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July 2024
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179 articles
- July 26
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- “The beautiful thing about the Telecaster is there’s not a formula about how it’s supposed to sound”: Julien Baker explains why the Tele is the most usable electric guitar there is as she demos Fender’s new Player II model
- “I still have my uniform on, and I said, ‘I’ve been at work all day and I cut off all my hair.’ Gary said, ‘Bring your guitar. I’ll see you at six’”: Steve Morse quit music to become an airline pilot – until Lynyrd Skynyrd persuaded him to return
- Guitar World deals of the week: save $250 on a Guild 12-string, a nearly half-price reverb pedal, plus loads of big savings on Fender and Squier guitars
- “I hear depth in the amp that’s mic’d – I hear so much that I don’t hear in the digital plugin, which seems almost pasted onto the screen”: Alex Lifeson explains why digital amps can’t match up to the real thing
- “Who knew Billy could play guitar?” Billy Joel rocks a Strat with Axl Rose in surprise cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell
- “He made the guitar cry. It has the same spirit and the same soul that a human voice has”: Breakout TikTok guitarist Towa Bird channels her hero Jimi Hendrix with The Star-Spangled Banner performance ahead of 2024 MLS All-Star Game
- “This record is a serious piece of work… I think it’s some of my best songwriting and playing”: Jerry Cantrell taps Guns N’ Roses and Metallica bassists for new solo album I Want Blood
- “It was going to be thrown out… Sting says, ‘Go on then, make it your own.’ I did it in one take”: The Police were set to ditch Every Breath You Take before Andy Summers added his riff – now the original demo has surfaced after 42 years, you can hear why
- “I’d like to dedicate this to Lucy-Bleu”: Slash pays tribute to his late stepdaughter with emotional instrumental performance
- “I never practiced – never practiced ever”: Yngwie Malmsteen may be one of the most accomplished players of all time, but he didn’t develop his superhuman guitar skills by practicing, apparently
- July 25
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- “It's meant to be a noise gate... It actually makes it noisier when it shuts off”: That time Steve Albini listed all of his worst pedals and why he hated them
- “He reminds me of Joe when Joe was a young man”: This 12-year-old guitar prodigy is destined to be a blues great – and he just jammed with Joe Bonamassa (and Lowell George’s Dumble)
- “I was inspired by one of my favorite players – you may recognize some of his signature licks”: Matteo Mancuso, one of the hottest guitar players on the planet right now, has written a virtuosic tribute track to Paul Gilbert… on baritone
- “You will never find this shape ever, it’s unique”: Jackson debuts a brand-new baritone body design in its road-warrior signature model for JinJer guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov
- “There’s nothing quite like it. It’s my favorite new amp”: Joe Satriani devised the perfect amp to harness Eddie Van Halen’s greatest tones – and you can get a plugin version right now
- “Thank you for rescuing me when I decided that I was going to quit music”: Eric Clapton pays emotional tribute to his Bluesbreaker bandmate and blues mentor John Mayall
- “I’m guessing he wasn’t in, otherwise he would have quite obviously invited us in for a jam”: America’s Got Talent star Old Grey Guitarist plays Whole Lotta Love… outside Jimmy Page’s house
- “It can sing like a Les Paul, bark like an SG and spank like a Flying V”: The Explorer chugged for Hetfield, sang the blues with Clapton and made the Edge sound ginormous – is it still Gibson’s most underrated electric guitar?
