Feature archive
March 2026
Filter
91 articles
- March 31
-
- “It’s not a Bowie tribute, though it’s hard for people not to think of us as that, because look who we have”: How David Bowie's longest-serving guitarist became the hero in his own story
- “He had a knife to my groin. I was petrified. He went for my guitar”: Mikael Åkerfeldt on nearly losing his prized PRS on the way to record a landmark Opeth album – and why he doesn’t deserve a signature model (even though he’s got one)
- “After mine was stolen, I didn’t have time to go to the factory, so they just handed me this 10-string”: The 10-string oddity that became one of Joe Perry’s most iconic guitars – even though he hardly played it in Aerosmith
- March 30
-
- “Purple Haze felt impossible at first, but it was such an accomplishment once I got it”: Courtney Barnett on leftie legends, and embracing the Olympic White Stratocaster
- “There is not another guitarist in the world who plays like him. As raw as John Lee Hooker and sophisticated as Andrés Segovia from one phrase to another”: The life and times of Grateful Dead icon Bob Weir
- “When it came out, there was no experimental reverb pedal category. I feel like it’s the first. Quote me on that!” How EarthQuaker Devices went beyond the boutique pedal boom and took left-field tones mainstream
- March 29
-
- “I still think Johnny Christ is one of the most underrated bass players ever”: The story behind Intervals virtuoso Jacob Umansky’s signature bass – and why Avenged Sevenfold changed his life
- “I had a beat-up Strat and a Yamaha digital amp. Edgar was horrified. He said, ‘Doug, your tone is atrocious!’” Air-guitar playing AC/DC fan Doug Rappoport on how he fell into working with Edgar Winter and Paul Gilbert
- March 28
-
- “James asked if I wrote the bassline – he was mad at me for not getting a cowriting credit”: How Allen McGrier brought his Jamerson-approved Detroit swagger to a classic R&B ballad
- “We wanted to do things at a certain speed, but the label didn’t. They let us go”: Meet STONE, the Liverpool alt-rockers who quit their major label, wowed Yungblud’s fans and wrote their new album on a Gibson missing a string
- March 27
-
- “I was amazed that my hard work might come back to help me”: Jim Gustafson and Poobah endured decades in the dark, but now their early albums are selling for $1,000 a copy
- “You had to know somebody that knew somebody that knew him to get a hold of him”: The amp wizards who shaped the technology we use today, and gave the world great guitar tone
- “I’m not an amp snob. I’m gonna give everything a try. Some of the oddest guitars and amps I have are ones I’ve used on my favorite songs”: Joe Perry gives us a decade-by-decade guide to the amps behind his Aerosmith tone
- “When we did the tribute to my brother, we had B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy. And just to watch B.B. playing close up was amazing”: Jimmie Vaughan was a garbage man listening to B.B. King. Then he wound up touring with his hero
- March 26
-
- “I think the only thing was ‘Please, don’t play Eruption.’ He didn't say that, but I wasn't going to do that”: Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on making an Alter Bridge album at Eddie Van Halen’s studio
- The ultimate guide to guitar amps: from vintage vacuum tubes to modeling marvels
- “It quietly became the working guitarist’s secret weapon”: 10 sleeper guitar amps that deserve legendary status
- “I loved the band with Hillel so much – all I could think about was trying to match that energy”: John Frusciante on the challenge of replacing Hillel Slovak in the Red Hot Chili Peppers – and why he’s still at the core of his guitar style today
- “The Mega channel has played a major role in heavy guitar tones since the early ’90s”: How the Diezel VH4 conquered metal, won fans in Metallica, Tool and Muse – and impressed John Fogerty too
- March 25
-
- “An ice cream truck drove by as I got done with the song. I was like, ‘We’re keeping that!’” How a custom SG gifted from The Mars Volta and a voice memo fed into Blackwater Holylight’s doomy shoegaze masterpiece
- “I told him the serial number. His mind was blown – he said it was Prince’s No. 1 amp on the Purple Rain tour”: How an ’80s session guitar icon accidentally ended up with the ultimate Prince amp
- "The bush can make you whacky, especially if you’re running from a few coppers who are shooting at you": William Crighton on bush psychedelia, collaborating with the late Rob Hirst, and his new LP Colonial Drift
