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August 2025
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84 articles
- August 16
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- “He had some good ideas. I remember when we met, he was eating an incredible amount of ice cream”: David Byrne on what happened when Talking Heads met Lou Reed
- “That guitar is a very special one because Ritter made that guitar for him. It’s actually the prototype”: Isaiah Sharkey has acquired a one-of-a-kind guitar that was originally crafted for a jazz great
- “One of my favorite signature guitars of all time just got a standard run release, and Gretsch has not disappointed”: All the new guitar gear that caught my eye this week – including a pedal that will solve all your Mk.gee tone troubles
- August 15
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- “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Steven and he just doesn’t want to tour and he can’t”: Joe Perry joined by STP and Black Crowes stars as his solo project returns to the stage – but Perry is not ruling out one more Aerosmith show
- Guitar World deals of the week: get $350 off a Player II Tele, $100 off a Digitech looper pedal, plus some sweet Boss stompbox savings
- “Ozzy said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re a rock star. You could buy your own college by the time you’re done if you keep doing this!’” Just before his passing, Randy Rhoads was ready to leave the rock star life behind – and go back to school
- “It’s crazy that White Pony was 25 years old this year, even crazier that one of our fans owns one of the ESPs used to record it”: Stephen Carpenter’s ESP Horizon Custom from Deftones’ Back to School video has been valued at $55,000
- “Recreating this piece of metal history wasn’t just a challenge, it was a privilege”: Jason Momoa orders super-gnarly replica of James Hetfield’s iconic Elektra OGV – and this Polish luthier recreated every last detail
- August 14
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- “It came from how much timber had been taken off the neck, almost to Ibanez levels of thinness”: What's the secret behind the tone of Jimmy Page's legendary “Number One” Les Paul? Bare Knuckle founder Tim Mills had the chance to examine it and found out
- “We changed the guitar world and how it's played. The bands I played in have influenced the world. Thank you for everything”: Dave Mustaine announces new Megadeth album will be his last
- “As soon as I heard the news, I turned to my roommate and said, ‘That's my gig.’ The next day, Dave rings”: Steve Vai on how he joined David Lee Roth’s band – and Roth’s desire to “beat Van Halen”
- “I just don’t see them as, ‘Oh, a nice guitar,’ or ‘a nice pedal.’ I see the hours behind them. I see, ‘Wow, somebody really committed hours and energy and their soul’”: Seal is a secret tonehound – and he has great taste in gear
- “No decisions have been made”: Staff at Ed Sheeran guitar builder Lowden Guitars reportedly slated for redundancy following “the natural end of the acoustic boom experienced during the Covid-19 period”
- “No two guitars will be the same”: Gibson launches signature version of Noel Gallagher’s mystery Oasis reunion Les Paul – one of 2025’s most talked about guitars
- With up to 20% off left-handed guitars at Thomann, southpaw players finally have a sale to call their own
- With a colossal $530 off an American Ultra Luxe Telecaster, £320 off the American Performer Strat and so much more, Fender isn't holding back in this epic sale
- August 13
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- “I used to play this old POS. I needed that guitar or I couldn’t do my show”: How a $30 guitar shaped indie hero Mac DeMarco’s career
- “A retro-refined take on a classic”: Gretsch reboots the Corvette as the all-new CVT – a sub-$500 build based on the oddball vintage gem beloved by Rory Gallagher and Jimi Hendrix
- “They kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am”: Brent Hinds says he was forced out of Mastodon – despite claims his departure was amicable
- “It’s hilarious because that one thing you pour your heart into is just going to be completely covered by an explosion”: Yvette Young on what it was like to record guitar for James Gunn's Superman
- “What Les Paul was for Gibson, Edward Van Halen is for Kramer”: Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar surfaces for sale – and is expected to reach $3,000,000 at auction
- August 12
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- “If I were anywhere else in America, I might not be here”: Three Days Grace guitarist opens up after he suffered a heart attack mid-show – and kept going
- “I ended up using it on the Donna Summer album. It was a hell of a deal”: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on the cheap $35 guitar that ended up becoming a trusted stage and studio stalwart
- “People have bought tickets and you can see them thinking, ‘That’s not ‘Brothers in Arms’”: Mark Knopfler on why one of the Dire Straits’ most iconic tracks hinges on this four-note guitar intro
- “This is the original, hand-made at the Nashville Gibson Custom Shop”: Dave Grohl’s own Gibson DG-335 prototype has surfaced – and it’s up for sale on Reverb
- “We got on the stage and I just remember watching people walk away before we even started playing”: Brad Whitford and Joe Perry on the time Aerosmith were upstaged by their support act
