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HISTORICAL FACTS: Guitar world - The Untold Story

“I showed up, plugged in, and it was over. Then I saw a video and thought, ‘I’m glad I didn’t dream it’”: When two of the world’s finest guitar players joined forces – Julian Lage on his jam with Derek Trucks

They traded licks for 15 minutes, but it was all over too soon

Guitar World

“Weird, small, brilliant, respectful of pedalboard space. What more could you need?” This week’s hottest new guitar gear – including Alex Lifeson’s ES-355, Charvel’s US return and Ed Sheeran’s new Orange squeeze

We’ve got weird reverbs from EHX, super-cheap AI-enabled multi-effects units, high-end shredders, climate-controlled gig bags and more

Guitar World

“I fell in with some Texas boys and started jamming. They had these G&Ls. The first time I picked one up, I fell in love”: Jerry Cantrell on the magic and mods of his iconic “Blue Dress” G&L Rampage – and his gift from Eddie Van Halen

Back in January 1996, Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell was on the cover of Guitar World with his “Blue Dress” Rampage. 30 years on it's still going strong

Guitar World

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“I just don't like chords – I don't like playing them. Music is much more interesting when everybody plays a harmonic line that creates a wider picture”: How Death Cab for Cutie found their second act – by embracing the weird, and guitars from their past

Ben Gibbard developed the songs for their sharp and confident new album I Built You a Tower like he did in the indie icons' earliest days, power trio style – but he and guitarist Dave Depper have never been more in lockstep

Guitar World

“Ed’s own techs said the only person that could help was this girl outta Nashville. Joe called me and said, ‘Apparently I should be talking to you’”: How Joe Satriani found the amp builder for his dream Eddie Van Halen tone

Satriani needed an amp with exacting specifications for the Best of All Worlds tour – and he got more than he bargained for

Guitar World

“She was a complete stranger. She was a bit intimidated at first because she’d heard of the band, but she wasn’t a Rush fan”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee on Anika Nilles’ rollercoaster audition for Rush's Fifty Something tour

Their five-day session with Nilles wasn’t an audition, but it took until the last day for their doubts over a Rush reunion tour to be destroyed

Guitar World

“So common that it is depicted as a generic electric guitar in a dictionary”: When Fender went to court and lost – the 2009 court ruling that failed to trademark the Stratocaster

In 2009, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied trademark protections to the Strat, Tele and P-Bass. How did it arrive at its judgement? And what’s different this time?

Guitar World

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“I was just playing, warming up for the show, and Glenn comes busting in… ‘What the hell’s that?’ ‘I don’t know, it’s just this lick I warm up with.’ He said, ‘No, that‘s an Eagles song, dude!’” The making of the Eagles’ 1976 masterpiece Hotel California

How the Eagles harnessed their cresting creative powers – and resisted their appetite for destruction – to create one of rock’s all-time classics

Guitar World

“I was just jamming to the track, and Michael came down with Brooke Shields. I asked, ‘Is this cool?’ He said, ‘Anything you want, Slash’”: The surreal beginning to Slash’s musical relationship with Michael Jackson

The two would go on to become frequent collaborators, with the top-hatted guitar great contributing to every subsequent album Jackson released during his lifetime

Guitar World

“I was on the way to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads festival and I got a DM from John Mayer…” Tom Misch on the time his guitar hero reached out of the blue and offered to join him on stage

The jazz-funk guitar star was on his way to play the Crossroads Guitar Festival when Mayer messaged him

Guitar World

“Stone Gossard is the reason I picked up guitar in the first place. Having a front row seat to his playing has been amazing”: Josh Klinghoffer on Chili Peppers vs. Pearl Jam and playing in Andrew Watt's new wrecking crew

These days Klinghoffer’s leaving his most well-worn guitars at home, but on his new Pluralone album he went back to his beloved 1947 Martin

Guitar World

“I was like, ‘Let’s freshen up the electric guitar.’ 60 years later, you’re still putting out tributes to the station wagon”: The story of John Mayer’s Fender fallout – and how it gave birth to the Stratocaster’s biggest rival