- July 24
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- “No brand-new guitar sounds quite as good as an old one in my experience”: David Gilmour reckons vintage guitars are superior – and he’s got a theory as to why
- “A wonderful guy that changed the game for all of us”: John Mayall, 1933-2024 – the guitar world pays tribute
- “We've played around with this idea, which people don't do very often”: Martin has teamed up with Reverb for a unique limited-edition Custom GP Blonde – priced at $7,999 apiece
- “This guitar is irreplaceable and special beyond words”: Thieves make off with prized family heirloom 1977 Gibson Les Paul… months after its owner’s house was destroyed by a tree
- “Let the healing begin”: Guitar virtuoso Jimmy Herring's cancer diagnosis leads Widespread Panic to cancel upcoming dates
- “Keep on playing the blues somewhere, John. We love you”: John Mayall, the Godfather of British Blues, dies aged 90
- July 23
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- “At the end of the day, back in ’88, when I was in the studio singing Youth Gone Wild, I was making a record that I loved myself”: Sebastian Bach recruits his 11-year-old stepson on guitar for a rendition of the Skid Row classic
- “I called John immediately and said, ‘Dude, you have to join us for a song. I’m not going to let you not play with us’”: Dave Navarro on how he and John Frusciante finally played together for the first time after decades of friendship
- “That amp quite literally changed my life”: Damon Johnson explains why finding the right amp kickstarted his career
- “I play an SG Junior because growing up musicians that were important in my life were Angus Young and Billie Joe Armstrong”: Yungblud’s first-ever Epiphone signature guitar is here – and it’s the best Epi SG Junior you can currently buy
- Jerry Miller, influential Moby Grape guitarist who Eric Clapton called the “best guitar player in the world”, has died aged 81
- “The all-in-one music creation companion”: Donner’s IR-loaded, FX-equipped Hush-I Pro could be the hi-tech headless travel guitar you actually want
- “Describe the tone you’re imagining, and Spark AI will bring it to life”: Positive Grid has unveiled the Spark 2 – here’s how it plans change the amp game… again
- “Virtually indistinguishable from valve amps”: Blackstar reckons its latest affordable solid-state combo nails tube tones, at home or on stage
- July 22
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- “A new era of decadent saturation”: Jam Pedals’ Rattler MkII looks to elevate the ‘80s-era distortion pedal favored by Dave Grohl, James Hetfield and David Gilmour to new heights
- “I bought a yellow one and I went straight on stage with it. I didn’t hesitate. I think the guy has got a breakthrough guitar with this one”: Andy Summers on the new electric guitar that has impressed him enough to put down his Fenders
- “When somebody signs up to listen to a guitar-led band, they might assume it's going to be a bunch of shredding”: Cory Wong subverts expectations of what a lead guitarist should sound like during rare acoustic set
- “He was like, ‘Come on down to rehearsals.’ I’ll never forget it. I was blown away”: John 5 on the time he got to watch Van Halen at an intimate reunion rehearsal – and played through Eddie Van Halen’s guitar rig
- “He had an incredibly clean technique, which was very, very rare. I’ve never found it in any other guitar player”: Alan Parsons on why late Project and Kate Bush guitarist Ian Bairnson was unlike any guitarist he’d ever encountered
- “The last time I played that song was 30 years ago”: Krist Novoselic revisits three Nirvana classics as he joins FooVana hybrid tribute act
- “I'm just going to use them as they were built from the factory”: Deftones' Stephen Carpenter admits he prefers amp modeler factory presets to his own tone creations
- Slash cancels four S.E.R.P.E.N.T. tour dates due to “unforeseen circumstances”
- “Pentatonic ideas are always the best way to reach an audience. Those tend to be the notes they feel even if they don’t even know why”: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram on why the pentatonic scale is still the GOAT
- July 20
- July 19
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- “Joe has taken the essence of Eddie's guitar solos, and he puts his heart and soul into it… it's so much better than a guy just mimicking him exactly”: Sammy Hagar can’t believe how good Joe Satriani sounds playing Van Halen songs
- Watch Johnny Depp and Andrea Bocelli pay tribute to Jeff Beck – accompanied by a recording of the late guitar hero
- “It was in quite a parlous state… Scott’s blood was on there – his physical remnants were on the guitar”: Richard Hawley on how he came to own Scott Walker’s Fender Telecaster
- “Vibrant new color options, tonewoods, and the classic Spector growl”: Spector unveils three new basses – featuring fresh tonewood and finish options and a gnarly preamp created with Darkglass
- “A solution to quiet practice with pedals that you’ll have a hard time wearing out”: The Porter is a headphone amp designed to work with your favorite guitar and bass pedals – and its creators reckon it’s practically invincible
- “I was recording a solo and didn’t have much direction for it, so I was just swinging in the dark. Luther Dickinson gave me this piece of advice…” How a former Black Crowe changed Samantha Fish’s soloing style forever
- “Futuristic circuitry, significant improvements, and an augmented design”: Mooer stuffs a pedalboard's worth of effects and futuristic features into its next-gen intelligent guitar, the M810
- July 18
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- ”Much like Lollar’s other fantastic pickups, the DC-90 is expressive, musical, and now, quieter”: Lollar's new DC-90 pickup gives you that classic P-90 snap, without the pesky noise
- “The evolution of the revolution is here”: Positive Grid confirms the Spark 2 will arrive within weeks – and, yes, it has a looper
- “Delivering the goods at an affordable price”: JOYO's BSK-80 is the state-of-the-art portable amp modern buskers need
- “I was at a King Crimson show, I was signing autographs and somebody handed me Mariah Carey’s record and said, ‘Would you sign this?’” How Adrian Belew ended up on a number one single without even knowing
- “An extra-reliable wireless experience for even the most nomadic of musicians”: Xvive has upgraded its flagship affordable wireless system, so how does it stack up next to challengers from Fender and Positive Grid?
