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April 2024

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133 articles

April 26
- “If you walk through a Guitar Center, you see an awful lot of $300 guitars. If I’m a serious musician, it doesn’t feel like the right place for me anymore”: Guitar Center’s new CEO explains why the firm’s future must prioritize premium guitars
- “I already know it's gonna be a stunner”: Vernon Reid is working with Reverend on a new signature guitar – and it’s set to be the firm’s first Floyd Rose-equipped build
- “The original prototype took a good beating all over the US. If a guitar can pass the test of touring you've got a winner”: Solar Guitars honors heavy metal stalwart Kirk Windstein with a super-spiky signature that pays tribute to New Orleans
- “That was the biggest regret. I booked the helicopter, and I stopped at Richie Friedman’s We Buy Guitars and sold it”: Ace Frehley sold his 1959 Gibson Les Paul to fund a gambling trip
- “When Van Halen came out, I thought it was the greatest sound I’d ever heard. Eddie was like, ‘Nah, I never really liked the sound of that record’”: Mike McCready recalls meeting Eddie Van Halen – and tries his hand at playing Eruption off the cuff
- Score a FREE Fender pedal when you buy two at full price with this insane Hammertone offer
- “I never thought little ol’ 15-year-old me playing metal guitar in my bedroom would amount to this moment”: Smashing Pumpkins name social media shredder Kiki Wong as new guitarist after 10,000 applications
- Guitar World deals of the week: save over $1,000 on a Marshall, get $230 off a Guild, plus all the week's best bargains
- “It was midnight. Quincy Jones said, ‘Ritenour, this is Q. You gotta get down here right now. We gotta fix George's solo’”: Lee Ritenour sets the record straight on fixing George Benson’s Give Me the Night solo
- “The start of a brand new chapter”: Mötley Crüe share their first new single with John 5 – and as promised, it marks a heavy return
April 25
- “Three of those were made. I had one. Ry Cooder had one. Edward Van Halen had one”: Dweezil Zappa on the high-tech custom model that EVH dubbed “The Super Pluto Guitar”
- “The Pink Floyd legend rolls back the years for a mighty comeback”: David Gilmour shares the lead single from his first solo album in 9 years – and it features one-and-a-half minutes of all-out soloing
- “An entire Friedman rig in a compact pedalboard-friendly package”: Friedman’s expanded IR-D puts a cult classic amp mod into a tube preamp pedal without breaking the bank
- “He’d got it down to a tee. He wore one of my jackets, a wig, a mustache and I’m playing behind him”: Tony Iommi once dressed his guitar tech up as himself and sent him onstage as a prank on Sabbath singer Tony Martin
- “I never learned any barre chords... all I’ve ever learned was ‘oompah oompah’. It drove me to either give up guitar or start writing music”: Josh Homme reveals how learning polka as a kid developed his off-kilter guitar playing style
April 24
- “He said things like, ’Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?’… He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine”: David Gilmour’s first solo album in 9 years features a new producer tearing up the rulebook
- “He was a big driver of the band… I would consider him very underrated, too”: Jason Isbell and Luther Dickinson pay tribute to Dickey Betts with an extended take on In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
- “Smile and keep going. That’s my message”: Watch the moment Kiko Loureiro’s strap falls off mid-solo – in front of Guthrie Govan
- “When we were trying out drummers none of them worked out because their drumming just didn’t click in with Johnny’s guitar style”: Tommy Ramone on why Johnny Ramone's playing forced him to switch from managing to drumming
- “The relic on this guitar represents the destruction in Ukraine”: Guitarist whose home was hit by a Russian airstrike has finished his first build – and it's made with remnants of his destroyed apartment
- “Eddie’s death rocked his son’s world, but Wolfgang solidified his music career with a sound all of his own while continuing to honor his father’s legacy”: New Behind The Music episode puts Wolfgang Van Halen's story front and center
- “Honoring Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitar player of all time”: The Experience Hendrix Tour is returning for the first time in 5 years, with a mega lineup including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Samantha Fish and Zakk Wylde
- “Your voice has been heard”: At long last, left-handed versions of John Mayer’s PRS SE Silver Sky are officially on the way – and they’re arriving sooner than you might think
- “I wanna say thank you Michael for an unbelievable catalog of music that has changed the history of rock 'n' roll”: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt play Van Halen hits with ex-VH bassist Michael Anthony
