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REVEALED: Jared james nichols | Vintage Vibes

“I’ve been trying to prove myself constantly. When you get billed as some hotshot player, people will stand with their arms crossed as if to say, ‘Prove it’”: How Jared James Nichols took Blues Power to Dave Grohl's Studio 606 and super-sized his sound

On this year’s Louder Than Fate, Nichols is spreading his creative wings, and – with some help from a one-of-one amp made for Jeff Beck – venturing into new musical pastures

Guitar World

“This is almost clickbaity – but it’s like a lot of people lost the plot with the vintage guitar thing”: Jared James Nichols on what he’s looking for from a golden era Gibson and why he doesn’t feel comfortable playing other people’s vintage guitars

Obsessing over value, or how rare something is, are we forgetting what makes these instruments special in the first place?

MusicRadar

“When I played, it was almost like I made every note count even more. It was rejuvenating”: Why Jared James Nichols has switched to Marshall amps after playing Blackstar for 15 years

The decision ends a long relationship with Blackstar, with whom he released a series of signature amps

Guitar World

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“Over the past 24 hours, I’ve received hundreds of messages about my current situation. So yes, it’s official: I’ve made the move”: Jared James Nichols switches to Marshall amps

The purveyor of Blues Power says his heart belongs to the sound of a cranked Plexi and Gibson guitars

MusicRadar

“The power went out, then this horrible rainstorm came. I got the chills. I said, ‘Dude, I think Gary Moore’s here’”: The supernatural experience Jared James Nichols had when he played through Gary Moore’s old amp

Nichols looks back on the moment he and Joe Bonamassa fired up one of Moore’s prized amps – which the Nerdville owner recently acquired for $25,100

Guitar World

“On tour, the soundman is always on me to turn down. So I wanted to make sure the amp stays full and articulate, even at lower volumes”: The making of the Blackstar Doug Aldrich Signature DA100 Ruby

Doug Aldrich reveals how decades of vintage amps, real-world touring and close collaboration with Blackstar helped shape his DA100 Ruby signature head

Guitar World

“Those old players had nothing to hide behind. Just their hands, their feel and the truth coming through the speakers”: 5 modern blues guitar heroes on the impossible task of imitating the blues greats

Blues and rock is still being shaped by the British blues boom of the ’60s – and the O.G. bluesmen who influenced them. But how can today’s players nail their tone and sound? Marcus King, Samantha Fish, Zach Persons, Philip Sayce and Jared James Nichols have their say

Guitar World

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“The door cracks open and I hear, ‘Who the hell are you? Play that again!‘” Steven Tyler gatecrashed Jared James Nichols’ jam and invited him to hang out with Aerosmith – and he kept coming back

Nichols ended up rubbing shoulders with Aerosmith and was even shown some early studio mixes

Guitar World

“Every modern guitarist from Joe Bonamassa to Jared James Nichols gets the same haters who say, ‘Everything you play is pentatonic’”: Meet Eric Steckel, the high-gain firebrand painting a new shade of blues guitar

The Knaggs signature artist has grown an international profile by importing heavy distortion into the blues and bending it to his will

Guitar World

“Flamenco-inspired triplets, big trap beats, and – wait – is that a wah solo?” January 2026 Guitar World Editors’ Picks

Featuring an onslaught of leviathan power chords from Sunn O))), a bruiser of a blues rock romp from Jared James Nichols, a beautiful, heartfelt piece of desert blues from Imarhan, a genre-obliterating piece of twisty guitar genius from Tim Henson, and a whole lot more

Guitar World

“I didn’t need all the extra crap. Just give me a single-P-90 guitar and a Tube Screamer and I’m ready to play the Royal Albert Hall”: Jared James Nichols on why he took the Klon off his pedalboard and what players get wrong about drive pedals

Not everyone is expanding their pedalboards. Nichols explains why he prefers to keep it simple – and to leave the super-rare high-value pedalboard gold at home