- “The best Katana models to date”: From functional updates to an all-new amp mode, BOSS has taken its Katana amp range to unprecedented heights with overhauled Gen 3 lineup
- “The first thing they’ll try and do is make one of the six-string guitar shapes work. It's a car crash!” Jacob Collier on how his 5-string signature Strandberg guitar is forcing guitarists to rethink their approach to playing
- “I’m not using conventional chord sequences but things that give me a fresh feeling and opportunities to improvise”: Steve Howe’s new solo album, Guitarscape, is a love letter to the instrument that has held his attention for so long
- “Music means everything to me, and this charity believes in sharing the power of music with everyone who needs it”: Mark Knopfler is giving away an extremely rare acoustic guitar to raise funds for charity
- “Completely melted the faces off of the entire continent of Europe”: 13 year-old Roman Morello proves his father right – he can shred circles around him
- “I said to Billy, ‘We should order one of these, and I’ll play it. It’ll be hilarious.’ Then it went viral. I hate playing that bass. Now I’ve got to play it every night”: Elwood Francis on why he regrets his 17-string bass becoming a ZZ Top staple
- Missed out on Prime Day? Here's 16 guitar gear deals that are still live right now
- July 17
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- “It’s in a tuning that I call ‘Lazy Keith Richards’”: Melvins’ Dale Crover invents a new guitar tuning – and lands a Kim Thayil guest solo – for his new single
- “A tribute to the creative soul of the Stratocaster”: Fender debuts the perfect summer accessory – Strat sunglasses
- “You'll have to be a straight badass just to carry it let alone play it – I want to see what someone can do with it”: Jason Newsted is selling the 10-string Alembic bass used on Metallica’s Black Album tour – and more than 60 other instruments
- “In the Smiths, I used to take 14 guitars out on the road. In The The I’d just take two Strats”: The custom Fender Strat that helped launch Johnny Marr’s post-Smiths career is up for auction
- “A multi-effects pedal on steroids”: Catalinbread’s Bitters reimagines Alesis’ cult sound-mangling DJ effects unit as a guitar pedal – and adds one crucial fix
- PRS has dropped its objection to Gibson’s Theodore trademark – but the dispute continues outside of the courts
- “There's one little lick which annoyed me for a long, long time”: Deep Purple’s Simon McBride on the Ritchie Blackmore lick he found most difficult to learn
- “Your ultimate companion for musical adventures on the go”: Meet the Guild Traveler, a solid mahogany travel acoustic that costs under $250 – and can fit in a plane’s overhead compartment
- “When we lost Taylor, it was very painful for me… I'll be honest, I didn’t pick up the guitar for about a year”: Dave Navarro finished an album with Taylor Hawkins – then he lost his friend, his band and his love of guitar playing
- “I’m checking my sources, but it’s possible that we snapped here”: Vulfpeck guitarist Cory Wong joins anarchic electronic artist Marc Rebillet for a surprise frenzied funk guitar jam
- $500 off a range of stunning Breedlove guitars at Guitar Center is by far the best Prime Day acoustic deal we've seen this year
- July 16
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- Forget Amazon! Sales at Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Fender and Positive Grid are delivering the Prime Day-beating goods
- These 5 easy upgrades will supercharge your Strat – and they're all on sale for Amazon Prime Day
- Sick of spending too much on guitar strings? Stock up for less with these Prime Day discounts from Ernie Ball, D'Addario and more
- “After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue”: Jack Black cancels Tenacious D tour after bandmate Kyle Gass jokes about Trump assassination attempt
