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October 2025

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82 articles

October 31
- “I sold it to the boyfriend of a girl I knew. 30 years later I said, ‘Do you still have it?’ He sold it back for the same price I sold it for – $225”: Xan McCurdy on Cake, dumping Joe Satriani, and buying the wrong guitar thanks to Keith Richards
- “Ranking guitar players is tough for me… Being a guitar player is all about self-expression”: Samantha Fish on the magic of 335s, “best” players – and why the North Hill Country Delta blues is a bottomless well of inspiration
- “I had no idea that show would be my last. The whole thing felt like a divorce”: How Paz Lenchantin’s departure from the Pixies led to her first-ever solo album
October 30
- “When I go, ‘Let’s try a Marshall,’ and we put it in, I go, ‘I don’t like that!’ Marshalls hurt my ears these days”: Ricky Byrd on tracking with Joan Jett, his Franken-Tele that sounds nothing like a Tele, and how sobriety has improved his playing
- “When I went to England in 1965 with this Strat, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page said, ‘Man, I didn’t know that kind of guitar could play the blues’”: Buddy Guy on showmanship, Sinners – and why he has unfinished business with the blues
- “I discovered that you need to be anxious – it keeps you motivated. I try to feed off the anxiety and play guitar”: The life and times of Brent Hinds, the visionary guitarist with a maverick style who made Mastodon a big beast of metal
October 29
- “You’re counting on each other, and that’s a great feeling. And if somebody screws up, there’s nothing you can do”: For John McLaughlin, it all comes back to Montreux – this is how he took his playing there to the 4th Dimension one last time
- “We put in everything but the kitchen sink… It sounded like a real monster”: How Geddy Lee created one of the most outrageous bass tones of all time for a Rush fantasy classic
- “Extreme music expresses hardship and suffering – but we’re reaching towards joy”: Introducing Agriculture, the “ecstatic black metal” band who recorded their sophomore LP as the LA wildfires closed in
- “Tony was a very successful professional guitarist who played for Frank Sinatra... he designed this guitar with Les Paul”: Through a Dumble it sounds “like Madison Square Garden” and it’s totally unique – meet Tony Mottola’s 1968 Gibson ES-355TDR
October 28
- “Whatever magic John brought to the Chili Peppers, I didn’t have that style of magic”: Dave Navarro was the odd man out when he replaced John Frusciante in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But 30 years later, he has no regrets
- “ESP asked me to pyrograph James Hetfield’s Explorer. I wasn’t sure who James was, but I said yes”: Meet Dino Muradian, the pyrographer who makes a living burning artwork into stars’ guitars
- “His reaction went from polite puzzlement, to resistance, to anger. He finished up with, ‘I think it's a dumb idea’”: When Anthony Jackson came up with the idea for a six-string bass, he struggled to find anyone to build it
- “The more I got to know him, the more I could tell he was interested in different sounds, from Indian classical to Middle Eastern”: Nicolas Meier was hand-picked by Jeff Beck. Now he’s honoring the late guitar icon with a sound that seeks new horizons
October 27
- “I knew I couldn’t take a ‘56 Junior and butcher the nut to put on the super fat strings that I would need for these low tunings”: Why Three Days Grace’s Barry Stock is embracing the Ibanez Iceman – and picking his trusty Quad Cortex over a 7-string
- “Eddie Van Halen said, ‘How do you guys do that with three guitars? I have a hard enough time with just myself!’” A salute to Freddie Salem, the guitar ace who delivered licks for Barbra Streisand, and Southern rock fire and brimstone with the Outlaws
- “That bassline was the first thing that came out of my head. By the end of the soundcheck we had the whole song down”: Limp Bizkit remain one of the biggest nu-metal bands ever – but they wouldn't have taken those giant strides without bassist Sam Rivers
- “An unspecified buyer dipped into their pocket for $2,857,500 – so far a record for any guitar previously owned by a Beatle”: The story of the Framus Hootenanny, the resurrected John Lennon favorite that was a key component of Beatles tone
October 26
- From the shred heroics of Joe Satriani to the melodic mastery of George Benson and fascinating phrasing of Yvette Young, we chart 25 game-changing Ibanez guitarists
October 25
- “Someone once told me I had vibrato like Eric Clapton. I thought, ‘Well, if you’re gonna give me a compliment, you can definitely say that!’” Lindsay Ell on feel, failure and finding her voice – and what jams with Keith Urban and Buddy Guy taught her
