Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

The Latest Breaking News from Guitar World

“He mostly played bass. I had a ’64 Strat that I got for $200. Tom didn’t really have a good electric, so I let him use that one”: How Mike Campbell and Tom Petty developed their Heartbreakers sound – with the help of some choice early gear picks

Though Petty was in need of a decent electric, the two Heartbreakers quickly landed on a sound that would define their guitar partnership

Guitar World

“I’d go into a soundcheck, there’d be all these cases open and they’d say, ‘Choose one. We’ll give you a guitar.’ I’d be like, ‘No, thanks. I have a guitar’”: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and James Walbourne on what it takes to be a real guitar hero

Kick ’Em Where It Hurts is the new live album from the Pretenders and it serves as a testament to a creative rebirth as they emerged from lockdown

Guitar World

“I was auditioning guitar players. One guy comes in with that turquoise guitar. I looked at it and I thought, ‘That’s my guitar’”: Lita Ford had her prized B.C. Rich Mockingbird stolen – but crossed paths with it in the most bizarre circumstances

Ford was briefly reacquainted with her beloved Mockingbird when an auditionee rocked up to her studio with her stolen guitar

Guitar World

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

“Vintage looks and performance at an accessible price”: Epiphone expands its high-end Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection – and introduces a key upgrade to its 1959 Les Paul Standard reissue

Open book headstocks, Gibson USA pickups and a handful of sought-after upgrades headline the 2025 expansion pack

Guitar World

“Muddy Waters and BB King, I knew ’em before they passed away, and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive’”: Buddy Guy is still on the road – and he’s back on the big screen in Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners

Guy feels the weight of responsibility to continue carrying the torch for the blues – and ensure that the genre’s pioneers are known to younger generations

Guitar World

I’ve been involved with guitars for decades, and in all that time I can probably count on two hands the vintage instruments I’ve seen with half the finish gone. Has guitar relic'ing gone too far?

We have gone from “Journeyman” lightly aged to guitars that make Rory Gallagher's number one Strat look box-fresh. Is it time to rein relic'ing in?

Guitar World

“I must’ve played hundreds of Les Pauls, and I can safely say this is up there with the best sounding of them – it even gives my own Gibson Les Paul Standard a run for its money”: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul Goldtop review

Epiphone has struck gold with this ambitious recreation of a pivotal guitar in the Les Paul history books

Guitar World

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

“Stevie came to my 5th birthday and gave me a pawnshop Harmony. It didn’t have a gig bag, it had two paper grocery bags on either end”: Tyrone Vaughan descends from blues greatness – and SRV helped him start his guitar journey early

Stevie Ray Vaughan turned up at young Tyrone's birthday party with a special gift that would help him follow in the footsteps of his relatives

Guitar World

“Live right up to the last breath and stay positive about the world, your family and the environment you live in”: Mike Peters, frontman of the Welsh band, The Alarm, has died aged 66

Peters was first diagnosed with cancer 30 years ago – and remained an active campaigner to raise funds and awareness for cancer research through his charity, Love Hope Strength

Guitar World

“Muddy Waters and BB King, I knew ’em before they passed away, and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive’”: Buddy Guy has officially retired from touring – but he’s back on the big screen in Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners

Guy feels the weight of responsibility to continue carrying the torch for the blues – and ensure that the genre’s pioneers are known to younger generations

Guitar World

“I can’t believe how complicated the parts she’s playing are. You just never know how those are coming to be in the studio”: FINNEAS reveals his surprise guitar hero whose playing left him scratching his head

Alongside Nile Rodgers, St. Vincent, John Frusciante, and George Harrison, a more niche choice rounds up his top five guitarists list

Guitar World

“It could be something you could bequeath to those you love”: Red Witch’s Apothecary pedals could outlast every other stompbox on your ’board – and even become family heirlooms

New pedals inspired by classic tones are built to last like no other

Guitar World

“I’ve been to guitar shops and played fancy guitars and cheaper ones. I just don’t understand why people pay so much money”: Tashi Dorji explains why he sees little value in expensive instruments – but views improv guitar as anarchy

