EXPLAINED: 2 | Rare Historical Photos

“Developed with Kirk Hammett’s guidance and built from specifications taken directly from the actual PAF humbuckers on that world-renowned guitar”: Gibson unveils the $449 Custom Shop humbucker set that will make your Les Paul sound like ‘Greeny’

Limited to 100 units worldwide, exclusive to Gibson, these are aged by the Murphy Lab to look just like the real thing

MusicRadar · Feb 12

“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 · Dec 18, 2025

“The first thing I said to him was, ‘You bought Greeny.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I’ve got it. You want to play it?’” Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith had a chance encounter with Kirk Hammett – and ended up babysitting his iconic Les Paul

The fabled Gibson has been making plenty of big-name players weak at the knees recently

Guitar World · Dec 17, 2025

“It’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today”: Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar sells for $2,734,000 at auction

The eye-watering price tag makes it the sixth most expensive guitar ever sold publicly

Guitar World · Oct 24, 2025

"My first guitar was nasty, old, and cheap. It didn’t have a name on it – they were too embarrassed to put it on, I think!” 7 electric guitar icons on the budget acoustics that shaped their early years

From Alex Lifeson to Peter Frampton, Mark Morton to Michael Schenker, we share the stories of famous guitarists' first guitars in their own words

Guitar World · Sep 22, 2025

“He wanted to show me his really nice old Les Paul, and I just said, ‘I don’t like Les Pauls,’ and walked off”: When Joe Bonamassa was introduced to Joanne Shaw Taylor – who “offended” him on their first meeting

The two blues guitar greats crossed paths at a festival in 2008 – but Taylor wasn’t interested in what Bonamassa had to show her

Guitar World · Sep 11, 2025

“I said, ‘I can’t accept this. I haven’t earned it.’ He was like, ‘You need to go pick it up’”: How a 17-year-old guitar prodigy ended up with a 1957 Goldtop Reissue from the foundation of a band she once hated – after her Number One Les Paul got stolen

After Bella Rayne had her Number One Les Paul stolen, she was dead grateful that she had got over her dislike of the Grateful Dead

Guitar World · Sep 6, 2025

“It suffered a broken headstock, was completely refinished, refretted and had P-90s replaced with humbuckers”: Untangling the history of Jeff Beck’s Oxblood Les Paul, the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at auction

Will we ever know the true story of this fabled guitar? For some it’s iconic, for others it was simply a cobbled-together working tool for a master

Guitar World · Aug 28, 2025

“One of my favorite signature guitars of all time just got a standard run release, and Gretsch has not disappointed”: All the new guitar gear that caught my eye this week – including a pedal that will solve all your Mk.gee tone troubles

Mk.gee's tone in a box? Noel Gallagher's mystery Oasis reunion Les Paul? Fender's answer to its boutique rivals? All that and more dropped this week...

Guitar World · Aug 16, 2025

“A 1952 Les Paul was not a cool guitar to own – I remember these guitars hanging around and fading in shop windows for months on end”: The story of Gibson’s “cursed” 1952 Les Paul and why it was long overlooked on the vintage market

Vintage guitar expert Dave Davidson gives us a guided tour of a very special ’52 Goldtop with a neck profile that gives it VIP status. The ’52 is one of the first Les Pauls ever made. Why doesn't it get more love?

Guitar World · Aug 15, 2025