- “We’ve redefined the balance between heritage and innovation”: Fender debuts the American Ultra Luxe Vintage range – taking on its boutique rivals and rolling out its new Heirloom relic’ing process
- “I was throwing the guitar at the amp over and over”: Billy Corgan wanted to make a statement on this Smashing Pumpkins song – so he trashed his guitar rig
- “It’s essentially based off of a knockoff Fender!” Khruangbin’s Laura Lee Ochoa just got a signature Fender based on the first bass she ever bought – but it was a Jazz Bass copy
- August 11
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- “Someone said, ‘Grief is the price of Love.’ I say that to myself every day but at the end of the day I just miss my friend so much”: Ozzy Osbourne collaborator Andrew Watt opens up on the Black Sabbath legend’s passing
- “I don’t care who you are, I’d recommend this to any guitar player”: Carlos Santana’s practice routine that will make you a better musician
- “This Mk.gee thing came along. It’s really new and fresh and different”: JHS Pedals has put Mk.gee’s beloved Tascam 424 multi-track tones into a pedal – as it finally unveils its mystery stompbox
- “Geezer broke down into tears. He had a hard time speaking, and then he delivered an amazing eulogy”: Robert Trujillo opens up on his experience of Ozzy Osbourne’s “beautiful” funeral
- “If you can’t beat them, join them”: Mark Tremonti’s love for Dumbles and tube amps is well-documented – but he’s brought a Neural DSP Quad Cortex on tour
- “If airlines can damage professional-grade instruments and then refuse to take responsibility, it puts every traveling musician at risk”: Emily Wolfe’s signature guitar smashed inside hardcase during flight – airline taking no responsibility
- “I was a Marshall guy back then. Now I literally cannot listen to Marshalls”: How Jeff Beck inspired former Joan Jett and the Blackhearts guitarist Ricky Byrd to switch from Marshall stacks to Fender combos
- “It is impossible for me to adapt to that role”: Classic rock supergroup parts ways with their new guitarist – after just one gig
- August 10
- August 9
- August 8
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- “I was gonna look like I was trying to be Randy. It was meant to look like the poster for Vertigo”: Zakk Wylde on how his iconic “Grail” Les Paul Custom got its bullseye finish – and gave him his signature style
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art claims to have solved the mystery of the Rolling Stones' 1959 Gibson Les Paul – which Mick Taylor alleges has been missing for decades
- “A George Benson, or John Mayer, or B.B. King, or Albert King solo, you can almost sing it”: Isaiah Sharkey on what he learned about guitar soloing – after playing with the likes of John Mayer, D'Angelo and Paul Simon
- “Eruption with one hand”: This guitar prodigy plays Eddie Van Halen's legendary two-hand tapping part – with only one hand
- “It has become the talk of the town every time it is used”: Noel Gallagher’s mystery Oasis Les Paul looks set for a signature release
- “Every now and then, you’ll look at the wall and think, ‘I can’t believe we’re here’”: Wolfgang Van Halen welcomed Alter Bridge into the hallowed halls of the legendary 5150 Studios to record their new album
- “Am I a number or am I a name?” JHS Pedals has teased a huge new drop with a riddle – and some gear fans think they’ve cracked the code
- “The year that I spent with Frank was the first and only time that I’ve ever had serious instruction”: Adrian Belew reflects on his game-changing year with Frank Zappa – and what the avant-garde musician taught him about music and the business
- August 7
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- “I got fired because I couldn’t get it”: Eric Johnson has written some of the greatest lead lines of all time – but once got sacked from a session because he couldn’t come up with anything
- “My grandma asked me why I was spending so much time pretending to play the guitar when I could just get a real guitar and try to learn how to actually play”: Inhaler’s Josh Jenkinson reveals that Guitar Hero was his launchpad to picking up the guitar
- “It’s in there to make your tone nicer, the sustain really nice, and the buzz even less”: Khruangbin’s Laura Lee reveals the little trick she’s picked up along the way to ensure a buzz-free bass tone
- “It produces the most amazing distortion, but I can’t sell it”: Robert Keeley has invented a drive pedal that is also a weed vape – but he’s not allowed to release it
- August 6
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- “A fresh chapter for Epiphone acoustics”: Gibson brings some of its most sought-after vintage gems to Epiphone’s Inspired by Custom range for the first time
- “Hetfield personally hooked me up with them back in the day. I’m not cheating on anyone. I want all the instruments!” Gojira’s Joe Duplantier explains how he started playing ESP guitars – and why he’s still playing Charvels
- “It survived crashing onto the highway and turned up in a pawnshop”: How Zakk Wylde’s ‘The Grail’ Ozzy Osbourne Les Paul found its way back to him – 3 years after it fell out of a moving vehicle
- “He took us to 5150, and it still had all the tapes up there. There was Jump, the old analog tapes, everything marked”: Lzzy Hale on why Wolfgang Van Halen is well positioned to “save rock ’n’ roll”
- “Somebody had stolen some equipment from the opening act and we got blamed for it. The crowd went crazy”: Ricky Byrd on the disastrous Joan Jett gig where they were wrongly accused of stealing gear – and the audience turned on them
