magcontent “We’re the birthplace of blues, country and rock and roll music, and the guitar is at the core of all of it”: The America at the Crossroads exhibit charts the guitar’s history with instruments owned by Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and more A new exhibit at The MAX museum explores the guitar’s cultural impact through dozens of significant instruments – from a stunning custom Martin D-28 built for Elvis Presley's estate to a rickety Soviet-era Tonika model “The Opus might not displace your Helix, Fractal, Kemper or Quad Cortex, but it offers a lot of good-sounding emulation in a compact and usable package at a fraction of the price”: Two Notes Opus Amp Sim and IR Loader Unit review There’s a lot of sound and even more flexibility in this little box, and it should prove to be exactly what many guitarists are looking for “One of the beautiful things about Leo is one of the hardest things to do – forget that you’re playing a guitar and just feel like you’re playing music. He embodies that transcendence”: The lessons Julian Lage learned from acoustic master Leo Kottke As Lage further explores his unplugged instincts, he reflects on some of Kottke's humorous nuggets of wisdom – one being that readings from sometimes-unreliable electric tuners are “only a suggestion” Latest magcontent “With a through-neck, two DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups, an onboard booster preamp, and a fixed adjustable wrap-around bridge, the B.C. Rich Mockingbird was the ultimate hard-rock weapon”: How a small Los Angeles shop changed the rock guitar game By Dave Hunter published 7 March 24 Used by the Runaways’ Lita Ford, the Alice Cooper tandem of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, Slash, and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, the Mockingbird made the models of the '50s and ’60s look like old hat upon its mid-'70s debut “There’s a riff that represents my twisted idea of how Aerosmith might sound in 5/4”: How Guthrie Govan channeled his inner Steve Reich, and Steve Cropper, on the Aristocrats' humorous, musically dazzling new album, Duck By Joe Bosso published 6 March 24 Re-teaming with his fellow virtuosos for another roller coaster ride of an album, Govan was unafraid to explore yet more musical avenues and instruments, but in the end, it all always came back to his signature Charvel “Comically ridiculous appearance aside, this guitar plays great”: Boasting “a Mayan temple of angles” this custom Crosley Radio Tone guitar combines bizarro looks with snappy, versatile tone By Terry Carleton published 5 March 24 Made from a blue-and-gold 1950 Crosley E-15TN tube radio, this custom build has a truly wild appearance that belies its sound and playability. No matter what music you play on this guitar, seeing it will make people smile “When I went to my first meeting with Elton, I immediately hit him with ideas. Elton saw my willingness to put myself out there”: Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone reveals how learning the sitar benefited his guitar playing, and how (not) to get a gig By Joe Bosso published 5 March 24 After five decades and thousands of gigs with superstar Elton John, Davey Johnstone has plenty of valuable advice to help you reach the top of your game “I’ve seen a lot of guitars with multiple necks – often the player uses one or two necks at a time. I use all three on this guitar while also playing percussion”: How acoustic wizard Luca Stricagnoli wrangles his signature triple-neck beast By Jimmy Leslie published 28 February 24 Making rock, pop, metal, and even hip-hop classics his own with his trademark triple-neck acoustic, Stricagnoli's extraordinary virtuosity stands out, but there's far more to his playing than percussive hits and tapping acrobatics “Breathtakingly beautiful and strikingly different from just about everything that has come before”: An homage to the original Paisley Tele, Joe Yanuziello's stunning, Japanese paper-adorned Gold Paisley Washi Paper Deluxe is a guitar like no other By Dave Hunter published 27 February 24 With a precision-engineered, modded Bigsby, a trio of Curtis Novak’s Guyatone-style GT-V Tokyo Vintage pickups, and a fascinating blend of Telecaster, Les Paul, Guyatone, and Harmony aesthetics, this gorgeous build has incredible looks and equally incredible tone “The Black Hole Sun arpeggios were unusual for me – like the right side of a piano, or fairies dancing on a pin... I thought, ‘This is not me’”: Kim Thayil on how Soundgarden persevered through personal and musical frustrations to create Superunknown By Joe Bosso published 26 February 24 Soundgarden's lead guitarist goes deep into the creation of the band's most enduring and successful album – the effects (or lack thereof) of commercial success, the difficulty of nailing down Black Hole Sun, and the fun of creating “insane chaos psychedelia” solos “An impressive rethink of the best of early British rock tones”: The Tone King Royalist MkIII 1x12 combo is reviving the attitude of the British invasion By Dave Hunter published 23 February 24 However you slice it, this amp cleverly packages classic British rock tones to suit a wide range of 21st century performance needs “Listen to AC/DC and tell me Malcolm Young didn’t drive that band. Same with the Sex Pistols and Steve Jones. Those guys are tone merchants. That’s the club I wanted to be in”: Billy Morrison on kicking heroin, and becoming Steve Stevens' six-string foil By Joe Bosso published 23 February 24 From the Cult to Billy Idol to a new star-studded solo album featuring the likes of Steve Vai, John 5, and Ozzy Osbourne, Morrison’s rise to rhythm guitar stardom shows the power of a good right hand – and