News archive
September 2025
Filter
124 articles
- September 24
-
- “A force of nature. A player who served the song and who enriched the lives of every single person he met”: Danny Thompson, innovative bassist who played with Kate Bush, Roy Orbison, Nick Drake, Pentangle, and countless others, dies at 86
- “Every time I slid my hand down the neck, a splinter of wood would stick in my finger and I would start bleeding”: Sepultura co-founder Max Cavalera looks back on his first-ever electric guitar, “Rotten” – and the moment he discovered metal
- “Some of the best guitars I’ve owned have been free, but the truly special one is the one I’m working on…”: Phil X’s highly anticipated signature Gibson is almost here – and it’s set to be a best-of-both-worlds Les Paul/SG hybrid
- “She said, ‘It’s an honor to be here and meet you.’ It was like, Where’s Chappell Roan? I thought she was going to be some big diva”: Nancy Wilson joins Chappell Roan on stage for an explosive rendition of a Heart classic
- IDLES invite Jack White to join chaotic Riot Fest guest spot – and give him the keys to Lee Kiernan’s famed Pink Mustang
- “Involved the extraction of thousands of small nails”: PRS’ latest limited-edition models are built from wood used in the construction of Brazilian houses and salvaged from a hurricane in Puerto Rico
- “An unforgettable night of iconic guitars”: Join Guitarist and Gibson for an evening celebrating ‘Holy Grail’ guitars with ‘The ’Burst Experience’ – and get up close with Les Paul Standards owned by Gary Moore and Gary Grainger
- “That song should have been finished on an Eagles record with Joe and I following up on Hotel California with some dazzling guitar solos”: The song that started life as an Eagles track – but ended up as the theme song for an animated film
- September 23
-
- “Describe the tone you’re after. BIAS X brings it to life”: Positive Grid embraces the age of AI with BIAS X – which responds to prompts and recreates the guitar tones of any reference song
- “Uncertainty around tariffs may cause Fender’s operating performance to deteriorate more than we expect”: Fender has been forced to increase its prices to weather the tariff storm, according to new report
- “He smashes the guitar to smithereens and says, ‘It’s my band. I can do whatever I like!’” Pete Townshend’s substitute guitarist on his heated rehearsal row with the Who legend
- September 22
-
- “Nuno calls me up and says, ‘Picture this. I want Mad Max and Jesus Christ Superstar’”: Nuno Bettencourt’s outrageous part-guitar, part-keytar Washburn is 2025’s wildest Custom Shop creation
- “It’s ugly, but if you want probably the best-sounding Stratocaster in the house...” Norman’s Rare Guitars is home to some of the finest Strats in the world – but you’ll never guess which one sounds the best
- “The internet went crazy and sold out of the things”: TikTok’s favorite tennis racket rubber bridge guitar hack no longer exists – so this guitarist made something even better
- September 21
-
- “It always takes a certain amount of time to work up to where you were yesterday”: As he revisits his most beloved Creedence Clearwater Revival hits to some of the biggest crowds of his career, John Fogerty's guitar practice regimen is as rigorous as ever
- “I had no idea how good of a guitar player he was when we started recording. Most of the guitar on the records is him”: Foo Fighters super-producer Nick Raskulinecz on the most surprising thing about Dave Grohl's guitar playing
- September 20
- September 19
-
- “There’s something deeply emotional about your first guitar”: Gibson drops three-string Les Paul and SG Juniors as it launches new kid-sized guitars with Loog
- “And I’m selling this why?!” Brian Setzer is re-opening his Reverb store – and it’s filled with stage-played vintage gems
- “I never segued from that SG. It just doesn’t happen. It’s like an old pair of jeans”: Why Lita Ford is still partial to her Runaways-era Gibson SG – despite wielding B.C. Rich guitars for decades
- “I called Steven and told him, ‘You have to hear this guy. He’s the real deal’”: After causing a stir at the VMAs, Yungblud and Aerosmith are officially releasing an EP together
- “I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered”: Why Mark Knopfler’s guitar tech convinced him to play Les Pauls – and how they impacted his tone and playing
- “Making its long-awaited return to the lineup”: For the first time in 20 years, Gibson is offering the Custom Les Paul ’70s as a standard run USA model
- “This guy comes up and I’m thinking, ‘He wants me to sign his guitar.’ He said, ‘I bought your Les Paul years ago. Would you like to buy it back?’” Bryan Adams sold his Summer of ’69 guitar in the ’80s – but it found its way back to him
- September 18
-
- Thomann just dropped a guitar sale that's bold as love with a whopping £309 off Hendrix's iconic Love Drops Epiphone Flying V, as well as up to 70% a host of other gear
- “Dear UPS, where are my guitars? They disappeared a week ago”: Johnny Marr’s guitars have gone missing days before his tour
- “No brands expressed any interest in doing a signature guitar with me. So I figured, you know what, forget them. I’ll do it myself”: One of the biggest guitar YouTubers has launched their own brand – and its first model is destined to become a rarity
