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DARK SECRETS: 22 - The Real Truth

“It’s taken 3 years, but a more affordable spin-off of one of the 21st century’s most advanced guitar designs has finally landed”: All the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the most extravagant acoustic you will see all year

A $99,999 SJ-200, two Randy Rhoads tributes, and some visionary electrics from Ibanez – here are all the gear launches that you might have missed from the past seven days

Guitar World

“I had some guitars stolen. Fender heard about it because we were trying to find them. They sorted us out”: How a guitar that went missing led IDLES' Lee Kiernan to his now-famed pink Mustang

Kiernan discusses his less-is-more approach to guitars – and why he opted for a single pickup model that has now accompanied him throughout his IDLES career

Guitar World

“It was a major step up for me. I still pull it out from time to time at home – it’s a bit of a lost classic in the Gibson range”: Zakk Wylde on the miracle of his ‘Grail’ Les Paul and the three most important guitars in his life

The longtime Ozzy guitarist and Black Label Society frontman on why you should hold onto your childhood gear, how he got into Les Pauls and active pickups, and the making of his iconic Grail

Guitar World

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“Something a little different, with vibey anddiverse sounds for not a lot of money”: Vintage REVO Galactica and Astrostar review

Revisiting guitars of yesteryear, the REVO models continue to move Vintage away from slavish repros to inspired retro champions for not a lot of money. Let’s hop in that time machine and take a look

Guitar World

“It evokes a cool old Jazz Bass that's picked up some useful mods over its life”: Squier Classic Vibe Active ‘70s Jazz Bass review

Is it a '70s-inspired Jazz Bass? Is it a modernised active bass? Yes to both...

Guitar World

“I’ve always been a huge fan of relics. They look like they have a story to tell”: Charvel and Rick Graham team up for new Pro-Mod series signature model, featuring a distressed nitro finish in a cult classic Fender colour

Made to look beat up, built to play fast, this HSS S-style has a sweet Shell Pink finish, a reverse Strat headstock, a Gotoh tremolo and a lot of shred potential

MusicRadar

“John Mayer ruined me with getting new guitars and vintage stuff. He’s always experimenting, so I had to expand my own rig”: Isaiah Sharkey is one of guitar’s most versatile talents. He lets us in on how he works with Mayer, D’Angelo and Miles Davis

Rigs big and small feature in a career that’s seen Isaiah Sharkey become a master of jazz, R&B, gospel, blues – and he hopes his new Ibanez signatures mean session players will only need to carry two guitars

Guitar World

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“Our definition of what makes a ‘good’ guitar tone has changed dramatically in the past 10 years”: Does ‘bad’ guitar tone even exist anymore?

Guitarists are lusting after the sound of Portastudios and solid-state practice amps – tones that used to be derided in guitar circles. What changed?

Guitar World

“A good guitar solo should sound like an orgasm. I can hear it in Eddie Van Halen’s playing, and Jimi Hendrix. I live for the juicy notes”: Carlos Santana on playing like a soul singer and his visitations from B.B. King, Miles Davis and Stevie Ray Vaughan

Single-cuts are like merlot, solos are like grapefruit… the inimitable, peerless Carlos Santana shares stories from his legendary career and insights from the cosmos

Guitar World

“The most immersive, intuitive headphone amp on the market today”: Blackstar’s Beam Solo takes on Fender and Boss – is this the new headphone amp to beat?

Blackstar is calling the Beam Solo the ultimate headphone amp for guitarists. But what sets it apart?

Guitar World

“The most immersive, intuitive headphone amp on the market today”: Blackstar Amplification unveils the BEAM SOLO – has the Fender Mustang Micro Plus found a rival?

