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.

BIZARRE: 4 - You Need To See This

“They have always been a big thing for me because I think they’re the heart and soul of a Fender”: What gives a Fender guitar its spirit? For the Custom Shop's Senior Master Builder, there’s only one answer

Paul Waller has singled out what he believes to be the defining feature of a Fender guitar – and it might surprise you

Guitar World

“I got tired of carrying different guitars with me. It’s delightful”: Skunk Baxter is a session legend – and his cutting-edge guitar rig probably isn’t what you expect

Baxter has settled on a Roland/Fender Stratocaster, which he uses alongside some other off-the-shelf Roland gear

Guitar World

“We were on stools next to each other, going back and forth on the parts in front of the board. That was the first time we’d met”: How Grace Bowers ended up on Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton’s latest solo record

Bowers recently guested at the 67th Grammy Awards with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and collaborated with Peter Frampton and Trey Anastasio

Guitar World

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

“I compared the two and the $140 Squier Telecaster, to me, sounded better”: Why Skunk Baxter chose to buy a beginner guitar over a “bazillion” dollar vintage Telecaster

Baxter pitted the two guitars against each other during a trip to Guitar Center – and there was a clear winner

Guitar World

“The story is nuts. I was sat in the control room when our receptionist rang through and said, ‘Bob Dylan’s on the phone’”: How Eurythmics legend Dave Stewart became friends with his hero – after what he thought was a prank call

Stewart was alone in the studio when he received a call from what he thought was prankster

Guitar World

“I could hardly believe it when James reached over to the guitar case sitting opposite and lifted out his Olson acoustic”: What I learned from interviewing folk-rock icon James Taylor

Neville Marten recalls interviews with one of his musical idols, the singer-songwriter supreme and total legend, the great JT himself

Guitar World

“I’m waiting for the right player. I don’t want to break the chain of great guitarists coming through”: Scott Gorham on the future of Thin Lizzy – and how the late John Sykes gave them some thunder when they needed it most

Gorham remembers John Sykes, the player who stepped in and stepped up, breathing new life into Thin Lizzy with the super hard rock sound of his Les Paul Custom

Guitar World

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

“I have a rule: I never argue with a woman holding a knife. So I’m like, ‘All right, Bonnie, I’ll bite...’” How a blues legend ended up engraving her name into Joe Bonamassa’s favorite 1955 Fender Strat

It has been his number one road Strat for years, but until the iconic singer put her Dremmel to the back of its body, it didn’t have a name

Guitar World

“That was also where Mitch Mitchell brought Jimi’s white Woodstock Strat for me to set up, prior to him selling it”: My afternoon interviewing Hank Marvin over beans on toast and chickening out of a Paul McCartney 'audition'

Neville Marten's first assignment for Guitarist was one for the ages, at a venue that is now sadly lost but for a time was the place for the biggest bands to rehearse

Guitar World

“I’m finding that new gear can actually sound really good, and that old gear can be really overrated”: Why folk legend Richard Thompson is embracing new guitar gear – but drawing the line at digital

Thompson may be impressed with modern guitar gear, but he’s explained why he doesn’t like digital amp simulations

Guitar World

“It was under a staircase for 50 years. The owner’s family thought it could be worth £5,000. They were told, ’It’s worth more than that…’” The curious tale of Joe Bonamassa’s ‘Royal Albert’ Les Paul – and its mysterious mod

Bonamassa tells the story of the salvaged 1960 Les Paul and its bizarre mod, which was theorized to be inspired by Peter Green

Guitar World

“I buy them out of Sweetwater”: Joe Bonamassa might be the king of vintage gear – but most of his pedalboard is off the shelf

With some exceptions – which can be replaced on a budget – the guitarist’s current pedalboard is surprisingly humble

Guitar World

“My manager said, ‘Wow, you did a good job putting everything back.’ I said, ‘This is what I left behind’”: Joe Bonamassa on the evacuation of Nerdville – one of the world’s latest gear collections – following L.A. wildfires

The guitarist’s worst fears nearly played out in January and he knew he could only save select gear picks – here’s what he picked

