News archive
January 2026
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98 articles
- January 20
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- “I started hearing about these guitar contests that he would enter every year in Texas, and he was the best guitarist for six years running”: Jerry Cantrell recalls the first time he met the “otherworldly” Dimebag Darrell
- “The straight-up, high-voltage voice of a masterfully designed single-channel amp”: Orange rolls out the OR60 – an all-valve guitar amp head that is the “most versatile it has ever built”
- “Reimagines the hybrid amp experience for a new generation”: Vox marries old-school amps and modelers by introducing its most advanced iterations of the Valvetronix series yet
- “I wanted to fix every issue I’ve ever had dialing in metal tones”: Warm Audio crafts a signature overdrive for Ryan “Fluff” Bruce – and it's being billed as the perfect tube screamer for modern metal
- “Yo, is that a bike or a guitar?”: Brian May-approved Mexican guitar builders, Olmos Guitarras, team up with fast-rising LA band for a shreddable bike
- “The right gear really makes a difference”: Isaiah Sharkey is back in the studio – and he’s shared a first look at his potential Ibanez signature guitar
- “Giving guitarists an entirely new way to interact with their music”: Casio’s strap-mounted Dimension Shifter lets players control effect parameters with their movements
- “The world’s only guitar string upcycling mummy”: Turn your old guitar strings into sculptures with the String Thing
- January 19
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- “There would be a tremendous outpouring of applause – that annoyed Roger quite a lot”: Pink Floyd session guitarist says Roger Waters was “resentful” of Eric Clapton
- Jazz virtuoso and fusion pioneer Ralph Towner – composer of jazz standard Icarus – dies at 85
- “Does this young lady get it or what?” Joe Bonamassa and Slash team up for blues classics in New York – but did their young special guests steal the show?
- “If Hendrix were alive today and we were friends, how would he write an instrumental song?!” Mateus Asato is stepping out on his own with a debut solo album – and a track that pays homage to his hero
- “James Hetfield picked up the phone saying, ‘Have you tried an ESP?’” ESP unveils Joe Duplantier’s eagerly awaited signature guitar in time for NAMM 2026
- “Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation”: John Mayer pays emotional tribute to Bob Weir at public memorial
- “Increasingly difficult for us to continue operating in the US”: Harley Benton closes its official U.S. Reverb store following tariff uncertainties
- “Our goal was simple. Build a guitar too good to be true”: Eastman enlists YouTuber to help create its most anticipated offset model to date
- January 18
- January 17
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- “These instruments are building more than houses, they are restoring hope”: Fender joins campaign to support LA wildfires relief, turning wood reclaimed from the disaster into unique Custom Shop guitars for auction
- “It might just be the coolest offset guitar ever. And it’s finally back”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including some huge early NAMM releases
- January 16
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- “I know myself better musically thanks to this album”: Steve Vai features on the new Matteo Mancuso album – and he had one piece of advice for the young virtuoso
- Nuno Bettencourt’s new guitar company has gone live – and there’s a surprise new acoustic in the drop
- “Watching Steven Tyler and Joe Perry together, the compromise is the magic. But for me, it doesn’t work”: Why Yungblud will never join a band – despite collaborations with Aerosmith and the Smashing Pumpkins
- “A bass rig revolution in headphones”: Fender issues massive free update for the Mustang Micro Plus – and it’s the one bassists have been waiting for
- “With that said, you all can stop asking me if I am buying it now. Muchas gracias”: Joe Bonamassa has his say on the future of Norman’s Rare Guitars
- “You can recognize Tom by his sound. I would love to do the same. I'm trying to find the right pedals”: Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi reveals the piece of advice Tom Morello gave him that defined his debut solo record
- “I was pretty concerned about the show. A few minutes later, we hear a knock… We answer the door to see Adam standing there”: The time Adam Jones saved Tool's support band from rental amp hell with a random act of kindness
- January 15
