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October 2025

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127 articles

October 24
- “It’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today”: Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar sells for $2,734,000 at auction
- “Randy tells me that you’re the guy, and we just auditioned a bunch of hacks”: How Rudy Sarzo said no to Sharon Osbourne and still got the Ozzy gig – with a little help from Randy Rhoads
- “It sounded like an ice pick. I thought he was gonna laugh. He looks up and goes, ‘It’s pretty awesome.’ I thought, ‘Is it?! It sounds terrible to me’”: Why Joe Walsh’s distinct taste in amps took Tom Bukovac by surprise
- “Liam goes to his dressing room and picks up a guitar, comes back and starts throwing it around like an axe”: The Gibson ES-355 that broke up in Oasis in 2009 has sold at auction – but the Wonderwall acoustic failed to sell
- “The next collectible cult classic”: The Fender x Hello Kitty Stratocaster is officially back – and it’s got a limited-edition new look
- “He’s gonna be on the new record, for sure. He’s writing like crazy”: Mastodon have seemingly confirmed their new guitar player – revealing Nick Johnston is writing and recording for their next albums
October 23
- “Hello Kitty is all about creativity, joy, and imagination – exactly what we want kids to feel when they pick up a guitar”: Missed out on the Hello Kitty guitars? Loog is now launching kid-friendly acoustics and a Fender-approved Strat
- “Without him, I don’t know whether I would’ve ever wanted to play guitar”: Tom Morello on why Ace Frehley is his ultimate guitar hero – and why he owes him a “life debt”
- “It’s something I’ve never seen in my lifetime. Biggest reunion of all time”: Johnny Marr, one of the Gallagher brothers’ earliest supporters, gives his thoughts on the cultural impact of Oasis’ reunion tour
- “You have to be prepared to spend hours and hours and hours programming”: Joe Bonamassa on why you’ll never catch him playing an amp modeler
- “When I started playing PRS, I never looked back”: John Mayer explains why he got hooked on PRS guitars
- “Turned each band member’s concept into reality”: The Smashing Pumpkins designed some wild Yamaha guitars to celebrate their first gigs in Japan in 12 years – and they were played live
October 22
- “It isn’t just a showpiece – it’s a symbol of American creativity and culture”: In the ’70s, Elvis owned a 41-foot Cadillac in the shape of a guitar – after years of neglect, it's now being restored to its former glory
- “The sound that comes out of that speaker is just dynamite”: One of the main guitars on Biffy Clyro’s new album was a tiny Fender with a built-in speaker – which is also beloved by Tom Bukovac
- “You really have to work for it”: Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein is one of the most famous guitars of all time – but Wolfgang says it has its limitations
- Flight’s new Aviator line puts a forward-thinking spin on the humble ukulele – utilizing modern design and mango tonewoods
- “What happens if you turn it to 10?” This guitarist recreated Phoebe from Friends’ absurd guitar rig – which runs an acoustic through a Hiwatt half stack
- “There is no possible way that I would do that”: David Gilmour sets the record straight on the chance of a Pink Floyd reunion with Roger Waters
- “I think my time of doing the performance grind is closing. That window is closing”: Steve Morse opens up on the constant struggle of playing with arthritis
October 21
- “It's a place where musicians find inspiration and where Fender gains direct insight from artists to co-create the future of music”: Following Nashville, Tokyo, and London, Fender sets its sights on Shanghai, and opens its first Artist Showroom in China
- “I wanted something that, when you hear it, it’s not obvious. I wanted people to go, ‘What is that?’” The Last Dinner Party’s Emily Roberts on why she’s ditching Fenders and Gibsons in favor of this genre-bending guitarist’s signature model
- “My emotional celebration of life”: Mateus Asato left Bruno Mars and Jessie J to begin his solo career – and now his debut single is finally here
- “What stood between me and a martini was this 30-minute lesson. I’d checked out. I completely blagged the whole thing”: Joe Bonamassa was totally unprepared to deliver this guitar lesson – but it ended up going viral
- “This guy walked in with a silver Rickenbacker case. I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just a fellow musician, that’s fine’”: How Roger McGuinn’s Byrds Rickenbacker was stolen – from right under his nose
- “Celebrating the most treasured guitar scene in movie history”: Gibson has launched Custom and Epiphone replicas of the Back to the Future ES-345 – but its search for the long-lost original guitar goes on
