REVEALED: 2 - The Real Truth

“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 · Mar 6, 2025

“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

Guitar World · Jan 29, 2025

“I’m always envisioning the phrases I play as being like vocal parts”: Jared James Nichols shows you how to make your solos “sing”

The blues power advocate says thinking like a vocalist can help your solos connect with your audience – he shows you how it’s done

Guitar World · Jan 8, 2025

“When I picked up a guitar, I held it righty, but the pick never felt right in my hands, so I started to make up my own technique”: Jared James Nichols reveals how he developed his unique fingerstyle technique – and the perks of going pick-less

Nichols also demonstrates how to achieve optimum attack and dynamics with his fingerstyle technique, which was inspired by Albert King, Derek Trucks and Mark Knopfler

Guitar World · Oct 4, 2024

“Imagine the dirtiest Les Paul on the planet, but even worse”: Jared James Nichols is reviving a storm-destroyed Gibson – a 1975 Custom that was being played when its original owner died

The vintage instrument was ravaged by hurricane Katrina, after it had been put in storage for decades following the tragic death of its first owner

Guitar World · Sep 4, 2024

“The original owner died while playing this very guitar”: Jared James Nichols resurrects another vintage Les Paul from a devastating storm – named Katrina, it has one heck of a story to tell

Nichols has a lot of work to do to make this 1975 Les Paul Custom road-worthy but early signs are it will sound amazing and give him another vintage guitar with a legendary back story

MusicRadar · Sep 3, 2024

“We’re taking guitar amps to where they should be in the 21st century”: Inside the incredible rise of Blackstar Amplification, from vintage-inspired beginnings to cutting-edge digital tech and the world's lightest tube amp

Blackstar's Chief Engineer Paul Stevens and Head of Products Alex Gee pull back the curtain on what keeps the British amp company at the sharp end of amplifier innovation

Guitar World · Aug 27, 2024

“It’s really awesome because you have to focus on the bending, the vibrato, having the right tone, the right attack”: Watch Jared James Nichols teach Eric Clapton’s Sunshine Of Your Love solo

Nichols is the cat who caught the Cream in this tabbed Gibson video lesson unpacking one of rock’s greatest solos

MusicRadar · Aug 13, 2024

"You can sing it, you can hum it – you can play it": Jared James Nichols teaches you Mississippi Queen by Mountain

Fire up the P-90

MusicRadar · Jul 8, 2024

“I lost my footing with the guitar off the hook. I get up thinking, ‘I've broken the guitar.’ I couldn't believe it”: When he was 15, Jared James Nichols played a high-end Flying V at a guitar store – but it almost ended in total disaster

As a youngster, Nichols would frequent his local Guitar Center – and he wouldn't be afraid to try out the more expensive guitars on show...

Guitar World · Jul 3, 2024