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- “John's got this toolkit of unwritten rock riffs. I wouldn't say that he’s out and out, AC/DC rock – but he could easily do it”: How John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Dave Grohl channeled Eddie Van Halen on the F1 soundtrack
- “Randy thought, ‘It’s not going to be good.’ He was so worried about it”: Why Randy Rhoads had reservations about Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman
- Fender forges surprise Samsung partnership to bring Fender Play to home TV screens for the first time
- Why Sting just paid $800,000 to his former Police bandmates, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland
- “I used it for two seasons and then it disappeared”: The story of the oddball Yamaha that Peter Capaldi played on Doctor Who – and its mysterious disappearance
- “Pro-level features on a bedroom budget”: Boss moves to take control of the entry level amp modeler space with the $229 GX-1 – going up against Mooer, NUX and Zoom
- January 14
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- “You still have to pay for the actual gig. No bands got paid, and most of the crew donated their time”: Jack Osbourne sets the record straight on how much Back to the Beginning actually donated to charity
- “It's the most iconic guitar shop in the world, and we are honored to help extend its story into the future”: Norman’s Rare Guitars acquired
- “It needed a louder pickup. That’s where the idea came from”: Slash played a Gibson SG at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show – and now its purpose-built Seymour Duncan humbuckers have been released
- “Redefines the possibilities of delay effects”: Ibanez looks to shake up the world of high-end delays with the Layer Delayer – its most ambitious pedal yet
- “It got nicked after a show in Leeds and went missing for years. Then I was reading an interview online and there, in the background, was the Mustang on the wall”: The story of the stolen Fender offset that unites three iconic indie rock bands
- “The ultimate modern headless guitar”? Donner’s $330 ergonomic headless build seeks to undercut Strandberg and Ibanez
- John Mayer’s mystery Grateful Dead PRS Silver Sky became one of his most sought-after signatures – now it’s been officially released
- “Every artist we've put through it is like, ‘Wait a minute, that's the plugin?!’” Why Fender just launched its own recording software – and what sets it apart for guitarists
- “I'm playing the same thing over and over for an hour, sweating and exhausted”: When Keith Urban and Dann Huff got heated over a guitar solo
- January 13
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- Watch Eric Bell, Richard Fortus, and a 45-piece orchestra star at Phil Lynott tribute show in Dublin
- “You guys are funny. Imagine playing Little Wing on a guitar that isn’t a Strat…” After leaving Suhr, Mateus Asato sets the record straight on Fender rumors
- “You think of him as a songwriter and a singer really, but as a bass guitar player, it’s next-level”: Johnny Marr’s “mind-blowing” jam with Paul McCartney – and why he thinks Macca reinvented the bass
- “First of its kind”: Electro-Harmonix’s Effects Interface turns your pedals into plugins – and puts your prized plugins on your pedalboard
- “We weren’t allowed to play on our record... the Wrecking Crew guys all played. I’m looking through the window, going, ‘Wow, these are the cats’”: How Leland Sklar went from being banned from the studio to a session legend
- “A love letter to one of the coolest guitars on the planet”: Gibson pays tribute to Keith Richards’ 1960 ES-355 with 2 Collector’s Edition models – painstaking replicas of his main six-string
- January 12
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- “A unique, genuine, and fierce guitar player”: Black Midi guitarist Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin dies at 26
- “What’s Japanese for shameless?” Tosin Abasi's Animals As Leaders bandmate lambasts Ibanez's new Alpha guitar design
- “He’s played with everybody, so he really saved us and rescued us tonight”: Dave Grohl thanks Jason Falkner for “rescuing” the Foo Fighters as they play their first show since Pat Smear’s bizarre injury
- “When I felt the Braille on this amp, my whole world changed instantly”: Blind guitarist brought to tears by specially-made Braille amp by Victory Amps
- “I’d say, ‘Man, that guitar riff sounded killer.’ He’d respond, ‘Well, I’m sure I’ll mess it up next time’”: John Mayer, Trey Anastasio and Steve Vai lead tributes to Bob Weir
- January 11
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- “There is no final curtain here, not really”: Bob Weir, Grateful Dead guitarist, vocalist and founding member, dies aged 78