- “When I went to the all-digital realm, I took on a world of pain that I was not expecting”: Why Stephen Carpenter has returned to tube amps for Deftones’ latest tour
- “I look at tapping in two different ways. There’s Eruption, and there’s Hot For Teacher”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the variations in EVH’s trademark technique – and shows you how to play them
- Guitar Center's jaw-dropping Guitar-A-Thon sale is here, and it includes $900 off a 50th Anniversary Taylor, $500 off a Gibson Les Paul, and so much more
- September 17
-
- Tool’s Adam Jones and Danny Carey serve up surprise prog rock spar to open the Canelo vs. Crawford boxing match
- “He used to always say, ‘You step on my pedals like you’re killing cockroaches or something’”: Session guitarist extraordinaire Mike Scott on Prince’s critiques during soundchecks
- “Brings the shape that metal guitarists have coveted for decades to a new generation”: Jackson drafts the Rhoads V into its high-end American Series – bringing Randy Rhoads’ iconic metal guitar back to the States
- “He’s always with us in spirit”: Renowned guitar collector Jim Irsay honored by Indianapolis Colts with “Win for Jim” Stratocaster – which will be carried out every game this season
- “Working on the Springsteen movie, they asked me if I would teach Jeremy Allen White to play guitar. My honest thing was, I have no idea”: J.D. Simo’s advice that helped Jeremy Allen White play like the Boss
- “I just imagine that without buying this, I would have died alone with my dog in my living room”: How the trip to buy a Boss pedal inadvertently saved this guitar player’s life
- “It’s kind of a trick”: John Mayer shares his number one overdrive pedal tip – and it works with any drive
- “He came up to me and said, ‘Rich, can I have a word?’ It’s never good when someone says that”: The playing advice Glenn Tipton gave Richie Faulkner on his first tour with Judas Priest
- September 16
-
- “B.B.’s only wish was, ‘Do what you can to keep the blues alive.’ Hopefully this album gives a B12 shot to his legacy”: Joe Bonamassa announces a landmark B.B. King tribute album with a jaw-dropping roster of collaborators
- “I’m not trying to copy the classics”: The VP-1 Dark Fang is a space-age Super Guitar that introduces a wild new fretboard capable of ‘outward string bending’
- “I was playing a U2 song, and I hear drums behind me. I turn around and it was him. He and I jammed without speaking for 30 minutes”: Ozzy Osbourne collaborator Andrew Watt on the pop star who helped kickstart his production career
- “The authentic broken-in feel players love about vintage Fenders”: Fender’s Road Worn guitars have become a dying breed – but now they're back as limited-edition Vintera II guitars
- “I will never forget it as long as I live. I got to play Blackbird with him”: Paul Mescal had to learn guitar left-handed to play Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopic – but also got to jam with him
- “One day it hit me, I want a Fender 7-string Stratocaster. I got a lot of ‘no’s”: How the Fender Custom Shop was convinced to make the firm’s first 7-string guitar
- “He walked into my bedroom, and he says, ‘Darling, I think this is a hit.’ And I went, ‘Cool man, let me hear it…’” How Nile Rodgers and David Bowie accidentally wrote Let’s Dance – with a 12-string that was missing 6 strings
- September 15
-
- “Trading the stability of playing for a pop star to start walking on my own steps was a very tough decision”: Mateus Asato has walked away from Bruno Mars, Jessie J and Tori Kelly to pursue a solo career – and his solo album is finally ready
- “I’ve never met you, John, if you’re watching...” Paul Reed Smith invited Mike Dawes to meet John Mayer after his Slow Dancing cover went viral – but he never made the rendezvous
- “In my mind, it would have ruined my life had I messed up. I took it very seriously”: Wolfgang Van Halen took a gamble when he decided to cover his dad’s songs – and it paid off
- “This collaboration felt incredibly necessary in this moment”: Gibson rarely does collaborative brand Les Pauls – but it’s just unveiled 4 new models designed in partnership with a US fashion giant
- “My production manager came into my bus. He’s like, ‘That white SG…’ It got stolen right off stage”: Daron Malakian on the time his prized Gibson was swiped from the stage – while System of a Down were headlining Ozzfest
- September 13
-
- “I came upon the V, but I didn’t think much of it because of the weird shape. I didn’t think it was very playable”: Dave Mustaine first discovered the Flying V when he joined Metallica and wasn’t a fan – this is what changed his mind
- “Sometimes the nicest thing to do with a guitar is just look at it”: How Radiohead’s debut changed the way they thought about recording guitars – and set them up for two landmark albums
- “Robin opened up the case, and there was a 1957 Fender Stratocaster. He said, ‘Do you like it?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Take it’”: Robert Fripp on that one time Robin Trower gave him a highly coveted Strat – and why he never ended up using it
- “I have long harbored a slight obsession with this hugely underrated guitar. The new finish doesn’t help with that one bit”: All the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including... an urn that fits inside an acoustic?
