“I think a bass solo can be as exciting as a guitar solo – if not more”: Listen to John Entwistle’s live bass solo on The Who’s 5:15 By Nick Wells published 28 September 23 John Entwistle proves why bass solos aren't always a bad idea
10 times an iconic band swapped out their guitarist for a fresh face By Andrew Daly published 28 September 23 These star players swooped in to occupy a vacant guitarist spot – sometimes it made the lineup better, sometimes it saved the band entirely…
Types of guitar pickups explained: learn the difference between single coils, humbuckers, P-90s and active designs By Chris Bird published 28 September 23 If the wood is the soul of the electric guitar, the pickups are the brains of the operation. We walk through the most common pickup styles and what they mean for electric guitar tone
8 ways to get more from your guitar amp By Amit Sharma published 27 September 23 How to find new sounds and rekindle your love affair with your amp
“Selective picking, to me, is drumming on guitar. Tosin Abasi brought this technique to the world and it made me excited”: Prog-metal visionary Pomegranate Tiger was ahead of his time. Now he’s tackling cutting-edge technique and AI head-on By Gregory Adams published 27 September 23 Eight years since the release of his last album, Martin Andres reveals what he learned from playing with Oni, Mark Morton and Gojira, how he discovered selective picking before it went mainstream, and why he’s creating an AI version of his musical self
Not sure what all those guitar tone buzz words mean? Get the lowdown with our jargon-buster By Chris Bird published 27 September 23 Fuzz this, intonation that – life can be confusing for the beginner player. This handy glossary explains what some of the most commonly heard terms mean
Best looper pedals 2023: go it alone with the greatest loop pedals for practice, live performance and jamming By Alex Lynham last updated 26 September 23 Whether you're writing songs or woodshedding solos, using a loop pedal will make you a better guitarist – these are the best looper pedals from Boss, TC Electronic, Line 6 and more
Best Christmas gifts for guitar players 2023: the ultimate festive gift guide for guitarists By Daryl Robertson last updated 26 September 23 Treat them right with our pick of the 46 must-have guitar items, essential accessories, clever gadgets and instruments for every budget
“Know your history. But don’t be cliché and try to do what the guys in Chicago did in the ’60s. We don’t need more of that”: Josh Smith is on a mission to save the blues – he names 10 guitarists who are pushing the genre forward By Andrew Daly published 26 September 23 The defender of the blues faith names the players bucking the clichés and preventing the genre going stale, and explains why anyone who says Joe Bonamassa can't play the blues is “full of s**t”
How to set up your electric guitar – improve your guitar’s tone and playability with this step-by-step guide By Stuart Williams published 26 September 23 How to set your intonation and pickup height, keep your guitar in tune and get it playing better than ever
“Barry was yelling at me, ‘Play!’ He could tell I was nervous”: How Barry Johnson inspired a young Marcus Miller By Chris Jisi published 25 September 23 The session ace-turned-solo artist recalls his earliest bass hero, and the swung-funk bassline on Don Blackman’s Heart’s Desire
“Some people equate shred with speed, but that's narrow-minded. The haters will hate because they can't do it themselves”: With Shrapnel Records, Mike Varney invented the technical guitar scene. He reflects on his legacy and the virtuosos of today By Andrew Daly published 25 September 23 The technical guitar impresario reveals his thoughts on the now-dirty word status of 'shred', what he's always looked for in guitar players, and his favorite guitar brand (hint: it's probably not one you'd expect)
“We know amps and guitars are important, but your own DNA is bigger than that”: Nuno Bettencourt on why, when it comes to tone, your personality always comes first By Amit Sharma published 25 September 23 The Extreme guitarist drops some tone wisdom and explains why you should be looking for a rig that gets out of your way and lets you be you
Unhappy with your electric guitar sound? Start with these 5 tone tips before you try anything else By Chris Bird, Stuart Williams published 25 September 23 Because great tone begins with getting the fundamentals right, from picks and strings through to pedals
“Hearing Jaco Pastorius changed my life. I took the frets out of my first bass because of Jaco! He could make you like the bass, whether you liked it or not”: Victor Wooten names 10 bassists who shaped his sound By Amit Sharma published 24 September 23 One of the bass guitar’s all-time greats on how Béla Fleck got him into Paul McCartney, the time Stanley Clarke sent him a broken bass string, and why Marcus Miller is “so good, he can play on something and you won’t know it’s him”
“It was considered a no-no to chain two Fuzz-Tones together. But I saw Hendrix chain five of them!” Billy Gibbons remembers opening for Jimi Hendrix with his pre-ZZ Top band the Moving Sidewalks By Jackson Maxwell published 22 September 23 Before the long beards, sold-out arenas, spinning fur guitars and MTV stardom, Billy Gibbons cut his teeth in a psychedelic group called the Moving Sidewalks, who opened for – among other A-tier rock acts – one James Marshall Hendrix...
“How far can we push the prog, without sounding like it’s a cliché of a prog album?”: Nothing But Thieves are one of the UK’s breakout guitar bands – but their tonal tastes are anything but conventional By Jenna Scaramanga published 22 September 23 On concept album Dead Club City, Nothing But Thieves not only ditched the amps, but the speaker sims as well. Dominic Craik and Joe Langridge-Brown share their love of “honky” tones, stacking Queen-esque harmony guitars and how Dave Grohl shaped the sound of the record
“Shredding over the top is what all prog-metal does – we have a Pink Floyd approach to lead rather than John Petrucci”: Nobody djents like TesseracT – and two decades in, the tech-metal heroes are making their most mind-bendingly intricate riffs yet By Ellie Rogers published 22 September 23 Influential UK seven-stringers Acle Kahney and James Monteith on the secret to mastering their shape-shifting time signatures, recording their most challenging riffs and why the Quad Cortex is their new amp modeler of choice
“You played on Midnight Train to Georgia? You don’t need no other credits!” How Bob Babbitt bolstered a ‘70s soul classic with a touch of James Jamerson By Chris Jisi published 22 September 23 A graduate of “Motown Funk University,” Babbitt said that he took from James Jamerson, but rightly so: “he was the original”
“If Greeny was broccoli then Sunny is mango”: Kirk Hammett is selling a 1960 Gibson Les Paul that ranks among the finest ever made – he reveals how it compares to his most famous ’Burst By Matt Parker published 21 September 23 Fame, flame and punchy tone – meet the ’Burst that has it all. And it’s yours for $500,000...