- “The brief I gave the team was simple, but extraordinarily difficult: make an acoustic guitar the way that Leo would have made it”: Ex-Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the birth of the Acoustasonic – and the happy accident that made it a reality
- “I thought I was fully content with my ampless rig, but this pedal has me thinking otherwise”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including an alternate reality Ibanez that’s set to shake up the prog rock guitar market
- January 10
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- “A friend of ours talked to my brother and said, ‘Have you ever listened to Bob Marley?' My brother said, ‘Well, no…’” Robert ‘Kool' Bell on how one of Kool & The Gang's most enduring hits came about
- “Back then people would come with some great old Gibson that had been under the bed”: Lenny Kravitz used to buy guitars from fans in parking lots at his shows – here’s why he’s stopped
- “There was an advert saying, ‘Ozzy Zig requires gig.’ I said to Bill, ‘I know an Ozzy but it can't be him. He can't sing’”: Tony Iommi looks back at the birth of Black Sabbath – and their “horrible” first jam
- January 9
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- “Jim Irsay was an incredible collector with an eye for rare treasures”: Details emerge of the historic guitars in the Jim Irsay Collection auction – including David Gilmour’s Black Strat and Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang
- NAMM 2026: rumors, predictions and breaking news from the world's biggest guitar gear show
- Lavender Haze all in our brains: Fender, Andertons and Chicago Music Exchange have released a range of exclusive guitars with new pickups and unique wiring mods
- Sick of your stompboxes getting stuck to your ’board? D’Addario’s Pedal Pry Tool is a mini crowbar that makes pedal removal easier than ever
- “Someone borrowed it and when it was returned the speakers were blown”: Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones is auctioning off his gear – including his Them Crooked Vultures amp that he left at Dave Grohl’s house
- “It’s like players are stepping into a different musical skin”: Evolution or revolution? Taylor rolls out its Next Generation Grand Auditorium lineup – potentially its most advanced guitars yet
- “Engineered from the ground up”: Ibanez issues its answer to Ernie Ball and Abasi Concepts with the Alpha Series – its most progressive guitar design to date
- January 8
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- “It bothers me that there is a generation that has never plugged into a tube amp because they have a free one on their laptop”: EarthQuaker Devices and Dr. Z launch a tube-loaded preamp pedal – and it could be the missing piece of your digital rig puzzle
- “He was a fireman, and he’s like, ‘I make guitars with my dad. I’ll make you anything you want.’ I was like, ‘How about a light-up guitar?’” John 5 on how he dreamed up an LED Telecaster – and coincidentally found the perfect partner to build it
- “A new chapter for Fender to further connect with Chinese artists”: Fender teams up with mega-star Li Ronghao – marking its first-ever signature model for a guitarist from mainland China
- “The Beck and St. Vincent guitar wizard will be filling in while he’s on the mend”: Pat Smear pulls out of Foo Fighters gigs due to “bizarre gardening accident” – and his replacement has been confirmed
- January 7
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- “The acclaimed long-life strings are officially back”: Phil Everly’s iconic guitar string brand, Cleartone Strings, has been re-launched in the UK and Ireland – returning its innovative string treatment to players across The Pond
- “One of the most awesome gifts I’ve ever received”: Neil Diamond has gifted a signed acoustic guitar to Hollywood A-lister Hugh Jackman – who’s playing his impersonator in a new movie
- “At first I was like, ‘Was that good enough?!’” What Ozzy Osbourne said to Wolfgang Van Halen after his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Crazy Train cover
- “He told me the story about a young guitarist he once let play his guitar at rehearsal. I said, ‘Brian, that was me’”: Steve Vai pays tribute to Brian May as he receives his radical custom Red Special
- “It’s one of the greatest rock albums of all time. If the support is not there, it will not be released”: Vinnie Vincent says his new record rivals Zeppelin, Hendrix and the Beatles – but he won’t release it if people don’t buy the single for $300 apiece
- “Built to carry its sonic legacy into the future of listening”: Fender becomes the latest guitar and amp firm to enter the home audio space – but can Fender Audio stand up to Marshall?