- March 24
-
- “They’re not just relics of the past. They are benchmarks”: The holy grail of tone – three amps that built the sound of recorded guitar
- “Brad said, ‘I know where it is.’ He opened up Guitar Player and it was there in a photo of Slash’s guitar collection”: The story of Joe Perry’s ’59 Les Paul Standard – his lost treasure and ultimate birthday gift
- “The house and studio burned to the ground. When we got there, Pink was sitting in the driveway. She gave me a Gibson guitar case with a bow on it”: How Butch Walker’s ear for killer tone took him on a journey from obscurity to in-demand producer
- March 23
-
- “Her family wanted the guitar to go to a good home where it would actually be played. I still can’t believe her generosity”: With the help of a stunning vintage Gibson acoustic, Jussi Reijonen is giving Western folk an Arabian makeover
- “Some of the guys made fun of it, but it ended up giving us our second Number 1”: Back to the Future made them a household name, now they needed a followup – the making of Huey Lewis and the News’ last big rock ’n’ roll guitar record
- “Too much gain is one of the most common tone mistakes”: How to dial in any guitar amp and find your sound
- “Opening the case, we find ourselves transported back in time some 54 years”: How Gibson made the ultimate tribute to David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson
- “The pinnacle of sonic engineering”: Ashdown pairs the classic, sought-after valve tone with modern flexibility in its SX guitar amp line
- “Focused, harmonically rich valve tone with a modern edge”: Orange redefines modern tube amps with the OR60, a single-channel, easy-to-use amp head with serious muscle
- Built in the UK: Why Marshall still defines the sound of guitar
- PRS has set the industry standard for high-quality, touring- and studio-ready guitars – now, its sights are firmly set on crafting tone-first amp designs for serious guitarists
- “Giving guitarists multiple paths to finding the sound that fits their playing”: How Mesa/Boogie balances its storied heritage with modern tonal versatility across three flagship ranges – the Mark VII, Fillmore, and Badlander
- “Our job isn’t to preserve the past. It’s to give players the tools they need to create the sounds of tomorrow”: As Blackstar heads towards its 20th anniversary, it redefines what it means to develop an artist-first amp that pairs class with innovation
- “Unparalleled amplification for digital guitar rigs”: Laney is leading the way for FRFR speakers in 2026 – and its LFR lineup sets a new standard for amp modeler users
- March 22
- March 21
-
- “It's exactly Bruce’s guitar to his specifications. He just made it purple in honor of Moe’s Tavern”: Simpsons icon Hank Azaria on his Springsteen tribute – and his custom Moe guitar from the Boss’ own builder
- “Those Fender Jazz basses sounded fantastic, but they scared the hell out of me”: Why bassist Paul Samwell-Smith chose a short-scale Epiphone for his “rave-ups” with the Yardbirds
- “Fender execs were miffed that the brand was being represented by such a worn-out Strat. They gave Rory a new one to replace the ’61. It saw little use”: The story of Rory Gallagher’s ’61 Stratocaster, one of the most iconic guitars of all time
- March 20
-
- “There were no frets left on it. I’d never seen anything as horrible!” How a new recruit turned Swedish adventure rockers Hällas into a band of gearheads
- “I’d never met B.B. and thought he’d look at me like, ‘Who the hell are you?’ So I just froze”: Warren Haynes remembers B.B. King – from being in awe to playing with him
- March 19
-
- “It’s a triangle – gear, hands, feel. Where do they meet? What feels right, sounds sick, and is helping you play better?”: Varials’ Shane Lyons believes the band's new album is an “ear assault” that defines their pummeling sound
- “The Gretsch was given by John Lennon to his cousin. He kept it for almost 50 years”: The magical mystery of the $1.3m Gretsch that might have recorded a Beatles classic
- March 18
-
- “I dream of him a lot – only the positive stuff. But the negative stuff hits me in reality. The night he joined, he said, ‘I haven’t learnt the songs’”: Francis Rossi on the Status Quo groove, Kempers, and his relationship with the late Rick Parfitt
- “It puts the Black Strat in the neighborhood of the most expensive Stradivarius violins ever sold”: I was there when records were broken at the biggest guitar auction in history – and witnessed a new dawn in the value of the instrument
