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July 2025
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86 articles
- July 11
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- “Maybe that was part of the reason I had overlooked it before. It was so perfect and almost doesn’t stand out”: Alice Cooper’s new guitarist on why Glen Buxton is a seriously underrated guitar hero
- Kirk Hammett’s mystery SG from Back to the Beginning was built by Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian – and now it’s being auctioned off for charity
- “With him doing his own set – which I didn't think he should do – I didn't want him to get burnt out”: Tony Iommi reflects on Black Sabbath’s final performance, his concerns over Ozzy's solo set – and reveals the songs they rehearsed but didn’t play
- “I just had a feeling. I didn't even play it properly. It had one dodgy jack lead, and I squeaked out two chords on it and I thought, ‘This is the guitar for this project’”: How Chris Turpin found the perfect foil for Jake Kiszka’s Number One Gibson SG
- “Jon and I became friends. He came to L.A. when he was looking for musicians to join his band, but a couple of things happened...”: Why session legend Tim Pierce never joined Bon Jovi – despite recording their earliest hit
- “I’m more interested in putting in stuff that I’m unfamiliar with and trying to be more than just the power chord. But I still end up back there, that’s the problem”: Stephen Carpenter shares his power chord addiction as Deftones announce new album
- “Something that really blows my mind is that before Wet Leg, Rhian didn’t know how to play guitar”: Wet Leg are one of the hottest indie bands on the planet – but leader Rhian Teasdale couldn’t play guitar until she started the band
- “My friend calls and says, ‘I’ve got this customer. I need you to come down here right away. It's George Harrison'”: How Norman Harris helped reunite a Beatle with his long-lost Les Paul
- Guitar World deals of the week: your last chance to grab a Prime Day saving – a face-melting EHX octave fuzz for less than $40, $94 off a bonkers Squier and loads more
- July 10
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- I played in a covers band for years, and swore by one pickup combination that covered everything. With $400 off this Charvel San Dimas, this is the HSS guitar I’d be picking up this Prime Day
- Forget Amazon for guitar deals - Sweetwater has an irresistible $200 off Epiphone’s 1964 SG Reissue for all Iommi and Angus fans
- Always thought in-ear monitors were too expensive? This mega Prime Day sale on Linsoul IEMs says otherwise – invest from as little as $39.99 and find out why more amateur players than ever are using them
- Sweetwater is looking to Seek & Destroy Amazon with the very best Prime Day guitar deal for Metallica fans – save $359 off the iconic Kirk Hammett White Zombie
- “I said to my tour manager, ‘I need 350 bucks,’ which he wasn’t happy about. That bass changed my career”: In 1981, Pino Palladino bought a fretless StingRay that altered the course of his musical life – now it’s been recreated as a signature model
- “Bey wanted a solo. She’s like, ‘We can have a 16-bar solo on this record.’ So that was a little bit of pressure”: Eric Gales nearly recorded a guitar solo for Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter
- There are few things in life I hate more than re-stringing my guitars, but with packs from as little as 83 cents per string this Prime Day, I've run out of excuses
- “Everyone in Olivia’s band and Olivia herself is a huge fan. I was watching them, thinking, ‘This is so cool. They’re playing Jacksons’”: How Turnstile ramped up the shred in Olivia Rodrigo’s live show
- Guitar Center is taking the fight to Amazon this Prime Day with 25% off an "endless" selection of electric guitars - including $200 off a Player II Strat!
- “When the wonderful David Fleming approached me to help out with guitar for the new James Gunn Superman film/soundtrack, I was like, ‘Um, hell yes?!’”: Yvette Young confirms that she's the guitar-wielder on the new Superman soundtrack
- “You’re a walking encyclopedia of Stevie knowledge”: This 16-year-old has been called the next Stevie Ray Vaughan – and he’s finally been given the keys to “the real SRV tone” after years of experimenting
- A guitar amp with a touchscreen? Mooer’s $190 F15i looks to set a new benchmark for desktop modeling amps – and promises to “redefine portable guitar practice”
- July 9
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- Here are the 13 must-try guitar accessories for under $25 this Prime Day - including the Hetfield-approved Dunlop Black Fang guitar picks for only $8.25!
- “My gosh, that’s a big guitar”: 10-year-old guitarist nails Are You Gonna Go May Way during America’s Got Talent – on a PRS that’s almost as tall as he is
- “I remember reading it and thinking, ‘Why did he say I left the band?’ I never left the band. I was fired”: Vivian Campbell sets the record straight on his infamous departure from Ronnie James Dio’s band
- “I stepped on the stage really hard and the guitar fell over and exploded. The headstock shattered into five pieces”: That time Ty Segall accidentally smashed his beloved ’60s Gibson
- “Sound like your favorite song with a single click”: This ambitious pedal uses AI to recreate the guitar tones from any song you feed it
- These Boss favorites are still on sale for Prime Day, including the beloved Boss DS-1W – but hurry, the deals end tonight!
