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The Latest Breaking News from Total Guitar

“I think Leo Fender sort of got it wrong, and Jimi Hendrix corrected it”: Richard Fortus explains how Hendrix and Joe Perry improved the Stratocaster’s tone by flipping it upside down

Back to front or upside down, whichever way you look at it, Fortus says Hendrix's reverse approach is the secret to “piano-like low-end” and Aerosmith's Perry was paying close attention

MusicRadar

“I’ve played some new Gibson and Fenders that really nail it”: Joe Perry says guitar making is as good now as it was in the golden era – and explains why you don’t need to spend $7000+ on a vintage Klon

The Aerosmith guitarist has a formidable stockpile of vintage gear but argues you that the new gear is just as good, and more affordable too

MusicRadar

“It was a half-hearted effort. I knew he would clock it”: Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett once tried (and failed) to trick Joe Bonamassa into believing he had bought a genuine '59 Les Paul Burst

Chris Shiflett defied country guitar expectations and used the Les Paul on his latest country-tinged EP

Guitar World

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“It has four solos, all of which are contenders for the greatest solo ever played”: This is the top guitar cover of all time, as voted for by Total Guitar readers

The winning cover has a quartet of masterful guitar solos, including one that was reportedly delivered with the help of a Zippo lighter...

Guitar World

“There’s something about thesound of those old strings on that old guitar, it’s special”: Wait, what!? Feeder’s Grant Nicholas has not changed the strings on his Jazzmaster for eight years

How fresh do you like your strings? On his '59 Jazzmaster, Grant Nicholas likes 'em deader than dead for that “real woody organic sound,” and it is his secret weapon in the studio

MusicRadar

“A brand-new Marshall and an Epiphone, if you dial it in right, can sound like a sunburst Les Paul through a vintage Bluesbreaker”: Joe Bonamassa explains why great tones are “much cheaper than people realize”

The blues ace and vintage guitar collector says you don't need expensive gear to get classic tones

Guitar World

“We didn’t really tune our guitars. We’d tune to the track. He’s like, ‘No, listen to what you’re playing’”: IDLES explain why Radiohead’s producer banned them from using guitar tuners

IDLES enlisted Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich to push their sonic palette via tape loops and not tuning their guitars

Guitar World

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“I spent an entire summer solidly trying to get inside Brian’s playing, hearing all the little details”: The Last Dinner Party’s Emily Roberts on how a Brian May tribute gig radically changed her guitar playing

Before The Last Dinner Party, Emily Roberts took the role of Brian May in a Queen tribute band

Guitar World

“When I left the band I took most of my Aerosmith guitars, put them in road boxes, and left them there”: Joe Perry on the lost golden-era Aerosmith guitar he misses the most

The Aerosmith icon says he’s never been into collecting guitars, but there’s one particular Strat that he wishes he still had, and it was used to record a staple rock hit

Guitar World

"My first guitar was a beat-up flamenco-style acoustic that my grandmother had in her closet": Slash, Jimmy Page and more remember the guitars that set them on the path to six-string immortality

We dive into some of our classic interviews to rediscover the stories of how famous players got started - featuring Slash, Jimmy Page, Stone Gossard, Albert Lee and more

Guitar World

What’s the greatest cover version of all time?

Vote now for your favorite!

Guitar World

“I have probably modeled myself after that. I go, ‘Well B.B. did it, so I can do it!’” Slash reveals one of the biggest lessons he learned from his blues hero, B.B. King

Slash was into B.B. King's music before he even thought about picking up the guitar – and the blues great would have a huge impact on the Guns N' Roses guitarist's mindset and style

Guitar World

“It was a quality instrument to learn on. Without my dad, who knows what kind of tree trunk I would’ve had”: You’ll never guess what guitar thrash metal pioneer Kerry King learned to play on

Kerry King’s first guitar is as far away from his hellishly barbed electric guitars as you can get

Guitar World

“I wish guitar players were more adventurous, but they’re just not. They seem like the most conservative people on the face of the planet”: Buzz Osborne has a piece of playing advice that every guitarist should listen to

Words of wisdom from Gene Simmons and author Flannery O'Connor have helped the Melvins maestro maintain his maverick sensibilities

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

“He gave me a bunch of pills... I could barely move my arm, so I could only play high up on the neck, and the first thing I did was that riff. I don't remember when I sang 'sex on fire'": The story of Kings of Leon's global smash

"One of the sound mixers walked in and said, ‘Sex on Fire', huh? And it just became a running joke..."

Guitar World

“I would pick her out in a crowd... Like, ‘I know who that is,’ like David Gilmour”: Heart's Nancy Wilson says this “Clapton-type shredder” is her favorite contemporary guitarist

Nancy Wilson explains how the young guitarist has impressed her with her distinct conversational-type shredding

Guitar World

“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll prove myself. I’m not a guy, so if I prove myself a little bit harder, then I might be noticed and taken seriously as a player’”: Nancy Wilson on the making of her acoustic masterpiece turned Instagram guitar staple

Nancy Wilson reveals Yes were a big songwriting inspiration behind 1980 acoustic classic Silver Wheels

Guitar World

“I was going for a sound where it’s like, ‘Is this person virtuosic, or do they totally suck?’ That’s kind of where I live”: St. Vincent on channeling Neil Young and embracing a less-is-more approach to guitar solos

St. Vincent took inspiration from one of Neil Young's “one note” solos on her new record, All Born Screaming

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Guitar World

“If you want to bench press 200lbs, you start at 80... You should concentrate on performing with articulation at whatever speed it is”: Kerry King on how to master thrash metal speed riffing

In a new interview with Total Guitar, the Slayer axeman demystifies his approach to light-speed riffing, and reveals what he loves about AC/DC

Guitar World

“It should be – and usually is – pedal-first for us, because pedals can affect your playing so much”: Shoegaze heroes DIIV on how stompboxes formed the building blocks of their new album

After prioritizing pedals in their songwriting process, DIIV reveal how they manage to translate their studio sound to the stage

Guitar World

“There’s not a guitar teacher in the world that would ever teach anyone to play a guitar like that”: Buzz Osborne thinks Jimi Hendrix is one of the greatest guitarists ever – but says his technique was “wrong”

“Hendrix played weird!” says the Melvins maestro

Guitar World

“I’ve typically been afraid of Strats just because they carry so much baggage”: How a gift from Mike McCready helped change St. Vincent’s relationship with the Stratocaster

Listen to the song that St. Vincent reveals begged for a Strat moment

Guitar World

“You have to have your own sound, do it with authority and let it all hang out… If you do that you communicate with your guitar”: Duane Eddy reflects on his signature sound, hanging with Elvis and the story behind his go-to Gretsch

In this 2018 interview, available online for the first time, Eddy discusses the lessons learned as one of the founders of rock ‘n’ roll guitar

Guitar World

“This disease won’t beat me and I will continue writing and playing for as long as I can”: Glenn Tipton explains how Richie Faulkner and a ‘no surrender’ mindset has helped him adapt his Judas Priest role

Tipton stepped back from official touring duties in 2018, but continues to write and record alongside Faulkner as a crucial member of Judas Priest

Guitar World

“It was found in the trunk of a car. They had sanded it to make it look like it wasn’t mine”: Tyler Bryant's stolen Pinky One Strat was played by Jeff Beck, inscribed by Steven Tyler – and, miraculously, returned to him five years after it was taken

The blues-rock guitarist recalls the loss – and remarkable recovery – of his most significant six-string

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