- “The crowd started chanting ‘Angus’ just like on the live recording, and it hit me – this is what it feels like to be a rock star”: The Air Guitar world champion on how he conquered an ‘air-off’ to claim his crown
October 20
- “Everybody thinks playing technical and fast is harder. It takes a lot more courage to tone it down and play what’s right for the song”: Nuno Bettencourt on what Ace Frehley taught him about guitar playing
- “The Super Overdrive never tasted so good”: John 5’s entire pedalboard has been recreated in cake form for his birthday – and it gives a new meaning to ‘tasty tone’
- “Picking up a guitar when you’ve never held one before… That was the most frightened I’ve been in my work life”: Jeremy Allen White had never played guitar until he was hired to play Bruce Springsteen – and it was the scariest challenge of his career
- “I went up to Sam after the show and said, ‘You're unbelievable. I’ve got this idea for a band.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I’m in. Let's do it’”: Fred Durst pays tribute to Sam Rivers – and explains why Limp Bizkit couldn't have happened without him
- “I was pissed off at Steve Thompson – he was sitting on the chair there, razzing me. So I said, ‘Let me just practice it once.’ He rolled it, and I was just in his face”: How Frank Hannon accidentally wrote one of Tesla’s most iconic guitar solos
- “One of the most visionary and influential bassists in the history of our instrument”: Anthony Jackson, low-end legend who pioneered the concept of the modern six-string bass, dies aged 73
October 19
- “I was just talking to Paul Reed Smith – and I don’t know if I should be telling you this – but he’s made a new guitar that’s a revolution”: John McLaughlin teases unreleased PRS that he calls the mysterious ‘Yellow Guitar’
- “A Gretsch guitar for just $189?! Yes please… the no-nonsense, raw-and-raucous Electromatic and Streamliner Jets are here – and they are beautiful”: All the new guitar gear that caught my eye this week, from digital oil-can echo to Fender’s new US range
- "Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player – he was pure magic…" Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers has died, aged 48
October 18
- “He was standing two feet from me. When he was done, he said, ‘Well, what do you think?’ And I said, ‘I want to cry’”: How this bluesman linked up with Eric Clapton – and got him to play a solo on his album
October 17
- “I knew how bummed out Neil was. He wasn’t feeling like making music. He was really sick”: How Willie Nelson’s son convinced Neil Young to get back on the road
- “The first pedal emulation that truly captures the mechanical yet wildly organic nature of these oddball machines”: Strymon’s all-new digital stompbox offers an authentic recreation of classic oil can delays
- Gibson aims to expand its retail and live presence with third global Gibson Garage location
- “There was great jubilation and there were tears”: Fender invited music fans to design their own Telecaster. They received over 1,500 applications – and turned four into a reality
- “I’m a big Metallica fan. I’ve seen Kirk playing it over the years and know what a big deal that guitar is”: Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil is a Strat player through and through – but here's why he couldn't say no to Gibson's ‘Greeny’ reissue
- “Ace reminded us all that rock should never apologize for being fun and that a little chaos can sound downright heavenly”: The guitar world pays tribute to the late Ace Frehley – the Spaceman who took Kiss into orbit
- “My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher”: Why Eddie Van Halen had to ask Paul Gilbert to give his son a guitar lesson
- “I was like, ‘What are all these guitars?’ And he's like, ‘Oh, it's nothing.’ And then he’s playing Bruce Springsteen-level guitar”: Jeremy Allen White was secretly practicing guitar on another set while preparing for his role as Bruce Springsteen
October 16
- “Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!” Ace Frehley, larger-than-life Kiss guitarist, dies at 74
- “Jimmy Page would be nice to have on there”: Dweezil Zappa has already tapped Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and Yngwie Malmsteen for his ambitious instrumental project – but wants to recruit a few more guitar greats before it’s finished
- “We got off stage, he came up to all of us and was like, ‘You guys, I’m really sorry that I played so bad’”: Chino Moreno opens up on how Stephen Carpenter’s health problems forced him to play more guitar on Deftones’ new album
- “They’re not speaking up”: Michael J. Fox has a theory about the fate of Back to the Future’s long-lost Gibson ES-345
- “Built for players shaping the next wave of music”: Gretsch ushers in the next evolution of its affordable Jet family – which now includes a workhorse Streamliner for $189
