Features archive
February 2025
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24 articles
- February 10
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- “I was also able to purchase boards that were cut from a Honduras mahogany so legendary it’s known as ‘The Tree’”: Meet Don Musser, the ‘Dumble of acoustic guitar’ who has made custom builds for Dylan, Eddie Van Halen and Neil Young
- “There’s a lot of power to our band name… we weren’t part of any scene, so it was like, ‘Who are we? We are The Damn Truth’”: Meet the Canadian quartet bringing their raucous sound to the masses – with a little help from Bob Rock
- “It threw me off completely. Here I am in front of 16,000 people, on the stage where Jeff Beck stood, where The Beatles stood, and where Jimi Hendrix stood”: Steve Lukather on wielding Beck’s Strat, jams with George Harrison – and his best solo slip-up
- February 9
- February 8
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- “It’s one of our best tunes and one of my best basslines”: When Duran Duran fused Chic and Sex Pistols for one of bassist John Taylor’s standout performances
- “I'm like the Pablo Escobar of bass. If a dude works on my pedalboard, it's almost like I have to kill him after he's done!” With Rage Against the Machine, Tim Commerford pioneered an all-time iconic bass tone. No wonder he's cagey about his setup
- February 7
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- I tested the Boss Katana Mini and Katana Mini X side-by-side to find out which is best and whether it's worth upgrading from the original portable amp
- “It puts into context just how far removed digital models are from the real thing”: I played the last Overdrive Special that Dumble worked on – and it completely changed my perspective on the amp of my dreams
- “If you’re on stage with Steve Vai, you have to find a way through all the emotions to enjoy the moment”: How Lari Basilio became one of today’s foremost instrumental virtuosos – sharing stages with Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Lee Sklar along the way
- “It was 5:30am when the phone rang – it was Dime. ‘We’re mastering the album, and I need to re-cut a part this morning. Can you get a Les Paul and a Korg G3 to me by 9am?’” How Dimebag Darrell’s Floods outro was re-recorded at (literally) the last minute
- “I wanted the design to feel familiar, especially to Fender players, but I also wanted to make a guitar that felt a little more feminine than a lot of guitars do”: Meet West Valley Guitars, the UK brand making offsets like you’ve never seen before
- February 6
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- LD Systems ANNY 8 Compact Bluetooth PA System
- “I said to Paul Hamer, ‘The best I can do is just play your guitar.’ I didn't want any money for it, because when I like a guitar, I just like it”: On Gary Moore's full-length tribute to Phil Lynott, Greeny took a backseat to Superstrats
- “For someone like Hendrix, who had known poverty, it had to be exhilarating to think, ‘I’m on the cusp of this unimaginable place’”: The remarkable untold story of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios – from the man who helped him build it
- “I was completely blown away... He’d only just joined the band! He was the same age as me but he totally left me choking in his dust”: Remembering John Sykes, the powerhouse rock journeyman who breathed new life into Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy
- February 5
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- “We’ve been controlled by the idea that Fender is for Mexico and US models. We’re allowing ourselves to break our own rules”: Why Fender is building its $599 Standard Series in Indonesia – and how its ideological shift delivers better value for players
- “Do I still enjoy touring? The emphatic answer is ‘mostly, no’. I enjoy travelling and I enjoy playing. It’s a question of having done it intensely for decades”: Eric Bibb never planned to be a roots troubadour, but the blues took hold of his career
- February 4
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- “I’d hear it on the radio as a kid, and now I’m standing beside Don Henley playing it – I had to do both solos, Joe Walsh’s and Steve Lukather’s”: The SatchVai Band is just the latest of many high-profile stops for Pete Thorn
- “I grew up playing bluegrass… it’s taken me years to lighten up my right hand to where I’m not breaking strings every 30 seconds!” Larkin Poe have worked on music together since they were toddlers – and their guitar sisterhood has never been stronger
- February 3
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- “I don’t really listen to Primus. It amazes me that we wrote like that”: Les Claypool looks back on the stomach-churning grooves of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Primus’ major-label debut and the moment he became a bass superstar
- “He’d lay down 17 tracks and edit them down to one. I was like, ‘Just give me a guitar – I could do it in one take. Come on!’” Devo’s Josh Hager on the most frustrating album sessions of his life – and his wild custom Fender model
- “He was 16 or 17, and he was already jumping on people’s tables with cocktails on them, flipping the guitar backwards while playing it”: Pantera’s road crew share their memories of Dimebag Darrell – and why he was a guitar hero from the very beginning
- February 2
- February 1