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SHOCKING: 7 | Mind Blowing Facts

“I got home, called Stevie and said, ‘I’m so sorry, but I’ve just been offered a job with Bob Marley’”: Junior Marvin recalls landing gigs with Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley on the same day – and how he was forced to make a life-changing decision

Although Wonder was offering a decade-long contract, Marley's camp had their eye on Marvin for over a year before the initial meeting was made

Guitar World

“People use them for fashion and shock factor. Your guitar is your workhorse, but on stage, it’s also your prop”: Phoebe Bridgers is playing B.C. Rich. Willow and Pete Townshend are picking up Jacksons. Have metal guitars gone mainstream?

When indie stars are grabbing pointy six-strings while metal musicians are eyeing up offsets, you know there’s something afoot in the guitar world. We explore the trend inverting the industry and why it’s good to shred outside the box

Guitar World

“I’m probably gonna buy this. So there you go. Sold already”: Watch the Pretenders’ James Walbourne get to grips with a vintage Gibson Explorer – and no, not the guitar

The GA-18T Explorer is one of the lesser-spotted amps from the golden era of the Gibson archive but on this evidence maybe it is due a comeback

MusicRadar

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"I am very aware that so little has happened to the electric guitar from the time that it was conceived to now": A classic interview with innovator Les Paul

Les Paul was born 109 years ago, in 2009 the guitar icon looked back in one of his last-ever interviews – "Leo wanted me to be partners with him, for it to be the Fender guitar – the Les Paul Fender"

MusicRadar

“We were playing so loudly, you could see that we were tiring people out”: Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on the development that changed the amp game forever

Scott Gorham reveals that, before this amp upgrade, he and fellow Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson played so loud that amp mics couldn't take it

Guitar World

“I jammed with Prince once, and he was like, ‘What is that effect you have on your guitar?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’ He couldn’t believe it”: Lenny Kravitz on the time he blew Prince’s mind with his guitar tone

Kravitz's straight-into-the-amp setup – which has been at the core of his sound for most of his career – left pedal fan Prince with his jaw on the floor

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

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“Regardless of who picks one up and what they do with it, the Strat continues to excel in every environment”: The Fender Stratocaster can thrive in any genre – and these cutting-edge guitarists prove it

The Strat might be turning 70 this year, but its story is only just getting started – and these are the players writing the next chapter in its history

Guitar World

“All those riffs came out with the Mulecaster. An amazing instrument that weighs a ton but sounds utterly timeless and three dimensional”: Folk great John Smith on his life-changing Mulecaster experience and why the Quad Cortex isn’t just for metalheads

As the influential UK folk guitarist gears up to take his new album, The Living Kind, out on the road, he joins us to explain how a shift in his gear and writing process has had a profound effect on his music

Guitar World

“He doesn’t like the sound of new strings. The ones on the guitar for the new album were two years old”: Mdou Moctar prefers old guitar strings – and the Roland Cube is his favorite amp for a very good reason

The gear (or lack of) behind Mdou Moctar's searing signature sound on Funeral For Justice, which fuses Saharan rock music with Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen flair

Guitar World

“Watching a player like Stevie Ray Vaughan play, you begin to understand how much violence the guitar can actually take”: Larkin Poe's Rebecca Lovell on why the secret to great Strat tone is in the right hand

From blues riffs to heavier rock tones, Lovell reveals how she leverages the Strat to create a distinctive sound for Larkin Poe

Guitar World

“That was the one and only thing I found with Strats that I don’t like. I think they’re awful”: Yngwie Malmsteen reveals the one spec of certain Stratocasters he's not a fan of

While this feature might not work for him, Malmsteen admits other players make it “sound great”

Guitar World

“That was the biggest regret. I booked the helicopter, and I stopped at Richie Friedman’s We Buy Guitars and sold it”: Ace Frehley sold his 1959 Gibson Les Paul to fund a gambling trip

The former Kiss guitarist bought the guitar for $4,000 and sold it for $18,000 – but in today's market, it's estimated to be worth $350,000

Guitar World

“Some guitars are just that little bit special that they work their way in, you know?” Mark Knopfler on why he had to keep his Sultans of Swing Strat – despite selling his Money for Nothing Les Paul and the rest of his collection

The Dire Straits icon recently sold off his most famous and valuable instruments – but there were a few notable exceptions...