- “TONEX ONE represents a revolution for guitar and bass players”: IK Multimedia’s new $179 pocket-sized TONEX pedal packages the firm’s game-changing amp and rig modeling powers into an absurdly small format
- Guitar Center reveals Seymour Duncan-loaded Fender Player models in exclusive Daytona Blue finish - meet the Saturday Night Special Tele, Strat and P-Bass
- “I can’t play like me. There are things I can’t do”: Mahogany Rush legend Frank Marino injured his finger while building pedals for his new company – and it’s affected the way he plays guitar
April 23
- “Bob Dylan says he’s one of the greatest writers of all of American written music and I agree. I want to put that in the forefront”: New posthumous Johnny Cash album features Marty Stuart and Dan Auerbach – and puts the spotlight back on the Man in Black
- “To Doc, love and prescriptions, Keith Richards”: A mahogany Telecaster used by Keith Richards throughout the Rolling Stones’ iconic Some Girls era is up for auction (without its original neck) – for $400k
- “Is it wrong in every possible way or do you dig it?” This guitarist transformed their John Mayer PRS signature guitar into a Stevie Ray Vaughan Number One Strat tribute – and now we really want a sunburst Silver Sky
- “The best solution for getting big valve amp tones onto recordings and for home practice in a small, portable format”: Blackstar promises classic tube tones from compact amps with the upgraded MK III Series
- “We thought it was lost forever. This could be the guitar that sets a new world record”: John Lennon’s missing Help! Framus acoustic has been found in an attic after 50 years – and it could become one of the most expensive guitars ever sold
- “Us guitar players in the West, we all have the same base vocabulary, the same handful of stereotypical licks. But Mdou’s music, it’s almost free of that stuff”: Mdou Moctar finds a new fan in Metallica’s Kirk Hammett
- “The media is controlled and I’m out of control”: Artist who smashed guitar at Coachella pulls out after backlash
April 22
- “An exceptional guitarist and cultural touchstone”: Peter Frampton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – along with Ozzy Osbourne and John Mayall
- “The first 4 songs are played so often that staff in guitar stores can no longer hear them”: New research reveals the world’s most Googled guitar riffs and chord progressions
- “Continues to set the standard for eco-conscious innovation in the musical instruments industry”: Martin’s DSS Biosphere II is a fully FSC-certified, 100% plastic-free build that raises awareness for sustainability in the guitar world
- “His style is so specific and refined. It's not something I could just jump into”: Steve Vai explains the hardest part of replicating Robert Fripp’s playing style
- “I was gobsmacked. I was 60 and I’d had a wonderfully diverse musical life when Mick called and said, ‘We’ve got rid of Lindsey – would you play with us?’” Neil Finn on how he ended up joining Fleetwood Mac
- “I’ve actually sat in a room with her and a guitar. Watching those tiny hands finding all these weird jazz chords. And her strumming patterns... crazy, off-kilter timings”: Pete Doherty remembers Amy Winehouse’s unique guitar playing style
- “Hypnotic and mesmerizing”: Crazy Tube Circuits’ White Whale is an all-analog reverb/tremolo pedal based on classic Fender amps – and it just got a serious upgrade
April 19
- “Amps played by legends”: Zoom looks to provide bassists with the most affordable – and portable – all-in-one rig on the market with the upgraded $142 MS-60B+
- “It felt like I was daydreaming!” Matteo Mancuso joins Joe Bonamassa onstage to trade arena-worthy solos
- “Dumble would refuse to build them for a lot of people, but for whatever reason, he agreed to make four for me”: Pearl Jam used Dumble amps on new album Dark Matter, reveals producer Andrew Watt
- “John Lennon said, ‘Girls don't play guitars’”: The Liverbirds, one of the world’s first all-female rock groups, recall their first meeting with The Beatles
- “Whichever type of rock you associate with the ‘70s, the StarCrash Collection has you covered”: Catalinbread's StarCrash Fuzz and SideArm Overdrive give olden-era gain tones a fresh twist
- “Going to see an all-girl rock group, one has to bring a mixture of condescension and paranoia. What if they are good?” New study reveals how female guitarists have been denied credibility in the music press for over 60 years
- “For years we have been trying to find it”: Mark Tremonti’s cherished ‘My Own Prison’ Les Paul – which helped kickstart Creed’s career – has been found almost 26 years after it was stolen
- “The guitar is still a very healthy ingredient in pop music. You get Ed Sheeran, and even Taylor Swift is playing a guitar”: Steve Vai answers the question ‘Is guitar music dead?’
