CATEGORIES

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar

After two serious surgeries that affected his ability to play guitar, Steve Vai could have simply packed it in. Instead, he gave himself some familiar-sounding advice and emerged with his most dazzling new album in years. (And yes, we asked him about that triple-neck guitar!)

Sound and Vision

EMERALD VIRTUO

Buzz Bin - LD Systems

Maui 5 Go 100

Synth City

Boss SY-200 Synthesizer

True Value

Squier contemporary Stratocaster Special HT and Paranormal Toronado

When Frank Zappa Shut Up 'n Stopped Playing Guitar

Zappa’s on-again, off-again love affair with his guitar

“The Thrill Is Gone”

B.B. King | Live in cook county jail, 1971 | Guitarist: B.B. King

Symphonies of Destruction

LOST SYMPHONY FOUNDER BENNY GOODMAN TELLS US HOW HE ROPED IN GUITAR LEGENDS EN MASSE FOR HIS LATEST INSTRUMENTAL ESCAPADES

QUAD RAPHONIC

SLASH DETAILS THE MAKING OF 4, HIS HIGH ENERGY, LIVE-IN-A LEGENDARY-NASHVILLESTUDIO NEW ALBUM WITH MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS - AND FILLS US IN ON NEW GUNS N' ROSES MUSIC AND MORE

Top Models

TAYLOR AD27E FLAMETOP AND AD22E

ORDER FROM CHAOS

Three albums into their reunion phase, The Nightmare of Being finds Swedish death metalers At the Gates addressing their legacy while pushing off into wild new horizons

Discipline

Robert Fripp's 20 greatest guitar moments

GUITAR SHOPPING WITH SLASH

THAT TIME SLASH AND GW’S RICHARD BIENSTOCK SPENT A LOVELY AFTERNOON BROWSING — AND BUYING! — AT NORMAN’S RARE GUITARS IN TARZANA, CALIFORNIA

FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF MUSIC YOU’RE INTO, THERE’S AN OVERDRIV PEDAL (OR TWO) FOR YOU. IN THIS ISS WE ROUND UP EIGHT OF OUR FAVORIT

Joanne Shaw Taylor

"With Joe Bonamassa at the helm, the heralded british guitarist tackles 11 awesomely obscure blues gems by Little Milton, Magic Sam, Albert King and more"

2021 News of the (Guitar) World

Lean back, crack open that broadsheet and get ready for the splashiest guitar-centric news stories of 2021!

2021 a Few of Our Favorite Things

Like the headline says, here’s a solid sampling of new gear that struck our fancy over the past 12 months

Gravel and Grail

ELECTRO-HARMONIX DIRT ROAD SPECIAL

IN DEEP

DREAM WEAVER

Performance Notes

HOW TO PLAY THIS MONTH’S SONGS

HOWLIN' MULE

Believe it or not, GOV’T MULE’S latest album, Heavy Load Blues, is WARREN HAYNES’ first foray into full-on blues (and it all happened while they were recording another album entirely)

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

And now, everything a guitarist needs TO HEADBANG ON A BUDGET, including five metal-friendly axes for under $500

Zakk's Dirty Dozen

From Ozzy Osbourne's “Miracle Man” to Generation Axe’s “Highway Star,” Zakk Wylde Discusses 12 Musical Milestones From A Career Spanning More Than Three Decades

Love at First Stang

Fender Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang

Blitzkrieg Rock

PUNK LEGEND BRIAN BAKER KEEPS BAD RELIGION — AND FAKE NAMES, HIS LATEST PUNK SUPERGROUP — ROLLING WITH HIS STASH OF VINTAGE GUITARS

Twice As Nice

FENDER DUAL MARINE LAYER REVERB AND DUEL PUGILIST DISTORTION

Separated at Birth

DID YOU KNOW KIRK HAMMETT’S FAMOUS AND HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT 1959 GIBSON LES PAUL, GREENY, HAS A SIBLING? AND THAT IT’S OWNED BY HIS FRIEND, GIBSON BRAND PRESIDENT CESAR GUEIKIAN? NEITHER DID THEY! UNTIL VERY RECENTLY...

Rockabilly Renaissance Man

CANADIAN GUITARIST PAUL PIGAT GETS BACK TO BASICS ON COUSIN HARLEY’S LET’S GO!

The ROYAL TREATMENT

SIX-STRING HEAVYWEIGHT ERIC GALES DISCUSSES HIS TRIUMPHANT NEW ALBUM, CROWN, AND HIS JOURNEY TO ULTIMATE BLUES SALVATION

Romance Play - EASTMAN ROMEO LA

IF YOU’RE IN the market for a thin-line semi-hollow electric, there’s never been a better time to shop than the present. Whereas only a few years ago the selection was pretty much limited to large, double-cutaway 335-style models with a pair of humbucking pickups, today one can find semi-hollow guitars in a variety of body sizes and styles with a wider variety of pickup and electronic configurations.