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

"I’m telling you, I have a hit record here. I’m going to tour the world for the longest time and if you don’t give this to me, I have another company that will!”: Triple-neck guitars, modern-day cowboys and the story of Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead Or Alive

"It was quite a process and I believe that each triple-neck is worth about $50,000 – not in materials, but as far as what it costs the company to make them"

MusicRadar

“I think that the whole band was kind of misunderstood by everybody, and it gave us a sort of an edge, you know": The story of Cream's Disraeli Gears

How Baker, Bruce and Clapton transcended their (and their management's) very different ambitions for Cream to track a '60s masterpiece

Guitar World

“It was so destroyed you could take the paint off with your hands”: How Rich Robinson brought his ’68 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop back from the brink after Hurricane Sandy

The Black Crowes guitarist says his restored LP is a rare example of an instrument that (eventually) came back stronger following the 2012 disaster

Guitar World

“I hate modeling, I think it’s wack. You can hear it right away”: IDLES explain why recording with an amp modeler risks messing with your tone, your head – and probably your dog

UK post-punk heroes Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan reckon modelers are best consigned to the role of live backups – and you shouldn’t let them near your recordings

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Guitar World

“Take Jeff Beck, David Gilmour and Allan Holdsworth – Alan should be seen as being in that company”: Remembering the late Alan Murphy, the player Fender trusted as a tone consultant, who played with Kate Bush, Go West, and more

As November 2023 would have marked Alan Murphy’s 70th birthday, we look back at the man and his music, with personal recollections from the collaborators who knew him best

Guitar World

“I’ve had all of the great guitarists in the world say to me, ‘Pete, you’re not in the top 10 for virtuosity, but you’re certainly No. 1 as an acoustic rhythm player’”: Pete Townshend on Who’s Next, Lifehouse, and fun times with Superstrats

In this brand-new interview, the Who mastermind looks back on Who's Next, the grand designs of Lifehouse, and why he is still having fun on the guitar thanks in no small part to Charvel and Jackson

Guitar World

“I had the cast on, my fingers were set about a centimeter apart... I got a plectrum and glued some thick rubber either side so I could hold it”: The Stone Roses’ reclusive guitar hero John Squire says he once feared he’d never play again

The guitarist is back with a new album with Oasis’ Liam Gallagher and has recalled the injury that a few years ago led to new ways of playing

MusicRadar

“Jimmy Page once said to me, ‘Have Gibson not been onto you?’ And I said, ‘No, maybe I play too many Strats…’” – John Squire on the signature guitar that never was and why he's going on tour with a Kemper

"No one's asked me"

Guitar World

“We tried to sell it and the guy in the shop said it was the worst guitar he’d ever seen in his life”: The Pretenders’ James Walbourne on a shocking first guitar, gear regrets and the big sounds of single coils

The Pretenders guitarist recalls leaving a precious acoustic in the back of a taxi and why ’60s SG Juniors rock his world…

Guitar World

“I think it’s the challenge right now, as it is for a lot of musicians”: Pete Townshend pinpoints the one thing Instagram players get wrong – and reveals who his favorite social media guitarist is

The Who icon honed in on an aspect of guitar playing that many social media shredders overlook – but also offered a solution in the process

Guitar World

“My jaw was on the floor so many times!” Steve Vai once tipped Matteo Mancuso for greatness – now the two virtuosos have finally shared the stage in one of the most technically dazzling jams you’ll ever see

It's been almost two years since Vai hailed Mancuso as the evolution of guitar, and at long last the pair have locked fretboards in a no-holds-barred guitar dual

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