MusicRadar

“There is something really special that can happen when three musicians are playing off of each other and interacting in real time”: Jared James Nichols on why playing in a trio opens up your soloing approaches

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Mountain, Rush... Jared James Nichols argues that three is the magic number, allowing guitar players to stretch out and the band to feed off each other

Guitar World

“A Tube Screamer is a Tube Screamer. It’s one of the great cons of the guitar industry. They got these dirt boxes right the first time!” Why Jared James Nichols stopped obsessing over gear – and honed in on his playing instead

Freedom, says Nichols, is the knowledge you can pick up anyone's guitar and sound like you, and now the Nashville-based Les Paul wrangler is finding that freedom in songwriting

Guitar World

“Moments like this don’t happen in real life”: Jared James Nichols spotted a pedal builder in the audience at one of his gigs – then handed him his guitar mid-solo

The impromptu guest spot was full of high notes

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“I have a 1968 Plexi and Leslie West’s old Sunn amp, which Joe Bonamassa gave me”: Jared James Nichols owns a few vintage amp gems – but here’s why he still prefers Blackstars

Nichols and Blackstar have collaborated on a handful of signature amps over the years

Guitar World

“Taking Klons on the road isn’t fun. It is an easy nick”: Jared James Nichols was gifted a Klon Centaur by Joe Bonamassa – here’s how he kept it safe on the road

Nichols went from nearly having his borrowed Klon stolen to being given one of his own by the blues guitar icon

Guitar World

“What Dire Straits would sound like if Mark Knopfler grew up in the deserts of Algeria rather than the streets of Newcastle”: October 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks

Liven up your Halloween with six-string (and five-string) sorcery from Alter Bridge, Mei Semones, Whitney, Karma Sheen, Jacob Collier, Unprocessed, and many more

Louder

Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: October 13, 2025

Eight songs you need to hear right now, from Alter Bridge, Cheap Trick, Danko Jones and more

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Guitar World

“One of my biggest musical influences is the king of blues power. He also played in an unorthodox tuning, which is still a mystery”: Jared James Nichols on how Albert King's electric fingerpicking changed the game for blues guitar

Albert King played upside down, in a weird tuning, and influenced SRV and Hendrix alike, and he did it without a pick. So it's no surprise Nichols is a huge fan – he breaks down King's magic

Guitar World

“Dime is in there. I have a big Eddie Van Halen influence. The same goes for Eric Clapton. It all channels back to the blues”: Mark Morton explains why he’s jamming with Grace Bowers and Jason Isbell on his solo album – and those Gibson signature rumors

His second solo album, Without The Pain, features Troy Sanders, Jason Isbell, Jared James Nichols, Grace Bowers and a stack of guitars from his frighteningly valuable collection

Guitar World

“There are so many sounds tobe discovered when you get away from using a pick”: Jared James Nichols shows you how to add “snap, crackle and pop” to your playing with banjo rolls and string snaps

Here's a blues power-up for your fingerstyle technique, as the big man combines chicken pickin' with snappy pops on the strings

Louder

The best new rock songs you need to hear right now

Featuring Joe Bonamassa, Mark Morton & Charlie Starr, The Darkness and five other tattooed beat messiahs

Guitar World

“We’re all looking for new inspiration. Some of us have been playing humbuckers for a long, long time”: Are we witnessing a P-90 renaissance? Warren Haynes has his say

Need some fresh sounds? The Allman Bros guitarist says P-90s are "instantly the tonal change I’m looking for"

Guitar World

“This is a technique that has been used to great effect by some of my biggest blues heroes”: By thumb-picking bass notes while playing a melody, you can be your own rhythm section – Jared James Nichols shows you how

The pickless blues-rock powerhouse demonstrates some picking hand independence strategies that gets it working up a rhythm that works a treat for the solo musician

Guitar World

“For me, it’s not enough to play an idea once and then move on. I’d rather develop my initial phrase and then morph it into 10 different, thematically connected ones”: Jared James Nichols shows you how to use call-and-response blues phrasing

This Blues Power-up for your playing will help your solos speak to the audience

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