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Sam Roche
Sam Roche

Sam is a Staff Writer at Guitar World, also creating content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.

Articles by: Sam Roche

Dave Keuning

Dave Keuning: “The second I get a pedal, I write a song with it right then and there, because it’s some fun, new sound that inspires me”

By Sam Roche

The Killers guitarist explains why he took a break from the indie-rock giants, how he ended up returning to record Pressure Machine, and his most recent solo album, A Mild Case of Everything

[L-R] Thundercat and Este Haim

Thundercat joins Haim to perform 3AM at their Santa Barbara show, serves up a dizzyingly virtuosic bass solo

By Sam Roche

The bass extraordinaire appeared on an alternate version of the LA pop-rock sister trio's 3AM, released last year

Mad Max: Fury Road still

The Doof Wagon – the speaker-packed, flame-throwing vehicular guitar rig from Mad Max: Fury Road – is up for auction

By Sam Roche

The guitar shoots real flames when engaged by the whammy bar – but weighs about 60 kilos

[L-R] Josh Klinghoffer and Eddie Vedder

Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer joins Pearl Jam as touring musician

By Sam Roche

Watch the guitarist jam with the Seattle rock giants during their weekend set at the Sea.Hear.Now festival in New Jersey

Cort bass guitars

Cort expands its Artisan Series of bass guitars with the 4- and 5-string B4 and B5 Element

By Sam Roche

Appointments include mahogany bodies with figured ash tops, 5-piece panga/panga/walnut necks and Bartolini MK-1 pickups

[L-R] John 5 and Dave Mustaine

John 5 recruits Dave Mustaine for Que Pasa, the ultra-shreddy first track from his upcoming album, Sinner

By Sam Roche

The guitarist's brand-new LP arrives October 29 – just in time for Halloween

Ace Frehley

Ace Frehley on a potential future Kiss reunion: “Anything's possible”

By Sam Roche

“If the money’s right and it’s presented to me in the right way, anything can happen,” the Kiss founding guitarist says

My Morning Jacket perform at Forest Hills Stadium on September 10, 2021 in New York City

From riff-tastic sledgehammers to serene acoustic beauty: here are this week's essential guitar tracks

By Michael Astley-Brown, Jackson Maxwell, Sam Roche, Matt Owen

Enjoy a playlist of guitar greatness from My Morning Jacket, MUNA featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Eric Bibb, Bullet for My Valentine, Biffy Clyro and more

Instrumental Aluminum

Instrumental Aluminum is a new company building sustainable electric guitars out of, well, aluminum

By Sam Roche

The brand's hybrid guitars feature recycled aluminum bodies, promising increased resonance and sustain

Shawn Mendes

Shawn Mendes employs an old-school Silvertone for a raw electric guitar cover of Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever

By Sam Roche

The pop sensation picked up a Silvertone 1449 during the stripped-back performance at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge

Chris Broderick plays his new Jackson signature Soloist guitar

Jackson teams up with former Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick to launch impressively spec'd Pro Series Soloist model

By Sam Roche

Available in six- and seven-string iterations, appointments on the guitar include DiMarzio humbuckers and a mini-toggle killswitch

Orange Super Crush 100

Orange promises tube-like tone from solid-state circuitry with the new Super Crush 100 Head and Combo

By Sam Roche

The new amp offers two independent high-headroom channels, CabSim speaker emulation technology, a fully buffered FX loop and an onboard reverb module

[L-R] Bill Kelliher of Mastodon and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth

Mastodon and Opeth announce 15-date co-headline US tour for late 2021

By Sam Roche

Swiss avant-garde metallers Zeal & Ardor are booked to support

Steve Vai

Steve Vai announces enormous 54-date US tour

By Sam Roche

The virtuoso is set to kick off the mammoth trek in January 2022

[L-R] Jerry Cantrell and Axl Rose

Jerry Cantrell remembers watching Axl Rose throw his Alice in Chains demo tape away

By Sam Roche

Despite the experience, Guns N' Roses remained a major influence on the early sound of Alice in Chains, Cantrell explains

[L-R] Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy Kilmister

Hear Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy Kilmister trade vocals on new version of Hellraiser

By Sam Roche

The new cut – which arrives ahead of Ozzy's No More Tears 30th anniversary reissue – is spliced using Ozzy's 1991 version of the track, and Lemmy's vocals from Motörhead's 1992 version

Brian May

Queen's Brian May hints towards all-instrumental solo album

By Sam Roche

“I don't have the dazzling technical expertise of a Joe Satriani or a Steve Vai or Al Di Meola or Eddie Van Halen. But I just might”

Mudvayne

Mudvayne reunite for first live show in 12 years at Ohio's Inkcarceration festival

By Sam Roche

The eccentric Illinois metal outfit took to the stage last weekend for a 14-track set of classics, including Death Blooms, Happy? and Dig

Machine Gun Kelly

Watch Machine Gun Kelly tear through Papercuts before smashing his guitar to pieces at the MTV VMAs

By Sam Roche

The Cleveland rockstar revisits his roots with a fresh rapped verse, before laying waste to his pink single-humbucker Schecter PT

Solar Guitars E1.6 Jensen MKII

Solar Guitars partners with Patrik Jensen of The Haunted and Witchery for a bloodthirsty new E-type signature model

By Sam Roche

The E1.6 Jensen MKII features a host of top-tier appointments, including an EverTune bridge, multi-voice Fishman Fluence Modern pickups and a sleek Faded Trans Red Black Matte finish

Brian May

Watch present-day Brian May jam with 1992 Brian May in his new Back to the Light video

By Sam Roche

Both wielding Red Specials, the pair of Queen guitarists trade the track's gorgeous six-string harmonies and soaring leads at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1992

G&L

G&L offers wider string spacing on its new L-2500 Series 750 five-string bass

By Sam Roche

The wider-spaced variant comes in Blueburst, Old School Tobacco Sunburst, Ruby Red Metallic and Tangerine Metallic finishes

Harley Benton Lightcase

Harley Benton's new $39 Lightcases seek to provide the “protection of a hardcase with the flexibility of a gigbag”

By Sam Roche

Ultra-lightweight new carry cases feature a water-resistant nylon exterior with high density foam padding, a plush velvet interior and both shoulder straps and a carrying handle

School of Rock Limited Edition Gibson Les Paul Special

Gibson partners with School of Rock for unique, limited-edition black-and-gold Les Paul Special

By Sam Roche

Limited to 100 pieces, the guitar is the only Les Paul Special ever to feature a nitrocellulose black finish and gold hardware

Jared James Nichols

Jared James Nichols premieres searing live performance of Skin 'n Bone, from forthcoming Shadow Dancer EP

By Sam Roche

Watch the blues ace serve up the track's gritty leads with passion and precision, live from Nashville's Blackbird Studios