a whole lotta personality “My version of 'Fire' attracted some attention. I tried to imagine how Muddy Waters would have played it… Hell, I’m not going to compete with Jimi Hendrix!” Pete Anderson charts his career in five songs By Mark McStea published 16 February 24 From Dwight Yoakam to Michelle Shocked — Pete Anderson picks the tunes that put him on the map. 123456789Archives Get The Pick NewsletterAll the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors MOST READ1All-star tribute to David Lindley, one of the greatest sidemen of all time, announced2“We all knew it was really good… The guitar playing is just amazing”: How Dickey Betts made “Ramblin’ Man”, triumphed over tragedy and led the Allman Brothers to their greatest success3Ritchie Blackmore on Steve Howe, Jimi Hendrix, classical influences and more4The Allman Brothers Band’s Dickey Betts has died at 805“Joe Walsh insisted that I buy it”: Jimmy Page on his “Number 1” 1959 Gibson Les Paul
“With a through-neck, two DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups, an onboard booster preamp, and a fixed adjustable wrap-around bridge, the B.C. Rich Mockingbird was the ultimate hard-rock weapon”: How a small Los Angeles shop changed the rock guitar game By Dave Hunter published 7 March 24 Used by the Runaways’ Lita Ford, the Alice Cooper tandem of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, Slash, and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, the Mockingbird made the models of the '50s and ’60s look like old hat upon its mid-'70s debut
“There’s a riff that represents my twisted idea of how Aerosmith might sound in 5/4”: How Guthrie Govan channeled his inner Steve Reich, and Steve Cropper, on the Aristocrats' humorous, musically dazzling new album, Duck By Joe Bosso published 6 March 24 Re-teaming with his fellow virtuosos for another roller coaster ride of an album, Govan was unafraid to explore yet more musical avenues and instruments, but in the end, it all always came back to his signature Charvel
“Comically ridiculous appearance aside, this guitar plays great”: Boasting “a Mayan temple of angles” this custom Crosley Radio Tone guitar combines bizarro looks with snappy, versatile tone By Terry Carleton published 5 March 24 Made from a blue-and-gold 1950 Crosley E-15TN tube radio, this custom build has a truly wild appearance that belies its sound and playability. No matter what music you play on this guitar, seeing it will make people smile
“When I went to my first meeting with Elton, I immediately hit him with ideas. Elton saw my willingness to put myself out there”: Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone reveals how learning the sitar benefited his guitar playing, and how (not) to get a gig By Joe Bosso published 5 March 24 After five decades and thousands of gigs with superstar Elton John, Davey Johnstone has plenty of valuable advice to help you reach the top of your game
“I’ve seen a lot of guitars with multiple necks – often the player uses one or two necks at a time. I use all three on this guitar while also playing percussion”: How acoustic wizard Luca Stricagnoli wrangles his signature triple-neck beast By Jimmy Leslie published 28 February 24 Making rock, pop, metal, and even hip-hop classics his own with his trademark triple-neck acoustic, Stricagnoli's extraordinary virtuosity stands out, but there's far more to his playing than percussive hits and tapping acrobatics
“Breathtakingly beautiful and strikingly different from just about everything that has come before”: An homage to the original Paisley Tele, Joe Yanuziello's stunning, Japanese paper-adorned Gold Paisley Washi Paper Deluxe is a guitar like no other By Dave Hunter published 27 February 24 With a precision-engineered, modded Bigsby, a trio of Curtis Novak’s Guyatone-style GT-V Tokyo Vintage pickups, and a fascinating blend of Telecaster, Les Paul, Guyatone, and Harmony aesthetics, this gorgeous build has incredible looks and equally incredible tone
“The Black Hole Sun arpeggios were unusual for me – like the right side of a piano, or fairies dancing on a pin... I thought, ‘This is not me’”: Kim Thayil on how Soundgarden persevered through personal and musical frustrations to create Superunknown By Joe Bosso published 26 February 24 Soundgarden's lead guitarist goes deep into the creation of the band's most enduring and successful album – the effects (or lack thereof) of commercial success, the difficulty of nailing down Black Hole Sun, and the fun of creating “insane chaos psychedelia” solos
“An impressive rethink of the best of early British rock tones”: The Tone King Royalist MkIII 1x12 combo is reviving the attitude of the British invasion By Dave Hunter published 23 February 24 However you slice it, this amp cleverly packages classic British rock tones to suit a wide range of 21st century performance needs
“Listen to AC/DC and tell me Malcolm Young didn’t drive that band. Same with the Sex Pistols and Steve Jones. Those guys are tone merchants. That’s the club I wanted to be in”: Billy Morrison on kicking heroin, and becoming Steve Stevens' six-string foil By Joe Bosso published 23 February 24 From the Cult to Billy Idol to a new star-studded solo album featuring the likes of Steve Vai, John 5, and Ozzy Osbourne, Morrison’s rise to rhythm guitar stardom shows the power of a good right hand – and a whole lotta personality
“My version of 'Fire' attracted some attention. I tried to imagine how Muddy Waters would have played it… Hell, I’m not going to compete with Jimi Hendrix!” Pete Anderson charts his career in five songs By Mark McStea published 16 February 24 From Dwight Yoakam to Michelle Shocked — Pete Anderson picks the tunes that put him on the map.