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UNBELIEVABLE: Cory wong - Caught on Camera

From Hendrix’s pyrotechnics to Cory Wong’s hot-buttered funk, for 72 years the Strat has revolutionized how we play guitar. These are the 25 players who wrote – and burnt – the playbook

The Fender Stratocaster would just be a glorified carpentry project without the players who danced across its neck and gave it life. Here we celebrate 25 of the best

Guitar World

“A Strat gives me all the sounds I want. When I hear that tone, I’m like, ‘That's what a guitar is supposed to sound like’”: He’s jammed with Grace Bowers and collab’d with Cory Wong – now Devon Gilfillian wants to introduce “Nashville Soul” to the world

The Philly native’s new record, Time Will Tell, is “a soul album with little spices from the country spice cabinet” – and it’s loaded with guitar-work that's heavy, funky, weird, and, of course, soulful

Guitar World

“If you talked to me when I was 25 years old, I would have been frightened to take a solo after Joe Satriani…” Why Cory Wong is no longer afraid to trade leads with his heroes

Wong and bassist to the stars Oteil Burbridge discuss the importance of developing – and being confident in – your own playing style

Guitar World

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“Prince had rented out the theatre with free popcorn, snacks and drinks for everyone. Then we found out he wanted to watch Finding Nemo!”: Cory Wong on the night Prince broke up a Paisley Park jam session to guffaw in front of a Pixar family classic

“People never knew what they were going to get”

MusicRadar

“I get up to the counter and the guy’s like, ‘Ah, you know what? I just don’t like that guitar. I’ll give it to you for a few hundred bucks’”: Cory Wong on not buying the Klon hype and vintage unicorns lost and found

The modern-day funk maestro discusses his career in gear, and that means Strats, creative gear solutions, and why he never got swayed by the “mystique” of Klons and tube amp grails

Guitar World

“The tune was inspired by legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius’ Teen Town”: Cory Wong on why doubling the bassline is one of the “most badass” things a guitarist can do

Cory Wong uses Vulfpeck's Jaco-inspired Dean Town to teach us the value of doubling a bassline on guitar

Guitar World

“Oddly enough, the first person who made me fall in love with the sound was Dave Navarro”: Why Cory Wong needed the signature wah pedal that could do it all

The funk guitar maestro explains why he needs a wah pedal, volume pedal and expression pedal in one housing – and what he would change about it if given the chance (hint: not much)

MusicRadar

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“My advice is play the song. Can you find a part that is tailored to the music – with hooks that don’t get in the way?”: Cory Wong’s tips for better rhythm guitar playing – and why his favourite Vulfpeck chord is “a bit like tofu”

“If people like how I play the guitar – great. But I’ll only play what I feel is appropriate for the song”

MusicRadar

“I got to design a guitar that gave me exactly what I was looking for in contrast to my Strats”: How Cory Wong embraced humbuckers to reimagine Ernie Ball Music Man’s iconic bass for a signature electric with “that George Benson sound”

With the funk guitar maestro’s signature StingRay II now available in an affordable Sterling By Music Man version, Wong checks in to talk about the making of a dual-humbucker doozy and what it gives him that the Strat can't

MusicRadar

“Prince told me, ‘You sound so great, man. Keep doing your thing – because when I hear it, it’s such a sound!’”: Cory Wong recalls his encounters with The Purple One – and names the Prince album that every funk guitarist should listen to

“It was by far the biggest compliment I’ve ever gotten”

MusicRadar

“Can do everything the Strat doesn’t do”: Sterling by Music Man rolls out a more affordable version of Cory Wong’s signature StingRay II – plus the brand’s first-ever baritone

Cory Wong's Music Man StingRay II launched at last year's NAMM, and, just one year later, we're getting a Sterling by Music Man version that's a fraction of the original's price...

