Guitar Player

Guitar Player magazine helps you play better and sound better

Guitar Player3 min read
Milestones Around Our Necks
I KNEW WE were asking for trouble with our September blues tribute. From the start, it was clear we wouldn’t be able to include every guitarist we wanted, from which it followed that some readers would be disappointed to find their favorite players m
Guitar Player1 min read
Guitar Player
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Christopher Scapelliti, [email protected] SENIOR EDITOR Art Thompson, [email protected] ART EDITOR Rosie Webber, [email protected] PRODUCTION EDITOR Jem Roberts, [email protected] LOS ANGELES
Guitar Player3 min read
Opening Notes
Your Blues issue [September 2020] was a real treat. The British blues revival, in particular, influenced my guitar playing. Records by John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Rory Gallagher and the Jeff Beck Group were worn out by being played to the wee hours
Guitar Player1 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
How to Contact Us!
Email: [email protected] Phone: 800-289-9839 Mail: Guitar Player Subscriptions P.O. Box 2029, Langhorne, PA 19047 JACKSON MAXWELL Online and Social Media Managing Editor [email protected] GUITARPLAYER.COM FACEBOOK.COM/GUITAR
Guitar Player3 min read
Are You The Guitarist Of The Year?
IT’S TIME TO HIT THE WOODSHED! Guitar Player and its sister publications Guitar World and Bass Player have begun the search for the Guitarist of the Year. The categories for this year’s contest include Electric Guitarist, Acoustic Guitarist, Bass Gui
Guitar Player2 min read
My Life in Five Riffs
SADLER VADEN’S FIRST big break came when he landed a sideman gig with southern rockers Drivin N Cryin. Since 2013, he’s been a guitar foil to Jason Isbell in the 400 Unit. Vaden’s love of British Invasion rock and roll, Big Star, Tom Petty and Oasis
Guitar Player5 min read
Beauty And The Buzz
WIRE HAVE NEVER been easy to categorize. Rising from the British punk explosion in 1977, the band achieved critical acclaim with their debut album, Pink Flag, which showcased their uniquely off-kilter take on rock and pop music traditions. But Wire’s
Guitar Player5 min read
All-Terrain Guitar Hero
FOR MANY GUITARISTS, the ultimate dream is to join a great band, land some hit songs and become a star. For other players, the dream is less about individual stardom and more about building a decades-long career touring, composing and recording with
Guitar Player5 min read
Gold Rush
FOR THE PAST several years, enthusiasm for vintage gold-foil pickups has remained one of the most consistent micro-trends on the electric guitar scene. Thousands of players have discovered the sonic appeal of these components from B-list and catalog-
Guitar Player6 min read
My Career in Five Songs
STEVE MORSE HAS a long history with Guitar Player. Back in 1981, readers voted Dixie Dregs’ Industry Standard the year’s Best Guitar Album, while Morse himself received Best Overall Guitarist, an accolade he won for five years in a row, at which poin
Guitar Player3 min readTechnology & Engineering
Better Compression
IT’S NOT SURPRISING if your acoustic guitar, or dry electric guitar, sounds a bit “dull” when its signal is compressed. Low frequencies are stronger than high frequencies, and they typically trigger a compressor to act upon the signal. When it does,
Guitar Player3 min read
Green Energy
I DON’T WANT to rock the boat, but to me Fleetwood Mac never meant Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham or the tedious media fascinations with the band members’ relationship conflicts. To me, Fleetwood Mac meant one thing: Then Play On — one of the great
Guitar Player25 min read
Play With fire
IT MIGHT HAVE been the first rock and roll tour of any real consequence. Today, if it’s remembered at all, it’s usually for the body count left in its wake. But Bill Wyman recalls the Rolling Stones’ 1969 American tour for a different reason. “In 196
Guitar Player2 min read
The Keef ’burst
KEITH RICHARDS MAY not be renowned for the liquid blues improvisations that so many Les Paul players can boast, but he was unquestionably the first British rock star to embrace the then-discontinued Gibson solidbody. Richards was first seen using his
Guitar Player2 min read
The ‘Ya-ya’s’ Guitar
MICK TAYLOR’S 1 958 Les Paul Standard isn’t the most famous example of that model, but as the ’Burst that Charlie Watts is holding aloft on the cover of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, it’s one of the most seen. Taylor revealed that the guitar had an aftermark
