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Guitar World
All the latest content from the Guitar World team
Updated: 1 hour 2 min ago
“One of the rarest and most coveted vintage amplifiers ever”: Mesa/Boogie’s hallowed Mark IIC++ was used by Metallica to shape the sound of 1980s metal – and now it’s been given a production release for the first time ever
Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield's Crunch Berries amp, which was only ever made as an unofficial mod exclusive only to artists, gets its first-ever wide release
Categories: General Interest
“I imagine myself painting a picture. Before I only had 24 colors to use – now I have an infinite amount on my palette”: Meet Ben Lechuga, the Steve Vai-championed Chilean virtuoso who has gone fretless – and why he’s never going back
Lechuga won a Steve Vai scholarship in 2011 and now plays with David Maxim Micic and teaches for Ernie Ball Music Man, and going fretless, he says, has made totally rethink his playing
Categories: General Interest
“Yes, Eric can certainly shred! But more important than his speed is his accuracy. Accuracy will always win the day over speed”: Joe Bonamassa shows you how to connect lead phrases like Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson's playing is inspiring but bamboozling. How does he sound so fluid? Well, Joe Bonamassa has some thoughts (and four examples) on how we can nail Johnson's style
Categories: General Interest
“It’s like a Jazzmaster on steroids, but you still have that Strat essence”: Fender’s limited-edition Ariel Posen signature is a conceptual hybrid that blends two of the slide master’s favorite guitars together
The Jazzmaster/Stratocaster mash-up debuts custom pickups designed by Tim Shaw and a spec sheet that blurs the boundaries between the two classic Fender designs
Categories: General Interest
“There were things I wanted to achieve that I wasn't really getting out of those amps”: Why Slash worked with Magnatone on a signature amp after 30 years of playing Marshall stacks
The Guns N' Roses guitar hero made headlines back in 2023 when he announced he'd be partnering with Magnatone on a signature guitar amp
Categories: General Interest
“The same when I first saw Prince, it was like, ‘We’re safe’”: Mk.gee was named Eric Clapton’s favorite new guitarist – now he’s making waves with a guest spot on Justin Bieber’s new album
Daisies, from Bieber’s surprise new album, Swag, features Mk.gee’s unmistakable playing
Categories: General Interest
“Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald had written three stone-cold classics by the time they were 25. They showed amazing maturity in their early songwriting”: Remembering Mike Peters, the late frontman of the Alarm
Following 30 years of living with blood cancer, Peters passed away at the age of 66
Categories: General Interest
“This is the way Leo would be building guitars if he were still alive. In our eyes, G&L is more ‘Fender’ than Fender actually is”: How G&L Guitars is carrying on the legacy of Leo Fender
G&L director of sales Steve Araujo on the other brand that Leo Fender built, and the innovations that have made it a favorite of A-list pros such as Jerry Cantrell
Categories: General Interest
“The warm wash of top-class tone we experienced from both these guitars was impossible to resist”: Fenech VT Camphor Laurel Auditorium and VT Professional Blackwood Dread D78 review
An Australian brand with a burgeoning reputation down under steps into the limelight with a pair of hand-built acoustics that incorporate premium tonewoods and a sharp eye for design
Categories: General Interest
“I love using toy guitars that you have to wrestle with. It adds to the performance – you’re pulling from the instrument”: Dean DeLeo on why his favorite STP songs are the ones he didn’t write, and barging into Allan Holdsworth’s dressing room
The Stone Temple Pilots guitar icon explains how he stumbles upon songs, why nothing’s quite like a Telecaster, and how his latest spellbinding collaboration, One More Satellite, came to be
Categories: General Interest
“Our MD told us, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but Robert Smith is going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying”: The moment Olivia Rodrigo guitarist Arianna Powell found out she’d be playing with a Cure legend
Smith had some words of wisdom for Rodrigo’s band ahead of his surprise guest spot at one of the most star-studded music festivals in the world
Categories: General Interest
“I never thought I would ever see anything like this”: Steve Vai considers this solo to be his “ultimate achievement” – and one fan’s cover has left him in awe
Vai has singled out an aspiring player on Instagram for their flawless cover
Categories: General Interest
“He gave the guitar back to me after the set and said, ‘Oh man, it’s such a good one’”: Marcus King takes Rory Gallagher’s legendary Isle of Wight Fender Telecaster for a spin on stage
King previously played Jeff Beck’s iconic YardBurst Les Paul thanks to French vintage guitar dealer, Matt’s Guitar Shop
Categories: General Interest
29 Prime Day guitar gear deals still live right now – including 15 patch cables for just $45
Don't fret if you dropped the ball on a Prime Day guitar deal, I've got all the deals that are still live right here for you
Categories: General Interest
“Mick Taylor is mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection”: A stolen Rolling Stones ’59 Les Paul that has been missing since 1972 has surfaced – in a museum
The guitar, also played by Keith Richards on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 before it was stolen by drug dealers, has been identified by its fingerprint-like flame top
Categories: General Interest
“We had people crying on our shoulders every night. We had no idea it would be so impactful that it literally saved people’s lives”: We Lost the Sea channeled grief into a landmark post-rock album – then they had to face the pressure of how to follow it
The Australian instrumentalists created beauty from tragedy with Departure Songs. Hard-fought third album A Single Flower is a breathtaking product of the journey they’ve been on so far, delivered via aluminum guitars and boatloads of pedals
Categories: General Interest
“By the time he finished, Memphis knew they were witnessing the birth of a legend”: That time a 14-year-old Eric Gales won a battle of the bands competition that got him signed – and kickstarted his career
It was a gig that changed Gales’ life forever
Categories: General Interest
“I’m just like, ‘Oh my God. This is a compliment and a diss at the same time from Kirk Hammett!’” Tim Henson addresses Kirk Hammett’s mixed response to his ‘boomer bends’ comments
Hammett recently had his own say on the boomer bends controversy, questioning how accessible the Polyphia virtuoso’s style is for casual listeners
Categories: General Interest
“He goes, ‘You know, Joe, you’d be my favorite guitar player if you’d just divide by two’”: The playing advice Joe Bonamassa got from Leslie West – and why it’s finally paying off
Three decades later, Bonamassa is taking West’s pointers on board – and they’re making a difference
Categories: General Interest
“One of Eric Clapton’s guitars went for half a million dollars. I was, as I often am, in trouble with the IRS. I thought, ‘This is probably the time’”: Todd Rundgren’s love affair with Clapton’s Fool SG, and how he moved on after selling it
He rescued it from peeling-paint hell, restored it after the headstock snapped off, but was never fully happy with the psychedelic Gibson. Then a fan offered a happily-ever-after solution
Categories: General Interest