- “The upper level of my dreams was to play DIY basement shows in college”: Meet Will Paquin, the musical polymath who is reluctantly stepping into the spotlight to give alt-rock and indie some Brazilian flair
October 24
- “Apparently it had been modded by Dumble. I plugged it into one of my single 12 cabs, put a mic on it, and it just sounded incredible”: How Robert Jon & the Wreck were living the dream – sleeping at the studio, firing up Holy Grail amps, and chasing tone
- “Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar”: The incredible story of Jimmy Page’s 1957 Gretsch 6120 that fetched over $130,000 at auction – 50 years after the Led Zeppelin icon gave it away for free
October 23
- “Every working player knows a day will come when something goes wrong with their financial affairs. They’ll need an instrument for that day”: Robert Fripp on the guitars he’s kept, and the one he bought with no intention of playing
- “The Goldtop Les Paul was the first guitar I bought leading into the Harry rehearsals. I played SNL with it – and every night since”: Mitch Rowland on treading the line between pop superstars and sublime folk fingerstyle – and why touring doesn’t add-up
- “For Bon Jovi, I run through the big, thematic solos. You really don’t want to mess those moments up. One bad moment will be there forever”: Phil X on his upcoming Gibson signature, lead discipline – and how to prepare for shows in the YouTube age
October 22
- “It may be a cliché, but let’s say it anyway: Jimi Hendrix didn’t do too badly with CBS Fenders”: Fender’s CBS era is often associated with the company losing its reputation for quality – but is that view still justified?
- “It was just amazing to stand on stage and let a chord rip, especially as it was my first time playing an arena”: Erica Fox on the holy trinity of the touring guitarist, Avril Lavigne’s stadium shows – and holding down gigs with Maren Morris
- "When I got my first signature, I was probably too young. I was really excited, but I also felt maybe a little bit of imposter syndrome – I don't know if I'm a real guitar player": Benji Madden on the gear that made him, and his forthcoming signature Suhr
- “I opened the case and Glenn went, ‘Wow. What’d you pay for that?’ I went '$1,200...’ He said, ‘Cheap!’ in a very derogatory way – so I called my ’59 ‘the cheap Les Paul’”: Don Felder on medical emergencies, Eagles sessions and his million dollar ’Burst
October 21
- Supergroup what-ifs, Kurt Cobain's multi-million dollar acoustic, and secret soloists: Test your knowledge of guitar and rock history with the Guitar World quiz
- “It irritated a few people! I saw a couple of other pedal builders who seemed to be annoyed by how toy-like and fun it was”: Josh Scott on the Notaklön’s wild success, recovering from his mountain bike crash – and his gratitude to John Mayer
- “Whenever I play a three-single-coil normal Strat, I just never felt like I fully sound like myself. The Strat always has such a voice”: Ariel Posen is a Stratocaster lifer – but his signature guitar wants to be a Jazzmaster
- “I pushed him towards the Les Paul. I can see him now, holding those notes. I don’t think he could have played those parts on any other guitar”: Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits’ inner circle look back on Brothers in Arms – their world-conquering “fluke”
October 20
- “I had to sell my phone to buy my first guitar because my parents wouldn’t let me get one! It was a very, very bad acoustic – a knock-off Gibson called Givson”: How Bloodywood went from dodgy guitars and YouTube covers to India's biggest metal band
- “We hit it off right away. He saw me playing my '63 P-Bass and said, ‘That's a Bootsy bass, right?’” How a chance meeting between Pino Palladino and D’Angelo helped create the sound of the late neo-soul legend's Voodoo album
- “I've done so many things DIY with the Coheed comics and toys. Why should guitars be any different?” Coheed and Cambria on going it alone to make a signature guitar, channeling Joe Walsh – and the prospect of their swan song
October 19
- “It’s nasty and greasy and oozing funk. It’s a masterclass in funk bass”: Robert Wilson had his step-out performance on this Gap Band classic, which features two bass parts, both cut on a flatwound-strung P-Bass
October 18
- “The string mute had disintegrated, so I stuck a piece of scouring pad to whatever was left”: How Squarepusher found a signature sound with a 1979 Rickenbacker bass, a DIY string mute and some heavy EQ
- “Ritchie Blackmore was playing licks to soundcheck. Andy started answering him. Their conversation with guitars was enough to impress Ritchie”: Ted Turner on eating biscuits with John Lennon and how Deep Purple gave Wishbone Ash their big break
October 17
