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December 2025

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48 articles

December 14
- “Muddy Waters made me eat a sandwich. He said, ‘Just call me your daddy.’” Buddy Guy on how a 150-foot guitar cable, a great big lie and a little kindness got him the gig that launched his career
- “It started with a suggestion to come up with something Beatle-ish, like ‘Ticket to Ride.’” The guitarist behind the 1960s pop hitmakers who sold more records than the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined
December 12
- “Walter Becker or Donald Fagen panicked and thought, Wait a minute…Nobody knows what Steely Dan is!” Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on the “life-altering” impact of the Dan’s smash breakthrough
- “I was like, ‘Wow, that guy’s good. Then it dawned on me: That’s me!’” He’s a first-call session guitarist and one of the most recorded players in history. But even he can’t say what makes him so in demand
- “I could take this Mexican-made version out on tour and nobody would know the difference.” Jason Isbell says this is what you need to know about guitars made south of the border
- “This amplifier carried a different kind of history — one we couldn’t let drift away.” How the Beach Boys' Dumble Overdrive Special ended up in Hawaii, and the celebrity who’s now recording with it
December 11
- “It was the worst show I've played in my life. I could not stop thinking: He's right there!” Jerry Cantrell on his friendship with Eddie Van Halen and how the rare guitar Ed gave him went missing
- “Surely Jimi Hendrix would have wanted his fellow musicians to receive everything to which they are entitled.” Hendrix's Experience bandmates Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding sue Sony over lost royalties
- “He said, ‘The problem with you guys is that you never do ballads.’ I said, ‘I’ll give him a ballad.’” Jimmy Page on the Beatle who inspired Led Zeppelin’s most beautiful song — and why it owes a debt to James Taylor
December 10
- Win tickets to see the Johnny A. Trio at a special Guitar Player Presents event in Oakland, California
- “When he was around, he would hear something and say, ‘That’s a little bit leftfield, but what if we do this?’” Steve Morse says 95 percent of his ideas for Deep Purple were dismissed, but he found a kindred spirit in one member
- “He was my soulmate guitarist, and we were in sync musically. Sad we lost him. Such a tragedy.” Paul Rodgers on playing with Paul Kossoff, Mick Ralphs, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Steve Cropper, Slash and Joe Bonamassa
- “I gave him 1,600 bucks and my guitar. It was all the money I had in the world.” Vince Gill on the guitar that launched his career, and the vintage treasures that have inspired his muse
December 9
- “It can be a creamy and gooey boost, and it can breathe saturated fire.” Strymon launches its new Series A line of analog pedals with the Fairfax, a “full tube amp circuit” in a pedal
- “He was a star — I couldn’t put him onstage, could I?” The pop singer who Jimi Hendrix saved from disaster by playing offstage, behind a curtain
- “For almost 20 years I didn’t even want to talk to these guys.” Rik Emmett speaks on Triumph’s rocky career and triumphant return as the band announces a 50th anniversary reunion tour with Phil X
December 8
- “Pete came in and went, ‘You bastard!’” Pete Townshend claimed this guitar innovation was the Who’s idea. The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood proved him wrong
- “I just stopped by the studio to say hello to Quincy Jones. He said, ‘Let's have you play on this one.’ Then he stuck a guitar in my hands.” The jazz guitar great who fell into success with George Benson and Michael Jackson has died
- “I said, ‘I thought you were a whole band! How were you doing that?’” Randy Bachman on the obscure jazz guitar genius whose influence runs through the music of the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive
December 6
- “One of the nurses said, ‘John Lennon.’ I thought, What does John Lennon have to do with it?” A surgeon remembers the night he tried to save the former Beatle’s life
- “I was packing up to leave when Dylan asked, ‘Where’s he going?’ and I wound up playing on the whole album.” The guitarist Bob Dylan insisted he had to have for his country music breakthrough
December 5
