CATEGORIES

FREE FOR ALL

JAZZ/FUSION GREAT JOHN McLAUGHLIN on his liberating new album, his recent run-in with the law and his spiritual connection to pretty much everything and everyone

The Flower Kings

Roine Stolt leads the venerable Swedish prog-rockers into the future by mining their past

30 Instrumental Guitarists With Something to Say

GW's guide to two-and-a-half dozen inspiring instrumental masters, plus — in many cases — their exclusive advice on how to keep your own instrumental music endlessly interesting.

Sound and Vision

EMERALD VIRTUO

Top Model

Martin SC-10E

Crunch Time

Blackstar Dept. 10 Valve Pedals

The Real DL

Produced continuously for 23 years, the line 6 DL4 enjoys status as a classic of the digital modeling era.

Tones to Love, Love, Love

My Morning Jacket frontman/guitarist Jim James on dialing in some of the nastiest fuzz tones of his career — and what to expect from his new signature Gibson ES-335

How I Wrote…“Take It Off the Top”

Steve Morse opens up about the Dixie Dregs’ long-running fan favorite.

CHANGING GEAR

FROM CHARLIE CHRISTIAN TO TOM MORELLO, THESE 25 GUITARISTS SHIFTED THE COURSE OF GUITARS, AMPS, EFFECTS AND TONE, TO BRING US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.

ORIGIN EFFECTS

RevivalDRIVE Compact and MAGMA57

MACKIE Thrash215 Powered Loudspeaker

SINCE THE 1990S Mackie, a company founded in America’s rugged Northwest, has been designing great-sounding and reliable audio products for musicians. A good part of their success can be attributed to the thoughtful design of mixers and loudspeakers that deliver both professional quality and portability. With the debut of their new line of Thrash-powered loudspeakers, Mackie has attempted to address perhaps the most challenging constraint to producing great audio — doing it on a budget. Thrash promises more for a fraction of what other professional powered loudspeakers cost.

EASTMAN T64/v and T184MX

BOASTING A REPUTATION that grows year upon year, the Eastman String Company has long defied any “budget-brand” preconceptions normally heaped upon Chinese-made guitars, delivering instruments that punch well above their weight for build quality, tone and playability (see the “Meet Your Maker” interview with two of the company’s prime movers.

FENDER Mustang Micro

MINIATURIZATION IS THE story of the modern age, as devices keep getting smaller and more powerful. Case in point, the Mustang Micro, a very, very small guitar amplifier and effect modeling system that features a selection of tones from the Mustang series modeling amps. You can plug it directly into your guitar’s input jack, connect stereo headphones to its 1/8-inch jack, choose various amp and effect settings, and play for hours. The unit lets you jam along with tunes from your music library or streaming service through Bluetooth audio from your mobile device, tablet or computer. You can also record your guitar tones with or without a Bluetooth audio stream to your preferred recording system by using Mustang Micro’s USB-C output.

JAZZ ODYSSEY

Freedom has been on a lot of people’s minds the past two years. Jazz-fusion pioneer John McLaughlin made it the topic of his latest solo album, Liberation Time.

Strymon

Compadre Dual-Voice Compressor and Boost

Strymon

Iridium Amp and IR Cab Pedal

Taylor

American Dream AD27e Flametop

With a Lot of Help

Uke superstar Jake Shimabukuro teams up with Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Vince Gill, Billy Strings and others on Jake & Friends.

The Ghost of Skip James

Washed up at age 30, James was rediscovered in 1964, just five years before his death. His impact is felt stronger than ever today in Bentonia blues.

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

The Sky's the Limit

PRS Guitars SE Silver Sky

All This and War of the Worlds, Pt. II

For his latest solo album, Symphony x Shredder Michael Romeo returns to the H.G. Wells of inspiration

Unleashed

Glenn tipton looks back at 50 years of Triumph and Tragedy in Judas Priest

ROYAL TREATMENT

Blues phenom Eric Gales returns with the album he was born to make: Crown.

INTO THE GROOVE

Nylon-string maestro Jesse Cook finds release in electronic beats on Libre, his latest fret-burning effort.

FOREVER '50s

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

Beat the Odds

Luther Dickinson reveals his technique for fingerpicking with groups of five and seven.

Soul Captain

Luther Dickinson gives a tour of the North Mississippi Allstars’ existential party cruise on Set Sail.