CATEGORIES
JACQUES
Prisoner BBD - Analog Delay
How I Wrote..."Someday, Someway"
Marshall Crenshaw reveals Gene Vincent's role in his 1982 signature hit.
The Blues Had a Baby
Elvis Presley's Sun Sessions is the sound of rockabilly's accidental birth.
ZERO THE HERO
On Shinedown's latest, Zach Myers does more with less and finds an elusive amp tone in a Kemper.
TIP SHEET
Joe Satriani shares 10 pointers to improve your practice, playing and performance.
STRANGE BREW
Bartees Strange cooks up a heady, dynamic indie-rock concoction on Farm to Table.
MAGIC ACT
With electronics inspired by a famed 1970s studio console, Terry C. McInturff's Spellcaster sounds like a Telecaster from your favorite classic rock album.
UNCOMMON THREAD
Peter Rowan's remarkable career connects bluegrass legends from Bill Monroe, Jerry Garcia and Tony Rice to Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, both of whom join him on his new album, Calling You From My Mountain.
THE BUD POWELL OF JAZZ GUITAR
One of the most gifted and musical jazz guitarists of today, Pasquale Grasso takes inspiration not from his six-string brethren but from the genre's legendary ivory ticklers.
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
With King Crimson on perhaps permanent hiatus, the notoriously interview-shy Robert Fripp does the unthinkable and sits down for a lengthy talk about his musical beginnings, Crimson's history and the guitars with which he's created some of prog-rock's finest moments.
GOING BIG
Josh Smith's band grows a larger horn section. The result is his big-band extravaganza Bird of Passage.
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Joe Ely shares highlights from his rockabilly career and recalls his former Lubbock, Texas, neighbor: Buddy Holly.
SOME KIND OF MONSTER
Kirk Hammett set out to write background music. Instead, he created the four horror movie-themed guitar instrumentals that his debut solo effort, Portals.
LIVING ON THE EDGE
WRITTEN AND RECORDED PIECEMEAL ON DAYS OFF BETWEEN GIGS, CLOSE TO THE EDGE COALESCED INTO A PROG-ROCK MASTERPIECE. ON THE ALBUM'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY, STEVE HOWE REVEALS HOW YES CREATED THEIR GREATEST TRIUMPH.
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
Following a 13-year hiatus, Porcupine Tree regroup with one less member and a broader musical palette. Steven Wilson explains why this is a new beginning for the progressive-rock group or maybe the end of the road.
The LAST of the SINGING COWBOYS
He tutored under Woody Guthrie and influenced a young Bob Dylan. Now 90, folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott reflects on his role in the postwar folk revival and a life spent making music.
KING of the ROW
With more than 700 albums to his credit - including his Dean DeLeo project, Trip the Witch Nashville session ace Tom Bukovac is one of the world's busiest guitarists. Here he shares the guitars behind Music Row's biggest records.
PHIL JONES BASS
Nanobass X4 digital amp
Let It Rub
Trey Anastasio on using "rubs" to open up standard tuning.
How I Wrote..."Close My Eyes Forever"
Lita Ford looks back at her badass signature 1989 power ballad.
Better Call Walls
With old-school gospel roots and new-school guitar chops, Erick Walls has emerged as one of today’s most in-demand guitarists.
Eric Krasno – Up the Funktion
L.A.’s Eric Krasno has fretboard fire and a prolific pen, making him one of the most exciting R&B-vibed guitarists working today.
ONE-MAN JAM
Trey Anastasio’s first deep acoustic interview reveals how his classical roots inform Phish, and how an extraordinary gift inspired his premiere solo acoustic effort, Mercy.
SKUNK WORKS
Over his 50-year career, he's been the change agent behind Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, as well as a formidable freelancer in the studio. As he drops his first-ever solo album, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter takes Guitar Player through his life's highlights, from playing with Jimi Hendrix to working on U.S. national security.
HIGHER SHREDUCATION
THEY WERE A FLEET-FINGERED MENTOR AND MENTEE WHO BECAME THE FASTEST OF FRIENDS. IN THIS GUITAR PLAYER EXCLUSIVE, STEVE MORSE AND JOHN PETRUCCI SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND ADVICE ON THE ART AND CRAFT OF SHRED...WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF MUTUAL ADMIRATION FOR GOOD MEASURE.
IN HER NATURE
On Crooked Tree, Molly Tuttle bends the rules of bluegrass tradition. "It's fun," she says, "to stretch the limits."
LAVA - Blue Lava Touch
LAST MONTH, WE took a look at Lava's first smart guitar, the ME 3, which won an Editors' Pick Award. This month, we'll carry on with the brand-new Blue Lava Touch, which promises Lava's considerable innovation in a slightly more conventional, smaller and far more affordable package.
POSITIVE GRID: RIFF Guitar Interface and App
POSITIVE GRID EARNED a ton of well-deserved attention in 2020 with Spark, its groundbreaking guitar practice amp and app. The compact, 40-watt combo not only delivers a range of great amp emulations and effects powered by Positive Grid's BIAS Tone engine but also helps players practice, jam and learn with a variety of applications and features.
FENDER - 60th Anniversary Jaguar
IN 1962, FENDER rolled out the Jaguar, a new top-of-the-line instrument that company literature said offered "faster, more comfortable" playing. The Jag's offset waist gave its body a look that was very different
LINE 6 - Catalyst 100 1x12 Combo
AS MUCH AS tube amplifiers rule for tone, dynamic feel and raw punch, many players enjoy the benefits of modeling amps with their ability to deliver a multitude of sounds, not to mention their affordability and lighter weight. One of the newest contenders in the modeling arena is the Line 6 Catalyst series combos that include a 60-watt 1x12, a 200-watt 2x12 and the 100-watt 1x12 featured in this review.