- “These guitars are more than just eye-candy – they take a ton of care to make, and they are made to be played”: PRS has finally released one of its most head-turning limited runs worldwide
- “A million guys could have done it. Walk into a music store and you see a 12-year-old playing Eruption, but he doesn’t necessarily know what he’s doing”: Sammy Hagar on why Joe Satriani is the perfect player to step into Van Halen’s shoes
- “I was practicing with it in the dressing room and it was feeling too good to put down”: John Mayer honors Jerry Garcia by performing with a replica Alligator Strat at The Sphere – but says he wasn't ready for its “unbridled fury”
- Harley Benton promises two “no frills rock machines” with its new SG-inspired DC-Custom II guitars – including a Jimmy Page-esque double-neck and stainless steel frets – starting from $244
- Power up your practice for less with a massive up to 40% off Positive Grid smart amps and software
- “Paying homage to classic American amplifiers”: British builder Blackstar turns the dial towards vintage Fender tone with the TV-10A
- “There’s a great picture of me on my knees ripping a guitar solo, and the guitar is bigger than me”: Andrew Watt on the time he shredded at his own bar mitzvah – and what’s next for his Rolling Stones collaborations
- “I had an injury from from using my fingers too much… using the pick actually saved my hands”: Social media bass sensation April Kae burned out her hands from nonstop playing, producing and editing – playing with a pick was her saving grace
- “This five-string electric guitar is a literal dream of mine”: Strandberg and Jacob Collier’s game-changing signature guitar finally arrives this summer
- July 15
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- “I would love to keep it in Ireland if we could”: The Irish government wants to ensure Rory Gallagher’s iconic Fender Strat remains in the country
- “It has become impossible to continue business”: Fernandes Guitars – the company behind iconic electrics played by Billie Joe Armstrong, Kirk Hammett and Robert Fripp – has filed for bankruptcy
- “John Mayer, you’ve been sleeping on a good jam”: Tash Sultana publicly invites John Mayer to a guitar duel
- “He played the guitar at the shop right after Bille Joe Armstrong”: How Yungblud came to play Steve Jones’ iconic Sex Pistols Les Paul onstage in Paris
- Accessorize your guitar playing with these 5 cheap early Prime Day deals
- “You really know how to play guitar?” This superfan travelled 7,000 miles to see Pearl Jam live – and wound up playing guitar on Yellow Ledbetter
- Fender's Prime Day-beating sale has up to 10% off the Ultra range and Squier Contemporary models as well as 20% off many Squier Affinity guitars
- “You don't get many opportunities to own your guitar hero's amp, let alone the one and only...” Joe Bonamassa puts Lowell George’s Dumble amp through its paces – 45 years after it was last played publicly
- You don't need to be a luthier to build a genuine Fender Stratocaster with this epic 20% off Prime Day Lego deal
- “I look up and he’s sitting right next to me. He was super-fascinated with the EBow”: Pop session great Michael Thompson on the time he recorded guitar for Michael Jackson – and the King of Pop walked in mid-session
- “It’s no wonder Eddie had so much fun playing this!” Joe Satriani tackles a wealth of Van Halen classics in the first footage from the Best of All Worlds tour
- “I wish I didn’t get paid. I wish I took a quarter point or something, ‘cause now I would be a rich man”: Slayer’s Kerry King on what he regrets about his solo on the Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Till Brooklyn
- July 12
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- “This is the Epiphone evolution I wished we had when I was growing up”: How does Epiphone’s Inspired By Gibson Custom Les Paul compare to the standard model that’s $500 cheaper?