Tashi Dorji is a punk-rocker with a freewheeling improv jazz sensibility and he is totally okay with his music being impermanent, so long as it sounds alive in the moment

Guitar World

“Take a lunar journey”: Guitar Center continues its big-brand collaborative hot streak and takes Fender on a Moonlight Drive with a trio of limited-edition Player II models

Tonal and comfort upgrades have been included as part of the glow-up – which introduces a striking new colorway

Guitar World

Get all your
news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

“Balance problems aside, this is a hugely playable guitar and one I had a lot of fun with. It seemed to just produce riffs out of nowhere”: Jackson X Series Surfcaster SC HT6 review

It's a Surfcaster, Jim, but not as we know it – Jackson has retooled its cult offset as an affordable metal powerhouse. After a 22-year absence, is it worth the wait?

Guitar World

“Anyone can dial in a really fat, thick, saturated guitar tone for single notes, but what happens when they palm-mute? Does it just fall apart? A lot of the time it does”: Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood busts myths about how to get great high-gain tone

Getgood is a guru of contemporary metal guitar tones. Here he discusses the variables, from pick gauge to overdrive choices, and tackles some received wisdom that is less relevant to today's player

Guitar World

“Tom Morello comes back and says, ‘Guess what? Ozzy wants to sing No More Tears’”: Sammy Hagar reveals how many songs Ozzy Osbourne will perform at his final show

Ozzy previously said he’ll only do “little bits and pieces” during the historic show

Guitar World

English folk icon Wizz Jones – guitar hero of Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Thurston Moore – has died at 86

Jones was an influential and consistent figure in the British folk scene for the past six decades

Get all your
news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

“He combined the passion of Gary Moore with riffs inspired by Zeppelin and Deep Purple, plus unexpected melodic twists like Ritchie Blackmore”: He was one of ’80s rock’s great journeymen – and his searing hot lead work inspired Marty Friedman

Exploring the lead guitar style of John Sykes, a player who – like Page, Blackmore, and Moore – balanced flair with power

Guitar World

“There are people out there that had paid £2,000 for a guitar…and we were still getting emails from people saying, ‘Where’s my stuff?’”: What happens when a guitar store goes bust? A former employee at one of the UK's biggest guitar stores tells all

GAK, based in the UK city of Brighton, opened in 1992 and has recently closed down after weeks of speculation – and employment uncertainty for its staff

Guitar World

“Damn, that guy could shred. Can you imagine what that would have sounded like?” Wednesday 13 says the late Alexi Laiho once came close to joining him and Slipknot’s Joey Jordison in Murderdolls

The late Children of Bodom virtuoso nearly featured on the group’s second and final album

Guitar World

“Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced many artists that followed in their footsteps”: One of the most iconic session players of all time has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, alongside The White Stripes and Soundgarden

Oasis and Phish were notably snubbed from the Class of 2025

Guitar World

“I left without a penny to my name. I was bitter for a while, but I’ve got a great legacy”: Though Pete Quaife gets credit for jumpstarting the Kinks bass chair, John Dalton and Jim Rodford pushed the band forward on many of their classic albums

From the powerful bass tone on You Really Got Me to 1979’s Low Budget, smart low-end was a key ingredient of the Kinks sound

Guitar World

“Chuck Berry's not a very good guitar player. He's a clown. He runs all over the guitar, just like any one of these old rock players would do, and makes no sense”: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown pulled no punches when speaking about his fellow guitar heroes

In a 1992 sit-down with GW, the late blues guitar pioneer offered remarkably frank assessments of some of his sacrosanct peers – among them Chuck Berry, B.B. and Freddie King, and T-Bone Walker

Guitar World

“I said, ‘Merle, do you remember this?’ and I played him his song Sweet Bunch of Daisies. He said, ‘I remember it. I've never heard it played that good’”: When Roy Clark met his guitar hero

Speaking to Guitar World in 1984, Clark painted a picture of a master musician who nonetheless remained incredibly humble despite his success, and the massive shadow he cast over country (not to mention folk and bluegrass) guitar playing

1 2 3 4 5

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.