- September 12
-
- “Makes next-level Gretsch style and sound more accessible than ever”: Gretsch brings its iconic Falcon and Nashville hollowbodies to new-low price points with unveiling of the Synchromatic Collection
- “I set myself the challenge of making a full-length album, using almost entirely the five-stringed guitar, in just four days”: Polymath virtuoso Jacob Collier’s new album is a love letter to the guitar – and alternate tunings
- “A unique and meaningful tribute to your departed loved one”: Would you keep your loved one’s cremated remains in the soundhole of an acoustic guitar?
- “He shaped the tone of his voice like a guitarist would finesse riffs and phrases”: Joe Satriani pays tribute to Chris Cornell with instrumental cover of Audioslave’s Be Yourself
- “Together, our chemistry is magical”: Steve Morse has announced his first new album since leaving Deep Purple – and it’s set to feature Eric Johnson and John Petrucci
- “Nothing’s more real than seeing your Ibanez JS guitars played by the legendary Spinal Tap”: How Joe Satriani became Spinal Tap’s unofficial guitar supplier for the loudest movie of the year
- “A modernized take on the classic shred machine”: Charvel beckons a new era for its So-Cal Superstrat – and brings the classic Pro-Mod model into the modern era
- “Yungblud seems to have positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy”: Justin Hawkins defends his brother’s comments over the VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute
- September 11
-
- “I grabbed his hand saying, ‘Thank you for everything.’ He goes, ‘You were the only guitar player who said no to me’”: Nuno Bettencourt remembers his final exchange with Ozzy Osbourne – a reminder of the gig he once turned down
- “He wanted to show me his really nice old Les Paul, and I just said, ‘I don’t like Les Pauls,’ and walked off”: When Joe Bonamassa was introduced to Joanne Shaw Taylor – who “offended” him on their first meeting
- “I said, ‘That’s my music.’ His manager said, ‘You’re a girl. You don’t have the money to fight this’”: Rita Coolidge alleges she helped write Eric Clapton’s Layla – but never got credit for it
- September 10
-
- “Makes selling music gear more rewarding than ever before”: Reverb relaunches in the UK with reduced seller fees – promising players “more money for their music gear”
- “Connecting directly to that golden era of guitar innovations”: Jackson pays homage to its early days with Pro Origins 1985 San Dimas series – featuring newly developed era-accurate pickups
- “I was instantly in a band because nobody wanted to play bass back then”: How Eddie Van Halen led to Les Claypool picking up the bass – and how he nearly joined Kirk Hammett’s band
- “On the bass…” Spinal Tap recruit Tal Wilkenfeld and Thundercat for Jimmy Kimmel performance of Big Bottom
- “I’m gonna sneak some stuff in there to give it more personality”: Steve Morse injects Coldplay with some Deep Purple flair as he adds a guitar solo to mega-hit Fix You
- “It has had an interesting history. I don’t think it found its true voice until now”: PRS has resurrected its Mira model – and says it's better than ever
- “Of all the artist-associated instruments I’ve been involved with, this has been my favorite journey”: A guitar once owned by Jimmy Page and given away in a magazine competition goes for over three times its estimate at auction
- Get more from Guitar World: How to make Guitar World a preferred source in your Google Search results
- “I was drinking a lot and forgot that I bought it. The folks at Carter Vintage called me and were like, ‘You gonna come get this guitar?’” Marcus King on the vintage guitar he accidentally bought while drunk
- “The player is not renting or subscribing to access the effect… It’s a purchase that lasts a lifetime”: The Boss PX-1 Plugout FX backlash has gone viral – but is it justified? We put the biggest criticisms to Boss – here’s what they had to say
- September 9
-
- “The only person who did a version of Summer of ’69 and did it justice was Taylor Swift”: Bryan Adams looks back on the time he crossed Fenders with the world’s biggest popstar on one of his most iconic hits
- “After Kirk introduced me to Greeny, it felt only right to return the favor”: Kirk Hammett let Al Di Meola play his iconic Greeny – so the fusion virtuoso let him play his prized Elegant Gypsy Black Beauty
- Sting's legal representatives claim Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland may have been “substantially overpaid” following lost royalties lawsuit
