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September 2024

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56 articles

September 30
- "I played anything I wanted to play… it reminded me that music first has to be fun." See Pete Townshend and David Gilmour team up to perform tracks by the Who, Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and more in 1985
- “I’m not gonna record until you come up there!” Kris Kristofferson tells how Johnny Cash defended him when he was a recording studio janitor
September 28
- “Every song on the radio had a killer solo. You knew you’d better come up with something special.” George Lynch recalls the pressure to create memorable guitar parts in the Dokken era
September 27
- “It’s impossible to go back there without Rick Wright, and I wouldn’t want to – it’s all done”: David Gilmour dismisses talk of future Pink Floyd shows
- “From the very beginning, I had something in my head… I had a sound.” Yngwie Malmsteen reveals the 60-year history behind his new MXR signature overdrive
- “It's past 2 billion plays on Spotify… which makes my guitar riff one of the most-played in history!” Andy Summers reveals his role in the making of the Police hit “Every Breath You Take”
September 26
- “New features and enhancements that let you dial in exceptional tones in seconds”: Boss adds new amps, effects, and enhanced features to its affordable GX-100 floor modeler with brand new firmware update
- “A guitar that captures the artistry and spirit of B.B. King’s legendary performance”: Gibson recreates B.B. King’s “Rumble in the Jungle” ES-355 – a guitar that predates Lucille – for a limited-edition run
- “It took me quite awhile to be able to lock in with him. Robert told me I don’t hold my pick correctly”: Adrian Belew on the initial challenges of teaming up with Robert Fripp in King Crimson
- "Every once in a while you’ll hear him fret some unexpected chord you didn’t know existed." Behind Doug Gillard's six-string wizardry for alt-rock faves Guided by Voices and Nada Surf.
- “I was given a second chance, so I decided it would be fun to go back and revisit some of these tunes from the ’70s”: Win tickets to see Al Di Meola in Northern California
September 25
- “I asked if I could take six strings off and try it and he goes, ‘If you buy it, you can do whatever you want’”: A new Eddie Van Halen-narrated documentary details how he got hooked on modding guitars – and subsequently created Frankenstein
- “The f-hole was the logical next step; it's a super versatile companion to my stock DGTs”: PRS launches first-ever semi-hollow DGT model – and it's limited to just 200 pieces
- “Sometimes, in order to get the job done, you have to do it yourself”: Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson recalls the song that led him to play a Les Paul for the first, and only, time
September 24
- “Visually stunning tools of the trade and a reimagined classic”: Reverend launches new signature models for Vernon Reid and Greg Koch, and adds flame maple tops to fan-favorites
- “An electric performer and beloved musician who will be remembered for his outgoing personality and passion for music”: Former Outlaws guitarist Freddie Salem dies at 70
- November 2024 Guitar Player lesson audio
- David Gilmour says guitars are ultimately just “the tools of my trade,” but these are the ones he’d never auction off
- Best Noise Gate Pedals 2024: Bring some silence to your sound with noise gates for all budgets
September 23
- “Anyone who has laid hands on one of his guitars – before, during, or after Fender – will understand that Ron Thorn crafts guitars to within an iota of perfection”: Any way you choose to look at it, the Florentine Empirial is a stunner
- “One of the loudest D-18s I have ever heard – the sound makes you tremble”: Lester Flatt’s Martin D-18 – considered the first ever bluegrass guitar – and Eddie Van Halen/Steve Ripley design set to headline massive auction of over 400 historic guitars
September 20
- “The idea was that we would do a half-hour set, but I said, ‘I’m not rehearsing to do a half-hour set! We’ve got Live Aid to correct, and the Atlantic 40th’”: Jimmy Page on how Led Zeppelin's triumphant 2007 reunion took shape, and the tour that never was
September 19
- “Bringing the quality and heritage of Guild acoustic guitars to a new audience of players”: Guild's new $300 guitar range promises to bring premium tones at a cut price
- “I said, ‘I just want the most modern things we can have now’”: Adrian Belew discusses his love of the Parker Fly, and how he convinced Ken Parker to create his wild signature model
September 18
- “A testament to positivity and the joy of music”: Martin teams up with feel-good apparel firm Life is Good for an acoustic that promotes optimism through music
- “I'm trying to see if I can get Paul to help me get a bit of fight out of a guitar designed to give you no fight”: Keith Urban is working with PRS on a new model, and it's unlike anything the company has made before
- “Everyone else is essentially – we can't beat them at that”: Orange reveals why it won't dabble with amp modeling, and why you shouldn't call its products “retro”