- “Mercifully he is now out of danger and will soon return home”: Jonny Greenwood hospitalized for emergency treatment, forcing The Smile to cancel tour dates
- “When I saw the FVZZ IPA come out, I thought, ‘There should be a pedal to go with that!’” This pedal company was so inspired by an indie beer brew that it launched a companion fuzz
- Forget waiting for Prime Day to start, here are 5 massive savings on guitar pedals available right now at Amazon
- “This is the stuff of dreams”: 11-year-old wows Kiko Loureiro with her solo skills at the ex-Megadeth shredder’s guitar camp
- “The surest way to keep straps straight”: Joe Satriani and D’Addario have designed a $20 guitar strap that could completely eliminate the dreaded twisted strap problem
- “You’re not hearing the click of the pick as much, and I’m able to float across the strings a lot faster”: Guthrie Trapp shares the picking hack that could help you play faster – and sound better
- “As soon as Joe saw that, he said, ‘I have your uncle’s bass!’” Rick Beato reunited with his late uncle’s bass after 50 years – with the help of Joe Bonamassa
- “If you’ve seen them play live the crowd goes off! It looks a lot like some of the big bands of the ’90s”: Måneskin’s Thomas Raggi joins Tom Morello on stage in Italy – with a special appearance from Morello’s son Roman
- “I can’t explain what it is about a guitar that makes it special. This one is different”: David Gilmour couldn’t bear to sell this guitar at auction – now it’s all over his new solo album
- “Blues is really thriving and alive and fresh at the moment, whereas it’s few and far between for me to find interesting things to listen to in rock”: Slash was so impressed by this UK blues guitarist that he personally paid to bring him to the US
- July 11
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- “Unapologetic, fearless with their own musical and personal style and really able to challenge the conventions of what hard rock music is”: Tom Morello reveals his two favorite contemporary hard-rock bands
- “You all might know this tune, I think”: Eric Gales calls upon Slash and unleashes his inner Hendrix for Purple Haze jam
- “We are proud to present this bespoke genealogy to you, told in a new and innovative way”: Shania Twain presented with a stunning handmade guitar in celebration of her musical legacy and Irish heritage
- “I’m sure people will say, ‘What’s this doing here?’” Joe Satriani reveals the one mod he’s made to all his EVH guitars ahead of the Best of All Worlds tour – and the vintage Music Man Wolfgang he’s taking on the road
- “The serial number was the same as John Lennon’s amp. I couldn’t believe it”: John Lennon’s first Vox amp – used on early Beatles recordings and Cavern gigs – was lost for 60 years. Now it may have been found, covered in black paint, on an auction site
- “We need to become the custodians of that magical guitar”: €1,000,000 campaign launched to buy Rory Gallagher’s iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster and keep it in Ireland
- Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer sued for wrongful death
- “Extended dynamic response that’s not possible with traditional analog designs”: Boss rolls out its biggest GT-1000 update in years – introducing all-new amp models that go beyond what tube amps are capable of
- July 10
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- “Eric called and said, ‘Buddy Guy, George Harrison and I are playing tonight. You’re going to come and jam’”: Richie Sambora recalls receiving Eric Clapton’s spontaneous invite to a star-studded jam session
- “David Gilmour had been playing the riff. I said, ‘And then what happens?’ And he said, ‘No, that’s it.’ I said, ’Do you mind if I see what happens next?’” Roger Waters reflects on writing Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here – and the meaning behind it
- “This is a complete vindication”: Dean Guitars maker has won the right to a retrial in Gibson trademark dispute – but what does that really mean?
