CATEGORIES

Mail-Order Pride

Launched as a post-WWII startup, Carvin Guitars grew into a guitar gear giant, one catalog sale at a time.

A Love Supreme

Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto's Love, Love defines a moment with deeply spiritual power.

RISING FORCE

As she drops The Call of the Void, her unapologetically shred sophomore album, Nita Strauss riffs on stress, solos and the importance of heeding Yngwie.

TIP SHEET

From breathing to talking - Eddie 9V reveals the advice that made him blues-rock's new guitar star.

EPIPHONE

1958 Korina Flying V and Explorer

150 Years Of Epiphone

Luxury archtop maker, budget brand, rock icon. Epiphone has been so many things to so many people over the years that discovering its true soul as a guitar maker is a difficult task. That's why, as Epiphone celebrates a century-and-a-half in business, we've enlisted the help of vintage-guitar experts, leading artists and Gibson's own archivists to tell its harlequin history. For, when you look beneath the patinated surface of the brand's heritage, there is much that shines

Yamaha FG9M FROM £3,299

CONTACT Yamaha PHONE 0344 811 1116 WEB http://uk.yamaha.com

MATTEO MANCUSO

Steve Vai has called him 'the evolution of the guitar' while Al Di Meola said his playing was light years ahead'. Is it something they put in the water in Sicily, we ask, as we meet the young guitarist redefining virtuosity

Skinted Or Minted?

Pro guitarist Stuart Ryan owns both a cheap 90s Epiphone and a high-end Gibson 'Murphy Lab' ES-335. But which is better?' asks Jamie Dickson

Fretbuzz

A monthly look at must-hear artists from all corners of the guitar world, from the roots of their sound to the tracks that matter most

1958 GIBSON FLYING V

Gibson only made 98 Flying Vs during the 1950s, so when Wiltshire auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate told us it had a 1958 example, we dashed straight over

Future Moves

It's been a busy year so far for PJD Guitars, setting up a new workshop, designing and redesigning guitars, creating and winding in-house pickups... We drop in for a chat

Road Runner

Originally designed by Trev Wilkinson, the Eclat single-cut gets a makeover for 2023 and a signature tie-up with Brit virtuoso Paul Rose

Tones Behind The Tracks

From playing shock-rock with Alice Cooper to landing an explosive second solo album, Nita Strauss talks us through her shred-heavy sound

WALK ON THE FYLDE SIDE

Awarded an MBE for services to the music industry back in 2016, Roger Bucknall has cause for further celebration this year as Fylde Guitars reaches its momentous half-century milestone

KAVUS TORABI

The frontman of psychedelic prog legends Gong and The Utopia Strong says he's pretty monogamous' when it comes to guitars but nonetheless he's owned an eclectic mix over the years...

Back To The Source

Marshall adds another amp to its popular Studio collection, alongside compact recreations of classic designs such as the 25/50 Silver Jubilee, JCM800 and 1959SLP

Modern Icon

EVH adds a compact newcomer to the affordable Iconic series with this 15-watt 1x10 combo

Slap Happy

Electro-Harmonix resurrects a rare pedal from 1978 and puts it into a modern, 'board-friendly format

Track Mate

It's not a pedal, but the latest from Walrus Audio can still help change the sound of your guitar

SOUND OF THE SOUL

John McLaughlin said of Debashish Bhattacharya that \"he has no equal\" on slide guitar. High praise indeed but fully justified by his 28-album career of serenely virtuosic guitar. We meet the master himself to talk about the hard road he took to pioneer Indian classical music on guitar, the deep spiritual connections between American blues and the rāgas, and his sublime new album, The Sound Of The Soul

In The Mix

Mixing speakers is relatively common - but mixing speakers of different sizes is a different ballgame. Paul Gough of Zilla Cabs checks out the pros and cons

Alice Cooper – "We Didn't Mind a Litle Violence"

How Alice Cooper, veteran shock-rocker and influence on every theatrical rock act from David Bowie to KISS to Slipknot, is still with us at the age of 75 is beyond human comprehension. Alcohol and cocaine couldn’t kill him. The guillotine blades and hangman’s nooses he uses onstage every night haven’t killed him (yet). Even being a part of the 80s poodle-rock scene couldn’t finish him off. If anything, the monster created by the sometime Vincent Furnier is stronger than ever. Joel McIver meets the gothfather.

MYSTERY RUSHENT RECORDING

Ian Shirley uncovers the story behind post-punk/synthpop producer Martin Rushent’s 60s group, The Nett, and meets his band-mate from way back when, Gerry Shadbolt

SACRED & ROUND

Set up by Eddie Singleton with Berry Gordy’s ex-wife Raynoma (Miss Ray) in 1964, the Shrine label, based in Washington DC, has been highly collectable for over 50 years. Shrine had no hits – in fact, they had very few sales at all. What it did have was musical talent and a business plan that ended in glorious failure – thereby making the 20 singles that were pressed sought-after by soul aficonados. As a new Ace Records compilation rounds them up in one place, Ady Croasdell gazes enviously down the list of their releases – with estimated asking prices in Mint condition

SILENT SHOUT

With an acclaimed final album on the shelves, Janis Ian was on one last lap of glory, with a lifetime achievement award and the European leg of her farewell tour to look forward to. Then everything changed. She tells Charles Donovan what happened…

33% minutes with...Chuck D

The Public Enemy founder is Zooming Record Collector from his study at his LA home. It’s the middle of the night, which is when he works best, he says. Dressed in de rigueur black T-shirt with baseball cap, he’s sat with rows and rows of neatly filed CDs to one side and, to the other, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf crammed with art books. He’s just become the subject of his own, Livin’ Loud, which collects over 250 of his paintings, sketches and drawings of musical and sports heroes from Gladys Knight and James Brown to basketball player Julius Irving aka Dr J. In between are political cartoons and satirical skits. Always the restless creative, he’s also just launched the cultural app, Bring The Noise, and published his first of what he calls ‘naphic grovels’ on his own Enemy Books. “I was raised with an artist’s mentality,” he says

musictovisit

Bob Stanley carries pop’s baggage everywhere Britain’s secret radio hits

COOL VARIATIONS

At the start of the 80s Tom Waits felt trapped. Hemmed in by the persona he’d created over the previous decade, his salvation came with the album Swordfishtrombones, an artistic volte-face that celebrates its 40th birthday this month. Wesley Doyle looks at its creation – via an album-byalbum run-through of what led up to it – and reassesses the peerless work that followed

RIGHT SAID 'FRED

Paul Jones celebrates the 60th anniversary of the band formerly known as Manfred Mann, with help from Mike d’Abo and guitarist Tom McGuinness. Man in the middle: Michael Heatley