
The owner of the world’s most famous guitar collection is hosting a star-studded concert on the west coast – and tickets cost nothing
“Guitarists appear to be caught in a paradox”: A new study by UK academics says the modern-day guitar virtuoso is torn between perfection and authenticity – and must be a cultural entrepreneur
Rock Guitar Virtuosos: Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology, and Culture is available for free download and is essential reading for guitar scholars
There’s no beating the Boss: Reverb reveals its best-selling guitar pedals of 2023
From an orange classic to Josh Scott’s fake-it-til-they-make-it hit, here are the stompboxes that shifted over the last year
“Blending themes of pop culture with techniques of the old masters”: Epiphone quite literally tops off the Adam Jones Les Paul Custom Art Collection with Mark Ryden’s Queen Bee – the only guitar in the series to use front-facing artwork
The Tool guitarist’s limited edition series has created a buzz – and we’re sad to see it go
“Big Cliffs Of Dover vibes”: Sophie Lloyd’s shred version of The Office theme takes the classic intro song into Eric Johnson territory – and we’re blown away by it
The British guitarist manipulates the TV classic into a complex guitar instrumental, laced with soaring highs and lighting fast shred licks
“Ran into an old friend”: Wolfgang Van Halen and Michael Anthony meet up for the first time in 20 years
The two Van Halen bassists reunited at Mammoth WVH’s recent show in Las Vegas
3 Les Pauls, 2 vocalists and 1 broken string: Slash, Billy Gibbons and Warren Haynes trade solos in a star-studded reprisal of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man at Haynes' Christmas Jam
The storming live take features three solos from three Gibson Les Paul players – and they all sound completely different
Three “God-like guitarists” join forces and stadium-conquering rockers channel their inner spy: This week's essential guitar tracks
Must-listen-to tunes from Guns N' Roses, Architects, IDLES, The Libertines, Devon Ross, Ryujin and many more
“I loved Hendrix – he was my first guitar hero... But seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan was transcendent. He made me understand Hendrix better”: Mike McCready says SRV helped him make sense of this Hendrix technique
“When he [Vaughan] did Voodoo Child, it was so bad-ass," McCready says. “He changed how I wanted to play, and if you listen to Even Flow, you can hear me trying to emulate his stuff”
“A revolving collective of Gibson artists”: Guitar brand becomes a guitar band, as the Gibson Band debuts its first single, featuring CEO Cesar Gueikian, Serj Tankian, and a solo from Tony Iommi
The original new song, Deconstruction, is being released as part a new fundraising initiative, accompanied by Tankian’s original artwork and what else? A Les Paul with a custom finish
Just days after launching his own amp brand with Mojotone, Alex Lifeson gets his teeth into the pedal market with his first stompbox – the LERXST By-Tor
The second announcement from the Rush guitarist and his collaborators at Mojotone aims to offer the Marshall-like tube tone of his $2.5k head in a $300 pedal