- 3 Positive Grid Spark amps have big Prime Day discounts until the end of today – and they all scored 4.5 stars in our reviews
- “A modern take on vintage tones”: PRS gives its celebrated NF 53 the SE treatment – tabling a bid for the best sub-$1k electric of 2025
- Shhhh... Donner's 4.5-star Hush-X travel guitar just dropped by a chunky 20%, making practice at home or on vacation more family-friendly
- “I like a standard-tuning guitar. If you can’t put your ideas across with that, you’re in trouble”: Justin Hawkins on why he’s not convinced by alternate tunings
- “There were a lot of things I wish I had done with Greta that if I could go back in time and do differently, I would”: Jake Kiszka’s Greta Van Fleet journey so far has been an astounding success – but there are some things he’d change about it
- July 8
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- I bought the HX Stomp years ago and it's still one of my smartest gear purchases - get up to $200 off Line 6 in the Sweetwater sale
- “I miss being at the end of the stage and turning up my amp as loud as possible”: Oasis have performed their first live shows in 16 years – and Noel Gallagher re-embracing guitar solos after all this time is set to be a highlight of the entire reunion
- Amazon still has dirt-cheap guitar pedals starting from only $20.79, but the Prime Day deals end today – give your 'board a budget boost while you can
- “There’s apparently only two of them, so I feel very lucky to have it”: The oddball electric guitar that fast-rising soul-pop guitarist Maya Delilah favors over her Strats and Teles
- I track pedal deals year-round and the Electro-Harmonix Lizard Queen octave fuzz for just $39.60 is next-level cheap
- Guitar god Eric Johnson thinks "every guitarist should learn the piano," and with Prime Day discounts on models from Roland, Yamaha, and Casio, it's never been cheaper to learn
- One of my favorite sub-$500 guitars just got even cheaper thanks to this $136 Prime Day discount – but the deal is ending in 24 hours
- Quick! These 8 guitar accessories are still cheap in the Prime Day sale, but only until tonight – and the cheapest one is only $5.05
- Give your pedalboard the glow up it deserves with over $100 off this Fender patch cable kit – pay just $3 per cable and save 65%
- “I was expecting weirdness, but Michael wasn’t that way at all. He was very interested in my pedalboard”: Session legend Tim Pierce on working with Michael Jackson – and how the King of Pop turned out to be an unexpected gear nerd
- “Draws on everything we’ve learned”: Gibson (sort of) revives the cult Marauder model beloved by Adam Jones and Paul Stanley – by combining it with an even more obscure build
- Seriously? $109.99 for a genuine Telecaster?! Fender’s Squier Debut models are the ultimate beginner guitars, and with this wallet-friendly Prime Day discount, you'll have enough left over to buy a tuner
- “I gave up trying to be a great guitar player. I have enough to get by in the studio – I got away with murder”: Mark Knopfler on why he doesn’t consider himself a “guitar god” – and the ones in the industry who deserve that title
- “A bold step forward in modern amp design”: Blackstar goes up against Boss and Positive Grid with the ID:X – a next-gen modeling amp with newly developed tech that isn’t afraid of the competition
- July 7
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- “Still processing it all. It might take a while”: Joe Bonamassa wraps his Rory Gallagher tribute shows and delivers a stunning cover of As The Crow Flies on Gallagher’s original 1932 National resonator
- Nuno Bettencourt was spotted playing a mystery guitar at Back to the Beginning – is he about to launch his own guitar brand?
