Best DIY guitar kits 2022: self-assembly project guitars for every budget By Richard Blenkinsop published 22 July 22 We’ve compiled our pick of the best DIY guitar kits for budding luthiers – build your own guitar today
Nile’s Karl Sanders: “If you took all the guitars out of Saurian Apocalypse, it would be an ambient/meditative record. But I like playing guitar, so there’s guitars” By Greg Prato published 22 July 22 Sanders returns with his first solo album in 13 years, and it is a haunting and hypnotic companion piece to Nile’s tech-death cacophony, featuring the genius of Rusty Cooley on acoustic
Best online guitar lessons 2022: remote learning platforms for guitar players, tested by us By Chris Corfield published 22 July 22 Develop your guitar skills from the comfort of your home, with the help of these online lessons services – options for all levels and budgets
WAAX: “It kind of sounds awful, but in this amazing way” By Ellie Robinson published 22 July 22 On their second album, At Least I’m Free, WAAX throw caution to the wind and embrace calamity
Guns N' Roses' Slash and Izzy Stradlin: "We wanted the necessary studio polish, but with the live, raw feeling intact" By Joe Bosso published 21 July 22 In this 1989 GW interview, Slash n' Stradlin reflect on the tough circumstances and jam sessions that helped form Guns N' Roses' blockbuster debut, Appetite for Destruction
Imperial Triumphant’s Zachary Ezrin on his wild approach to guitar: “There’s tons of cool stuff you can do when you stop caring about hitting the note perfectly” By Chris Schwarten published 21 July 22 The jazz-inspired black metal maestro talks influences, techniques, and surprise guest appearances on the NYC trio’s terrifying new album, The Spirit of Ecstasy
The history of Fender’s sparkle finishes By Rod Brakes published 21 July 22 Vintage guitar guru David Davidson of Well Strung Guitars takes us back to the hot-rod car culture of 1950s California to pick up the story of Fullerton’s most lustrous paint jobs
Angie Swan takes us behind the scenes of David Byrne’s American Utopia and reveals how it changed the way she plays guitar By Jim Beaugez published 21 July 22 The guitar is important, says Swan, but don't forget your body is an instrument as well – and that team players get all the best gigs
…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: “We’ve just become gearheads in the last couple years. Before we were like, ‘Whatever, if you plug it in and it works, f**k it!’” By Tom Beaujour published 20 July 22 Conrad Keely and Jason Reece on how they created an immersive quadrophonic experience on their new album, XI: Bleed Here Now
Carlos Santana: "You'll get scratched once in a while when you jam with other people. But that's all part of it. You have to be bold" By Bill Milkowski published 20 July 22 In this 1988 GW interview, Santana opines on the power of the blues, his collaborations with John Lee Hooker, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and the high-wire magic of jamming
When should you change your guitar pickups? By Jamie Dickson published 20 July 22 The simple answer is whenever you want, but first you've got to know what sound you are after. Here, Tim Mills from Bare Knuckle offers some advice for undertaking this most popular mod
Why don’t more guitars come with different brands’ pickups mixed and matched? By Dave Burrluck published 19 July 22 Most of the electric guitars we buy have own-brand pickups or a pairing from one brand, but there is another way and it can work well. Here are a few things to consider before reaching for the Seymour Duncan, the DiMarzio, and that soldering iron
Best guitar cables 2022: recommended instrument cables for electric, acoustic and bass guitar By Richard Blenkinsop published 19 July 22 Plug in with confidence using our guide to the best guitar cables from Planet Waves, Mogami, Ernie Ball, George L’s and more
Introducing bubble harmonics, a new guitar technique inspired by EVH and Alan Gogoll, pioneered by Atlanta guitarist Donn Aaron By Jonathan Horsley published 19 July 22 Watch Aaron demonstrate the technique in the solo instrumental Star Castle, with no effects besides a little compression and an MXR Phase 90 set at zero
35 years of Fender Mexico: a timeline By Tony Bacon published 18 July 22 How Fender's Mexican plant went from converted church with a handful of employees to the powerhouse facility behind some of its top-selling instruments
Best pedals for classic rock 2022: killer stompboxes to help you recreate the tones of the rock elite By Daryl Robertson published 18 July 22 Our pick of overdrive, modulation, delay and boost pedals for an authentic classic rock tone that is sure to melt faces
How ThorpyFX harnessed Syd Barrett’s signature Selmer tones for the Scarlet Tunic By Jamie Dickson published 18 July 22 British pedal maker ThorpyFX has teamed up with Lee Harris of Saucerful of Secrets to capture the sound of Syd’s Selmer, but as we find out, there is a lot more to the Scarlet Tunic besides nailing those early Pink Floyd guitar tones
Soccer Mommy: “I wanted there to be this mix of evil and light” By Ellie Robinson published 18 July 22 Soccer Mommy peers back the curtain on her most ambitious album yet: Sometimes, Forever
In search for the perfect melody with Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s Joe White and Frank Keaney By Jonathan Horsley published 18 July 22 The Melbourne-based indie-rockers’ Endless Rooms is a quietly epic record of spiritual uplift, existential angst and world-building songs, and it is constructed by three very different guitarists working in unison, chasing ideas as far as they’ll go
Dimebag Darrell – the Far Beyond Driven interview: “I knew it was going to be one bad motherf**ker – refreshing, new, and that’s what it was” By Brad Tolinski published 15 July 22 In this 1994 GW interview, Pantera’s larger-than-life guitarist opens up about his musical upbringing, the parallels with the Van Halen brothers, Randy Rhoads’ influence, and the noises and tones behind the band’s uncompromising new sound