April 18
- “Jimi Hendrix came down to see us – he came up to me and said, ‘Shake my left hand, man, it’s closer to my heart’”: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp on the time he met Jimi Hendrix
- “Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt worldwide”: Dickey Betts, legendary co-founding guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band, has died aged 80
- “A solid and luxurious look”: Fender Japan’s new Sandblast range is the firm’s tamest release in ages – but, thanks to a quirky finishing technique, also one of its most desirable
- “My ’57 Gretsch was stolen in 1978. Getting that guitar back and playing it so much got me thinking about the other guitars in my possession”: Over 200 of Randy Bachman's iconic guitars are up for auction
- “A free-flowing processor filled with pro performance tools”: Boss is back in the bass multi-FX business, bringing updated tech to its retro-styled ME-90B
- He's one of the greatest slide guitarists in rock history – now a tribute album to Little Feat and Mothers of Invention guitarist Lowell George is on the way
- “Raises professional bass amplification to the next level”: Boss has unveiled its first-ever Katana bass head – and it might have just changed the game for bass players
April 17
- “I didn’t want them to be traditional”: Martin's Satin Black M/0000 is the first of a Reverb-exclusive line of experimental builds – and a glimpse at the future of one of America’s oldest guitar brands
- “You can find all the guitars I was using with Megadeth. All the tours, and also the recording of The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!” Kiko Loureiro is selling his Megadeth gear on Reverb
- “They’re the all-in-one stop for what I'm looking for”: Seymour Duncan debuts signature Blackouts for Trivium’s Corey Beaulieu, treating its active metal humbucker to a distinct sonic twist
- “Every note I play now is so much more important, because I know one of the notes will be the last I play”: Peter Frampton is prolonging his performing career to savor his remaining playing days
- “Without him, there would be no Metallica”: James Hetfield has had Lemmy's ashes tattooed onto his middle finger
- “I never felt any pressure to be or play like Randy. I only knew Randy as the guitar player for Ozzy”: How Carlos Cavazo became the guitarist who replaced Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot – with the help of Randy Rhoads himself
April 16
- “Percussive attack, lively dynamics and the distinctive resonance that swamp ash is known for”: the PRS SE Swamp Ash offers the full tonal package in one guitar
- “This bona fide bird can’t wait to elevate Gibson amplifiers to the stature they’ve always deserved”: Gibson debuts all-new flagship Mesa/Boogie-designed Dual Falcon 20 combo
- Al Nesbitt is the next big name in instrumental acoustic guitar
- “It always hurts to see the poor instrument face the wrath of these wannabes”: After another destroyed guitar controversy at Coachella, is guitar smashing simply not cool anymore?