Guitar World

“You can do anything with a Stratocaster”: Joe Bonamassa explains how to make any Fender Strat the “Swiss army knife of guitars” – and unlock Gibson-like Angus Young tones in the process

The guitarist has detailed how to mimic infamous Les Paul and SG tones from the instrument, believing its versatility is unmatched

Guitar World

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

“I wanted to say, ‘There’s nobody out there. We gotta walk away from this.’ But I couldn’t. He was a great player”: The guitarist who saved Thin Lizzy – and made their last album hit like a “sledgehammer”

Scott Gorham pays tribute to the player who breathed new life into the band

Guitar World

He played a guitar held together by a belt, was admired by Keith Richards, covered by Springsteen and described by Bert Jansch as “the most underrated guitarist ever” – the life and times of a beatnik folk pioneer

Wizz Jones may not be a household name but he came out of the same scene as Eric Clapton and influenced everyone from Keith Richards to Thurston Moore

Guitar World

“Can you imagine Kramer being more successful than Fender and Gibson? It sounds crazy, but Eddie Van Halen made that happen”: H.E.A.T’s Dave Dalone on taking rock back to the future, learning from Gary Moore, and why he's a Kramer man through and through

They may have titled their latest album Welcome To The Future, but make no mistake, Swedish rockers H.E.A.T are paying homage to the past, with Dalone's scorching riffs and solos leading the way

Guitar World

“To my utter horror I heard myself noodling all the way through our chat. On Brian’s own guitar!”: The first time I met Brian May – and we were both wearing clogs

It was 1985, and Brian May was the most high-profile musician our own Neville Marten had yet interviewed. He had a fresh tape. He left in plenty of time. But it didn't quite go to plan... Luckily, the Queen guitarist was a good sport

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

“That’s one of the first things Phil said to me, ‘You’re in, but we gotta change that guitar’”: Scott Gorham may have passed his Thin Lizzy audition – but his budget Les Paul copy certainly didn’t

The Irish rockers finally found their man after auditioning 24 hopefuls when Gorham turned up for his turn – but Phil Lynott was left underwhelmed by his choice of instrument

Guitar World

“Freddie is always with me. He was like a brother, and now I have a Mercury on my guitar, too, which makes me very happy”: Brian May on how astronomy, the Everly Brothers and Freddie Mercury influenced the design of his Gibson SJ-200 12-string

The Queen guitarist's signature model is a super-rare example of a 12-string Gibson jumbo, replete with May's own aesthetic flourishes. But why is it strung like a Ricky? Here, May explains all

Guitar World

“I’d met Leslie West, and like a lot of guitar players, you couldn’t meet Leslie West and come out unscathed”: Martin Barre explains how the Mountain man influenced his most iconic solo on Jethro Tull’s Aqualung

The Jethro Tull legend says his meeting with the Mountain man left an indelible mark on him as a player

Guitar World

“I literally made the change that Eddie Van Halen was known for and was thinking about”: Larry DiMarzio says his revolutionary bridge tweak pre-empted Van Halen’s own mods

The guitar hero’s mods showed an intimate understanding of what makes a guitar sing, and they echoed thoughts DiMarzio was also having

Guitar World

“I’m waiting for the right calibre of player. I can’t just pick somebody off the line”: Scott Gorham doesn’t rule out a future for Thin Lizzy – but he’s biding his time to find the perfect guitar foil

Lizzy’s most faithful guitarist, Scott Gorham, has left the door open for a potential return of the iconic band – but only under the right circumstances

Guitar World

“You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a great sound”: Joe Bonamassa reveals his go-to rig for guest-spots – and the amp he uses when he doesn’t want to cart out his Dumbles

The blues rock gear guru explains his bare bones gear choices for run ’n’ gun live sit-ins - and which amps complement different venues.

Guitar World

“I had 30 days left on my visa or they’re gonna throw me out of the country. I didn’t know they’d already auditioned 24 guitarists”: Scott Gorham recalls his nerve-racking Thin Lizzy audition – and his first impressions of Brian Robertson

Back in 1974, Thin Lizzy were auditioning a second guitarist to accompany their newest recruit: the 18-year-old Les Paul-wielding Brian Robertson

1 … 3 4 5 6

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.