Mayer left Fender after his wishes for an elevated S-style fell on deaf ears – and he found the perfect partner in PRS and the Silver Sky

Guitar World

“He only ever said one thing to me about sounding like anyone he’d played with before”: Rowan Robertson on the key piece of advice he received from Ronnie James Dio on how to faithfully play Tony Iommi’s riffs

Though Robertson was only 17 at the time he was hired for Ronnie James Dio's band, the legendary frontman had the utmost confidence in him

Guitar World

“Once John’s back in the picture, it’s like the other records don’t exist”: Why Josh Klinghoffer feels his Red Hot Chili Peppers contributions have been erased from history

As Klinghoffer embarks on a new era, the former Chili Peppers guitarist reflects on his tenure with the band and why he feels “slight disrespect” towards his legacy

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“I said, ‘It’s everything I need. Can I borrow it to do my demo?’ They went, ‘Let me ask Ern’”: Steve Morse on how a gear nightmare lead him to Ernie Ball – and the signature guitar of his dreams

Morse has become one of Ernie Ball’s most loyal and high-profile endorsers – and it all started with a broken volume pedal

Guitar World

“The focus is on products that completely replicate the exact body design”: Fender is finally speaking out on its cease-and-desist strategy. We reveal the company’s endgame, how it plans to work with rivals and who it’s really going after

Fender might not be declaring war after all – but if its legal campaign succeeds, the guitar market will change forever

Guitar World

“He called and said, ‘I don’t like what’s going on with Ritchie Blackmore. I’m looking for an escape’”: That time Ronnie James Dio offered to front ’70s glam-rock outfit The Sweet

Internal disagreements led Dio to very different gig as he sought an escape from Blackmore’s Rainbow, while The Sweet were grappling with their frontman's drinking problems

Guitar World

6 reasons why Fender won’t win its Stratocaster legal campaign – according to the lawyer who beat them before

Ron Bienstock, the attorney who defeated Fender's previous attempt to trademark the Strat, has been hired to defend a firm hit by recent cease-and-desist letters – and Guitar World has seen a redacted response

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Guitar World

“In my older age, I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been playing Marshalls for 35 years…’” Why Graham Coxon is questioning his classic Blur guitar rig

The Britpop icon is reassessing his gear choices

Guitar World

“There was a big commotion – alarms going off and fire engines circling – so I went straight to the closet, looked at my four Les Pauls…” The time Billy Squier had to pick one guitar to save from a burning building

Squier had an almighty decision to make when he had to evacuate his building with just one guitar under his arm

Guitar World

“Kirk Hammett gave me one of his Greenies. I’ve been having fun with that”: Alex Lifeson is taking a Metallica signature guitar on the road with him for Rush’s reunion

The gift from Kirk Hammett is about to make prog history

Guitar World

“I couldn’t tell who it was. When he turned around, I went, ’Oh my God! That’s Jimmy Page!’” The words of encouragement a Led Zeppelin legend gave Gus G after he joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band

One minute you're getting your makeup on for a photo shoot with your new boss, the next your sitting down with Jimmy Page

Guitar World

“They had already gone through a lot of guitar players, but there were only a few they liked. One of them was this kid, Zakk Wylde”: The guitarist who lost the coveted role to Zakk Wylde on what it was like to audition for Ozzy Osbourne

Guitar-synth master Amir Derakh was already well established in the industry when he got the once-in-a-lifetime call to become Ozzy's next guitarist...

Guitar World

“This guy kept calling saying, ‘I’ve never been in a band before, but I’m the best guitarist ever.’ When I heard him play it was like a fire from heaven”: The life and times of Killing Joke visionary Geordie Walker – the guitar hero’s guitar hero

He influenced Kurt Cobain, Metallica, Tool, Nine Inch Nails and counted Jimmy Page as a fan. We pay tribute to a true guitar original

Guitar World

“You go into a forest and you're like, ‘What am I going to see? What will be out here?’ That’s the same thing I try to put into the music”: Plini answers the call of the wild in search of instrumental guitar’s new frontier

The Australian virtuoso on dream collabs with John Mayer, high-BPM workouts, and what happened when he imagined “a cello player in a huge, empty concert hall playing this difficult arpeggio”

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