
Phil Weller
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
Latest articles by Phil Weller

Tony Iommi reflects on Sabbath’s final performance – and reveals the songs they dropped from the set
By Phil Weller published
Concerns about the show’s scheduling and drummer Bill Ward’s first Sabbath gig in 20 years cut Sabbath’s final set to just four songs. Iommi says there was a couple more in the tank

Why session legend Tim Pierce never joined Bon Jovi
By Phil Weller published
Pierce helped record a Bon Jovi classic but a few considerations made him unsuitable for the gig

How Norman Harris helped reunite a Beatle with his long-lost Les Paul
By Phil Weller published
The Lucy Les Paul was gifted to Harrison by Eric Clapton and used on a score of iconic recordings. When it was stolen, Harris came to his rescue

10-year-old guitarist nails Are You Gonna Go May Way during America’s Got Talent – on a PRS that’s almost as tall as he is
By Phil Weller published
Bay Melnick Virgolino’s PRS might make him look tiny, but the sounds he gets out of it are huge

This ambitious pedal uses AI to recreate the guitar tones from any song you feed it
By Phil Weller published
Show the OnePedal a song and it’ll steal its tonal secrets, its developers say

PRS gives its celebrated NF 53 the SE treatment – tabling a bid for the best sub-$1k electric of 2025
By Phil Weller published
The workhorse six-string is loaded with the firm’s innovative Narrowfield pickups and a bunch of premium specs – and it’s already received rave reviews

Justin Hawkins on why he’s not convinced by alternate tunings
By Phil Weller published
Hawkins believes that E standard offers plenty of opportunity for expression

ESP LTD RZK-III OW review
By Phil Weller published
Rammstein’s riffer-in-chief Richard ZK returns with his third signature guitar, marking a departure from its predecessors with an arsenal of fun features

Joe Bonamassa wraps his Rory Gallagher tribute shows with a stunning cover of As The Crow Flies
By Phil Weller published
The gorgeous ancient relic was made famous by Gallagher’s take on the Tony Joe White song on his 1974 live album, Irish Tour

Nuno Bettencourt was spotted playing a mystery guitar at Back to the Beginning – is he about to launch his own guitar brand?
By Phil Weller published
Bettencourt took to the stage for the historic event with a Washburn-esque build that flashed a new ‘Nuno’ logo on the headstock – and we have some questions

The ‘metal Yardbirds’ assemble at Back to the Beginning
By Phil Weller published
K.K. Downing, Rudy Sarzo and Danny Carey joined the trio to perform Judas Priest and Black Sabbath cuts

DiMarzio is determined to make you like the Tele neck pickup position with its new Muscle T set
By Phil Weller published
The Muscle T aims to add everything Tele pickups lack

Gibson steps up the search for the lost Back to the Future guitar – and its discovery hinges on one key spec
By Phil Weller published
The guitar played by Michael J. Fox for the film’s famous school dance scene has been missing for 40 years – and Gibson is determined to track it down

Gibson spent years trying to convince Warren Haynes to work on a signature guitar – this is what changed his mind
By Phil Weller published
His signature Les Paul steps away from his usual spec choices, and with good reason

Herman Li on how Guitar Hero helped make guitar solos cool again – and why grunge killing off the shred scene wasn’t a bad thing
By Phil Weller published
Guitar cultures come and go, and though Li was instrumental in putting shred back on the menu, he says the grunge scene was “great” for this one reason

Liam Gallagher’s son thinks guitar music is only now making a return
By Phil Weller published
Gene Gallagher, of indie band Villanelle, says a new era of rock music is here

Ibanez has just dropped fresh signature guitars for 3 of its biggest artists – but a new Premium Series has stolen their spotlight
By Phil Weller published
New high-end RGA Premium models have been launched alongside updated Joe Satriani, Lari Basilio and Josh Smith signatures

Dweezil Zappa devises the ultimate tube amp versus modeler test – using both the shred an Eddie Van Halen classic
By Phil Weller published
Zappa put two distinct setups to the test to see if listeners could truly tell the difference between tube amps and their digital counterparts

Green Day invite fan on stage to play Good Riddance – but he trolls them with Wonderwall instead
By Phil Weller published
One young fan has taken the “Anyway, here’s Wonderwall” meme to extreme measures

Wes Borland cosplays as an ’80s-era James Hetfield while opening for Metallica
By Phil Weller published
The attention to detail, right down to his guitar of choice and the 'mod' he's made to it, needs to be applauded

Vivian Campbell names his new guitar hero
By Phil Weller published
The British blues rock guitarist received Campbell’s seal of approval on social media

Joe Bonamassa might be the king of vintage gear – but most of his pedalboard is off the shelf
By Phil Weller published
With some exceptions – which can be replaced on a budget – the guitarist’s current pedalboard is surprisingly humble

Wolfgang Van Halen has dropped his initials from the Mammoth band name
By Phil Weller published
The band trimmed Mammoth WVH to Mammoth earlier this year – and for the multi-instrumentalist, it’s a change he’s been desperate to make
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!