- “Combines cutting-edge technology with time-tested craftsmanship to deliver unparalleled performance”: Schecter’s super-stealthy Black Ops guitars might be the most metal T-types you’ll see this year
- Joe Satriani & Steve Vai – America's hottest new instrumental duo! Only in the new Guitar World
- “It’s the coolest guitar ever made… It goes to space and expands your mind”: Fender’s much-anticipated Tom DeLonge signature Starcaster signals another big shift for the guitar giant
- “The one beside it is actually $1,000, so it was surprising to see him take the wrong one”: Thief steals $300 Epiphone instead of the $1k guitar sitting next to it in strange Canadian guitar robbery
- Antigua is back in the USA: Fender’s divisive finish has been revived for four limited-edition Squier ’70s Classic Vibe models – including the first ever Antigua Bass VI
- “He fell in love with this guitar. He played it the entire night and it sounded phenomenal”: A lost first-year Gibson Les Paul Junior has been brought back to life against all odds – and Jared James Nichols wants to buy it
April 15
- “I feel like such an idiot”: Flea regrets his bass-smashing antics in Red Hot Chili Peppers’ earlier years
- “You know how much I had to beg for the last 30 years to get any of the other guitar players to learn somebody else’s solo?!” Dave Mustaine says new Megadeth member Teemu Mäntysaari is the guitarist he’s “been looking for for a very long time”
- “The chord changes in K-pop are a lot more interesting than what's been happening over the last few years”: Nile Rodgers makes surprise appearance at Coachella with K-pop group Le Sserafim
- “British rock ’n’ roll history”: Eric Clapton’s original Live Aid Marshall JCM800 amp has been put up for sale
- “Achieve incandescent levels of distortion”: Mahogany Rush guitar legend Frank Marino has now launched his own pedal company – and is building each unit by hand
- “He preferred what was readily available – and affordable. And when he measured responses, he didn’t really see differences between woods”: Leo Fender didn’t think tonewoods made much difference to solidbody guitar tone
- “As visually effective when silent as it would be sonically in the hands of a skilled musician”: Faith Guitars' new additions to its Nexus acoustic guitar series promise warm and balanced tones for days
- “Some of the sounds and combinations of effects can be hard to imagine”: Great Eastern FX’s XO Variable Crossover could blow your pedalboard wide open
April 12
- “Johnny Depp was the worst guitarist I'd ever seen”: The moment the man who discovered Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses knew Depp wasn't meant to be a rock star
- “The work ethic gifted to me by the Pumpkins helps me get prepared… I’m excited to be playing with these amazing, legendary musicians”: Ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist Ginger Pooley will join Garbage on their upcoming tour
- “We started thinking, ‘Well, who could possibly be in the band?’ The only person I could think of was Steve”: Adrian Belew on how he and Steve Vai are forming a new guitar partnership ahead of a King Crimson supergroup tour
- “A vintage-inspired instrument that drips with 1970s tone and a superb feel”: Ernie Ball Music Man brings old-school style to a premium modern platform with the Retro ‘70s StingRay
- “It is in absolutely remarkable shape, exactly the way Chuck left it”: A custom shop B.C. Rich Stealth owned by Chuck Schuldiner has been put up for sale – and it's already passed the $20k mark
April 11
- “Bought by Bernie Marsden in New York at the end of the ill-fated Whitesnake, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden USA tour in 1981”: The rescheduled Marsden guitar auction offers insight into the journey of the famed collector
- “Every element has been carefully sourced and crafted to deliver the ultimate playing experience”: Heritage's Core Collection H-575 is a fresh-yet-familiar high-end hollowbody inspired by one of the most popular jazzboxes of all time
