Origin Effects

This issue, we venture to the leafy outreaches of Buckinghamshire to discover more about an effects manufacturer whose pedals are turning up on the ’boards of top players all around the world

Tailoring Your Tone

In the fourth part of our PAF focus, Mark Stow of OX4 Pickups explains how customised PAF repros can help you achieve the ultimate tone

Telebration!

Dave Burrluck celebrates the first, and still the best, modding platform: the Fender telecaster

The Darkness

15 years ago, Justin and Dan Hawkins of The Darkness swept the board at the BRIT awards. Catapulted onto the world stage, they arced high then crashed back to earth in flames when the band split in 2006. With the band now firmly back together and making joyous, hard-edged rock once again, we join the brothers to hear their advice on how to squeeze top performance from Marshall amps – and learn why they “didn’t come here to ride the teacups…”

True Colours

From the whites of early prototypes and 50s hot-rod colours, through the many shades of Fiesta Red and beyond, we take a look at Fender’s colourful history with David Davidson of Songbirds Guitar Museum

Riding With the King

Gordon Giltrap gets a second signature model from the ‘affordable boutique’ guys at Fret-King. We take the production prototype for a spin…

Scott Holiday

Rival sons’ guitar man on the perils of touring Europe in a van nicknamed ‘Castle Grayskull’

Keeley Tone WorksTaTion £239

John Mayer helped bring this ‘multi-pedal’ solution out of retirement, with a no-fuss front-end for your amp that can save you ’board space and cash…

'61 Gibson Les Paul 'SG' Custom

The Gibson Les Paul Custom underwent a sea-change in 1961 that confuses some people even today.

Makoto Terasaki

One of Japan’s most influential luthiers, Mr Makoto Terasaki’s designs have made Takamine guitars a near-universal presence on the world’s concert stages. He joins us to bust some myths about acoustic tone and share his setup secrets...

Meris Polymoon

Delay with a difference! This aptly named pedal will put your sound into several exotic orbits at once and open up new soundworlds

Here I Go Again - Fool For The Touring

In the first of a two-part tour diary blues rock legend Bernie gives us an AAA pass to his run with Gov’t Mule

The Gary Moore Collection Auction

Bonhams Rock Memorabilia Sale, Knightsbridge 28 June

Allan Holdsworth 1946 – 2017

Just before we went to press with this issue, we heard the news that Allan Holdsworth had died.

Catherine MCGrath

With over a million streams on spotify, Catherine McGrath’s EP, One, is creating quite a stir on the international country scene…

Blow Wind Blow

Rory Gallagher Was the Original Irish Guitar Hero – but His Playing Was Deeply Rooted in the Rich Soil of American Blues, Which He Studied From Boyhood. Now, on the 50th Anniversary of His Recording Debut, a Treasure Trove of Previously Unheard Tracks Sheds Light on His Rare Gifts as a Player and Lifelong Disciple of the Blues. We Lift Open the Cases of Some of Rory’s Best-loved Guitars to Learn How They Helped Him Transport Listeners a Million Miles Away…

Sink Or Swim?

Scott Sasser, head of Martin’s Custom Shop, explains why sinker mahogany is taking its place alongside some of the world’s premium tonewoods

Family Affair

Another bolt-on PRS guitar joins the ranks, but is it the bolt-on we really want? Oh, yes…

Robin Trower

The guitar legend tells tales of scary snowfall and unexpected pyrotechnics on the road…

Classic Gear - Fender Esquire

Fender’s first electric has a unique allure – and bags of tonal character

Victory The Sheriff V44

It’s interesting how much difference a few months makes, at least when it comes to Hendrix albums.

Longtermers - Shergold Masquerader SM04-SD

A few months’ gigging, recording and everything that goes with it – welcome to Guitarist’s longterm test reports

JB-2 Angry Driver

Mainstream manufacturer and boutique builder collaborate on a pedal that’s greater than the sum of its parts

Mothership 2

Fancy a close encounter of the tonal kind? Your transport to some spaced-out sounds has just landed…

Nuts...Totally Nuts!

Once upon a time we just used to fix guitars when we needed to, remembers Dave burrluck. Now we’re modding perfectly good guitars. are we nuts?

Billy Gibbons

Following the rhythmic experimentation of 2015’s Perfectamundo, the Reverend Willy G has gone back to basics with an 11-track time machine that recalls the glory of 70s ’Top. Here, the man behind Pearly Gates talks influences, gear and recalls that time BB King told him to change his strings…

Hamstead Soundworks

A pair of unsuspecting Cambridgeshire-based industrial units play host to a rising force in British hand-built guitar amplification – Guitarist pops into Hamstead HQ for a cuppa…

After The Gold Rush

We join Dan Orkin of Reverb.com to find out more about the current state of the vintage-guitar market and hear his expert tips on how to get a great deal on your next second-hand or vintage guitar – and avoid expensive mistakes…

Gear Of The Year

Welcome to another grand reckoning of the great and the good in gear that Guitarist has tested over the past year. Some years are more replete with interesting guitars than others and, happily, 2018 has been a vintage year.

Oz Noy

He’s one of the most incisively inventive players working today, welding jazz to jagged blues with quicksilver deftness of touch. We join Oz for a rut-breaking lesson...