Talkin' Blues: The Gospel of Pops Staples | Guitar World

The following content is related to the July 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

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Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman performs at the Spectrum on June 29, 1991, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“I was stunned and angry… They easily could have agreed to that, and the reunion would have been on”: Marty Friedman reveals the real reason he rejected Megadeth's proposed Rust in Peace lineup reunion

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“The guitar can be your best friend one day and your rival the next – it keeps you on your toes”: London jazz ace Artie Zaitz on why the amp is your second instrument and how he learned to love mistakes

“This pickup could have come out of a late-’50s Gibson. If you had a guitar from that era with these pickups, everyone would be like, ‘Wow. That’s a badass-sounding Les Paul’”: How Adam “Nolly” Getgood and Bare Knuckle reinvented the P.A.F. for a new era

“From the first chord, we both thought, ‘Wow’ – I quit my band and moved to Denmark”: How husband-and-wife duo the Courettes became one of the most exciting bands in the garage-rock underground

“I won seven guitar contests in a row. When I went to enter again, they said, ‘No, don’t even enter – you’re going to judge the next one’”: Dimebag Darrell discusses his love of soloing – even when it was uncool – and dishes advice in his final interview

“I was having so much anxiety about getting a great sound that I wasn’t writing songs… I said, ‘I’m gonna stop thinking about it. This is going to be my sound’”: Tom Morello on his tone struggles and what he learned from teaching his son Roman how to play

“I have a Southern accent, and it’s the same on the guitar. I adapted the guitar to do the talking for me when I was too shy”: Marcus King on why your fretboard has its own language – and how mental health became his muse

“When we learn to improvise, the first thing we pay attention to is where to put our fingers… rarely do any of us pay attention to the rhythm of a melody or lick”: Can’t figure out why your improvised solos don’t feel right? Here’s how to fix them

“I played a 5-string with Lauryn Hill, but it didn’t feel like a real bass”: Raised on R&B, schooled by fusion, and empowered by punk rock, Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer remains a 4-string purist

“Zoom discontinued that pedal because nobody bought it – but bass players are always coming up to me wanting to know how I got those sounds”: Remembering jazz great Victor Bailey, who used an unsung multi-FX pedal for his cover of Prince’s biggest hit

Proggy Pentatonic! How to Use the Good Ol’ Pentatonic Scale in Cool New Ways

“I had a hard time playing in tune. The producer stopped me and said, ‘George, tune up again.’ I didn’t realize the value of that until Breezin’ came out”: How George Benson landed a hit album by breaking the rules – and learning to play in tune