- “The solo is an attempt to conjure the screaming lost souls of social justice struggles past”: Tom Morello reunites with Bruce Springsteen for some show-stopping leads
- “I had forgotten something – I don't know what. As I came back, I heard my father say, ‘Wait a minute, here he is!’” George Murray became part of David Bowie’s famous D.A.M. rhythm trio – but almost missed the call-up because he had to catch a bus
- “We found the damn thing!” Jerry Cantrell’s original G&L Rampage wasn’t stolen after all – it had just been misplaced
April 10
- “The original Hentor brought a mix of tone and playability that empowered me to explore sounds I had never attempted before”: Alex Lifeson’s LERXST Limelight pickguard provides the transferable tones of one of his most iconic instruments
- “That embodies the attitude of shred, and if you don’t put that into your performance, it’s a sin”: Joe Satriani names the Neil Young solo that shreds – despite only featuring one note
- “Without reservation, this is the finest instrument I have ever played”: Schecter unveils zesty signature model for Tori Ruffin – the Freak Juice guitarist who has played with Prince, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and more
- One of our favorite practice amps is 10% off and there's free shipping on everything in Positive Grid’s massive guitar month sale
- “This disease won’t beat me and I will continue writing and playing for as long as I can”: Glenn Tipton explains how Richie Faulkner and a ‘no surrender’ mindset has helped him adapt his Judas Priest role
- “10,9,8,7…”: Tom DeLonge’s Fender Starcaster signature guitar is actually happening – but it might look a little different to the Blink-182 man’s main guitars
- “We’re offering a reward to anyone who can help us locate the guitar”: Jerry Cantrell’s original G&L Rampage – one of grunge’s most important guitars – has been stolen
April 9
- “The combination of them all can be turned to on a dime, according to the feel and vibe that I'm going for”: Seymour Duncan’s Eric Gales signature pickups promise balance across all five positions
- “During Covid I took an Olympic Pearl White body, took apart one of my signatures, and made the first prototype”: Fender honors influential worship guitarist Lincoln Brewster with a new-look signature Strat – and it’s even more desirable than his first
- “A true unicorn”: Joe Bonamassa has just acquired one of the rarest Fenders ever made – a 1954 Blackguard Tele with a huge factory-installed Paul Bigsby pickup
- “This guitar has been with me since 1988”: Gibson unveils the Slash ‘Jessica’ Les Paul – a replica of the factory second that has become his go-to stage guitar for more than 30 years
April 8
- “Monster lineup here”: Eric Johnson and Michael Landau honor Jeff Beck with a fretboard-burning Freeway Jam cover
- “The metal elements in the finish will give a vintage-looking patina specific to each guitar”: Solar has launched a metal guitar that literally oxidizes depending on how you play it
- “I wanted him to be very successful because he seemed pretty nervous”: Original Tool bassist Paul D’Amour recalls coaching Justin Chancellor to be his replacement – and giving him an in-depth lesson in his wild pedal protocol
- Guitar Center shreds up to 30% off Fender, Martin, Schecter, Ibanez and more in their jaw-dropping Guitar-A-Thon sale
- “It was found in the trunk of a car. They had sanded it to make it look like it wasn’t mine”: Tyler Bryant's stolen Pinky One Strat was played by Jeff Beck, inscribed by Steven Tyler – and, miraculously, returned to him five years after it was taken
- “I thought something had exploded. It was a pretty violent shock”: See the moment this guitarist’s jam was interrupted by a 4.8-magnitude earthquake
- “It gives me a ton of fresh ideas, and enables me to cover more ground with fewer strings to cross”: Is Jacob Collier’s crazy five-string Strandberg custom guitar about to get a signature release?
April 5
- “It’s not the world’s greatest solo, but we spent hours on it”: Session legend Dann Huff recalls recording with Michael Jackson and Shania Twain – and begging Michael Bolton to let him play a solo with a Peavey acoustic
- “Even in the face of adversity he still plays with complete joy and positive intent”: Andy Timmons wrote a song in tribute to Peter Frampton – then his hero ended up playing on it
- “Designed for guitarists seeking the best tones ever produced by analog gear”: DSM Humboldt unveils the Simplifier X – “the most advanced analog amp simulator ever made”
- “Start building your dream bass”: Ernie Ball Music Man launches The Custom Design Experience – allowing players to customize every single spec of its StingRay Special bass
April 4
- “Jimi Hendrix will not invite or incite the audience at the Royal Albert Hall to remove their clothing”: A newly unearthed archive of Hendrix material offers revealing insights into the guitar hero’s mailbag – plus a host of unheard tapes
- “I got made fun of because I walked in proud with an Ibanez Blazer and a solid-state Crate amp”: Gary Clark Jr. says he was mocked at early club gigs for using entry-level shred guitar gear
- “The future of players and creators, we're thrilled by the creativity and innovation they bring to the scene”: These are the 25 guitar acts Fender thinks you should hear in 2024
- “It can produce the most horrific fuzz in the universe”: Alex Lifeson debuts his second stompbox, the LERXST Snow Dog – paying tribute to the fuzz tones championed by Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck
- “This is an intensely crafted ‘Super Guitar’ with a separate piezo output…”: Dweezil Zappa’s huge gear auction is full of utterly unique guitars, including his Hot Rats Gibson Les Paul, a Madonna-clad Jackson and a true one-off custom PRS
- “Martin is doing his own stuff. He should be having a whale of a time, instead of being embittered about Jethro Tull”: Ian Anderson seemingly rules out the prospect of a ‘Tull reunion with Martin Barre
April 3
- “This is my guitar. I'm absolutely buzzing”: Epiphone is set to release a Yungblud signature SG Junior – and one of its prototypes is already up for grabs
- “Thrash metal legend unlocks his tonal secrets”: KHDK and Kreator’s Mille Petrozza claim to have created the “perfect overdrive”, the Deathscream – and it could also solve a common digital modeling amp headache
- “Now with the rich sonic allure of rosewood”: Three timeless Gibson acoustics have received a rosewood reinvention – bringing new visuals and tones to the table
- “Bro is a living breathing ‘Hell yeah’”: Bass player rips Cliff Burton’s iconic (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth solo while squatting 225lbs
- “The ultimate dual overdrive”: Beetronics combines Bluesbreaker and Klon tones in its latest pedal – but there’s a clever twist
- “Some guitars are just that little bit special that they work their way in, you know?” Mark Knopfler on why he had to keep his Sultans of Swing Strat – despite selling his Money for Nothing Les Paul and the rest of his collection
- “The S2 Series now carries more PRS DNA than ever”: PRS just relaunched its mid-tier, USA-built S2 range with a significant high-end tonal upgrade
April 2
- “Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses… I will be putting my best foot forward to respect this great music”: Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey reveal full details of new King Crimson supergroup tour
- “You were the glue that held the band together. You were the logic in the madness and the madness in our lives”: Ultravox bassist and Vienna co-writer Chris Cross dies at 71
- “Now you get to decide when it arrives”: Chibson created an actual pedal for April Fool’s Day – the Priority Delay, which has been 4 years in the making
- “Updated and more authentic than ever”: Epiphone rolls out the Gibson headstock for its latest high-end Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop drop, including a new 1959 Les Paul Standard – and a pink J-180
- “I felt Jimmy's excitement for music... He played with absolute conviction and passion and power at all times”: Rich Robinson reflects on the time Jimmy Page performed with The Black Crowes
April 1
- “Fingers are crossed that once I start playing Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, it'll be like, ‘I'm here, I'm in the zone’”: Joe Satriani is working with 3rd Power on the ultimate '86 era Van Halen amp
- “When we first came to New York, we'd play four times a day. I only had one guitar, so I'd have to break it and fix it four times a day”: Pete Townshend talks guitar smashing, and what he had to do to keep his gear functioning
- “The guitar duel scene with Ry Cooder wasn’t working. Ry called up Guitar Player and asked who the new hotshot on the block was”: Steve Vai on how he got the career-defining Crossroads gig