- “I was told to pack for three months, learn four albums' worth of material and be ready to leave in three days!” How bassist Eva Gardner landed the gig with Pink
- “I try to avoid rehearsals at all costs now. It’s the only way I can survive”: I’m a drummer. You guitarists have made me hate being in bands
- “It was kept in Lennon’s attic studio… You can see the guitar in photographs right by his Farfisa and Brenell tape machines”: John Lennon’s ’64 Rickenbacker is officially a $1.3m guitar – but it was originally a replacement for a Beatles live show
- March 17
-
- “Harrison put the SG into immediate use on recording sessions for Revolver”: George Harrison’s 1964 Gibson SG Standard is officially part of the multi-million dollar guitar club – but as a piece of Beatles history it’s priceless
- “Living in the shadow of my grunge parents, Courtney and Billy… it was a complex and exhausting shadow to come out from under”: Melissa Auf der Maur on joining Hole amidst tragedy and her “Master’s in Music” with the Smashing Pumpkins
- “I get up to the counter and the guy’s like, ‘Ah, you know what? I just don’t like that guitar. I’ll give it to you for a few hundred bucks’”: Cory Wong on not buying the Klon hype and vintage unicorns lost and found
- March 16
-
- “When you plugged in a guitar it would overdrive like crazy – it was incredible!” How a Radio Shack pedal and a fiery Fall Out Boy guest spot helped Filth is Eternal live up to their name
- “After the set, Hendrix came knocking on the dressing room door and said, ‘I want you to come on tour with me’”: Chicago bassist Peter Cetera reflects on signing for Columbia Records, opening for Jimi Hendrix and why Paul McCartney changed everything
- “The wood was underwater for thousands of years. It’s shocking it works as well as it does”: Jason Isbell on the acoustic that was eons in the making and how a stolen guitar brought him into the Martin lineup
- “It’s weirdly heavy, which you wouldn’t necessarily expect from its diminutive size”: Up close and personal with Prince’s $635,000 Yellow Cloud guitar
- March 14
-
- “A lot of people said it was Ozzy’s worst record ever. By the late ’90s, I thought, ‘I guess it was. I just really sucked on it’”: Jake E. Lee on his battle to make Ozzy Osbourne’s The Ultimate Sin – and how he learned to love it in spite of the critics
- “There was a lot of mythology around there being ‘secret drugs compartments’”: How 2,000 hours of work and some of the world's most exotic tonewoods birthed Jerry Garcia’s “Tiger”
- March 13
-
- “Joe Walsh and I go on guitar safaris. He’ll say, ‘You only bought one!’ I say, ‘But it cost more than the 10 of yours!’” If the Eagles quit this year, Vince Gill will leave with gratitude and great memories
- “I feel like I’ve been molded for this gig. Trent has been an influence on me from the beginning”: How new Nine Inch Nails bassist Stu Brooks went from pop royalty to one of rock’s most sonically adventurous gigs
- “It was the first production guitar with three pickups. Gibson only made 22 that year – one became the instrument T-Bone Walker used”: How the Gibson ES-5 paved the way for a new wave of electric blues (and maybe even the Strat, too)
- “Left-handed necks of that era typically say ‘Custom’ or ‘Special’ because they were so seldom made and used”: What Kurt Cobain’s record-breaking 1969 ‘Competition’ Mustang tells us about Fender’s guitar building in the ’60s
- March 12
- March 11
-
- “All I need is insurmountable odds. Give me your worst guitar, an amp made in a garage and a pedal that’s not meant to be there. We’ve got something”: Josh Homme is finally ready to talk tone
- “I’ve spoken to a lot of people about it – many of them think it will make more this time around”: David Gilmour’s Black Strat could be about to break records all over again
- March 10
-
- “We couldn’t play those songs properly. It’s a bunch of kids, playing a lot of chords, not always successfully”: Glenn Tilbrook on the resurrection of the Squeeze concept album that never was
- “He felt a responsibility to look after these things. He was aware that you can’t be buried with them – you are but the temporary custodian”: Inside the greatest guitar auction of all time
- March 9
-
- “I would go by John’s room and he’d be working on alternate picking to a metronome. I’d never seen anyone do that before”: He arrived on the shred scene with Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker and John Petrucci… then he vanished
