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EXPLAINED: 2 - The Real Truth

“I said, ‘Ted, you can see inside the horn, it's got a maple cap.’ He goes, ‘Shut up’”: Paul Reed Smith says early Les Pauls were all Goldtops to hide a tonal breakthrough from Leo Fender

The PRS Guitars founder answers the million dollar question: why were all the early Gibson Les Pauls Goldtops?

Guitar World

“Korea is one of the most dynamic and exciting music markets in the world”: Fender expands its presence in Asia with the establishment of Fender Music Korea – is a retail store coming next?

Headed up by Jack Kim, FMK will exclusively distribute Fender, Squier, Jackson, Charvel, EVH and Gretsch guitars in Korea. CEO Andy Mooney says move strengthens the Big F’s global presence

Guitar World

“Some believe the slab ’boards have a different tone to veneer ’boards, but others think it’s more of a visual thing”: Everything you need to know about pre-CBS Stratocasters – the holy grail of vintage Fender guitars

Steve Hove of ATB Guitars presents us with five Strats from Fender's golden era and details their specs, the model's evolution, and the market dynamics behind their astronomical price

Guitar World

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Black Sabbath! The final interview with Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – all yours in the new Guitar World

Plus interviews with Jake E. Lee, Adam Jones, Creed Bratton from The Office, the guys from Goose, former Jethro Tull man Martin Barre, K.K. Downing, Zakk Wylde, Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, Lzzy Hale, Billy Duffy, Robben Ford and more

Guitar World

“Robbie came to us in 2022 with an idea... His favourite guitar was the 1953 Esquire he used for many years with Paul McCartney”: Robbie McIntosh and Monty’s unveil pickup set offering best of both worlds for Tele and Esquire fans

The Pretender is the upgrade that can give your Telecaster a new lease of life – and the “vibe” and sound of McIntosh's Esquire

MusicRadar

“I didn’t think anybody would believe I got it from George Harrison. I figured they’d call me a liar”: Vintage guitar guru Norman Harris names the 5 most memorable guitars that have come through Norman's Rare Guitars

As owner/operator of Norman's Rare Guitars, Harris has seen some guitars in his time. This five, featuring a John Fogerty Ricky and a Gretsch owned by a Beatle, are the ones that stick in his mind

Guitar World

“Leo said, ‘Here, try this guitar.’ I grabbed it, turned it around, held it upside-down backwards and started playing ukulele chords. He almost fell off his chair laughing”: How Dick Dale made the Stratocaster the ultimate surf-rock weapon

The surf guitar king was not only a Fender man to his bones – he had a close working relationship with Leo Fender himself

Guitar World

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“The most in-demand mods straight from the factory”: Fender’s elevated Player II Modified line brings the firm’s most sought-after guitar upgrades to the masses

Speedy satin necks, upgraded pickups, expansive electronics and Floyd Rose tremolos headline the drop, which lifts the humble Player II line to new heights

Guitar World

“It's the most significant development in the last 50 years. Everything else has just been a little tweak on something Leo Fender or Les Paul did”: Once Allan Holdsworth picked up a headless Steinberger, there was no turning back

Though he'd also later work with Carvin, Holdsworth remained a headless guitar devotee for the rest of his life, telling Guitar World in an interview just days before his death, “Once you play a headless guitar, you’ll never want to play a regular guitar again”

Guitar World

“The six-string bass guitar was a dream – if Leo Fender could come back today I think he would approve”: 10 6-string bassists you need to know

From John Myung to Felix Pastorius to Thundercat, we follow their historic quest for the ultimate extended-range axe

Guitar World

“The Strat is the most versatile electric guitar that there is; but the Les Paul is a perfect instrument”: Sting guitarist Dominic Miller weighs in on the Strat vs. Les Paul debate – says the Strat loses despite being a more versatile instrument

It’s a debate that has raged for decades, and Sting’s six-string foil has some interesting arguments

Guitar World

“I said, ‘Mr. Fender, I’m Dick Dale. I’m a surfer and I have no money. Can you help me?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Here, try this guitar’”: How Dick Dale made the Stratocaster the ultimate surf-rock weapon

The surf guitar king was not only a Fender man to his bones – he had a close working relationship with Leo Fender himself

Guitar World

“We’ve painstakingly restored Les Paul’s original gear”: The Les Paul Recording Studio opens in Hollywood – bringing the innovator’s revolutionary gear to a whole new generation of musicians

