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The Latest Breaking News from Guitarist

“George gets up and says, ‘Andy was not the first choice. There were seven guitarists and he was the seventh choice’”: Before Andy Fairweather Low joined George Harrison’s band, the Beatle was eyeing up Gary Moore and Alvin Lee

The prolific session player joined Harrison for his 1991 tour of Japan, but it turns out he was rather low on the pecking order when the Beatles legend came to assembling his band

Guitar World

“It took me a long time to feel confident about being the only guitar on stage. I always felt like I needed a rhythm guitar”: Brian May fought to add a rhythm guitarist to Queen in their early years – and several players would eventually grant his wish

While May got into the habit of playing lead and rhythm at the same time, he did sometimes get the extra helping hand he had envisioned – including from Freddie Mercury himself

Guitar World

“I managed to stay behind at The Marquee when everyone had gone home. I asked him, ‘How do you get that sound?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s easy...’” In 1969, a young Brian May hid in a venue to speak to Rory Gallagher –and it led to his tonal breakthrough

The Irish blues rock legend gave May a tonal template that he says he’s never bettered

Guitar World

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“I didn’t do a ton of exploration on the f-hole idea. If I had to do it again, I might do it completely differently”: Eric Johnson broke new ground with his first semi-hollow Fender Strat – but he’d take inspiration from Gibson if he ever made another

Johnson’s 2018 signature model was the first to combine a semi-hollow design with a contoured Strat body, but it didn’t take long for him to settle on a concept

Guitar World

“There’s a tradition in country music where an older musician – in order to give respect to a younger musician – would give them his guitar. Dad gave Bob Dylan one of his guitars”: Rosanne Cash on her father’s six-string salute to Dylan

The country legend says her father was not precious with instruments – instead, he respected the players

Guitar World

“I suddenly couldn’t control this left arm, it was quite scary. I had no idea what was going on”: Brian May issues update after suffering ‘minor stroke’

The Queen guitar hero suffered a health scare late last year, which left him briefly fearing he might not be able to pick up the guitar again

Guitar World

“There was never any danger of going ‘full Kurt Russell’ with it, but accidents happen… especially around me!” When Chris Buck played a museum-grade Martin from 1928, a high-profile Hollywood guitar scandal played heavy on his mind

The blues rock ace demoed a five-figure Martin 0-42 in the new issue of Guitarist, and couldn't help but think of that infamous Hateful Eight guitar smash

Guitar World

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“I didn’t know what to do. It sounded like an angry wasp”: Brian May recalls the time he played live through Jimi Hendrix’s Marshall – and it didn’t go well

Hendrix might have had the Marshall stack under his spell but the Queen says he struggled to play a chord

MusicRadar

“I plugged into a Marshall stack – and it sounded awful. I could hardly play... Jimi Hendrix came onstage, plugged into the same amp – and it sounded like a cataclysm”: Brian May on the one time he experimented with a Marshall stack

The Vox AC30 amp/Red Special guitar combo is one of the most iconic in rock, but the Queen guitar hero didn't solidify that setup straight away

Guitar World

“One night after the Albert Hall he said, ‘Put it away and get a proper guitar!’”: Andy Fairweather Low on playing with Eric Clapton and how Slowhand was unimpressed by his oddball Teisco

Low got the Teisco Spectrum V bug after seeing Ry Cooder with one. Eddie Van Halen loved them too. Clapton? Not so much...

MusicRadar

“I have a fingerprint of the way I play – a mix of Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Moore – but I’m constantly evolving”: Orianthi on why she loves old gear – and recording her new Band of Gypsys-inspired supergroup with Jimi Hendrix’s producer

The former guitarist for Michael Jackson and returning Alice Cooper member has survived the trials and tribulations of the pop industry, emerging with a new energy and soundthat honors hertrue inspirationsand talents

Guitar World

“I plugged into my first Dumble at a PRS gig. I ran right for it. I beat Carlos Santana and David Grissom to it. I’m like, ‘Out of my way!’” Mark Tremonti on how Paul Reed Smith got him hooked on Dumbles

