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DARK SECRETS: Kenny wayne shepherd - The Real Truth

“He felt a responsibility to look after these things. He was aware that you can’t be buried with them – you are but the temporary custodian”: Inside the greatest guitar auction of all time

With Jim Irsay’s epic collection of iconic guitars about to go under the hammer at Christie’s, we find out how this unique treasury of tone was prepared for auction

Guitar World

“Six highly collectible amplifiers valued at more than most homes are worth”: Looking for the holy grail tube tones of Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer, Carlos Santana and Robben Ford? IK Multimedia just put $300,000 of Dumble mojo into a Tonex One mini pedal

The Tonex One Double Special is a limited edition pedal preloaded with 20 models from two über-rare Dumbles – and the bundled software presents sounds from six Overdrive Specials

MusicRadar

"You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul": Legendary $1 billion Jim Irsay Collection to be auctioned in 2026, including Kurt Cobain's Teen Spirit Fender Mustang

Auctions will begin in March next year

MusicRadar

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"You only get one shot to do this correctly and I think we nailed it": Joe Bonamassa announces all-star tribute to B.B. King

B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100 features Buddy Guy, Slash, Keb' Mo', Larkin Poe, Jimmie Vaughan, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and many more

Louder

“For the most part, new products in the pedal world are just different colored housings of the same circuits we’ve all been using for decades”: What does a Dumble-whispering tone nut keep on his pedalboard? Ask Kenny Wayne Shepherd...

The blues guitarist and renowned tone hound talks through his pedalboard – and tells us that one pedal rules them all

Guitar World

“I don’t have the words right now to express the loss of such a special man”: Jim Irsay, billionaire philanthropist and owner of the world’s greatest guitar collection, dies aged 65

The Indianapolis Colts owner had assembled a revered and hugely valuable guitar haul that included David Gilmour’s Black Strat, Bob Dylan’s Newport Folk Festival Strat, and Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang

Guitar World

“A half-million dollars of tone at your feet”: Nail the sound of a holy grail tube amp with a pedal you made yourself – JHS Pedals unveils the NOTADÜMBLË solderless DIY kit

Megabucks tube amp tones beloved by the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Carlos Santana in a stompbox you assemble yourself? No wonder the first batch sold out within a day

MusicRadar

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“Young talent is just as capable of doing justice to Hendrix’s legacy”: The next generation of guitar stars join legends of the game to honor Jimi Hendrix at the 2025 Experience Hendrix tour

The “guitar event of the year” kicks off with young guns Ally Venable and Marcus King alongside Eric Johnson, Zakk Wylde, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Guitar World

“It puts into context just how far removed digital models are from the real thing”: I played the last Overdrive Special that Dumble worked on – and it completely changed my perspective on the amp of my dreams

The Dumble Preservation Society went to NAMM with a hall-of-fame amp display, and playing through one of its Overdrive Specials was an eye-opening experience

Guitar World

“There is a certain sound you can only get from pushing the air, by turning the amps up, running those tubes super hot”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on what it takes to cover Hendrix, his fistful of Dumbles and the secret to a cookin’ overdrive

Shepherd's tone on Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 2 is smoking hot, reference quality blues-rock, but like any master chef, it's all about the ingredients and how you use them

MusicRadar

“Dumble told me to bring it to him because he had a mod he could do. It’s the only Dumble Fuzz Face that I’m aware of”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on unicorn stompboxes, the quest for feel and why budget guitars can make you a better player

Recording at Muscle Shoals is one of those pinch-me moments for Shepherd but then so too is owning one of Hendrix's Uni-Vibe. Here he talks vintage gear, tone philosophy, and onstage disasters

Guitar World

"People will become conditioned to artificial intelligence and learn to accept it": Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the spark of Stevie Ray Vaughan, smoking with Joe Bonamassa, and the dumb creep of AI

The second volume of US bluesman Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Dirt On My Diamonds series is out now

Louder

“The Dumble amplifier is so transparent that, if you’re not a very refined player, it’s going to expose all of your flaws in your playing”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on why playing through a Dumble doesn't guarantee a great sound

While Shepherd is a proud proponent (and owner) of Dumble amps, he admits that if your technique is not up to scratch, using one of the legendary amps can be a humbling experience

Guitar World

“Everyone thinks the amps are going to make you sound great because they are so expensive”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the biggest misconceptions about Dumble amps, the “bona-fide genius” behind them – and why the clones don’t measure up

Shepherd is a long-standing user of Alexander ‘Howard’ Dumble’s amps and was a friend of the late amp guru. Here he discusses amps’ mythical status and salutes the man who made them

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“When you start with a crappy guitar it gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on why starting out with a budget guitar is the best way to go

Shepherd now plays some of the most desirable boutique gear money can buy, but his own personal guitar journey started with a cheap Yamaha

Guitar World

He released his first album at 18 and rose above the Stevie Ray Vaughan comparisons to become one of the blues’ most respected guitarists – here’s how Kenny Wayne Shepherd became a modern-day master of the Stratocaster

That Overdrive Special you bought on Reverb is going to pay for itself once you take this lesson in the former child prodigy turned maestro's style

Guitar World

“This instrument was such an incredibly special guitar to Jimi”: Jimi Hendrix’s iconic ‘Izabella’ Woodstock Strat is going on the Experience Hendrix tour – and it’s being played by the guitar heroes involved

Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Eric Johnson have both already played the iconic Strat, which was one of the last guitars Hendrix played before his death in 1970

Guitar World

What do the finest blues guitarists of the past 60 years have in common? From B.B. King to Eric Gales, these are the technique secrets behind 30 of the most iconic players

Starting from ’50s electric blues pioneers, we're bending the blues scale into different shapes, with 30 licks taking us up to the present day as the art form continues to evolve and thrive

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Louder

Told to get clean or he had two weeks to live, guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughan did, and recorded his greatest album

How Stevie Ray Vaughan put blues music back in business

Guitar World

John Mayer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd are two of the biggest names in modern blues – and boy, do they know how to introduce a guitar solo

Learn how to phrase spellbending blues intro licks in the style of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and John Mayer

Guitar World

“Honoring Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitar player of all time”: The Experience Hendrix Tour is returning for the first time in 5 years, with a mega lineup including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Samantha Fish and Zakk Wylde

The all-star lineup will tour the US later this year, marking the 20th anniversary of the multi-artist celebration of Jimi Hendrix’s trailblazing guitar-playing

Guitar World

Download and stream the audio from Guitar Techniques 359

All of the videos, backing tracks and audio from issue 359 of Guitar Techniques, to download and stream.

Guitar World

“A traveling museum of rock music”: The Jim Irsay Band is playing a free show in LA next month featuring Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Kenny Wayne Shepherd – and some of the world’s most valuable guitars

The owner of the world’s most famous guitar collection is hosting a star-studded concert on the west coast – and tickets cost nothing

Louder

"There's no denying the impact when Shepherd does let the blues off the leash": Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 1

Kenny Wayne Shepherd keeps the blues under control on 11th album Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1

Guitar World

“I had Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player, out on tour with me, and he showed up with a $120 Squier Strat. He played it on stage that night and killed it”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on why tone is in the hands (but it helps to have a trio of Dumbles)

The blues-rocker shares the story of his decade-long search for a 1960 Les Paul, why his Marshall amps just wouldn’t stop blowing up, and what made him convert to the single-cut after decades of Stratocaster monogamy

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