- “I woke up with those words, ‘Smoke on the Water’, on my lips. I mentioned it to Ian and he said, ‘Sounds like a drug song, we better not do that’”: Deep Purple just played Smoke on the Water on the lake that inspired it – with actual fire in the sky
- “Dusty is their bass player. I'm not the bass player. I shouldn't be in the band”: Elwood Francis replaced Dusty Hill in ZZ Top – but he still feels uncomfortable about it
- July 9
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- “That was the coolest thing about Eddie for me. That’s why nobody could ever touch him”: Slash explains why Eddie Van Halen was really a blues player at heart
- “Man, could he play the guitar or what?” Stevie Ray Vaughan stuns David Letterman in newly uploaded footage of his Late Night show debut
- “It is no longer an option to continue”: Queens of the Stone Age cancel tour dates as Josh Homme is rushed to emergency surgery
- “I’ve always missed being in Kiss, but if that meant being the Spaceman like Tommy, I wouldn’t want to do it”: Bruce Kulick was never invited to rejoin Kiss – and he's OK with that
- It's a blues extravaganza starring Slash, Kingfish, Samantha Fish, Gary Clark Jr. and Billy Gibbons – only in the new Guitar World
- “The Player II Series is not just an upgrade. It’s a detailed re-imagining”: Fender has overhauled its most popular range in response to requests from guitarists, with never-before-seen body options – and the return of rosewood
- “The world’s most versatile guitar just became even more versatile”: Gibson’s ES Supreme adds full-body Burst finishes and flexible switching to the firm’s classic semi-hollow build
- July 8
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- “The ID:Core V4 combos are obviously ideal first amps”: Blackstar’s cream-of-the-crop ID:Core practice amp has just been given a fitting finish update
- “He said, ‘This is the only lap steel I would go out and play rock and roll with... so this one's for you’”: Cage the Elephant's Nick Bockrath got his lap steel – and some of the best buying advice of his life – from Bob Dylan guitarist Bucky Baxter
- “He said, ‘I never want the band to go by the wayside and the music just disappear’”: Rickey Medlocke defends Lynyrd Skynyrd’s decision to continue with no original members
- “It's my mod on Frankenstein. Eddie's gonna come back and kill me!” Joe Satriani fears Eddie Van Halen will haunt him for what he’s done to his Frankenstein design
- “He had me play a couple of odd muted things and groove for a while, and then he said ‘OK, you're it’”: Esteemed bassist Tom Fowler, best known for his work with Frank Zappa, has died aged 73
- “One piece of rock and roll history that has remained absent for three decades”: Eddie Van Halen’s long-lost Canada flag Music Man has been unseen for 30 years – now it’s going up for auction
- “On this guitar, he carved out his legacy of being one of the greatest guitarists of all time”: Rory Gallagher’s iconic ’61 Fender Stratocaster is heading to auction for the first time ever
- July 6
- July 5
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- Joe Satriani shreds and taps through Van Halen’s Poundcake in new Best Of All Words rehearsal footage – and it seems his Ibanez signatures still have a role to play after all
- “When I heard the Rolling Stones, they sounded like a bad high school band to me. I didn't get it”: Tommy Emmanuel explains how a love of Chet Atkins meant he initially struggled to understand The Rolling Stones and Beatles hype
- Tim Henson’s Ibanez nylon-string signature guitar was one of 2023’s best-selling acoustics – now, it’s finally been made available as a left-handed version
- “The pinnacle of compact looper development”: DigiTech looks to shake up the looper market by reviving its latest stompbox staple, the upgraded JamMan Solo HD
- “Does anyone know how to play this?”: Yungblud is inviting fans on stage to play guitar – and he's letting them take home his SG Juniors
- July 4
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- “Redefining what it means to be a versatile instrument”: The Mogabi V3 is a foldable “electric guitar game-changer” with a built-in speaker – and it’s already smashed its Kickstarter target
- “He’s a guy that really invented electric guitar, and a lot of what people are doing today”: Jennifer Batten pays tribute to Jeff Beck, her former collaborator, with a searing cover of Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers
- “It’s definitely out of the question. It's not gonna happen”: Two weeks ago, a Sepultura reunion looked likely – but now Max Cavalera has changed his mind
- A guitar with SoCal style: Powers Electric A-Type combines style and playability to inspire even the most demanding guitarist
- The On-the-Go Ciari Ascender guitar - ready for stage, studio, and everywhere in between
- “A lot of dedicated Who fans come to every show in order to see Roger hit me in the face again, for me to smash him over the head with a guitar”: Pete Townshend sets the record straight about Roger Daltrey's comments on The Who's retirement
- “They had spoken to me also. Who knows what was going on in their minds?” Michael Anthony says he and ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted were both approached for the failed Van Halen tribute
- Save 80% with Guitar Tricks' best subscription offer of the year – including a free custom lesson plan to get you off to a flying start
- Harley Benton has already dropped the best-value Strat copies of the year – now it looks to do the same for single-cuts with the overhauled SC-Custom III range
- “I foresee a revival in 3-4 years that puts them toe-to-toe with Sweetwater”: Sam Ash Music has been acquired by Gonher Music – here’s what that could mean for the iconic retailer
- “Please know that I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025”: Heart postpone 2024 tour after Ann Wilson reveals she is undergoing cancer treatment
- July 3
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- “It was a half-hearted effort. I knew he would clock it”: Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett once tried (and failed) to trick Joe Bonamassa into believing he had bought a genuine '59 Les Paul Burst
- “All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of, ‘Jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things’”: Steven Van Zandt reflects on leaving Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band just before their breakthrough
- “I sourced all the original microphones that were used on the record”: This Nirvana tone chaser has spent years learning how to nail Kurt Cobain's guitar sound – now he’s released his research in the form of The Utero Sessions IR Pack
- “Hear the difference in sound quality”: Fender amps up its home audio game with a series of Bluetooth speakers designed in collaboration with a German speaker giant
- “A really core thing for me that my dad always instilled”: Wolfgang Van Halen still lives by this crucial guitar solo lesson he got from his father
- Do I need a different guitar cable for studio, live, and practice?
