A huge archive of unseen footage from a canceled Van Halen documentary has leaked online
The videos chart the band’s antics on and offstage across six years, including their tour with Black Sabbath and their Monsters of Rock headliner in 1984
Guitarists
Alex Lifeson on Rush's big gamble — '2112,' the album that became their global breakthrough
As his group Envy of None prepare to release their sophomore album, we dug into our archives to see what Lifeson said about Rush's struggles 50 years ago
Tom Morello talks Tony Iommi’s riff guitar genius and plans for Black Sabbath's upcoming farewell concert
Morello, who is currently planning Sabbath's July reunion concert, says the show will feature "12 of the greatest Black Sabbath cover bands in history — including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Tool"
Paul McCartney said his very first performance with John Lennon went so badly that he swore off guitar solos
McCartney's botched showpiece was the reason he pushed Lennon to bring George Harrison into the Quarrymen. The rest is Beatles history
Gear
Best guitar stands and hangers 2025: Keep your precious guitars safe and secure
From multi-guitar racks to compact stands and wall hangers, we pick the best from K&M, PRS, Fender, Hercules and more
Best guitar amps 2025: Tube-driven triumphs and peerless pedal platforms for home, studio, and stage
From solid-state practice amps to all-tube stage amps, here’s our pick of the best amplifiers on the market – featuring Boss, Blackstar, Orange, and more
We crowned the Strymon BigSky MX the champ of multi-reverb pedals
With new algorithms, IR importing, higher-quality processing and the ability to use two reverbs at once, the BigSky MX takes reverb to an entirely new level
Best chorus pedals 2025: the best options from Boss, Universal Audio, Ibanez, and more
Digital or analog; bypass or buffered? We look at the best chorus pedals you can buy right now
Guitars
Gibson spotlights its forgotten Superstrat era in its latest Certified Vintage collection
The prototype models showcase the time when the luthier tried to seduce shredders who defined a decade of guitar playing
Circle Guitar does the picking for you. Radiohead's Ed O'Brien is onboard
O'Brien will receive the first of the roughly $10,000 MIDI-controlled self-strumming guitars when they start to roll off the line this year
An old guitar is hot again and celebrated annually at the Tenor Guitar Gathering
Presented by the Tenor Guitar Foundation, the Gathering offers performances, workshops and events designed to foster awareness of the tenor guitar
How Prince, Robert Fripp, and Kirk Hammett flew the flag for underdog luthiers
Off-brand guitars have found great fame under the fingers of great players, proving there’s plenty to admire beyond the major manufacturers
Norman's Rare Guitars turned down the chance to own one of the most famous Beatles guitars
The world-renowned vintage gear salesman regrets not buying the guitar, whose fate has become a matter of mystery
Ana Popovic got her favorite guitar with a box of $20 bills. Years later, it helped her find the strength to survive the worst
The Serbian guitarist bought her 1964 Fender Stratocaster at a time of economic uncertainty. “It’s been a lifesaver,” she says
There’s a fake Wylde Audio website and it's full of bizarre inaccuracies and awful AI imagery
Zakk Wylde launched his namesake brand in 2015, but Wylde-audio.com tells a whole different narrative and claims many rock icons love its products
Makers
Ciari Guitars is rising high as the industry’s premier travel guitar maker
Ciari founder Jonathan Spangler tells the story behind his company's innovative folding guitar design and technology
Paul Reed Smith explains why it doesn’t matter where guitars are made
Calling Carlos Santana and Jimmy Herring up as witnesses, the luthier continues his electric guitar myth-busting streak
Gibson revamps the Les Paul Studio with tonal, playability, and aesthetic upgrades
A lighter body, plain maple cap, updated electronics, and new finishes give the affordable LP a new lease on life
Fender launches the first-ever Certified Pre-owned Reverb store – offering its second-hand instruments at a discount
All guitars are professionally inspected before being listed, come with a one-year warranty, and are on average 25 percent cheaper
After the 2010 Tennessee floods, Keith Urban had to abandon his ruined guitar collection for last-minute eBay buys in the studio
Urban says he was forced to buy a Clapton Strat to fill the void, but felt like he was “cheating” on his beloved guitars
Guitar Center employees find thousands of dollars worth of cocaine, and methamphetamine hidden inside a guitar amp
The Atlanta-area store was listed as the shipment’s return address to minimize suspicions, but it ended up at the store by mistake
Claudette King to celebrate B.B. King’s 100th birthday with funk-infused 2025 tour
The blues legend’s daughter will front a 10-piece band including Grammy-winning bluesman Grady Champion and King’s longtime drummer as they celebrate his legacy “with a flavor of funk”
Fernandes Guitars, Japanese brand loved by Kirk Hammett and The Edge, files for bankruptcy
The budget guitar builder, founded in 1969, cited a poor performance in the second-hand market and increased competition for its $2.75m debt
Dean Guitars wins the right to a retrial in its ongoing trademark dispute with Gibson
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Dean Guitars is entitled to a retrial after it appealed against a 2022 ruling that went in Gibson's favor, but it does not overturn a 2022 injunction preventing Dean from using the disputed shapes for the time being
Lessons
Molly Miller shows six licks that put the power of modes to work in blues and jazz
Often the best way to develop modal vocabulary is by learning short phrases which resonate with "flavor" notes that are uniquely placed in the mode
The whammy bar is a magical device for bending strings; Carl Verheyen shows 6 stunning licks and riffs for you to learn
Verheyen said Beck's album "made me realize it would be nice to know what intervals would happen when I pulled on the bar”
Oz Noy explains the one thing every guitar player needs to unlock fretboard knowledge
The guitarist also tells why it's important to tune your guitar by ear, along with five other top tips
Music
Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of Lonnie Brooks, stakes his claim to a place in the Chicago blues hierarchy
On the album's cover, Ronnie holds the 1967 Gibson SG his father held on his 1979 album, ‘Bayou Lightning’
Gene Simmons says Ace Frehley copied a Robby Krieger guitar solo note for note on a famous Kiss track
Frehley's solo from "She" was directly inspired by Krieger's own for the Doors' "Five to One"
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson says Eric Clapton convinced him he had a limited future as a guitarist
Anderson credits Clapton and albums by Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa with shaping his musical direction
Black Sabbath will reunite for one final show, with all-star support acts
Dubbed Back to the Beginning, the all-star event will take place on July 5 at Villa Park, Birmingham
He kickstarted 1970s power-pop with a Gibson SG, a rented acoustic and a gem of a song that remains a classic
Todd Rundgren’s “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” helped revive 1960s-style power-pop in the era when hard-rock and heavy-metal ruled the airwaves
Rudolf Schenker on Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and the guitar Slowhand couldn’t own
The guitarist says the 1984 hit went through nine revisions before it was ready to record
Eric Clapton hated Cream’s “Crossroads." But is there an even longer version of it?
Producer Tom Dowd said Cream never played “Crossroads” for less than seven minutes in concert and was certain the 'Wheels of Fire' recording was an edit
