Latest articles by Michael Astley-Brown
Mike McCready opens up on his new rock opera, the Seattle jams that changed him, and the future of Pearl Jam
Farewell to Seasons documents McCready’s path through the Seattle grunge explosion of the ’90s. He reflects on the singers he’s loved and lost, the guitarists who left the biggest mark on his playing and why going digital has made him a better player
March 2026 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
Collaborative instrumental greatness from six-string aces new and old (SatchVai), bossa nova guitar bliss, sublime slide work, swashbuckling 12-bar blues... we've had it all this month
Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready explains why switching to digital modeling improved his guitar playing
For the Seattle greats’ most recent tour, McCready was running a digital rig with FRFR cabs. And he says it has sharpened his skills
Best chorus pedals 2026: My pick of choices for your 'board at every price point
From analog to digital, and shimmery to subtle, let me show you the top chorus pedals you can buy today from the likes of Boss, Ibanez, MXR and Walrus Audio
Mike McCready followed Duff McKagan to LA to make it big – but he nearly missed his shot in Seattle
Before Pearl Jam, the lead guitarist sought to make a success of his teenage hard-rock outfit, Shadow
Misha Mansoor has a ton of amps. But one new design has blown him away
The Periphery tonesmith uses digital and analog gear in the studio, and one tube head in particular has knocked his socks off
This new 75th Anniversary Telecaster features a genuine Fender first – and it could change the face of Teles to come
The Fastlane humbucker is Fender’s first-ever in-house rail humbucker – and you should expect to see a lot more of it…
Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell has died aged 64
The metal pioneers’ longest-serving guitar player has passed away after a major operation
Billy Corgan on what drives guitar heroes to change their tone – and how it led him to package his sound in a pedal
The Smashing Pumpkins guitar icon reflects on a tonal journey four decades in the making, what pushes him to make signature gear like the new Laney Supergrace affordable, and why he’s the most excited he’s been to make a guitar album in 25 years
Eddie Van Halen once asked Paul Gilbert to give Wolfgang a guitar lesson – here’s why it never happened
The Mr. Big virtuoso has been reflecting on his guitar teaching methods, and why he thinks it’s time to bring back the shred
February 2026 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
Two generations of virtuosos – Steve Vai and Matteo Mancuso – join forces, Midwest Emo GOATs American Football return, Anna Calvi works wonders with her Telecaster, Mateus Asato gives us long-awaited instrumental bliss, and Angine de Poitrine deliver, uh, “Dada-Pythago-Cubist Mantra-rock” – all this and much, much more
The realization that ended Jason Richardson’s obsession with music theory
The ex-All That Remains shredder shares his journey from marking his music theory classmates’ papers to realizing that sometimes you just need to play what sounds good
Tosin Abasi explains how Abasi Concepts became one of the biggest names in progressive guitars
The Animals as Leaders virtuoso charts his journey as an ergonomic guitar pioneer, from commissioning eight-strings to having his own designs imitated
Why Billy Corgan changed the way he plays guitar solos
Social media burnout has impacted the role of guitar solos in the Smashing Pumpkins’ live show
The guitar that changed Billy Corgan’s life
It soundtracked two of the biggest alt-rock albums of all time, but as the Smashing Pumpkins leader remembers, the guitar itself was far from expensive
January 2026 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
Featuring an onslaught of leviathan power chords from Sunn O))), a bruiser of a blues rock romp from Jared James Nichols, a beautiful, heartfelt piece of desert blues from Imarhan, a genre-obliterating piece of twisty guitar genius from Tim Henson, and a whole lot more
“A brand-new guitar shape from one of the world’s oldest guitar companies. Will wonders never cease?” 10 things we learned at NAMM 2026
We scoured every corner of the Anaheim Convention Center to scope out the latest and greatest gear – and there were some telling signs about the current state of the guitar world
NAMM 2026 live! The biggest guitar news as it happened
All the hottest news and biggest surprises from the world’s premier guitar gear trade show
NAMM 2026: rumors, predictions and breaking news from the world's biggest guitar gear show
All the latest and greatest gear drops coming out of the largest music trade show in the world – with new launches from Ibanez, Taylor, EVH, Marshall and more
![[Left] GuitarWorld.com Editor in Chief Mike, holding the Gibson Custom Shop Atomic Age offset, [right] a close-up of the guitar's body](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SjQVXqcdiQEau32rk5KYRf-840-80.jpg.webp)
Gibson had a secret offset prototype hidden in its private room at NAMM 2026 – meet the Atomic Age
We sat down with the unlikely retro-futuristic concept guitar and brand-new body shape
Billy Corgan has shrunk his Smashing Pumpkins rig into a Laney pedal amp – and he tested it in front of 60,000 MCR fans
When Corgan walked onstage with My Chemical Romance at Soldier Field stadium, he didn’t bring his guitar rig. He plugged into the Laney Supergrace and nothing else
Best reverb pedals: from spring to shimmer, these are our top picks for your pedalboard
Take a deep dive into the cavernous world of 'verb and explore the best reverb pedals for every budget
Best budget guitar amps under $500 2026: cost-cutting amplifiers for every player
Get great sounds and features without blowing your budget – from affordable tube amps to wallet-friendly digital modeling amps and everything in between