Guitar World

“A deeper low-end presence within the StingRay lineup”: Sterling by Music Man launches its first ever baritone electric guitar

NAMM 2026: Sterling by Music Man reveals the company’s first-ever baritone electric guitar, refreshes its popular Luke series and we get two new signature models

MusicRadar

“I just want to keep playing it” - Neural DSP Archetype: John Mayer X review

John Mayer teams up with Neural DSP to bring guitar tones from a modern icon to the masses

Guitar World

“My inspiration for this tune was Flight of the Bumblebee, but through a funky lens, as if Tower of Power had written and recorded the melody”: Cory Wong on how to arrange guitar and keyboards

The funkmeister puts Direct Flyte under the microscope to deliver a masterclass in arrangement. It's funk, sure, but there's some operatic influence in there, too, because that's just how Wong rolls

Guitar World

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Guitar World

The all-new October 2025 Guitar World – where Smashing Pumpkins and Sex Pistols mingle openly with Carlos Santana and Khruangbin

Featuring new interviews with Billy Corgan, Kiki Wong, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Zakk Wylde, the Beach Boys' Al Jardine, Inhaler's Josh Jenkinson and dynamic duos from Khruangbin, Momma, the Voidz and Phoneboy

Guitar World

“If you think about the approach to guitar I’m known for, it seems to have little in common with Hetfield’s. But I would argue that it has much to do with it”: What funk maestro Cory Wong learned from James Hetfield

Papa Het has got a brand new bag when it comes to downpicking, and it’s full of lessons for the funk guitar player

Guitar World

“I love my Strat; I’m a Strat guy through and through, but I just needed a guitar with humbuckers”: Cory Wong on the making of his signature StingRay and how Vulfpeck just, y’know, made an album during a show

The funkmeister guitarist is back with a whirlwind of new recording projects in his wake, and a fresh new signature guitar by his side

Guitar World

“The first thing you need to do islisten to what the other instrumentalist isplaying and see if what you’re doing can enhance that”: Cory Wong on the secrets of collaboration and how to stack and blend guitar parts that complement the song

Looking for the perfect part to play with another guitarist? Wong says it's all about finding the compositional "hook" – and he has some practical examples to show us

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Guitar World

“It’s really weird, being a teacher at Berklee College of Music: 400 students asking questions – I’m the instructor, and I’m the only one there who can’t read”: How Tommy Emmanuel deals with his lack of music theory – and when it lets him down

Guitarists regularly debate whether theory is a must-have or should have, and the renowned acoustic guitarist and Berklee tutor has revealed his own experiences on the matter

Guitar World

Cory Wong and Joe Satriani are right – knowing where the notes are on the guitar is a skill all players should take seriously. Here are 10 ways you can master the fretboard

Get ready for a deep-dive bootcamp, complete with 2 visual diagrams and 10 exercises that will increase your confidence and knowledge of the fingerboard

Guitar World

“I would always insist that you know every single note right from the beginning”: Joe Satriani responds to Cory Wong's controversial statement about what it takes to be an advanced guitarist – and why he agrees with him

Wong recently stirred the pot by saying that guitarists should only call themselves “advanced” if they know every note on the fretboard

Guitar World

“I emailed Brian Ball. I was like, ‘Hey, can you just slap six strings on there and a humbucker and send me one?’ He’s like, ‘No, I can’t’”: Cory Wong was on a quest for the perfect humbucker guitar – when an iconic bass design sparked a collaboration

The StingRay II – which was unveiled at this year's NAMM – is the six-string, humbucker-laden twist on the iconic StingRay bass design

Guitar World

“It’s really quite genius, but also hard to learn – it sounds insane, but sometimes the easiest songs still get me nervous”: Kiki Wong reveals the Smashing Pumpkins song she had the most trouble with

After beating 10,000 other candidates to the gig, the guitarist set about navigating Billy Corgan’s “distinct playing style,” with one song proving more challenging than the rest

Guitar World

“For some players, their approach to rhythm guitar is, ‘Oh, someone else gets to do all of the fun stuff while I do this…’” Think playing rhythm guitar is boring? Cory Wong is here to change your mind

In his inaugural Guitar World column, Cory Wong establishes the principles – and the mentality – of good rhythm playing, and how you can make yours fun

Guitar World

“Didn’t know this would trigger so many folks”: Cory Wong says you’re not an advanced guitarist unless you can ace this one test

The funk guitar guru has issued players a quickfire challenge to prove their chops, and it’s divided opinion

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