- The ‘metal Yardbirds’ assemble at Back to the Beginning – as Billy Corgan, Adam Jones and Tom Morello put on a supergroup set that’s been years in the making
- Steven Tyler makes triumphant return to the stage with Back to Beginning set alongside Ronnie Wood and Nuno Bettencourt – fueling Aerosmith reunion speculation
- July 6
- July 5
- July 4
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- “It just never felt like it worked with Queens. There’s something about it – it’s a little too ordinary”: Troy Van Leeuwen explains why Queens of the Stone Age are not a Fender Strat band
- “More of the glassy sparkle that Tele neck pickups always lacked”: DiMarzio is determined to make you like the Tele neck pickup position with its new Muscle T set
- “The solution to your Tele neck pickup headaches and a fitting farewell for the godfather of heavy metal”: This is all the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – and it includes my new dream reverb machine
- If I was starting guitar again today, this is the first deal I’d jump on – get $1,000 worth of content for just $125.65 with Guitar Tricks' Summer Black Friday
- “I felt like it was going to be a scam but emailed them anyway, signing off as Este Haim”: How Este Haim ended up buying her dream ’70s Fender Precision Bass on Craigslist for a bargain – from one of her favorite guitarists
- Guitar World deals of the week: save $850 on a Music Man, get $10 guitar lessons, plus all the best early Prime Day guitar deals
- “That’s how we’re gonna know we’ve found the right one”: Gibson steps up the search for the lost Back to the Future guitar – and its discovery hinges on one key spec
- “My first reaction was, ‘There’s only one Les Paul.’ I prolonged the conversation”: Gibson spent years trying to convince Warren Haynes to work on a signature guitar – this is what changed his mind
- These are the best 4th of July acoustic guitar deals I’ve ever seen – here’s the 9 models I’d buy
- “I said, ‘Ted, you can see inside the horn, it's got a maple cap.’ He goes, ‘Shut up’”: Paul Reed Smith says early Les Pauls were all Goldtops to hide a tonal breakthrough from Leo Fender
- “People laughed at us, saying, ‘Why are you playing guitar solos? This is so lame.’ We thought, ‘Let's go even faster’”: Herman Li on how Guitar Hero helped make guitar solos cool again – and why grunge killing off the shred scene wasn’t a bad thing
- “Now it’s coming back and everyone is getting excited about it”: Liam Gallagher’s son thinks guitar music is only now making a return – and the Oasis reunion could be to thank
- July 3
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- “I sold this model guitar as a teenager and have regretted it for many years now”: Jack White reveals the one guitar he regrets letting go – and why he still hopes to be reunited with it
- My favorite Telecaster just got a massive $240 discount in the Fender Summer Sale – this is why it’s my go-to for recording and gigging
- “I’m finding that new gear can actually sound really good, and that old gear can be really overrated”: Why folk legend Richard Thompson is embracing new guitar gear – but drawing the line at digital
- “With the ongoing tariff uncertainties in the U.S., we wanted to take decisive action to bring clarity”: Irish guitar firm announces a new U.S.-based distribution hub to tackle tariff impact – will other manufacturers follow suit?
- I already have 13 Gibson guitars in my collection, but with a massive $200 off the Les Paul Studio at Sweetwater, I'm about to add another
- “We’re talking about it. I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig”: Joe Perry leaves the door open for an Aerosmith reunion – and he’s not the only band member who’s keen
- July 2
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- Ibanez has just dropped fresh signature guitars for 3 of its biggest artists – but a new Premium Series has stolen their spotlight
- “I attempt to recreate the sound of Eruption with a Fractal and an amp I’ve never played”: Dweezil Zappa devises the ultimate tube amp versus modeler test – using both the shred an Eddie Van Halen classic
- I’ve been buying used pedals for years and with up to 66% off, Reverb’s summer sale is the first place I’d look right now
- “My parents got divorced – I got a TV off my mum and a guitar from my dad. And it’s still a great guitar”: Sam Fender’s first guitar was a budget Strat copy – and even though he’s selling out stadiums, he still plays it to this day
- These huge 4th of July guitar sales have taken the wind out of Prime Day’s sails – shop 10 of my top picks
- I was holding out for Amazon Prime Day, until Thomann's massive Music Days sale dropped up to 65% in savings on Fender, ESP, Gibson, Martin, Taylor, and more
- “I was noticing I was having a hard time playing a simple thing. ‘Why am I having a problem playing this?’ I didn't know yet”: Phil Collins’ go-to guitarist, Daryl Stuermer, reveals his Parkinson’s diagnosis – and shares how it has impacted his playing
- “You told me you could play this song!” Green Day invite fan on stage to play Good Riddance – but he trolls them with Wonderwall instead
- “I forgot to turn my guitar off. A lady passed by, and her dress tail hit the G string. I’ll never forget that. I’ve been doing it ever since”: How Buddy Guy accidentally stumbled upon guitar feedback – a tool that would shape his sound and style
- July 1
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- Become a better guitarist for just 27 cents a day? That's not as absurd as it sounds thanks to TrueFire’s massive July 4th sale – save 60% on an annual subscription
- “After two weeks, my tone remained the same as it was in the first minute of restringing”: I tried Cleartone treated electric guitar strings for the first time – and the results impressed me
- “It was under a staircase for 50 years. The owner’s family thought it could be worth £5,000. They were told, ’It’s worth more than that…’” The curious tale of Joe Bonamassa’s ‘Royal Albert’ Les Paul – and its mysterious mod
- With deals starting from below the $200 mark, Fender's Summer Sale is the place to bag yourself a new guitar with up to $550 off Fender and Squier guitars
- “I just said, ‘Look, Ed, if you want to do this, I’ll set up a guitar for you, and if you don’t like what we do, I’ll just destroy it in front of you’”: Eddie Van Halen and Keanu Reeves nearly ended up on the John Wick soundtrack
- “The Epiphone and Squier guitars that you can get now, with a good setup, will play great and sound very close to more expensive versions”: Why The Cars' Elliot Easton believes a guitar's setup is more important than its price tag
- “The return of a legend”: Tony Iommi and Laney mark Black Sabbath’s final show with an ultra-limited signature amp – which revives an old favorite for the first time in 13 years