October 15
- “They want their fans to join them on that journey”: Fender is changing the way it approaches signature guitars – and it’s starting with a Japanese pop-rock band named after the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “It’s the simple stuff that’ll kill you – especially when everyone’s recording it on their cell to put on YouTube”: How Phil X warms up to nail Bon Jovi's biggest songs on stage
- “Every pattern, every bend, every note – same key, same tempo. Not a second of originality”: Giacomo Turra returns after viral song-stealing scandal – and his new music has already been accused of lifting licks
- “I think he took the blues up as his personal crusade”: Why Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds and joined the Bluesbreakers, according to his former bandmate
- “This was an instant yes”: John Mayer provides live soundtrack for Matthew McConaughey’s book reading in this year’s most unexpected artist crossover
- “He was born 10 years too late, because he’d be competing with Eddie Van Halen”: Justin Hawkins names the guitar virtuoso who could have been EVH’s equal in the 1980s
- “I took lessons from Joe Satriani. I felt like he was trying to build an army of shredders with finger exercises. He hated me because I didn’t practice his stuff enough”: The iconic alt-rock guitarist who quit taking lessons from Satch
October 14
- “I went back to Joe and I said, ‘It’s my dream guitar but I don’t have $5,000’”: Joanne Shaw Taylor on how Joe Bonamassa’s haggling skills helped her land a signed signature model of her favorite player
- “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind”: D’Angelo, legendary, boundary-pushing R&B singer/songwriter, dies at 51
- “He will just sit down and do a warm-up, no matter what. Even if you’re talking to him, he’s going to keep on”: Steve Morse on why warming up before a show is crucial – and the one guitarist who does it right
- “They’re awful, ‘never should have occurred in nature’ kind of things… It was unplayable”: Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal remembers his radical mad scientist fretless guitar experiments
- “It’s the first time I’ve ever used a Floyd Rose. It felt very scary for me”: Wet Leg are one of indie rock’s hottest acts – but their guitarist has been accidentally channeling Bon Jovi with her axe of choice
- “The entry point into the whole USA Fender offering”: Fender unveils the newest gateway to its American-made collection, the American Professional Classic series
- “I really like the look of Parker Flys, but I don't think I could find one to try in Australia”: Plini on the origins of his passion for Strandberg and headless guitars – and the models he might have otherwise played
October 13
- “He was my favorite guitarist I played with, besides Slash, and was the one I felt most unified with”: Richard Fortus on how he’s held down the Guns N’ Roses gig – and his other favorite GNR guitarist
- “A true artifact of musical genius”: Frank Zappa’s ‘Baby Snakes’ SG is heading to auction for the first time – and expected to sell for half a million dollars
- “Over the span of several years of wrestling with that dynamic, I had an epiphany”: JHS Pedals’ Josh Scott on how IKEA inspired him to create a DIY Klon clone that took the internet by storm
- “You’ll laugh, but I thought he used to play too loud”: Buddy Guy remembers the first time he saw Jimi Hendrix play – and the warning he used to give him before gigs
- “It’s totally his fault. I just couldn’t take my eyes off his guitar”: John 5 on the unlikely player who started his life-long love affair with the Telecaster
October 12
- “It might be Fender Japan’s biggest collab to date and it’s not even with an artist”: All the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including an affordable recreation of one of Nerdville’s rarest Les Paul Customs
October 11
- “There's so much baggage that comes with a Strat”: Why Chris Buck ditched his Fender Strat in favor of this underrated Yamaha model
- “To me, we were like a Motörhead-type hard rock band, so any kind of ballads were sort of uncongressed”: Sweet Child O’ Mine is Guns N' Roses' most iconic song, but Slash originally wasn't a fan
October 10
- “He was never happier than being on stage – he was ‘Just a singer in a rock and roll band’”: John Lodge, Moody Blues bassist and singer, dies at 82
- “You lit a fire under this genre”: Joe Bonamassa trades licks with “the future” of the blues, Marcus King, during virtuosic Albert King cover
- “You ain't ever gonna see James Hetfield slag off a young rock star”: Yungblud and Jack Osbourne push back against criticism of the VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute with Nuno Bettencourt, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
