Known as “the guitarist’s guitarist”, Jeff Beck was one of three electric guitar icons to rise to fame in The Yardbirds in the 1960s (the others being Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page). He later formed the Jeff Beck Group, for which he recruited Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart and set a blues rock template that would prove inspirational for Page’s Led Zeppelin.
1975’s Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers (penned for him by Stevie Wonder) became Beck’s signature track, distilling the violining technique and stunning fingerstyle touch that would secure his legacy as one of the most distinctive and masterful electric guitar players of the 20th century.
Latest about Jeff Beck
Why bassist Paul Samwell-Smith chose a short-scale Epiphone for his “rave-ups” with the Yardbirds
The blues-rock opener from the band’s 1966 debut album showcases a standout example of Samwell-Smith’s fluid, freewheeling bass work
When a teenage Suzi Quatro laid down a marker by jamming with Jeff Beck and Cozy Powell
The bassist was determined to prove her worth, and the impromptu jam was the perfect platform to do it
![Dweezil Zappa [left] and Jeff Beck, both playing Strats. Zappa recently recounted a costume part at which both were dressed in chainmail, when Beck dinged a vintage Strat](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z3iMpnjWcc3skeZpCVr5Ki-840-80.jpg.webp)
When Jeff Beck damaged an impossibly rare vintage Stratocaster – while he and Dweezil Zappa were at a party dressed as knights
This Fender once belonged to Steve Marriott or something… But Beck? He wasn’t too fussed. People pay for these dings nowadays!
Seymour Duncan goes toe-to-toe with Fishman with its triple-voiced MortalCoil active pickups
Offering three distinct voices in one package and promising fast, dynamic response and long battery life, these might be SD’s most modern pickups yet
Paul Reed Smith on how he built his brand, secret PRS players – and why the internet is wrong about tonewood
Once the guitar brand for the one percent, the smash-hit success of the SE line took PRS Guitars mainstream, but for Smith, it’s still about trying to raise the bar and find new sounds
John McLaughlin remembers gifting Jeff Beck the white Strat that featured on his seminal Wired record
The iconic Strat was reportedly stolen at a later date
Robben Ford on why he got bored with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell’s fuzz tips – and how Jeff Beck got him back on the Strat
Ford on two moments when Joni Mitchell was right and he was wrong, why his late 80s stint with Davis didn't work out and his go-to Dumble alternative
Jeff Beck secretly played a PRS at home – and the company is trying to get it back
Beck played Fenders, Gibsons, even Jacksons onstage – but he reportedly kept a PRS handy at home for recording
The Rolling Stones legend who stole his first guitar
Before he became rock royalty, Ronnie Wood couldn’t afford the Fender Jazz Bass that he needed to gig
Pino Palladino’s adventures with The Who, John Mayer, Eric Clapton and his Music Man fretless bass
One of the most identifiable bass players on the planet on why he shifted back to fretted, embracing flatwounds even though they were unfashionable, and how he’s still topping the charts with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran
