Billy Sheehan explains his three-finger plucking technique By Nick Wells published 15 June 24 After almost 60 years of playing bass, Billy Sheehan is still learning – and still flooring listeners
“Sometimes the guitar will tell you what it likes the best”: How to choose the right strings for your guitar By Jamie Dickson published 15 June 24 String guru Curt Mangan busts myths and drops knowledge that will help us make better decisions when it comes to the most fundamental gear purchase we routinely make
Best distortion pedals 2024: the top 11 high-gain stompboxes for guitarists By Jonathan Horsley last updated 14 June 24 Crunch, filth, mayhem! Dive into our expert round-up of the best distortion pedals available today
How Peter Nordin navigated a 172bpm maze of nightmarish polymetric riffs on Meshuggah’s Future Breed Machine By Bryan Beller published 14 June 24 Original Meshuggah bassist Peter Nordin breaks down the tech-metal trailblazers’ 1995 underground classic
Best Yamaha acoustic guitars 2024: our pick of Yamaha acoustics to suit all players By Chris Corfield last updated 14 June 24 Our top picks from perhaps the most under-rated of the big acoustic brands
How rising Gen Z guitar star Alfie Templeman wound up with Nile Rodgers on his new album By Andrew Daly published 14 June 24 With Rodgers guesting on his second album, the 21-year-old is committed to Strat-ing his way out of his comfort zone – preferably without TikToking all the time
Meet LA Priest, the inventor-guitarist questioning everything you know about tone By Matt Parker published 14 June 24 UK musician and tonal pioneer Sam Eastgate is using a pile of self-built pedals, an obscure guitar and an amp he literally found in a dumpster to create a sound unlike anything else
The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord on crossing the Rubicon with Porcupine Tree’s drummer By Gregory Adams published 14 June 24 It Leads to This finds Soord and company working in weird time signatures and towards the point of mental exhaustion in search of new sounds
The unsung guitarist who transformed James Brown’s music, and laid a funky path for Nile Rodgers, John Frusciante, Cory Wong and countless others By Jackson Maxwell published 14 June 24 Overshadowed by the flamboyant frontman for whom he worked, Jimmy Nolen created a singular rhythm style that can still be heard all over pop and rock radio today
How Gibson’s SJ-200 acoustic wowed Elvis, Dylan and more to become ‘King of the Flat-tops’ By Huw Price published 14 June 24 The J-200 is Gibson’s most iconic flat-top – and these vintage examples include one of the first ever made, and the very last Gibson acoustic to be manufactured in Kalamazoo
Rusty Anderson on his session journey – from supporting Van Halen to joining Paul McCartney’s band By Andrew Daly published 13 June 24 The Gibson signature artist on why a rack makes most sense on tour, his approach to session work from Elton John to the Bangles, and how to keep feeling challenged with solo work
Best Telecasters 2024: the top Fender Tele electric guitars for all budgets and styles By Amit Sharma last updated 13 June 24 Figure out which is the best Telecaster for you - we pay homage to Fender's iconic electric guitar
HAAL are turning UK post-hardcore upside-down with anti-breakdowns, eight-minute songs and amp-exploding fuzz pedals By Phil Weller published 13 June 24 Custom fuzz with +100dB boost? Check. Modernized T-style? Check. Music that makes people feel “weird”? Check. As Alfie Hay explains, the HAAL sound is something different entirely
Meet the unsung bass hero who laid down one of the noughties’ most irresistible basslines with Beyoncé By Chris Jisi published 13 June 24 Jon Jon Webb laid down his standout grooves with a late-‘90s Fender Marcus Miller Signature Jazz Bass
“I wanted to switch from Strats”: Vito Bratta on why he made the leap to his iconic ’88 Steinberger GM2T By Andrew Daly published 13 June 24 The former White Lion axe-slinger on how a newfound love of the hi-tech – and a desire to stand apart from Eddie Van Halen – led to an all-new guitar that found its way onto the cover of Guitar World in 1989
DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith and Andrew Bailey on pedalboard expansionism and shoegaze’s trippy future By Phil Weller published 12 June 24 With pedalboards crowded with dirt boxes, samplers and amps cranked, DIIV are steering shoegaze into bold new soundscapes
Meet Sabastiside, the innovative rhythm king who loves $200 guitars By Phil Weller published 12 June 24 After ditching shred to focus on rhythm playing, the progressive metal guitarist has developed an innovative “hybrid rasgueado” technique
Best mini amps for guitar 2024: power up your practice with these tiny towers of tone By Matt McCracken last updated 12 June 24 Short on space? Practice anywhere with these small guitar amps that pack a punch
“It’s not about playing whatever the lowest note available is”: Listen to John Paul Jones’ isolated bass on Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On By Nick Wells published 12 June 24 Recorded in 1969 when John Paul Jones was just 23, Ramble On stands apart from the rocked-out blues songs that dominate Led Zeppelin II
Squier’s new Limited Edition Classic Vibe models are so desirable, I broke my decade-long guitar buying ban. So how did they get me hooked? By Matt Parker published 12 June 24 I usually stand strong in the face of guitar-makers’ marketing tricks, but firms are finding new ways of making affordable lines tempting