- “If the guitar has ever been your sanctuary, you already know you need to be there”: Nuno Bettencourt announces four-day guitar camp – and he's recruited some big-name players to help
- “Once you learn how to do that, any blues solo will fly”: Joe Bonamassa shares his top tip for blues players looking to level up – and it’s not to learn more solos
- “He's definitely trying to push what a guitar could be”: Misha Mansoor joins Tim Henson and Tosin Abasi in praising this emerging virtuoso – who’s changing the landscape of progressive guitar
- “It’s coming. I know it’s coming because everybody is thinking about it”: Are Guns N' Roses going to release a new record? This is what Slash had to say
October 9
- “Someone buys a guitar with my name on it and takes it home – I hope it becomes a part of their daily habit”: Martin teams up with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy for a new signature model – and reintroduces an old favorite
- Spare 5 minutes to tell us about your guitar habits and collection – and you could win a $200 Amazon gift card
- “I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us who are horrible drivers”: Gene Simmons rushed to hospital after reportedly losing consciousness and crashing his SUV into a parked vehicle
- “My hands were bleeding on my strings”: George Benson session player Corrado Rustici on what it took to record Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody
- “When we sat down and started playing some of the Rush stuff, and I realized how hard it was to play these songs”: Alex Lifeson reveals his biggest challenge when preparing for the Rush reunion tour
- 25 Prime Day guitar gear deals still live right now – including 60% off EHX pedals
- “At the push of a button, the legendary roar thunders through the amp”: Fender wrangles Godzilla for a monster guitar collaboration – featuring two company firsts
October 8
- Klon creator Bill Finnegan’s lawsuit against Behringer over its Centaur clone has been dismissed
- “It just involves moments where we both shut up for a second”: Two legends of fretless bass, one whip-smart genius shredder – here’s how the mind-blowing Testament x Pestilence fusion project Quadvium came together
- “This is your chance to own the sound that defined heavy metal”: Reverb and Ashdown are selling bass amps used by Geezer Butler during rehearsals for Black Sabbath’s final show
- “It’s great to add this to the lineup as an option”: PRS strips down its acclaimed David Grissom signature for the SE DGT Standard – and it’s the most affordable version to date
- With $160 off a five-star rated PRS SE, this mega sale is the best place to shop for a properly great Prime Day guitar deal
- Quick! 3 of our top-rated Positive Grid Spark amps have hefty Prime Day discounts until the end of today – and they all scored 4.5 stars in our reviews
- “I took the guitar to someone and when I got it back, I almost cried. I decided, ‘Nobody is touching my stuff again’”: The botched luthier job that convinced John Suhr to get into guitar building
- “My one came from a little old lady in Pennsylvania. The family didn't realize it was a very special”: Joe Bonamassa’s ultra-rare 1959 ‘Black Beauty’ Les Paul Custom is one of 20 in existence – now it’s been recreated as an Epiphone signature guitar
- I've recommended this beginner acoustic countless times, and with $136 off, it's an even easier choice – don't hang about, though, the sale ends today!
October 7
- “He just blows everybody away”: Samantha Fish on who she thinks are the best modern blues guitar players right now
- “Proves that a world-class instrument doesn’t have to break the bank”: PRS finally rolls out an SE version of its boundary-pushing Herman Li Chleo signature guitar
- “I cannot thank you enough for your incredible Parker Fly design. Your genius changed my life”: Adrian Belew leads tributes to Ken Parker, pioneering guitar maker who has died aged 73
- Hunting for guitar gear this Prime Day? These 4 anti-Prime Day sales are taking Amazon on at their own game
- Amazon has failed to deliver any truly good Prime Day deals for guitar players – I'm shopping the Musician's Friend Rocktober sale instead, with up to 40% off guitar gear
- “Our lawyer said, ‘You need a letter from an industry expert.’ So I texted Slash”: Chris Buck explains how the Guns N’ Roses guitar hero came to the aid of Cardinal Black on their first US headline tour
- “I was affected as much as anybody hearing that first Van Halen record. I think the other guitar players in LA went, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve got to compete with that’”: Steve Stevens on why he never felt the need to compete with Eddie Van Halen
- You won't find your next guitar in Amazon's Prime Day sale, but I've looked through 280+ deals and found 6 unmissable accessory savings from $6.49 that will end tonight
