CATEGORIES

Tour de Frets
Guitar Player

Tour de Frets

Twenty-five years ago, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson launched the inaugural G3 tour, kickstarting a celebration of guitar virtuosity that remains the longest-running stint of its kind. With new albums and tours of their own. The trio sat down to recall how it all went down.

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10+ mins  |
May 2022
Strymon
Guitar Player

Strymon

Iridium Amp and IR Cab Pedal

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6 mins  |
April 2022
The Ghost of Skip James
Guitar Player

The Ghost of Skip James

Washed up at age 30, James was rediscovered in 1964, just five years before his death. His impact is felt stronger than ever today in Bentonia blues.

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10+ mins  |
April 2022
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Guitar Player

MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS

With nearly 20 albums to his name, Eric Gales says these five tracks tell you the most about his journey.

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8 mins  |
May 2022
SLIDING INTO AFRICA
Guitar Player

SLIDING INTO AFRICA

Kenny Greenberg goes back to the roots of the blues for his first solo record.

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2 mins  |
May 2022
How I Wrote...
Guitar Player

How I Wrote...

Pat Travers spills out the tale behind his classic 1980 cut.

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4 mins  |
May 2022
JOE'S BIG ADVENTURE
Guitar Player

JOE'S BIG ADVENTURE

ON THE ELEPHANTS OF MARS, JOE SATRIANI GOES IN SEARCH OF NEW THEMES AND TEXTURES. THE RESULT? MORE JOE THAN EVER BEFORE.

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10 mins  |
May 2022
TWO of a KIND
Guitar Player

TWO of a KIND

ERIC JOHNSON DIGS INTO HIS VAULT AND COMES UP WITH A WINNING PAIR: THE BOOK OF MAKING AND YESTERDAY MEETS TODAY.

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4 mins  |
May 2022
VAPOR TRAILS
Guitar Player

VAPOR TRAILS

Nearly 40 years on, Dave Rusan's visionary Cloud guitar is a lasting presence in the gear world firmament.

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8 mins  |
May 2022
Taylor
Guitar Player

Taylor

American Dream AD27e Flametop

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5 mins  |
April 2022
With a Lot of Help
Guitar Player

With a Lot of Help

Uke superstar Jake Shimabukuro teams up with Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Vince Gill, Billy Strings and others on Jake & Friends.

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10 mins  |
April 2022
My Career in Five Songs
Guitar Player

My Career in Five Songs

Alt-rock pioneer Bob Mould selects the key cuts from his 40-year career with Hüsker Dü and Sugar and as a solo artist.

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8 mins  |
March 2022
Soul Captain
Guitar Player

Soul Captain

Luther Dickinson gives a tour of the North Mississippi Allstars’ existential party cruise on Set Sail.

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9 mins  |
March 2022
Sterner Stuff
Guitar Player

Sterner Stuff

Five years after a misstep on a New York City street left him with broken bones and nerve damage in his right hand, Mike Stern perseveres one gig at a time.

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10+ mins  |
March 2022
Sweet Little Rock & Rollers
Guitar Player

Sweet Little Rock & Rollers

The sound of rock and roll began in the hands of Charles Edward Anderson Berry. Here are some of the guitars that helped him make history.

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5 mins  |
March 2022
How I Wrote…“Take It Off the Top”
Guitar Player

How I Wrote…“Take It Off the Top”

Steve Morse opens up about the Dixie Dregs’ long-running fan favorite.

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4 mins  |
April 2022
CHANGING GEAR
Guitar Player

CHANGING GEAR

FROM CHARLIE CHRISTIAN TO TOM MORELLO, THESE 25 GUITARISTS SHIFTED THE COURSE OF GUITARS, AMPS, EFFECTS AND TONE, TO BRING US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.

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10+ mins  |
April 2022
Strymon
Guitar Player

Strymon

Compadre Dual-Voice Compressor and Boost

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4 mins  |
March 2022
ORIGIN EFFECTS
Guitar Player

ORIGIN EFFECTS

RevivalDRIVE Compact and MAGMA57

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6 mins  |
March 2022
MACKIE Thrash215 Powered Loudspeaker
Guitar Player

MACKIE Thrash215 Powered Loudspeaker

SINCE THE 1990S Mackie, a company founded in America’s rugged Northwest, has been designing great-sounding and reliable audio products for musicians. A good part of their success can be attributed to the thoughtful design of mixers and loudspeakers that deliver both professional quality and portability. With the debut of their new line of Thrash-powered loudspeakers, Mackie has attempted to address perhaps the most challenging constraint to producing great audio — doing it on a budget. Thrash promises more for a fraction of what other professional powered loudspeakers cost.

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4 mins  |
April 2022
EASTMAN T64/v and T184MX
Guitar Player

EASTMAN T64/v and T184MX

BOASTING A REPUTATION that grows year upon year, the Eastman String Company has long defied any “budget-brand” preconceptions normally heaped upon Chinese-made guitars, delivering instruments that punch well above their weight for build quality, tone and playability (see the “Meet Your Maker” interview with two of the company’s prime movers.

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8 mins  |
April 2022
FENDER Mustang Micro
Guitar Player

FENDER Mustang Micro

MINIATURIZATION IS THE story of the modern age, as devices keep getting smaller and more powerful. Case in point, the Mustang Micro, a very, very small guitar amplifier and effect modeling system that features a selection of tones from the Mustang series modeling amps. You can plug it directly into your guitar’s input jack, connect stereo headphones to its 1/8-inch jack, choose various amp and effect settings, and play for hours. The unit lets you jam along with tunes from your music library or streaming service through Bluetooth audio from your mobile device, tablet or computer. You can also record your guitar tones with or without a Bluetooth audio stream to your preferred recording system by using Mustang Micro’s USB-C output.

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2 mins  |
April 2022
JAZZ ODYSSEY
Guitar Player

JAZZ ODYSSEY

Freedom has been on a lot of people’s minds the past two years. Jazz-fusion pioneer John McLaughlin made it the topic of his latest solo album, Liberation Time.

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10+ mins  |
April 2022
California Dreamin'
Guitar Player

California Dreamin'

The new Matchless Laurel Canyon and Coldwater Canyon amps capture classic West Coast splendor.

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7 mins  |
March 2022
Catch Me if You Can
Guitar Player

Catch Me if You Can

Chuck Berry brought poetry to pop and broke race barriers to become rock and roll's first guitar-playing frontman. As he recalled, it all began with some "hillbilly stuff' he revved into a rocker: "Maybellene."

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10+ mins  |
March 2022
Beat the Odds
Guitar Player

Beat the Odds

Luther Dickinson reveals his technique for fingerpicking with groups of five and seven.

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3 mins  |
March 2022
John Frusciante
Guitar Player

John Frusciante

He saved the red hot chili peppers. But first he had to save himself.

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6 mins  |
February 2022
Alternative Notion
Guitar Player

Alternative Notion

"AVA puts an elegant spin on carbon-fiber luthiery with its One First Edition electric guitars."

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6 mins  |
February 2022
Fire Down Below
Guitar Player

Fire Down Below

"Armed with just his phone and extensive network of musical cohorts, Tom Morello takes the electric guitar into uncharted territory on The Atlas Underground Fire."

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10 mins  |
February 2022
ROYAL TREATMENT
Guitar Player

ROYAL TREATMENT

Blues phenom Eric Gales returns with the album he was born to make: Crown.

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6 mins  |
March 2022