The BEAM SOLO is a $129 all-in-one solution for silent practice, equipped with meticulously engineered digital models of Blackstar amps, with editing via the app and “pro-level” tone

MusicRadar

“Since Clapton was in London, I was tapped to fill in the spaces – I was given credit in the ‘special thanks’ section”: He played with blues legends and taught Trey Anastasio. Now Paul Asbell is reflecting on 50 years as a player’s player

The Chicago-born guitarist has worked with Magic Sam, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Sitt and the Sun Ra Arkestra – and even found himself filling in for Eric Clapton…

Guitar World

“Before toe, my guitar was always distorted. The concept was to make music with cleaner tones”: Guitarist behind influential Japanese post-rock outfit toe, Yama made his career with cheap guitars – and barely any pedals

Despite his influence, the publicity-averse Yamazaki Hirokazu remains mysterious about his 30 years of being in bands – and doesn’t think of himself as a guitarist

Guitar World

“Watching Tony Iommi play Iron Man to demo his signature pickup in person was a borderline biblical experience”: All the new guitar gear that caught my eye this week – and is that a new Epiphone double-neck?

New launches from Boss, PRS, Fender and Third Man Hardware headline the biggest guitar gear drops this week

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“Icons reimagined”: Fender gives four Player II classics a stunning Shell Pink refresh – and this web-exclusive drop might be sweetest we’ve seen

The Player II Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster and Precision Bass get an aesthetic overhaul with a bona-fide "add to cart" finish – but they're only available in the US

Guitar World

“Cat Stevens asked me to play on his recordings…it never got to the point where I felt like I could add as much as I wanted”: Eric Johnson reflects on his early session career with Carole King and Christopher Cross – and getting fired by Donald Fagen

While the Texas virtuoso loved session work, he preferred to take more time over his creations – and his experiences paved the way for him to become one of guitar’s all-time greats

Guitar World

"A solid player that looks a million dollars and doesn't sound too far off": Squier Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic HS review

The long-awaited return of the oddball Duo-Sonic heads up Squier's Class of 2025 Classic Vibe family and largely exceeds all expectations

Guitar World

“All the shiny, pointy guitars were gone, and this one was still on the wall… something just drew me to it”: How Khruangbin made Fender history with signature models of the first guitars they ever bought

Khruangbin’s Mark Speer and Laura Lee Ochoa are the first bandmates to get a signature Fender guitar and bass at the same time

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Guitar World

“It might not be to all tastes, but its retro charm and sonic potential are compelling indeed”: Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Bass review

Squier reissues an oddity from Fender's bass archives, complete with a Wide Range humbucker – is this its time?

Guitar World

“Not a hair out of place... A faultless, well-tuned and well-voiced working guitar”: Manson MD-3 Mikey Demus review

This UK-made MD introduces a new pickup set that piles on the beef. But, as we find out, it’s no one-trick pony

Guitar World

“Do modelers have a place? Yes. Are they going to put me out of business? Idon’t think so”: Mike Zaite on the secret to the Dr Z sound, making custom amps for James Walsh’s shows at the Sphere and the enduring appeal of the tube amplifier

Mike Zaite explains how a background in electronics and a front-row seat to the British Invasion of the 1960s led to the formation of Dr Z Amplification – and why the sonics always lead the schematics

Guitar World

“It weaves together wild features into something that could’ve been a producer’s secret weapon in the early 1970s”: Acclaimed producer Adrian Younge’s new semi-fretless signature Fender is perhaps the craziest Jazz Bass the company's ever released

Based on Younge's personal Custom Shop build, the limited-edition Masterbuilt model nods to the past while departing radically from convention

Guitar World

“He doesn’t want it to be a hang-on-the-wall trophy piece. He wants it to be played”: Eddie Vedder and Fender have designed a new custom Telecaster – and it’s a trophy for a baseball tournament

This year, Major League Baseball made “The Vedder Cup” official – and honored the Pearl Jam icon who inspired the name by awarding the winning team a guitar trophy

Guitar World

“My guitar was slightly out.Steve Vai walked past and said,‘Your low E was four cents flat.’And he’d been in the green room!” Meet Derek Day, the swaggering virtuoso who went from busking on the streets to touring with his hero

The 24-year-old explains how he merges prog and glam, and escapes the “originality ordeal” of an ancient instrument by hopping between Fender, Gibson, PRS and Ibanez (even if he prefers to write on cheap knock-offs)

Guitar World

“Brian asked me if I wanted to do a lead. I got excited and was ready to shred”: The Lost Beach Boy on the classic song he overdubbed on

Brian Wilson typically turned to his brother, Carl, for leads, but David Marks got a rare chance to buck that trend in 1964

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