Aside from his work revolutionizing the electric guitar, Les Paul helped modernize recording methods, and this new studio honors his legacy with the gear he built

Guitar World

“In many ways, this amp is far more versatile than its tube counterpart”: Fender Tone Master ’59 Bassman review

Fender attempts the incredible feat of replicating the historic Bassman with a digital heart in its latest addition to the Tone Master series

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“This is basically the single-coil equivalent of what Eddie Van Halen did when he wired a humbucker directly to the volume control on his Frankenstein guitar”: Why the Fender Esquire remains a stone-cold classic

Loved by Billy Gibbons, Steve Cropper and Jeff Beck, the Fender Esquire is one of those guitars that have stood the test of time and proved that sometimes one pickup is all you need

MusicRadar

“A pro-quality tool for hard-working musicians who like the guitar to do the heavy lifting”: Fender American Ultra II Stratocaster HSS

In refreshing its state-of-the-art US line, has Fender made the original – and the best – Superstrat?

Guitar World

“I got a chance to play the guitar that David Gilmour owned with serial number 0001 – and I was actually disappointed”: Why one of David Gilmour’s most iconic Strats underwhelmed Fender’s CEO – who tried to buy it at auction

Andy Mooney had already attempted to convince the Pink Floyd legend to let Fender reissue his legendary 0001 Strat, not long after he joined the company

Guitar World

“From January 2024 to now, we sold 334 units. I went after it, but it plummeted”: Why JHS Pedals is discontinuing Ross Pedals – just over a year after resurrecting the legacy brand

In his announcement, Josh Scott revealed that starting on Friday, November 15, he'd be selling the remaining Ross units – which were revived against the backdrop of much fanfare last year – for $79 apiece

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Guitar World

“We are dedicated to building a direct connection with the artist community in China”: Fender to open Shanghai Artist Showroom in its latest high-profile move in overseas guitar markets

Two years after opening its flagship store in Tokyo, Fender has decided to further increase its presence in the Asian guitar scene with 'The Fender Backstage'

MusicRadar

“We went back to the dressing room. He said, ‘Yeah, it stays in tune great! But if you could make it a little slinkier’”: Gibson’s master luthier Jim DeCola reveals the Leo Fender-inspired mods he made to Randy Rhoads’ guitar just hours before showtime

DeCola was still only a teenager in 1982 but he had already had a reputation for being able to work magic on a tremolo system, which he duly did on Rhoads' iconic polka-dotted Sandoval V

Guitar World

“Some people think its gloss black top was a response to Gibson’s Les Paul Custom – but that didn’t launch officially until ’54”: The Duo Jet took Gretsch’s ’50s innovation to new heights – and was loved by George Harrison, Jeff Beck and Malcolm Young

As solid-bodied models began taking the guitar world by storm in the early ’50s, Gretsch joined the party with the revolutionary single-cut 6128 Duo Jet and its twangsome DeArmond ‘Dynasonic’ single coils

Guitar World

“It’s a symbol of creativity”: Les Paul’s experimental Klunker helped pave the way for his later innovations – now it’s been revived as a meticulous one-off replica by Les Paul's personal tech

Renowned luthier Tom Doyle hopes it will deepen the public’s understanding of the guitar’s cultural significance

Guitar World

“The Robert Cray gigs had me shaking so badly that I thought I’d faint… It was one of the pools I had to dive into or drown”: A non-shredder among metal guitarists, Katie Knipp took years to go electric – then scored a hit blues album

Inspired to explore blues by a choir singing Mozart, Knipp avoided asking advice from the big names she opened for – and even though it took 20 years, the G&L player has made it her own way

Guitar World

“The decline of America’s biggest guitar companies during the ’70s was essentially a hangover from the over-ambitious reaction to the Beatlemania-inspired guitar boom of the ’60s”: Why the ’70s was a time of innovation and folly for guitar gear

The ’70s gets a bad rep from some guitarists but it's too easy to say this was a bad time for Gibson and Fender and that's the story. There were some real treasures and technological breakthroughs

Guitar World

Long before shred took hold, instrumental electric guitar was pioneered by players like Link Wray, Les Paul and Hank Marvin – and their groundbreaking contributions shaped the sound of every guitarist who followed

We pay tribute to the kings of twang with this electric masterclass in early rock ’n’ roll instrumental guitar

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