- “Thanks to those who made this company one of the greatest brands in the history of this instrument”: Mateus Asato is parting ways with Suhr after 12 years – and fans are already speculating where he's going next
- “That would be a huge undertaking. It’s not ‘puppet show Megadeth’”: Dave Mustaine says he won’t reunite with former Megadeth members on the band’s farewell tour
- January 6
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- “He told me, ‘Come in closer, I’ll tell you the secret of playing electric guitar’”: How an art-punk icon ended up playing with one of the blues’ all-time greats
- “We have tried about 800 different types of solos and we cannot get it right”: Some of the world's greatest guitarists are all fighting it out to get their solo on this track
- “I said, ‘Man, where’s my audition?’ They said, ‘You got the gig.’ So I got my job just by warming up”: How Dave Mustaine landed the gig with Metallica
- With Electro-Harmonix pedals from just $53.95 at Sweetwater, it's time to kick off 2026 with a proper tone upgrade for your 'board
- “It ain’t gonna sit well with people, but he might be better than George Harrison”: Why John Mayer might be better than a Beatle, according to producer Don Was
- “He said the first guitar was an accident of God. By the fifth one he said, ‘OK, you’re a guitar maker’”: Carlos Santana was one of Paul Reed Smith’s earliest champions – but he thought his first guitars were too good to be true
- January 5
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- “For the Love of God, written by Steve Vai and performed by my 14-year-old son Roman”: Tom Morello says “there is hope” as his son shreds Steve Vai's For the Love of God
- “Everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and Mr. Shred. That’s just a flavor of what he did”: Wolfgang Van Halen on one the most overlooked and underrated aspects of Eddie’s playing
- “Kirk Hammett’s in front of me with a guitar trying to teach me stuff. They’re like, ‘Get your stuff. You’re flying on the private jet with us’”: Daron Malakian on the time he saved a Metallica gig – and ended up filling in for an injured James Hetfield
- “It’s one thing to be a visionary, but it’s another thing to have the gift to pull off the vision”: Why Billy Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins collaborated with Yungblud
- “I bought this on Craigslist at a parking lot in Nashville. Some random guy met me in this weird van”: How Stephen Wilson Jr. bought his workhorse, ride-or-die nylon-string guitar
- “I really have no recollection of doing it. I’d made a record in my sleep!” How Keith Richards wrote the iconic Satisfaction riff – without even realizing it
- “At first, I didn’t have high hopes. But then I saw that one picture and thought, ‘Bingo’”: This vintage Martin once belonged to Johnny Cash – and its current owner has spent decades trying to prove it
- January 4
- January 3
- January 2
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- “Who knows? It was worth pursuing. They did okay without me”: Adrian Smith on the time he auditioned for Def Leppard
- “I showed up on the first day of shooting, saying, ‘This is a guitar I bought at Guitar Center. I want to use my guitar in the movie’”: Jack Black reveals he still owns the Gibson SG that characterized School of Rock
- “I’m not leaving things unfinished”: Dave Mustaine reveals the life-changing hand condition behind his decision to retire Megadeth
- “That belongs in a museum”: Mick Gordon is selling the Axe-Fx that soundtracked Doom – and it includes all of the original presets
- January 1
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- “I was broke. I only had $200 and we booked a gig. There was this guitar at a pawn shop that had been there for years...” How George Thorogood stumbled across the Gibson that became his go-to guitar – a week before his first gig with the Destroyers
- “I didn’t know him or trust him. But I gave him all of that money in the hope he would bring me a Strat. I had no idea if I’d see him again”: Rammstein’s Richard ZK on the coffee shop rendezvous in East Germany that got him his first Fender
