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EXPLAINED: 7 | Vintage Vibes

“I knew relic’ing was coming. I did it myself, to my own guitar, very crude and primitive. I put it on a stand at a guitar show, with no strategy. And it changed everything”: How relic’ing conquered the guitar world

The not-so-gentle art of relic’ing has enjoyed arenaissance since its maligned roots in the mid-’90s. We asked scene godfather and Gibson Custom Shop guru Tom Murphy how the tide turned

Guitar World

“He asked to hear it, so I played it, and he said, ‘I have to play on this. Give me a track’”: How a 20-year-old Steve Lukather beat three seasoned session pros to feature on this ’70s soft rock classic

England Dan & John Ford Coley bookended their decade-long career with the album Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive, which features a fast-rising Lukather on a couple of tracks

Guitar World

“I learned to play everything on it. We wrote our first song as Jonas Brother on that guitar”: In the mid-2000s, the Jonas Brothers exploded onto the scene as a guitar-slinging band for teens – Kevin Jonas looks back on the guitar that started it all

Nowadays, Jonas has a penchant for Gibsons, but he hasn't forgotten the humble Japanese build that kickstarted his career

Guitar World

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“Icontend that I was the first person to actually have a Super Fuzz Big Muff – before the rest of the boys”: How Courtney Love created the grunge classic that was released during her darkest hour

Hole’s song Violet came out just a week after Kurt Cobain’s suicide

MusicRadar

“I saw a recent video on YouTube on the 10 precursors to heavy metal, and Schizoid Man wasn’t among them. That’s absurd”: Robert Fripp explains how King Crimson paved the way for heavy metal

Robert Fripp says the band doesn't get enough credit for its hard-hitting groundwork

Guitar World

“I was like, ‘It’s time to do your solos.’ He goes, ‘OK, I’m gonna call up my guitar teacher, have him do the solos and then have him teach me’”: Dave Mustaine on the ill-fated guitar appointment that led Megadeth to Jeff Young

The thrash icons thought they’d found Chris Poland’s replacement, only for a bizarre moment in the studio to force a change

Guitar World

“I had to go outside to the garbage bags and find the certificate because I’d thrown it away!” The Cult’s Charlie Jones didn’t know about his Grammy win for Please Read the Letter… because he didn’t read the letter

Irony is alive and well

Guitar World

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“Each of them impacted the instrument in their own way, as luthiers, hitmakers, session players, or air guitar-inspiring soloists”: Remembering the guitarists we lost in 2025

2025 has been a big year for the guitar, but we've also had to sadly say goodbye to dozens of guitar greats, from many eras, and every imaginable genre. Here, we recognize those guitarists, and their contributions to the instrument

Guitar World

“One of the first times I met Noel, I was round his house. He went, ‘This is what I played on Don’t Look Back in Anger.’ I was like, ‘What?’” Gem Archer on the Strat’s secret spot in Oasis history

Noel Gallagher largely stays loyal to his Gibson guitars for Oasis – but there was one notable exception

Guitar World

“I met my biological father as an adult through a DNA test. I was surprised to find that he’d been infatuated with the guitar his entire life as well”: From childhood abandonment to country stardom, here is the incredible story of Rockie Lynne

The late blooming country star discusses his custom guitar range, what musicians can learn from motorcycling, and how he wound up with a perfect copy of Peter Frampton’s rig

Guitar World

“If you just want to capture an idea, you should just be able to press one button and get great tone doing it”: How your phone became an essential part of your guitar rig

Smartphones and tablets have changed the game. With apps for keeping time, tuning up, practicing, recording and learning, can the 21st-century guitarist afford to leave their phone at home?

