BRIAN SETZER

Rockabilly’s top cat on beating tinnitus, resurrecting Dick Dale, why you’ll never catch him with a Strat, and why rockers can’t play the ’billy

CHRIS BUCK

The Cardinal Black guitar maestro spins tales of a bargain ’62 Strat and how the P-90 is criminally underrated…

60 YEARS OF THE SG

Its sharp horns seemed to belong to the Devil’s orchestra, not the polite jazz scene of the early 60s. As a statement of intent, the SG’s radical styling succeeded – but maybe not as first intended. The design was swiftly disowned by Les Paul, though it was supposed to be his signature instrument. Rejected by its patron, the SG grew up in the shadow of its iconic sibling, the Les Paul Standard, becoming the anti-hero’s tool of choice from Angus and Iommi onwards...

Longtermers

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

Epiphone Slash Les Paul ProBuckers

As authentic clones, the pickups in these Epiphone signature guitars offer true Gibson tone

RICKENBACKER PICKUPS

Martin Kelly – author of Rickenbacker Guitars 1931-1999: Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fireglo – straightens out the subject of Rickenbacker pickups

Shaping Sound

Few guitar companies have the kind of technology Yamaha boasts at their disposal when it comes to the acoustic. The redesigned NX series illustrates some complex electronics under the hood of these new nylon-strings

TEENAGE FANCLUB

AS GLASGOW’S FINEST RETURN WITH THEIR ELEVENTH ALBUM, ENDLESS ARCADE, WE ASK CO-FOUNDING GUITARISTS NORMAN B LAKE AND RAYMOND MC GINLEY ABOUT SONGWRITING, STOLEN GUITARS, CHANNELLING ROBERT FRIPP AND WHY THEIR WORKING RELATIONSHIP IS “LIKE THE CHUCKLE BROTHERS”…

JOAN ARMATRADING

She’s the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter whose observational songs have struck a chord since ’72. Now, as Joan Armatrading releases her 22nd studio album, Consequences, she tells us about pawn-shop guitars, disapproving parents and why human emotion still drives her songwriting

Mods Like Us

One way to view these new ProShop guitars is as pre-modded Vintage models. So with our own Mod Squad experience in mind we grilled the team

TROY REDFERN

A musical awakening courtesy of that famous sequence in Back To The Future led to a lifelong interest in country blues, National Resonators and gnarly, fuzzed-up slide guitar…

MEETING THE MARK

Mark Lettieri is one of the most in-demand players in the world at the moment. Aside from his edgy instrumental jazz work with Snarky Puppy, he’s also a close musical compadre of neo-funk stars Vulfpeck. We catch up with him to find out how, with Paul Reed Smith’s help, he designed a guitar to cover all musical terrains – and how tins of soup played an unexpectedly important role in the process…

JACKSON BROWNE

A laureate of the Laurel Canyon scene of the 70s, Jackson Browne’s love of guitar has fuelled a 50-year career that keeps getting better. As he releases his latest album, Downhill From Everywhere, we catch up with the Californian songsmith to talk old guitars and new directions

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN

He’s the Swedish wizard whose neo-classical flash turned the 80s shred scene on its head. Now, as Yngwie Malmsteen releases new album, Parabellum, he looks back on first Strats, scalloped fretboards, crashed sports cars, and his notorious ‘air rage’ spat

NICK JONAH DAVIS

THE LATEST ALBUM FROM DERBYSHIRE GUITARIST NICK JONAH DAVIS, WHEN THE SUN CAME, WAS RECORDED IN A CHURCH AND RELEASED JUST BEFORE LOCKDOWN–AND IT COULD WELL BE HIS FINEST YET. WE FIND OUT ABOUT THE RECORD’S ORIGINS, WHILE DISCOVERING MORE ABOUT NICK’S INFLUENCES, INSECURITIES AND EXPLORATIONS INTO “WEIRDNESS”...

MYLES KENNEDY

The Alter Bridge guitar man and vocalist recounts how sometimes you can strike gold when working in a music store, and that there is money in horse manure…

THE ORIGINAL BOLT-ON

The Fiore is PRS’s latest bolt-on guitar, but this story began back in 1988 with the short-lived Classic Electric

FLOWER POWER

PRS’s Silver Sky broke the internet with its derivative style and big league artist attachment, so the new Fiore has a lot to live up to. Does it succeed? Oh, yes – and then some

The Shortlist

The result of our home builder competition grows near

Gambling Man

Little Barrie and Primal Scream alumnus Barrie Cadogan admits that the Casino comes with its own quirks, but – as big-name players from the 60s and beyond have shown – if you take a punt on this legendary Epiphone model, it’ll pay you back in spades

Custom Gretsch Pickups

Guns N’ Roses’ Richard Fortus gives us the inside scoop on how he developed the pickups for his forthcoming signature Falcon with Gretsch

THE FUTURE BITES BACK - STEVEN WILSON

GUITAR-BASED MUSIC CONSIGNED TO MUSEUM STATUS, ALBUMS NOTHING MORE THAN ARTIST- CURATED PLAYLISTS, AND SOCIAL MEDIA ALTERING THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION… WHAT THE FRIGGIN’ PROG IS GOING ON, MR WILSON?

Raw Power

We all love our vintage-spec Stratocasters, but if you need to go up a gear or two, the Fender-owned Charvel brand is becoming the place to look

Murphy's Lore

We’ve heard the buzz and seen the online ads, but with a trio of aged Murphy Lab Gibsons actually in our hands, we wonder, was all the hype worth the wait?

SIGNATURE TONE (PART 2)

In the second part of our look at signature pickups, Dave Burrluck gets up close and personal with a beastly tone

The Birth of Jimi's Sound

Effects pioneer Roger Mayer tells Jamie Dickson that Hendrix’s gear choices were shaped by budget as much as tone

Moving On

It’s been quite a ride for Gibson since its new leadership team took the reins in 2018. We catch up with brand president, Cesar Gueikian,to get the backstory on the newly created Murphy Lab

Junior vs Junior

Just how does this made-to-look-old new Murphy Lab Junior compare with a real 1957? We take a close look

IDA MAE

We take a look at the tones of the husband-and-wife duo’s new sophomore album, Click Click Domino, track by track, with guitar sensation Chris Turpin

Gwenifer Raymond

Welsh-born guitarist Gwenifer Raymond recently released her second album, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, recorded during lockdown. With that challenge firmly out of the way, she speaks to us about her love of American primitive guitar, the magic of the blues, and how she has evolved as a player in her own right