- “That song has a pretty epic solo. I remember scratching my head a bit trying to figure out the harmonizer effects he was using”: This is one of the hardest guitar songs you could attempt to cover, according to cover pro Lord Phobos
- “I lost my footing with the guitar off the hook. I get up thinking, ‘I've broken the guitar.’ I couldn't believe it”: When he was 15, Jared James Nichols played a high-end Flying V at a guitar store – but it almost ended in total disaster
- Fender’s Road Worn guitars are becoming a rarity – but now you can make your own, with new vintage-inspired relic’d Stratocaster and Telecaster bodies
- July 2
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- “Met my guitar hero last night”: Grace Bowers finally meets Slash – whose Welcome to the Jungle solo inspired her to pick up guitar
- “I think it sounds very close to vintage amps. If I hadn’t told you that, you probably wouldn’t have guessed, right?”: Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett explains why he opted for a digital modeler over tube amps on his latest EP
- “It reacts like a guitar amp”: Blackstar’s Polar 2 USB audio interface has been designed specifically for guitarists – and it could be the solution to all your guitar-recording woes
- “It has four solos, all of which are contenders for the greatest solo ever played”: This is the top guitar cover of all time, as voted for by Total Guitar readers
- “A nod to our past catering to vintage aficionados”: Antigua acoustics are now a thing, as Fender expands the divisive finish option to its California Vintage range
- “A quintessential mashup of Fender features”: Squier debuts a new Paranormal Telecaster/Jazzmaster hybrid – and revives Fender's mischievous Les Paul-inspired 'Troublemaker' in a new affordable form
- Instrument cable vs speaker cable: What’s the difference?
- “I had just moved to Olympia, and I heard some ruckus in the street, and then on my porch... it was Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl”: Bassist Joe Preston on how he joined the Melvins – with a little help from Nirvana
- 6 of the best 4th of July sales for guitarists: Save up to 60% off guitars, amps, FX and accessories
- “I’ve gone from a kid who couldn’t go to the supermarket to playing with Buddy Guy and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram”: This 16-year-old blues prodigy suffered extreme anxiety, then the guitar saved him – now he’s been called “the next Stevie Ray Vaughan”
- “Drawing inspiration from the line that laid way for Fender’s sub-sonic signal processing”: Fender’s flagship Bassman pedal series will help you build the basics of any bass ‘board – and prices start from $99
- July 1
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- “Pure Bassman tone that’s virtually indistinguishable from the original”: Fender expands the Tone Master range with its first-ever tweed model – and it's a digital repro of the best-sounding Fender amp of all time
- “The most exciting guitar for me in years”: Dweezil Zappa's newest signature guitar is here – and it’s as wacky as you’d expect
- “Full-frequency wireless audio with sparkling clarity”: With the Micro-sized Telepath, Fender is promising to fix your wireless guitar issues
- Spruce, Sassafras and sugar pine: Fender gets experimental with tonewoods for its new limited edition American Performer Timber models
- “Legendary design and quintessential tone”: Squier just gave the six-string Jazz Bass VI its Affinity series debut – and it costs less than $350
- From the Tom DeLonge-inspired Starcaster Deluxe to its first Thinline Tele and a rare Jaguar appearance – Squier’s affordable Affinity series just got a major new expansion
- “Our hero, forever. One of the most amazing people on Earth”: Michael J. Fox inspired Coldplay to become a band. To say thanks, Chris Martin invited him onstage to play guitar during their record-breaking Glastonbury headline set
