Features

Randy Rhoads on the struggle to become his own player and avoid the Eddie Van Halen comparisons

By Phil Weller Published 4 September 26

From the Archive He was regularly compared to Eddie Van Halen, but Randy Rhoads struggled with the height of his hype

The Canadian guitarist who worked with Rush, Heart and k.d. lang – and unwittingly co-wrote a Rolling Stones song

By Andrew Daly Published 4 September 26

Award-winning session player Ben Mink – who missed out on playing guitar for Chuck Berry by a coin-toss, and took up violin after meeting Jimmy Page – can’t believe he’s managed to pay the rent for over 50 years

From the Stone Roses to Paul Weller, poverty to ’59 Les Pauls, Aziz Ibraham shares his remarkable story

By Andrew Daly Published 3 September 26

The Manchester-born guitarist and composer landed his dream gig with The Stone Roses in 1996, then everything changed

Hannah Wicklund on how a blues lawyer got her playing boutique guitars aged 9 – and the weapon she picked to take on Deep Purple and Yes

By Henry Yates Published 3 September 26

South Carolina’s rising blues-rocker on her expensive tastes, the “turn-off” of gold hardware, and why she is ready to bring out her flame-painted T-type again (despite the jibes)

5 reasons why I think every guitarist should try a baritone

By Daryl Robertson Published 3 September 26

I challenged my preconceived ideas about this long-scale, low-tuned guitar, and what I learned has me looking at the baritone differently

Albert Lee is the legendary British picker who found his home in country music – and made guitar heroes quake in their boots

By Matt Parker Published 2 September 26

The icon of rock and country guitar tells all: what it was like performing alongside Eric Clapton and George Harrison, how he inspired Jimmy Page and why he hates distortion

The inimitable Robyn Hitchcock on the enigma of songwriting

By Jamie Dickson Published 1 September 26

The psych-folk pioneer tells us about the “sprawling mess” of his songwriting, the hell of forgotten tunings, and the Telecaster that almost broke his back

Is this humble Ampeg the vintage tube combo to rival golden-era Fender amps?

By Chris Gill Published 1 September 26

We trace the history and influence of two cult classic amps from Ampeg, the R-12R Reverberocket and 1965-67 GS-12R Reverberocket II

The secret to Descendents’ seminal punk guitar sound and why Milo stood the test of time

By Jim Beaugez Published 31 August 26

Downpicking like demons on all six strings, the Descendents tore through L.A.’s ’80s underground and launched a thousand punks-in-waiting

Angus Young’s thoughts on Eric Clapton – and the players he prefers

By Jonathan Horsley Published 31 August 26

From the Archive When the AC/DC guitarist was coming up, Clapton was the player blowing everyone's mind but his