- “Makes me sick how people jump on this to further their own careers”: The Darkness’ Dan Hawkins blasts Yungblud, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for their VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute
- September 8
-
- “I wrote Flea a fan letter, and I was like, ‘I want to do what you're doing. Do you have any advice?’ He wrote me back – it's unbelievable”: Vulfpeck’s Joe Dart on the priceless bass advice he got from Flea as a teenager
- “One of my favorite moments”: That time Eric Johnson shredded a custom Dean V – which had been built for Dave Mustaine to use on the Experience Hendrix tour
- “Though every note has been learned and rehearsed and played, you need to think, ‘Oh, there’s something about the feel that had before that it’s gone forever’”: David Gilmour sets the record straight on the Pink Floyd solo that accidentally got erased
- “David said, ‘Slicky, you don’t have Les Pauls anymore.’ I said, ‘I haven’t been playing them.’ He said, ‘You need to get a couple’”: The one time David Bowie ordered Earl Slick to swap his Fenders for Gibsons
- “It’s the preeminent instrument in the world. Every culture has made something of their own of it”: Andy Summers to explore the guitar’s impact on the world in globe-trotting docu-series
- “I’ll try my best to do you proud Oz”: Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler and Yungblud pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with a medley of Prince of Darkness classics at the VMAs
- September 7
- September 6
-
- “I said, ‘I can’t accept this. I haven’t earned it.’ He was like, ‘You need to go pick it up’”: How a 17-year-old guitar prodigy ended up with a 1957 Goldtop Reissue from the foundation of a band she once hated – after her Number One Les Paul got stolen
- “It’s taken 3 years, but a more affordable spin-off of one of the 21st century’s most advanced guitar designs has finally landed”: All the new guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the most extravagant acoustic you will see all year
- September 5
-
- Ibanez treats its best-selling nylon-string to a stunning exotic tonewood glow-up – and it gives Tim Henson’s signature model a run for its money
- “I had some guitars stolen. Fender heard about it because we were trying to find them. They sorted us out”: How a guitar that went missing led IDLES' Lee Kiernan to his now-famed pink Mustang
- “They’ve held value better than almost any other brand”: Reverb declares PRS “quiet champion” in the market for used guitars – but which Squier turned out to be the best investment?
- “All of a sudden, some of the other guitars weren’t really doing it”: Why Linkin Park’s new singer forced Mike Shinoda to change guitars
- “It went off into the universe and it left us thinking, where did it go? There must be an answer…” The remarkable story of Paul McCartney’s Höfner 500/1 bass – which went missing for 50 years – to feature in new documentary
- Brent Hinds found to be “at fault” for the tragic motorcycle accident that led to his death, police determine
- “The ultimate Gibson acoustic to date”: Gibson spares no expense to celebrate its 100th Monarch SJ-200 – a one-of-one Brazilian rosewood build that costs $99,999
- September 4
-
- “We did a trade, but he owed some money. The guy whose guitar it was had the cops pull me off stage to get it back”: Phil Demmel’s new Jackson Polka Dot signature King V pays homage to his first Randy Rhoads Jackson model – and the guitar god himself
- “Jeff Ament said, ‘Could you imagine tuning the guitar to all Es? Wouldn't that be crazy? That'd be dumb’”: Kim Thayil on the time Chris Cornell tuned all his guitar strings to E – and the Soundgarden song that came from it
- “I’ve kind of just dealt with it. At first, I had to have an epidural every three months just to live”: Burning Witches and former Iron Maidens guitarist Courtney Cox reveals she has been touring with multiple herniated discs in her back for years
- “I’m thinking, ‘I’m in trouble now…’ And then, Dickey goes, ‘No.’ I go, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘That’s not the good one. Go in the bedroom and grab the good one’”: Tesla’s Frank Hannon on borrowing one of Dickey Betts’ prized Gibson SGs
- “A kid came in, plugged into an amp and started. It was extraordinary. I went out the next day to find records by this character, 'Jimi Hendrix…'”: David Gilmour on the first time he saw Hendrix play – in the company of the Beatles and Rolling Stones
- September 3
-