The Alter Bridge guitarist looks back on how he beat his PRS peers to play the amp of his dreams – and never looked back

Guitar World

“I went to Alexander Dumble’s home and plugged into all his amps. He let me play the first one he ever made”: Orianthi’s new signature Orange is inspired by a visit to the most coveted amp maker of them all

Orianthi sought to blend the sound of a Dumble she’ll “never forget” with two other classic amps for her new custom combo

Guitar World

“It can be whatever pedal you need it to be”: TC Electronic’s Plethora X1 takes the fight to the Line 6 HX One – and it costs over $100 less

The $179 stompbox delivers some of the firm’s most beloved effects algorithms via a simple, easy-to-use interface

Guitar World

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“I went to this very posh house in Regent’s Park in London, knocked on the door and this 16-year-old American kid held it up. I said, ‘It’s a red guitar – I’ll have it!’” How Phil Manzanera got his trademark Roxy Music Gibson Firebird

Manzanera’s iconic Firebird has been by his side for much of his career and began life as a custom build from Kalamazoo

Guitar World

“I love driving people crazy. They come and say, ‘How did you do that? I’ve been working for months trying to get that.’ And I say, ‘It’s just a pedal!’” A guide to untapped guitar playing of David Gilmour’s solo albums

From his 1978 debut to the record he deemed his best since Dark Side of the Moon, we present a complete guide to the Pink Floyd icon’s solo material

Guitar World

“I told Ibanez, ‘You make wonderful instruments, but you have nothing original.’ They said, ‘That’s why we’re here’”: How George Benson helped take Ibanez to the next level in the late-’70s

With multiple Ibanez signature guitars under his belt, the Breezin' guitarist shares the story of how his relationship with the Japanese guitar brand came about

Guitar World

“I went in there and I was like, ‘I need a really good fuzz.’ And they had this pedal there”: Myles Kennedy names the “secret sauce” stompbox he thinks every guitar player should own

The Alter Bridge icon used the sub-$200 octave fuzz pedal on his recent solo record

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“When you start with a crappy guitar it gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on why starting out with a budget guitar is the best way to go

Shepherd now plays some of the most desirable boutique gear money can buy, but his own personal guitar journey started with a cheap Yamaha

Guitar World

“What we have in common is that we don’t shred for the sake of it. In my case, it’s because I can’t!” Brian May on his unlikely guitar kinsmanship with Steve Cropper and Billy Gibbons

Recruited for the recent Cropper tune Too Much Stress, May says the three masters fit together better than you might think

Guitar World

“I took the neck off my Strat, put it on a Tele, and ended up with my ‘FrankenTele’”: Steve Morse modded the heck out of his first serious guitar, and it became the blueprint for his signature Ernie Ball Music Man model

Unsatisfied with the limitations of his first proper guitar, Morse took matters into his own hands, a lá Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

“What a ride…” Guitar Techniques magazine is closing after 30 years of in-depth tuition from some of the world’s greatest guitarists

The last issue of Guitar Techniques goes on sale this week, after 30 years of publishing. Read Editor Jason Sidwell's final editorial letter

Guitar World

“I doubt there’s going to be another Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen”: Joe Perry on why the age of the guitar hero might be over – even though the instrument still has a bright future

Perry is confident there's more to explore on the fretboard and players will continue to push the boundaries of guitar music – but the individual feats of guitarists might not be viewed in quite the same way

Guitar World

“Jimmy Page was in the control room window, waving madly. I was in the middle of the solo, and I thought, ‘Sorry, but I can’t stop.’ I just turned my back”: Martin Barre on the time Jimmy Page nearly cut him off mid-Aqualung solo

“I think it was take two,” the Jethro Tull guitarist recalled, “and if I hadn’t got it in two then it would have been a flute solo”

Guitar World

“It feels a bit wrong to play it. But I don't think anyone who has a guitar that they love would want it to never be played after their death”: Fontaines D.C. guitarist Carlos O'Connell reacts to playing Rory Gallagher's prized guitars

O'Connell also tries out Gallagher's 1959 Silvertone, 1963 Epiphone Coronet and 1968 Martin D-35 ahead of the much talked-about auction

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