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The Latest Breaking News from Guitar World

“We’d be on the phone and he goes, ‘It’s too metal. I gotta get it on pop radio! Use the small amp, not so much distortion’”: Steve Lukather on how Quincy Jones saved Michael Jackson’s Beat It from becoming a metal track

Jackson wanted a rock track for Thriller – and Lukather says Jones had to step in to stop the song from entering fully fledged metal territory

Guitar World

“This is why we want to show up at NAMM”: Marshall is returning to NAMM for the first time in 5 years – and has teased some blockbuster launches

After previously hinting that digital amps, modeling software and other advancements were in the works, Marshall is now set to embark on an all-new chapter when NAMM 2025 kicks off

Guitar World

“A lot of people are feeling the same way. They're like, ‘I’m covered with Superstrats and Strats, but I don't have an offset…’”: Misha Mansoor on the emergence of offsets in metal music – and why he should have seen it coming

The Periphery guitarist recently worked with Jackson to produce one of 2024's most talked-about custom builds – but he's not the first player to have dragged the offset into heavy territory over the past few years

Guitar World

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“I might have done better in the Bluesbreakers than in the Yardbirds, but I certainly wouldn't have had the same kind of free rein to experiment”: Jeff Beck on his relationship with Eric Clapton, jamming with Hendrix, and turning down John Mayall

In a 2010 chat with GW, the always creatively restless virtuoso discusses his love of John McLaughlin, what he sought out to do when venturing into the world of classical music, and the musical icon he wished he had had the chance to collaborate with

Guitar World

“Prince said, ‘Think more Elton John.’ I was like, ‘Is he clowning? Is he trolling me?’” Session ace Ella Feingold once auditioned to join Prince’s band – and was told her playing was “too funky”

Feingold has discussed her 2005 audition, during which her chops proved to be too funky – and not enough ‘Elton John’ – for Prince

Guitar World

“Joe had a semi-truck full of amps and swapped them out every two or three shows. He'd say, ‘What do you think?’ I'd be like, ‘It sounds just like you every time’”: Greg Suran on his time with Joe Walsh – and the Eagle’s passion for tonal tinkering

A veteran guitarist whose resumé also includes work with Sunny Day Real Estate, The B-52's, and Lionel Richie, Suran tells GW that he learned plenty from the Eagles legend, both tone-wise and solo-wise

Guitar World

“That’s true. We smoked Jimi Hendrix’s guitar... I thought it’d be fun to crumble a bit of the wood off and pop it inside a joint”: Steve Cradock once smoked the shavings of Hendrix’s Strat by rolling them in a page from the Bible

A regular studio session took a turn in the spirit of Purple Haze, when the Ocean Colour Scene guitarist ended up getting high on Hendrix's guitar

Guitar World

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“I've not got a huge history with Gibson, but this one I bought to have a different tone”: From a forensic Black Strat replica to a Gibson that caught his ear and a ‘90s Zoom unit, here's everything David Gilmour used on his new solo album, Luck & Strange

Gilmour's tech, Phil Taylor, provides GW with an exhaustive list of the guitar gear used to record the prog icon's first solo album in nine years – and there are some surprising pieces of kit

Guitar World

“Kurt was sitting in the bathtub with a Walkman on, listening to the song, and when the tape ended, he kissed me and said, 'Oh, finally, now I don't have to be the only songwriter in the band!'”: Dave Grohl's evolution as a songwriter

“I was in a band with one of the greatest songwriters of our generation, so I didn’t really want to rock the boat”

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“When I worked with Tony Iommi, I had an epiphany... he sounded like him no matter what amp you’ve got him on”: Billy Corgan on how watching Iommi taught him the key to the playing style of Eddie Van Halen

As Corgan explains, the distinctive aspect he observed of the ’Sabbath great, also shaped his understanding of players like Eddie Van Halen and Uli Jon Roth

Guitar World

“We are dedicated to building a direct connection with the artist community in China”: Fender to open Shanghai Artist Showroom in its latest high-profile move in overseas guitar markets

Two years after opening its flagship store in Tokyo, Fender has decided to further increase its presence in the Asian guitar scene with 'The Fender Backstage'

Guitar World

“The sound quality is incredible; it can be quite hard to tell the difference between the Kemper and a real amp”: Tony Iommi has been experimenting with digital amp modelers – and he’s used one to record new material

The guitarist has been using a Kemper in the studio, and his new music features a blend of both tube and digital amps

