Latest articles by Michael Astley-Brown
Black Friday Fender deals 2025: last chance to save big on Fender and Squier guitars
This Cyber Weekend, we're seeing some fantastic Fender deals crop up across the web, including discounted Player II guitars
Black Friday guitar deals 2025: Don't miss out on the greatest savings for guitar players
Here are the best savings still live this Black Friday, from Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Positive Grid, and more
I am determined to find great tone for under $100. Behold! I have unearthed the best cheap pedal deals
Some of the pedal world’s biggest pedal brands are waging war on prices
Bassists, this one's for you – 9 great Black Friday bass guitar deals with up to $250 off Fender, Yamaha, Darkglass, Line 6 and more
These 9 amazing bass savings prove it’s not just the Black Friday prices that are low
“The perfect marriage of Aerosmith and the Cult. An Aerocult, if you will”: November 2025 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
The new guitar music that GW editors have been obsessed with this month: fresh names, old hands and trailblazing players
He was a guitar god at 8, then he disappeared – the unlikely story of Thomas McRocklin
Vai handed him the Passion and Warfare guitar and produced his debut album, only for his protégé to give it all up. Decades later, McRocklin came back stronger – and pursued his own guitar path
In 1988, a shred prodigy opened for Ozzy Osbourne. He was eight years old
Thomas McRocklin would go on to become Steve Vai’s protégé. But his first major gig was opening for the Prince of Darkness
October 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
Liven up your Halloween with six-string (and five-string) sorcery from Alter Bridge, Mei Semones, Whitney, Karma Sheen, Jacob Collier, Unprocessed, and many more
Fender invited music fans to design their own Telecaster. They received over 1,500 applications – and turned four into a reality
Everyone from children to lifelong guitarists entered the Fender Design Contest, which showcased Fender Japan’s quest to prove guitar is for everyone
Fender is changing the way it approaches signature guitars – and it’s starting with a Japanese pop-rock band named after the Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Chilli Beans Moto Mustang, Lily Cyclone and Maika Mustang Bass are the first Fender Japan signature guitars built in Indonesia – and their beginner-focused spec signals further shifts for the company
Fender unveils the newest entry point to its USA-made collection, the American Professional Classic series
New Coastline pickups, a successor to the Nashville Telecaster, and a double dose of streamlined offsets head up the newest starting point to Fender's most affordable USA-made instruments
Fender wrangles Godzilla for a monster guitar collaboration – featuring two company firsts
As well as an otherworldly $36,000 Custom Shop Stratocaster with a Godzilla roar button, two Made in Japan models are also packing some flashy new tech
September 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
With amazing guitar work from the likes of Seera, SPRINTS, Mammoth, Mei Semones, Jay Som, Walter Trout, Jacob Collier, and many more, we were spoiled for choice this month
Joe Satriani pays tribute to Chris Cornell with instrumental cover of Audioslave’s Be Yourself
The virtuoso features on the latest track from King Ultramega, a tribute project for the late Soundgarden frontman
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Does ‘bad’ guitar tone even exist anymore?
Guitarists are lusting after the sound of Portastudios and solid-state practice amps – tones that used to be derided in guitar circles. What changed?
August 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
With killer cuts from Deftones, Lorna Shore, Big Thief, Young Dervish, Paco Peña, and many more, there was plenty of guitar greatness to pick from this month
Co-leader of Mastodon for a quarter century, Brent Hinds was a one-of-a-kind guitarist who took metal guitar into uncharted territory
Hinds was killed in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday, August 20
I went behind the scenes at Fender Japan to find out why its guitars are so radically different – and what’s stopping them reaching the US
Fender Japan makes some of the iconic guitar firm’s most exciting products, but we know very little about how it operates… until now
“Nuno Bettencourt isn’t the only one keeping Eddie Van Halen’s fire burning – the most underrated guitarist on the planet just gave him a run for his money”: July 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
New cuts from Deftones, Big Wreck, Wet Leg, Eric Gales and more...
“Arresting, unsettling, sometimes unpredictable… nails the Deftones brief”: KHDK Digital Bath review
This signature stompbox recreates one of Deftones’ dreamiest tones – but is it more than just a one-trick (white) pony?
Ozzy Osbourne was an extraordinary frontman and working class hero with great taste in guitar players
The Black Sabbath icon has died at the age of 76, and leaves behind a legacy of game-changing music and guitar talent
With Olivia Rodrigo, Arianna Powell is staking her claim as a guitar hero for a whole new audience
The seasoned session player made her name with the Black Eyed Peas and Halsey, but it’s the Olivia Rodrigo gig that’s given her incendiary playing a spotlight on a global scale. She breaks down her whirlwind journey so far
I played in a covers band for years, and swore by one pickup combination that covered everything. With $400 off this Charvel San Dimas, this is the HSS guitar I’d be picking up this Prime Day
This top-spec San Dimas in Aqua Flake is built to thrill – and it’s a steal for covers band guitarists