- “They put us on the bill with Humble Pie and Johnny Winter.” As Joe Perry teams up with Yungblud for a new EP, he tells tales of his adventures with guitar icons Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Slash and other rock greats
- “We were just jamming when our organ player started to yodel.” The Dutch prog-rock band that combined Chuck Berry guitar riffs and yodeling to score a top-10 hit
- “So even after he passed, Jimmy found a way to join the party.” Kenny Chesney reveals Jimmy Buffett's ashes were smuggled into his Rock Hall induction for a performance with James Taylor and Mac McAnally
- “We were trying to be the Beatles, the Hollies, and the Beach Boys, all in one.” Randy Bachman on the rehearsal accident that led him to became the the guitarist for Canada's biggest American hitmakers
December 4
- “He told me I’d never see him with it, but he used it to record.” Jeff Beck had a secret love affair with a PRS guitar. Paul Reed Smith is trying to track it down
- ““Why do I need a pick? I have five right here on this hand.” Fingerstyle virtuoso Marcin on why a plectrum is “the most limiting thing in the world”
- Best acoustic guitar pedals 2025: Boost your tone with the top effects pedals for acoustic guitar
- “He said, ‘You have something that these other guys here don’t.’” Jimmy Page says this separated Steve Lukather from his peers
- “I kept it right on my knee. Couldn’t move too much, ’cause it would vibrate off.” The late Steve Cropper on his ingenious substitute for a guitar slide on the timeless Sam & Dave hit “Soul Man”
December 3
- “I said, ‘Man, look at this.’ I didn’t know what a hippie was. But they were going crazy.” Buddy Guy on Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page — and the famous guitarist in the audience he thought he was a cop
- “I was sitting in the dressing room, and he came straight in like a rabid dog.” Tommy Emmanuel on the night he showed up an electric guitar legend before a full house — and was promptly put in his place
- "Real artists teaching their own material adds an extra layer of inspiration that few competitors can match": Gibson: Learn to Play Guitar review
- “I never practice. From time to time, I just open my case and throw in a piece of raw meat.” A rare interview with the guitar ace who spurned the jazz world, climbed the pop charts and lived in terror of taking a solo
December 2
- “I said, I think I can help you. Hold my beer.’” Joe Bonamassa on the artist who demanded Eric Clapton play “The Thrill Is Gone” — and why only an icon can tackle the B.B. King hit
- “They are a pack of bastards!’” Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell on his regret-filled experience playing “Whiskey in the Jar” with Metallica
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday might be over, but these 69 deals for guitarists are still live – act fast before they're gone forever
- A U.S.-made limited-edition Fender Tele for just about a grand? Get it now during Sweetwater's Cyber Monday sales event
- It’s the preamp pedal heard on tracks by The Edge, Noel Gallagher and countless others. Now it’s 25% off during Cyber Monday
December 1
- Chris Buck and Ariel Posen are fans. Now you can get $600 off Victory Amplification’s V40 Deluxe Duchess head during Cyber Week
- Matteo Mancuso's a fan, and Mike Stern has a signature model: Save up to $300 on the Yamaha Pacifica range at Sweetwater
- A Gretsch for $1700 off? An EVH Frankie discounted more than $500? I went fishing for Cyber Week deals at Reverb. Here’s what I found
- I’ve put 14 patch cables through their paces this year and five of my top six are on sale for Cyber Monday – grab yours from just $2.49 per cable
- I stand by the Boss RE-202 as one of the most convincing tape echo pedals around - and you can still bag a hefty 21% off in this last-minute Cyber Monday saving
- As a gigging musician, I like my guitar strings fresh, but maintaining that new string sound means buying a lot of them! Here are the internet's best string deals to keep the cost down
- Fender's Player II Telecaster deal has sold out, but this one is still available right now with $190 off – and it's got an even better finish
- “I wouldn't be at all surprised if we weren't lost at that point in the song.” The Cream track Eric Clapton doesn’t like — even though it’s the key to his legend as a guitar virtuoso
- The Wampler Tumnus is the one pedal that will never leave my 'board, and its golden Klon-style overdrive goodness is now even cheaper for a limited time!