- “Joe said, ‘Check this out.’ It just so happened to be a quarter-of-a-million-dollar guitar that got the job done”: How Eric Gales enlisted Buddy Guy, Kingfish, Joe Bonamassa (and his guitar collection) to pay tribute to his brother
- March 8
-
- “Sometimes David had suggestions. If he wanted a specific thing, he'd ask for or try to explain it. Lenny's the opposite – he wants it to sound exactly like he did it!” How Gail Ann Dorsey honed her bass craft with David Bowie and Lenny Kravitz
- “We’d get a note from the tour manager, ‘Prince is here and would love to play with you.’ It was like, ‘What? Here, take my guitar, please!’” Vicki Peterson on a gift from the Bangles’ most famous fan – and their garage approach to an ’80s pop classic
- “When everyone’s staring at you, you can’t run off and cry. You just gotta deal with it”: Witch Fever’s Alisha Yarwood on superhero stompboxes, dream tours with IDLES, and why ‘That Great Gretsch Sound’ was doom-punk all along
- “I hate bass player albums. It's an ugly instrument, solo-wise. Probably the only person I can tolerate is Marcus Miller”: Grammy-winning bassist Meshell Ndegeocello favors restraint over fretboard theatrics – but Marcus Miller (and Jaco) get a pass
- March 7
- March 6
-
- “We could hold our own with any company. It didn’t bother us if we were put on the bill with Crimson or Zeppelin. Nothing phased us”: Remembering the late Mick Abrahams, co-founder of Jethro Tull and purveyor of “good, honest music”
- “How I rap correlates with how I play. There’s a lot of syncopation and dead notes”: Ando San on marrying hip-hop with prog, thumping, and his eight-string guitar personally spec'd by Jeff Kiesel
- “I remember he had these massive hands… I said, ‘Mr King, my name is Joanne and I’m 13, and I think I’m going to be a blues guitarist’”: Joanne Shaw Taylor’s life-changing first meeting with the great B.B. King
- March 5
-
- “He played guitar like an orchestrator, arranging in real time around his own voice”: Jeff Buckley is an underrated guitar genius – and deserves a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- “When I heard Train Kept a Rollin' I said, ‘Man, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford have gotten really good!’ After Steven left, Jack Douglas said, ‘Don’t say anything, but that’s not Brad and Joe’”: Angel’s Punky Meadows on why he didn’t join Kiss or Aerosmith
- “Rick Rubin heard something. He had to convince those guys – they were kind of tentative. But Aerosmith was up for anything”: Joe Perry on how Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. united rock and rap – and the secret role the Beastie Boys played
- “Ed was under the same pressure we all were. You can play your old gear, but it sounds old”: Billy Corgan on what drives guitar heroes to change their tone – and how it led him to package his sound in a pedal
- March 4
-
- “He was like, ‘Who's your favorite guitar player?’ I said, ‘Django Reinhardt.’ He’s like, ‘Wrong answer – go home!’”: The key Berklee lesson that kept giving to Big Thief's Buck Meek as he built his new solo album
- I spent the weekend testing the best guitar gear of the year at The Guitar Show in Birmingham – these are the 9 hottest products you can buy right now
- “There was a big snowstorm. The governor asked him to postpone the show. He wouldn’t do it. He goes, ‘I told them I’m going to be here and I’m here’”: Joe Bonamassa on his friendship with the ultimate bluesman, B.B. King – and paying the ultimate tribute
- “I was using my Line 6 POD. He said, ‘I’ve got something that may work better.’ He sent me two things in the mail…” When Joe Satriani volunteered to help Dethklok mastermind Brendon Small with his home recording
- March 3
- March 2
-
- “There’s more to life than just guitar. Once you've had a heart attack there’s always that thing in your mind that it could happen again”: How Al Di Meola’s heart attack led to his anti-ICE concert with Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen
- “It’s the only guitar I’ve kept from then. I paid $900 for it. Today it might be worth $45,000”: How Europe’s John Norum learned to love The Final Countdown – and the guitar he used to track its iconic solo
- He wrote chart-topping hits and one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, but all he wanted to do was play deep slide blues – remembering the late, great Chris Rea
- March 1