- Quick! Guitar Center's epic Guitar-A-Thon sale leaves Amazon Prime Day in the shade, with up to $900 off Taylor and $500 off Gibson models – but the deals are ending soon
- With up to $54 off Loog’s kids guitars for Prime Day, it’s finally time to buy my son his first guitar
October 6
- “I grew up with the myth, the thinner the neck, the faster you can play. For me, that didn't work”: Bernth on why thinner necks don’t always result in speedier soloing – and how switching helped improve his playing
- “Alex and I have done some serious soul searching and come to the decision that we miss it”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee announce Rush reunion tour – and name who will be playing drums
- 5 of my go-to Universal Audio plugins just got heavily discounted in the monster Rocktober sale – glow up your recordings from as little as $24
- “It’s hard to understand someone who is trying to do rock music in a new way because, of course, I’m referencing the past”: Yungblud responds to critics following divisive VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute with Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler
- “He’s been wonderful, and this is an incredible gift”: Brad Paisley gifted his new favorite guitarist a prized Telecaster – and left a hidden message under the pickguard
- “The call was, ‘Michael’s interested. Can you come down, rehearse with the band, and take a year off?’ I said, ‘Take me anywhere for any length of time’”: Jennifer Batten on how she landed the gig of a lifetime with the world’s biggest superstar
- Sweetwater is looking to outshine Amazon's Prime Day 2 with a cool $100 off my favorite ever signature guitar – this versatile 4.5-star Guild is a must-buy for grunge fans
- “The good news is I'm responding really well to treatment”: Oasis guitarist Bonehead temporarily pulls out of reunion tour following cancer diagnosis
- “He knew I wasn’t able to film. He knew I was in a lot of pain”: Josh Scott on how John Mayer ended up demoing JHS Pedals’ new Mk.gee-coded pedal – following the firm founder’s serious biking injury
October 3
- “A week later, I got a message from my manager asking, ‘Did you meet Jeff Beck?’ He wanted me to sing on his record”: That time Jeff Beck gave an impromptu guitar lesson to a future pop pioneer – who didn’t know who he was
- “In the time I was involved in attempting to play his parts, never really could I have captured the essence of him”: Buckethead reflects on his time in Guns N’ Roses as Slash pays tribute to the elusive virtuoso
- “I’m on a breathing machine 24/7, and I’ve started to lose the use of my left arm”: Ken Parker, designer of the Parker Fly guitar beloved by Adrian Belew and Joni Mitchell, launches crowdfunding campaign for cancer treatment
- “I was outside shoveling some moldy hay into a wheelbarrow, and my wife comes out holding the phone. She thought it was a prank call”: Scott Reeder on the time he auditioned for Metallica – after Lars Ulrich cold-called him
- “The American tube amp that powered generations of rock, surf, and pop music”: Universal Audio reimagines a classic Fender amp used by Keith Richards, The Beach Boys and beyond as a plugin – and it’s currently free to download
- “It’s insane… If you hold it up to the light you can see through it”: Dweezil Zappa finally gets his hands on the viral cardboard Strat and cooks up a crazy psych-rock rager for the occasion
- “I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I wish I had”: Jimmy Page pays tribute to original Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja, who has died aged 79
October 2
- “A powerful, unpredictable, and endlessly fun performance tool”: Gamechanger Audio puts its foot on the gas with the Motor Pedal – a driveable synth pedal that reacts to your playing in real time
- “I remember asking Leslie West, ‘How should I go about this song?’ I remember that as if it were yesterday”: When Ricky Byrd needed to record a solo for this Joan Jett hit, he asked the Mountain legend for advice – this is what he said
- “Its aggressiveness earned it a revered place in heavy rock and metal”: The Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ HRG was championed by John Petrucci and beyond – now it’s been brought back
- “I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe’”: Wolfgang Van Halen stowed his dad’s most legendary guitar in his car as a precaution during the LA wildfires
October 1
- “We couldn’t beat it”: Alex G is a guitar icon for Gen Z – and he gets some of his favorite tones from a stock Logic preset
- “The guitar is tragically, but beautifully intertwined with the impact a changing climate has on the livelihoods of people who live in rainforests”: PRS to auction off one-of-a-kind guitar made using woods salvaged from South American hurricane
- “We love ugly guitars”: KHDK Electronics has started making guitars