- “Ozzy would say, ‘No. This isn’t Frank Zappa, this is Ozzy Osbourne. Go back and write me something else’”: Jake E. Lee revisits Badlands, the album the music industry doesn't want you to hear
- “The last thing he told me during that last interview was, ‘I’m probably gonna go until the wheels come off!’” I spoke to Ace Frehley a dozen times in the last two years of his life – oft-misunderstood, he was the true embodiment of rock ’n’ roll spirit
October 16
- “We don’t want to be just another modern death metal band. Taking ideas from David Gilmour and George Harrison is a big deal for us”: How Blood Incantation are opening the Stargate to take death metal to a higher cosmic plane
- “We didn’t have time to paint it, so we used a blowtorch. We thought it was going to catch on fire”: Nashville session bassist Travis Dykes spent $136 building a bass from Temu parts. Now he’s playing it on some seriously big gigs
- “Lennon says, ‘Tell him we’ll put the guitar on our next album cover.’ The guy says, ‘Nope, sorry.’ The album was Sgt. Pepper’s”: The day the Beatles visited New York’s most legendary guitar store
October 15
- “If BeatBuddy 2 hasn’t replaced your drummer yet, at least keep one on your board for the next time they don’t show up”: Singular Sound’s BeatBuddy 2 is here – your drummer just got an upgrade
- “I’m seeing players compose something crazy-hard and pretend they can play it when they can’t. It’s dishonest”: How Hedras became one of today’s leading virtuosos by fusing shred smarts and boomer sensibilities
- “It’s a vintage Les Paul with a different shape. I wanted to have my own recipe”: Meet the Tributo, the Italian super-guitar that turns the ’59 Les Paul formula on its head
- “Andy Summers is one hell of a jazz guitarist, but it was Sting who volunteered him for the session”: How jazz bass legend Christian McBride reunited The Police duo for his latest album
October 14
- “If my tone or phrasing sounded awkward my teacher would make me do push-ups!”: David Immerman on moving from pure shredding to playing with American Idol stars and Avril Lavigne – and why he never wanted to start his own band
- “It’s like in Harry Potter when the wand chooses the wizard. It’s the same thing with guitars, right?” Ally Venable on why the guitar is not a one-size-fits-all instrument – there’s a bit of magic to it
- “I never had the inclination to completely go up against my dad – writing blues never came naturally up until this point”: How Jack Moore is expressing his own sonic identity with Marshall amps, wah pedal extremity – and his father's signature Les Paul
October 13
- “He our admiration for his music and our respect for his talent for recognizing guitar genius”: The life and times of Ozzy Osbourne – metal’s godfather and Prince of Darkness
- “When I was younger I avoided acoustic because of the ‘female singer-songwriter’ trope. But now I don’t feel like I have anything to prove”: Flock of Dimes on how turning to ’70s and ’80s Yamaha acoustics helped her capture the pain of generational trauma
October 12
- “Even if you learn to play bass from YouTube videos, you’re still not self-taught. Autodidactic learning is awesome, but everyone needs a teacher”: How Esperanza Spalding created the most complex music of her career under the guidance of an alter ego
- “Leo was somewhat disgusted that he played an indirect role in the newfangled radical and rambunctious sounds that were taking over radio airwaves”: How the Fender Jazzmaster became the one offset to rule them all – even if no one really used it for jazz
October 11
- “Those seeking pointers on how to tailor a solo to serve the song would do well to investigate their back catalog”: The Scorpions guitarists list boasts some of rock's most electrifying and underrated players – this is what you can learn from each of them
October 10
- “Josh Homme said, ‘Do you want to come over?’ I was like, ‘So, you want to do Kyuss, but no John Garcia?' I’m good.’ I was bitter, I guess": Scott Reeder on the last days of Kyuss, QOTSA and what he told James Hetfield after that Metallica audition
- “I walked out and Nuno had the crowd chanting my name. It was overwhelming. I’m surprised I didn’t trip and fall down”: Jake E. Lee on defying expectations, arthritis and gunshot wounds to mend his friendship with Ozzy at Back to the Beginning
October 9
- “I don’t want people to know where I come from or what my real name is”: Anonymous guitar star DarWin is keeping the mystery alive, but like Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake before him, he has found a sparring partner in Greg Howe
- “I got it on Craigslist from this avid Strat collector who needed new teeth. He was so sad to see it go. I think of him every time I pick it up”: Indie-rock’s secret weapon Jay Som on a guitar with history, boygenius – and the time Paramore had her back
October 8
