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Chet Atkins plays his nylon-string live onstage in 1991.
“If I don’t know it’s me I think, ‘Damn, that's pretty good. Wonder who that is?’ Then when I realize it’s me I kind of want to throw up”: Chet Atkins was his own harshest critic and hated what he played

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From The Archive Atkins was one of the greatest of all time and yet he was never satisfied. We guitar players can be too hard on ourselves

From The Archive
Mötley Crüe lead guitar player Mick Mars performs onstage at the Joe Louis Arena during the Theater of Pain tour, on September 15, 1985, in Detroit, Michigan
Mick Mars wasn’t even awake when he recorded parts for one of Mötley Crüe’s biggest tunes

By Phil Weller Published

From the Archive Mars looks back on the making of one of Crüe’s most popular tracks

From the Archive
Johnny Marr and Rory Gallagher - GettyImages-2286471920 - GettyImages-84893869
Johnny Marr tried to make his first guitar look like Rory Gallagher’s – and it made him pass out

By Phil Weller Published

From the Archive Gallagher’s Strat was weathered through sweat and aggressive playing. Marr felt he could fast-track the same aesthetic

From the Archive
Dickey Betts (left) and Duane Allman sit in a hotel room in Spartanburg, South Carolina on October 17, 1970, playing acoustic guitars
Dickey Betts and Duane Allman’s rocky first jam

By Jackson Maxwell Published

From the Archive Once the Allman Brothers hit their stride, the two guitarists clicked. But their first interactions didn’t exactly foretell a legendary partnership

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From the Archive
Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen
What Angus Young thought of Eddie Van Halen

By Phil Weller Published

From the Archive The SG-touting AC/DC legend has used Chuck Berry and B.B. King to back up his argument

34 Comments
From the Archive
Billy Gibbons in full flow onstage with ZZ Top
Why Billy Gibbons started using a peso as a guitar pick

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From the Archive It pays to keep some change in your pocket. You never know when your tone will need it

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From the Archive
Blues masters Robert Jr Lockwood and B.B. King
“I’m responsible for him being what he is today”: The man who transformed B.B. King from “terrible” to legendary

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From the Archive How the stepson of Robert Johnson took B.B. King under his wing as he workshopped his chops in Memphis

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From the Archive
Angus Young wears his school uniform as AC/DC play Donington Monsters of Rock [left]; Eric Clapton is suited and playing a pale blue Strat in the mid '80s.
Angus Young’s thoughts on Eric Clapton – and the players he prefers

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From the Archive When the AC/DC guitarist was coming up, Clapton was the player blowing everyone's mind but his

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From the Archive
Joe Satriani plays his Paisley Pattern JS signature Ibanez; Kirk Hammett [right] plays his ESP Mummy.
“They were the weirdest things. He was asking me, ‘What do you think I should play over this stuff?’” When Joe Satriani got an exclusive preview of new Metallica material during lessons with his student Kirk Hammett

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From the Archive When Joe Satriani got an exclusive preview of new Metallica material during lessons with his student Kirk Hammett

From the Archive
Merle Travis seated in a studio with his guitar (left), a Bigsby vibrato system
How Merle Travis pushed Paul Bigsby to one-up Gibson with his iconic vibrato

By Jackson Maxwell Published

From the Archive The country guitar giant was possibly the first to ever try out the game-changing piece of guitar hardware, and its invention was born out of a challenge he set for his friend

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