Guitar Player11 min read
The SUPER NATURAL
WHEN THE GUITARIST known as the King of the Blues says, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me cold sweats,” you know it’s high praise. And that’s exactly what B.B. King said about the late Peter Green, who passed awa
Guitar Player2 min read
Mr. Wonderful
“So very sad to hear about Peter. We shared a lot of great music together. He was truly one of the greats.” — JOHN MA YALL “We know you, B.B. King and Otis Rush are sharing living tales of wonderment. I cherish and treasure all the time we spent toge
Guitar Player9 min read
Double Impact
IT IS MAY 1966, and the Decca Studios are quaking. Work stops. Employees wince. In the canteen, the seismic shudder rattles teacups and prompts angry objections. Little do the complainants realize that this racket is history being made. Had anyone be
Guitar Player7 min read
Daring Adventures
STEPHEN MALKMUS WILL always be most associated with the skewed, slacker indie-rock sound he spearheaded — and, if we’re being honest, more or less perfected — with Pavement in the 1990s. But while that outfit called it a day as a recording unit at th
Guitar Player3 min read
Indie Jones
“Slanted and Enchanted was like our coming out party. We could finally tell our parents, ‘Mom, I’m in a band and it’s going to be okay.’ [laughs] I was living in Brooklyn, or maybe Jersey City, and I went back home to Stockton, California, for Christ
Guitar Player7 min read
Together Alone
WHILE LOCKDOWN HAS prevented many of us from doing some of our favorite things, ruby-crowned bluegrass princess Molly Tuttle used the time to select an eclectic batch of covers, learn how to use Pro Tools and track her new album, …But I’d Rather Be W
Guitar Player6 min read
Chord Soloing, Jazz Style, Part 1
THE CONVENTIONAL ROLES of the lead and rhythm guitarist are quite clear: The rhythm guitarist plays chords that accompany the lead guitarist, who plays the usually higher, faster and “more important” single-note material. This dichotomy, however, is
Guitar Player7 min readMusic
Marr’s Attacks
THOUGH THE SMITHS lasted a mere five years, from 1982 to ’87, they may be one of the most influential rock acts of their time. Much of this acclaim stems from the indelible fretwork of guitarist Johnny Marr. Influenced by everything and everyone from
Guitar Player3 min read
Path to Finger Freedom
THESE RE CENT LEARN columns have been preparation for a launch into the glorious fingerstyle galaxy. It’s a world away from playing with a plectrum, or even hybrid picking, because the powerful thumb and index finger are now available as primary pluc
Guitar Player5 min read
Fender
THE FENDER LEAD series is a little bit like the Beatles’ U.S. Yesterday and Today album, or Queen’s Innuendo, or Led Zeppelin’s In Through the Out Door. It might not be your favorite thing they’ve ever done, but it’s really good and holds up far bett
Guitar Player3 min read
Ernie Ball Music Man
IT’S HARD T O believe Steve Lukather has been consistently playing his namesake Music Man guitars since 1993. Although it was initially equipped with two single-coil pickups and one humbucker (HSS), in 2012 a twin-humbucking model designated the HH w
Guitar Player4 min read
Charvel
THE FIRST GENERATION of teenagers to idolize Eddie Van Halen’s roaring brown sound, fiery and fluid speed phrasing, and trademark striped Charvel superStrats are mostly in their 50s now, graying a bit and wearing suits more often than spandex. And wh
Guitar Player4 min read
Mesa/Boogie
THIS TRIO OF new overdrive pedals designed for low-, medium- and high-gain applications is intended to let players get the tones needed for everything from blues to hard rock and metal. The Cleo, Dynaplex and Gold Mine are made in Mesa’s Petaluma, Ca
Guitar Player3 min read
Fender
“WHAT’S THAT?” “THAT’S cool!” “How much does it cost?” In nearly 20 years of reviewing gear, I’ve never seen another musical product arouse so much interest. What typically follows every such exchange is some version of “I want one.” I’m not surprise
Guitar Player1 min read
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Guitar Player2 min read
“Runaway Boys”
“IT’S THE FIR ST song I ever wrote,” Brian Setzer says of “Runaway Boys,” the Stray Cats’ debut single. “It really summed up everything I was trying to capture, which was my drive to write a new song in the rockabilly style, rather than just the same

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