- “You could argue that the pickups are the most important thing. But in the end, there’s nothing more important on the guitar than this”: Paul Reed Smith on a guitar's most crucial feature – and how it dictates your tone
- “She's got that thing that I could never do – I have to cheat”: Billy Corgan reveals the technique Kiki Wong can do on guitar that’s beyond him
- “We’ve had to bring in some help”: Gibson hires the investigative journalists who helped find Paul McCartney’s lost Höfner violin bass to aid the hunt for the missing Back to the Future ES-345
- August 5
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- “Four new colors inspired by traditional American fashion”: PRS and John Mayer unveil fresh finishes for the best-selling SE Silver Sky – and add new Maple models
- The all-new October 2025 Guitar World – where Smashing Pumpkins and Sex Pistols mingle openly with Carlos Santana and Khruangbin
- “I was looking at my watch thinking, ‘I’m so miserable doing this.’ That was the last time we did anything with the original lineup”: Steve Jones on why Frank Carter gave the Sex Pistols a new lease on life – and where things stand with John Lydon
- ”Stevie told me to call his brother Jimmie and ask him to lend me his amp and then play it with a Strat so he could feel it through me”: Carlos Santana on his “visitation” from Stevie Ray Vaughan, who implored him to borrow his Dumble amp
- “The first thing that I grabbed when I was like, ‘We’ve got to get the hell out of here’ was the double-neck that Alex Lifeson gave me”: Primus’ Larry LaLonde opens up on losing his house and nearly all his gear in the devastating California wildfires
- “It looks sweet, sounds sweet, and the music that comes out of it should be sweet too”: Russian luthier builds Les Paul out of donuts (sort of)
- “I’m, like, ‘Why are they calling me? Did every rock guitar player in Los Angeles disappear spontaneously at the same time?’” When Joe Bonamassa guested on an Ozzy Osbourne album – and couldn't quite believe it
- “One of the greatest to ever do it”: Terry “Superlungs” Reid, the guitarist, singer, and songwriter who forged his own path after turning down Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, has died aged 75
- “I remember my first concert, and that incredible band is actually here tonight to play a few songs”: Olivia Rodrigo’s first-ever gig was Weezer – now she’s played with them at Lollapalooza
- “The idea is Kirk was gonna play rhythms along with James. That changed everything, and some people don’t like it”: Bob Rock says Metallica's divisive Load album redefined the Hetfield-Hammett guitar partnership
- August 4
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- With up to 40% off guitar amps Thomann's huge Hughes & Kettner sale just made upgrading your backline a lot more affordable
- “I got a phone call from L.A. It’s David going, ‘We’re putting Pink Floyd back together. Would you be interested and available?’” Why David Gilmour's go-to bassist for the past four decades very nearly didn't get the gig
- “He looked at me like I had five heads”: Spike Lee once asked Prince for his signature guitar – he didn’t expect what happened next
- Jimmy Page settles decades-long Dazed and Confused lawsuit with original songwriter
- “We love you, Ozzy!” Nuno Bettencourt covers three Ozzy Osbourne classics with Extreme – and nails Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee’s iconic solos
- August 1
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- Met Museum refutes that former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor ever owned the ’59 Les Paul he claims was stolen from him – and now appears in a new exhibit
- “For over two years, we worked closely with some of the top techs in the world”: Level up your fret game with MusicNomad’s Fret Care line and resource hub – which offers everything you could ever need to master your setup
- “Right after the concert, I got a call from my parents saying that I had to rush back to Italy because the finance police was looking for me”: Slap bass phenom Davie504 lifts the veil on the pressures of becoming a YouTube megastar
- “Two legends right there”: Slash joins Michael Schenker on stage to cover a UFO classic
- “I remember the phone call. He said, ‘Jim, I just wrote this thing. It was for Blue Öyster Cult. But I don't think they're going to keep it…’” The Bryan Adams track that started life as a Blue Öyster Cult song
- “The credit was obscured. And as the years have passed, they have brought it out into the open”: Tim Pierce has recorded with Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and more – but this song is his crowning achievement
- “One of a kind”: 19-year-old follows in Marcin’s footsteps and brings percussive fingerstyle acoustic to America’s Got Talent with knockout performance
- “I’ve had so many people reach out wanting to know what it is and if we can build one for them”: What’s the story behind Noel Gallagher’s new Murphy Lab Les Paul? Gibson finally reveals all
- “Thought the DIY pedal trend had run its course? Think again”: All the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including a reverb pedal inspired by an abandoned nuclear reactor
- “Do I placate the minority of folks, or do I play an arena gig with blues songs that nobody else is doing?” Joe Bonamassa’s approach to the blues has triggered some purists – this is his response
