
Richard Bienstock
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
Latest articles by Richard Bienstock

At the Gates release shredding new single, Spectre of Extinction, featuring King Diamond's Andy LaRocque
By Richard Bienstock published
The Swedish melodic death-metal pioneers' new album, The Nightmare of Being, is out in July

Watch Reverb.com’s eagerly anticipated The Pedal Movie now
By Richard Bienstock published
The feature-length film, which explores the comprehensive history of effect pedals, is out today

Watch a new director’s cut of Prince’s legendary While My Guitar Gently Weeps solo, now with more Prince
By Richard Bienstock published
Re-edited clip still doesn’t reveal where his guitar landed

Tony Iommi had to warn Eddie Van Halen to “behave” on the 1978 Black Sabbath/Van Halen tour
By Richard Bienstock published
The British metal legends feared the young support band was “ripping them off,” according to a new EVH biography

How Fender built Mike McCready’s Custom Shop Strat, one of its most intricate replicas yet
By Richard Bienstock published
The Pearl Jam guitarist and Master Builder Vincent Van Trigt detail how the '59 became a '60, and what went into making the painstaking recreation

Nux’s Mighty Bass 50BT amp offers powerful bass tone with tons of flexibility in a compact package
By Richard Bienstock published
Three-channel 50-watt amp packs in modeling tech, cab IRs, deep tone-editing tools and much more

Watch John Petrucci watch other guitarists try to play like John Petrucci
By Richard Bienstock published
Mere guitar mortals take on Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment songs, and the prog-metal master weighs in

Quilter Labs' SuperBlock series aims to pack big amp power and versatility into pedal formats
By Richard Bienstock published
SuperBlock US and UK designs offer a range of American and British-style tones at 25- and one-watt options

John McLaughlin announces lockdown-themed album built around “transcontinental collaborations”
By Richard Bienstock published
Liberation Time is out July 16

Watch Dave Grohl and his 15-year-old daughter Violet cover X's Nausea with Krist Novoselic and Dave Lombardo
By Richard Bienstock published
The “supergroup” performed the 1980 track Nausea on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Marcus Machado: “Learn the rhythms, learn the changes – that's what’s important to any gig. Nobody's going to hire you for how fast you play the solo“
By Richard Bienstock published
He's collaborated with the likes of Anderson .Paak and Robert Glasper, fused hard rock and hip-hop with th1rt3en, and now Machado channels Jimi Hendrix, Nile Rodgers and, yes, Prince, on his searingly funky new album, Aquarius Purple

Take a deep dive into the Gibson App – “the one app that does it all” – with guitarist and educator R.J. Ronquillo
By Richard Bienstock published
“It’s designed for everybody, from the newbie guitarist to the absolute rock star,” R.J. says

7 famous guitar intros that will give you chills
By Richard Bienstock published
Music Is Win’s Tyler Larson plays the goosebump-inducing riffs and licks, with a little help from Positive Grid’s new Spark Pearl

Austin guitar great Denny Freeman, who played with Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, dies aged 76
By Richard Bienstock published
A central figure in the Austin blues explosion, Freeman also worked with Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal and many others

A Slash Sanchez custom Strat-style guitar and other Guns N’ Roses-played instruments and amps are up for sale
By Richard Bienstock published
Also on offer are Richard Fortus’s BC Mockingbird and Les Pauls, Gilby Clarke’s Zemaitis single-cut and modded Marshall and Vox amps

Watch Nancy Wilson perform her Eddie Van Halen tribute, 4 Edward, on acoustic guitar
By Richard Bienstock published
The Heart great’s first solo album, You and Me, is out in May

New Peter Green book The Albatross Man to feature rare photos and memorabilia, newly recorded music from David Gilmour and Kirk Hammett
By Richard Bienstock published
Green worked on the project for years prior to his death in July 2020

Watch Viennese virtuoso Bernth shred through Paganini’s notorious Caprice No. 24
By Richard Bienstock published
The master shredder and YouTube sensation releases new album, Elevation, in May

Watch Larkin Poe unfurl a harmony-laden Star-Spangled Banner on a Nashville rooftop
By Richard Bienstock published
The Lovell sisters inject some lap-steel down-home-ness into the national anthem

Marshall has now released its own jukebox
By Richard Bienstock published
The amp manufacturer teams up with Sound Leisure for the luxuriously-spec’d Marshall Jukebox

Late Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho’s studio and stage amps and pedals are up for auction
By Richard Bienstock published
Items include heavily used Marshall heads and cabinets, Blackstar amps and a fully loaded pedalboard

Watch Justin Johnson use Nux’s Stageman II rechargeable acoustic amp to pick a pristine version of the Beatles’ Let It Be
By Richard Bienstock published
Battery-powered 80-watt unit delivers organic tone, comes loaded with effects, IRs, a built-in looper and much more

Hagerman unveils the tube-amp-in-pedal One Watter
By Richard Bienstock published
Low-power design boasts clean and gain channels for practice-at-home ease
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