- “If any of you have a good name in mind I would welcome hearing from you immediately”: How the Fender Telecaster got its name, with a little help from Gretsch
- “The pedal tap-dance is as important as learning the song on the fretboard. I have to figure out a way around it. If we got drunk before a show we’d be on the floor!”: Nova Twins on keeping sonic secrets, putting vocals through a Plexi and blowing up amps
October 7
- “The next morning, I got an email that had a receipt for a 1957 Gibson Custom goldtop”: Jam band and Southern rock prodigy Bella Rayne was bereft when her Les Paul was stolen – then came an answer to her prayers
- “Dolores said, ‘This is an angry song; I think it needs to be reflected in the music.’ That was the turning point. I bought my first distortion pedal”: How The Cranberries became ’90s alternative icons on borrowed amps and banjo-like guitars
October 6
- “Sweet Child O’ Mine is a terrible song. I don’t like Slash’s playing, but it stands the test of time. That was my inspiration – to write something timeless”: Lorna Shore return with new music, brash Ibanez customs, and a fresh kind of death metal energy
- “I played Flying High Again with no amp. He jumped up after I finished the solo and gave me a hug. He said, ‘I love you, Bradley – pull me through’”: Wigs, fake blood, and Ferrari jumpsuits – Brad Gillis on what it was like to be Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist
- “We were on at 10 a.m. We start playing, and nobody’s there yet. But by the time we got to the second or third song, there were thousands of people”: Disturbed's Dan Donegan on Ozzfest, the versatility of his ginormo-rig, and his migration to Schecter
October 5
- “These guys are pros. Brian handpicked these people to represent his music”: Al Jardine on good times with Brian Wilson (and his band), the legacy of his genius, and how the Beach Boys transformed ‘60s surf and guitar culture
October 4
- “I couldn't afford a real bass guitar, so I just tuned the strings down on a Telecaster”: How Geezer Butler went from playing bass on a guitar to the ominous riff that defined one of Black Sabbath’s darkest moments
- “The guitars Gibson was making during wartime often reflect a number of shortages they had to deal with”: Why the 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo is far more than a J-45 in fancy dress
October 3
- “With Taylor, there was a lot of, ‘Give us the kitchen sink – try this, try that!’” He’s a go-to guitarist for Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Jack Antonoff – but for Mikey Freedom Hart, it all started with a kid playing Eruption at church camp
- “When I first joined them I couldn’t believe how bad they were. I thought, ‘How do they make such good records?’” Mick Taylor’s Rolling Stones baptism by fire came just two days after Brian Jones’ death – in front of 250,000 people
- “I don’t have heroes, but I adore Queen… I think you can hear bits of Brian in my solos”: Named after a Måneskin track, inspired by Queen and Arctic Monkeys, here’s how Baby Said became the UK’s hottest rock duo
- “There’s so much style in playing blues. The new blues scene is kind of like guitar teachers. They’re great players, but it’s a different thing”: How the triple-guitar threat of the Texas Headhunters is keeping a Lone Star tradition alive
October 2
- “I was attracted to melodic bass players like Carol Kaye. Why should a rock bassist play dumb notes all the time?” How Tony Visconti rethought rock bass for David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World
- “This is humble music for everyone. It’s for people who have sunk a million hours into fighting zombies on Xbox”: Meet University’s Zak Bowker, the punk guitarist who believes your biggest inspiration should be yourself
- “Modelers are like Spotify. I’d never get excited about a box that has every single tone”: My pedalboard is so huge it’s got wheels. But switching to modelers costs guitarists their identity
- “Every time I picked up a guitar I got the horrors”: Radiohead were the world's most talked-about guitar band. Then they burned the rulebook, and made the instrument sound like no-one else had before
October 1
- “Mutt Lange would always make me play rhythm. He liked my feel. I’m technically not very good, but I have a feel that’s intuitive to me”: Bryan Adams says he’s no guitar hero, but believes he’s written songs that cover versions can’t beat
- “I have such horrible OCD. Ever since I was a little kid, if I couldn’t get something, I would stay home from school fake sick and play it over and over”: John 5 on staying true to the Crüe, pushing his playing and why he’s surrounded by ghosts
- “It was my first cover. I knew Slash would use a great vintage Les Paul, so I had to up my game”: Gilby Clarke on the story behind his modded ’69 Fender Telecaster, immortalized on the cover of Guitar World