Guitar World

“I yelled, ‘Paul, George, Ringo and John, you guys were just wonderful!’ He said, ‘Ernie, if it were not for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool’”: Ernie Isley on the time he met Paul McCartney – and they jammed Twist and Shout

The Isley Brothers and The Beatles both found career-making hits in Twist and Shout – and the two groups would prove pivotal for each other's musical trajectories

Guitar World

“Ozzy had been fired from Black Sabbath. People warned me against working with him because he didn’t have the best reputation”: Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley on why he decided to bet on the Prince of Darkness’ post-Sabbath career

Daisley had just been unceremoniously replaced in Ritchie Blackmore’s band, Rainbow, when the opportunity to join Osbourne in his new venture came about

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“The store said, ‘We can’t get an amp before your gig.’ This gentleman walked up behind me and said, ‘You can use mine.’ It was John Entwistle”: Martyn LeNoble was once in desperate need of bass gear – and The Who’s low-end legend came to his rescue

When he first moved to the US, LeNoble was unable to ship has trusty Trace Elliott over with him. When a local bass store couldn't provide a replacement in time, Entwistle stepped in…

Guitar World

“The deal was if I wanted it back, I could let him know and buy it back. He passed away and Hard Rock Cafe knew nothing about the deal”: Tony Iommi tried to reclaim his iconic Gibson ‘Monkey’ SG but wasn’t allowed – because the person he sold it to died

After retiring the Monkey SG, the Black Sabbath legend sold it to the Hard Rock Cafe – but ran into a spot of bother when he tried to get it back

Guitar World

“The sonic equivalent of a fist-fight between James Hetfield and Alex Lifeson”: October 2024 Guitar World editors’ picks

The hot new tracks and deep cuts GW editors have been listening to this month

Guitar World

“These silly lists come out about the greatest guitar players – I usually don’t make those lists, or they’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around”: Billy Corgan on why he thinks he’s still under-appreciated as a guitarist

The creative force behind Smashing Pumpkins is often overlooked in the 'greatest guitarists of all time' conversation

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Guitar World

“When the Strat went, I couldn’t believe it. We went in to make our first album and the pickup went. I had to use the backup I kept on the side…” Tony Iommi was a Fender Stratocaster player before fate intervened – and he had to reach for his Gibson SG

Iommi went to the studio intent on recording Black Sabbath's debut album with his heavily modded Strat. Things didn't quite go according to plan...

Guitar World

“Everything I do in life is left-handed, except for guitar playing… Using a plectrum never felt comfortable in my right hand”: Jared James Nichols on how he came up with his unique fingerstyle approach – and why it can make your playing more expressive

In his debut Guitar World column, the master wrangler of the Les Paul shows us why you don't need a pick to wrestle a tune out of your guitar

Guitar World

“Over and over I would say, ‘It ain’t hitting me in the gut!’ All it took was one note... We went through 80 sets of pickups”: Eddie Van Halen details the years of onstage trials and workshop tribulations that shaped the EVH Wolfgang guitar

Back in 2009, GW sat down with a rejuvenated and re-energized Eddie Van Halen to get the full, twisty backstory of the signature model he referred to as “the culmination of 35 years of experimenting with guitars”

Guitar World

“Peter Buck came up to me and said, ‘You’re using different voicings than I do on the records, but it sounds good’”: How Jason Narducy went from playing bass in a cult punk band to covering R.E.M. with Hollywood veteran Michael Shannon

Narducy describes the “mind-blowing” moment of meeting Peter Buck and picking his brain about how he plays some key R.E.M. classics

Guitar World

“I tried to talk him down, and he turned on me. He goes, ‘There's nothing but feedback coming from your amp.’ I was not having it”: Martyn LeNoble on how his ill-fated stint with Jane’s Addiction came to a close after a clash with Perry Farrell

The Porno for Pyros co-founder was brought onboard to record bass for Jane's Addiction's third studio album, but was replaced at the last minute

Guitar World

“Ozzy told me about this young guitar player in LA who worked at a music school. I envisioned an older bloke with slippers, a cardigan and glasses”: Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley on taking a chance on Randy Rhoads – despite label pushback

Daisley remembers playing with Rhoads for the first time and knowing right away that the dynamic was special

Guitar World

“It was an amazing-sounding instrument”: Gibson’s Jimmy Page SJ-200 is a five-figure signature model based on an acoustic he borrowed to record Led Zeppelin’s debut album – before it was stolen

According to Gibson, the new acoustic has been “rendered to Page’s exacting recollection”, owing to the apparent absence of the original model

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