- “Push the boundaries of modern guitar design”: Rick Graham’s second Charvel signature is an ode to his reconnection with the guitar – and it’s got a killer relic’d pink finish
- “I want the guitar to play fast, to wear close to the body, and communicate a degree of aggression”: Sterling by Music Man and Tosin Abasi bring the futuristic Kaizen to a new low price point – slashing nearly $3k off the original
- “There’s so much tasty guitar playing that’s also pretty achievable for a lot of people as well. I think it should be in everyone’s repertoire”: Mike Dawes on the one John Mayer hit that every guitarist should learn
- “Everyone in the pedal market is concerned. I think it's going to take a big chunk of the market”: Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals on why digital modeling could be Napster for traditional pedal makers
- “It was a bit of a disaster. I plugged my guitar in, and it was instant feedback”: John McLaughlin remembers his nightmare jam session with Jimi Hendrix – when he was forced to play acoustic
- “If you bring in some cheese, I might trade you one of the guitars on the wall”: Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel has been running a cheese shop where guitars can be used as currency
- “I didn't want to put it down. I've missed it ever since!” Jake E. Lee played Kirk Hammett’s legendary Greeny Les Paul backstage at Ozzy Osbourne’s final show – but he almost wishes he hadn’t
- “I sat on the bed while he sat on the floor. He jumped up after I finished the solo and gave me a hug. He cried out, ‘I love you, Bradley’”: Brad Gillis remembers the moment he got the Ozzy Osbourne gig
- September 2
-
- “The most immersive, intuitive headphone amp on the market today”: Blackstar’s Beam Solo takes on Fender and Boss – is this the new headphone amp to beat?
- “We took Randy’s pedalboard out for the first time and did the first pedal with the polka dots. We’re releasing a second one”: MXR’s latest Randy Rhoads Distortion is inspired by another of the guitar great’s iconic axes – the Jackson Concorde
- “I met with him and asked him to work with me, but only if he got rid of the bucket”: Buckethead once auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne – now he’s covering Ozzy and Black Sabbath classics in tribute to the gig that didn’t quite work out
- “They would hear Aerials or Chop Suey! on the radio or MTV, and they’d be like, ‘That’s the one we heard you playing in your room’”: Daron Malakian wrote System of a Down’s career-defining album while still living with his parents
- “It now goes to Infinity. Just think about that for a moment… Oh, my God, that’s literally infinity”: For Spinal Tap’s reunion, Nigel Tufnel asked Marshall to make him an an amp that went beyond 11
- “I kept comparing myself to others and it just stopped being fun. I've been finding it harder to stand out”: Sophie Lloyd lifts the veil on being a successful guitarist in the era of social media
- “It was a Facebook marketplace find. By the time we were done, I kept finding more and more”: Gibson’s Certified Vintage manager on his most memorable guitar safari discovery (and it wasn’t a guitar)
- September 1
-
- A rare 12-string guitar that Mark Knopfler “borrowed” for 50 years is now up for auction
- “I always wanted a Les Paul but I couldn’t play them”: Tony Iommi on why he never became a Les Paul player – despite wanting to become one
- “A tribute to Ibanez’s past”: Ibanez has revived one of its most outrageous shred guitar designs from the 1980s
- Atlanta police release further details of Brent Hinds' fatal motorcycle accident
- “I probably had a better chance of getting struck by lightning”: Daron Malakian joins System of a Down tribute band onstage – after wandering into their gig off the street
- If you want to sound better live, three of our top-rated in-ear monitors just got some mega discounts in the Thomann In-Ear Days sale - save up to 30% on pro-level live sound
- “There is a revolution taking place right now in guitar playing”: John Mayer posts surprise demo of JHS Pedals’ new Mk.gee-coded stompbox – and explains why it reflects a wider change in guitar music
- I thought I was done buying Gibsons, but with a massive up to $450 off everything from my favorite Explorer to a newly released Les Paul in the Musician’s Friend Labor Day sale, I’m about to add another
- “We didn’t just make another speaker. We created solutions tailored to what guitarists actually need”: How Laney went above and beyond with its LFR range to create the ultimate speaker solution for guitarists with digital rigs