Guitar World

The Guitar World reviews team's gear of the year 2025

Platinum Award-winners, forward-thinkers and new classics from our favourite guitars, amps, effects, plugins, bass gear and more

Guitar World

“I opened my guitar case and nearly fainted – I thought there was a human hand in there”: Motörhead and Girlschool were leading the charge for British heavy metal in the ’80s – guitarist Kim McAuliffe reveals what touring with Lemmy was really like

The two bands released a joint EP, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which also made an impact on the UK charts

Guitar World

“We were joking that we have to make this record absolutely shred and that we needed to put a lot of solos in it. I think we accomplished that”: Megadeth shares new single ahead of farewell record – and it’s a shred guitar celebration

Let There Be Shred finds Teemu Mäntysaari playing like a man possessed – and Dave Mustaine doing karate in the music video

Guitar World

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Guitar World

Alien-shred, Brit-rock royalty, one blues icon and a hardcore superstar: here are Guitar World's Guitarists of the Year 2025

All the players who rocked our world, in the year of Oasis reunions, Black Sabbath farewells, and guitarists keeping their shoulder to the evolutionary wheel of guitar playing

Guitar World

“I didn’t want to copy Keith Richards or Rich Robinson from the Black Crowes. I wanted to try to find my own guitar voice”: Charlie Starr on how to make open G tuning work for you

In his inaugural Guitar World column, the Blackberry Smoke guitarist declares his love for a tuning that he learned, aged 12, when checking out Honky Tonk Women

Guitar World

“I heard someone playing deep, fiery guitar in the room next door. I thought, ‘Boy, I wish that guy was in the band!’ I looked over the balcony… It was Ace”: The otherworldly life and times of Kiss guitar icon Ace Frehley

The Spaceman leaves a legacy of millions of fans rocked, countless players inspired, and a rock guitar scene that will never be the same again

Guitar World

“I think they sound in between a Fender and a Gibson”: Blues ace Larry McCray names the unsung guitar brand that convinced him to switch after a life of playing Gibsons

McCray says this brand is the perfect middle ground between two of the industry's big guns

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Guitar World

“He sent me a video of himself playing the Slow Dancing solo through the plugin. That’s when I knew we had it”: Neural DSP unveils Archetype: John Mayer X – a landmark signature plugin that brings the guitar great’s sought-after tones to the masses

In a milestone moment for modeling, the new plugin offers models of Mayer's go-to amps, pedals and effects – Dumbles, Two Rocks and Klons included

Guitar World

“I’m very grateful to have it and be its current custodian”: The surprising Cinderella story of the vintage Nocaster that connects a glam metal star to Keith Urban

Urban says the guitar – which was previously unowned by a Cinderella guitarist – is unlike any other in his collection

Guitar World

“It’s taken its time, but finally one of rock music’s most iconic instruments has been launched as a signature run”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including a follow-up to the internet-breaking Bad Monkey story

It's pedal mania this week, with new drops from Strymon, JHS Pedals, and DigiTech – but a long-awaited replica of Tom Morello's legendary Rage Against the Machine guitar steals the spotlight

Guitar World

“I had to reassess why I was even playing. I stopped playing electric guitar for a year”: Steve Stevens says going on tour with Van Halen made him rethink his relationship with the guitar – and it gave way to one of his most experimental albums

After weeks of rock 'n' roll overstimulation, Stevens pivoted and spent a year traveling with a nylon-string

Guitar World

“Noel has said, ‘No rest for the immensely talented,’ so take that how you want”: Gem Archer hints at Oasis' next move

Oasis embarked on one of the biggest reunion tours of all time in 2025 – and there might be more to come

Guitar World

“On the real Arm the Homeless guitar, a dog chewed the headstock. Other than that, they’re absolutely identical”: Tom Morello has been playing a Fender Arm the Homeless replica live and none of us noticed – now it’s available to buy

Five years in the making, the Rage Against the Machine guitar anti-hero’s most iconic instrument has been replicated by Fender – and even Morello admits he can’t tell the difference

Louder

"I just wanted to apologise for selling your guitar." How an act of kindness in the darkest of hours bonded Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante and Jane's Addiction's Dave Navarro forever

How drugs, guitars, and a life-changing act of charity brought two of alternative rock's greatest musicians together

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