- “I’d advise new guitarists to play with an amp. When you use an amp modeler, your touch and picking will be very different”: Sheryl Crow guitarist Peter Stroud on why guitarists shouldn’t start on modelers, and how to complement a singer with your playing
September 17
- “The revered characteristics of our originals with the clarity, tightness, and sustain of rail design”: Seymour Duncan recreates its JB, Jazz, and Nazgûl and Sentient pickups with rail designs
- “The essential Les Paul, reimagined and updated for today’s players”: Gibson revamps the Les Paul Studio with tonal, playability, and aesthetic upgrades
- “We mixed innovation with the history of Fender to do something that we think Leo Fender would've been very proud of”: Fender unveils the Jack White Signature Collection – featuring an innovative combo amp, heavily modded Telecaster, and an Acoustasonic
- “I kept thinking, ‘It worked beautifully for Rory Gallagher with a similar setup.’ But for me it was just frustrating”: Why Brian May never took to the Strat or Les Paul
September 16
- “The H63 had everything a player needed to get the job done, and for much less than the competition”: Offered by Silvertone and Harmony, the H63 Espanada was the poor man’s Gibson ES-175
- “I followed Jeff Watson into Night Ranger; it was pretty intense, I had no idea how to do that eight-fingered thing he does”: From Winger to Dokken, Whitesnake, Night Ranger, and his solo albums, Reb Beach looks back on his career, and his greatest solos
September 13
- “I was sound-checking at the Corner Hotel in Australia when that came out. I thought about it as a possible James Bond theme”: Jack White on the origins of the iconic Seven Nation Army riff
September 12
- “A piece of music history and a slice of automotive greatness in an epic bundle”: Yngwie Malmsteen’s #4 Strat has been listed on Reverb – and it comes with a free Ferrari
- “Oh my gosh, you're here. And you've brought your guitar”: David Gilmour and his daughter Romany surprise Brighton pub with Wish You Were Here duet
- “We brought in some Marshalls and stacked them, and my friend started playing some bad blues”: Ritchie Blackmore once protested hotel construction by cranking his amps at 3 a.m. – but didn't know that Eric Clapton was in the room next door
- “Elvis started beating the snot out of his guitar, and Bill grabbed his bass and started playing. Sam poked his head out of the door and said, ‘What are you guys doing? That sounds pretty good’”: Scotty Moore details the legendary That’s All Right session
September 11
- “Pure valve-drive power allowing you to experience rich, dynamic, and authentically classic tones”: Ashdown’s new SX tube amp series offers mid-priced options for vintage amps with modern features
- “Crafted for limitless self-expression with refined body contours and improved weight and balance”: Gibson revives its forgotten '80s relic, the Victory, in response to “player requests”
- “There’s spite and aggression in the performance. But there’s also pain”: Prince’s legendary While My Guitar Gently Weeps solo was designed to settle a score with Rolling Stone
September 10
- “After the first take, Paco needed to relax, so he smoked a joint and the second take was the one. The rest is history”: Al Di Meola on the magic of Mediterranean Sundance
September 9
- “George used to have acoustics all over his house in various tunings – I’d pick them up and say, ‘What the hell is this?,’ then get out my cigarette pack and write down the tuning”: Peter Frampton on lessons learned from George Harrison and Steve Marriott
September 6
- “I’ve got something special to do tonight”: Watch Steve Lukather cover Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, with Jeff Beck's white Strat
September 5
- John 5’s distinguished playing and stage presence have made him one of today’s most identifiable guitarists – channel his brilliance with a lesson in his chicken pickin’ prowess, rapid-fire banjo rolls, and behind-the-nut bending
- “Unlock an array of colorful textures with two simultaneous delays”: Boss unveils the SDE-3 Dual Delay – a Roland SDE-3000-inspired stompbox that can deliver two delay layers simultaneously
- “The overall result is unlike anything I have ever heard from a guitar trio”: On Tripliciti, Andy McKee, Calum Graham, and Trevor Gordon Hall put their fluid fingerstyle chemistry on stunning display
- “We shared the experience of becoming famous, and spent more hours in the studio than anything else in this life”: Alex Van Halen teases a snippet of Unfinished – the last song he worked on with his brother, Eddie
- “A significant leap forward in both technology and user experience”: Fender launches the Mustang Micro Plus, bolstering its lauded pocket amp with key quality-of-life upgrades
September 4
- “Perfectly tailored for his light-speed arpeggios, expressive vibrato, and big, bold riffs... Prepare to be amazed”: MXR creates an expressive, no-nonsense signature overdrive for Yngwie Malmsteen
- “It's what it takes to differentiate this to ‘wow...I want that’”: Billy Gibbons and Seymour Duncan recreate his signature Red Devil Strat pickup for Teles, and heat up the Pearly Gates humbuckers, in double-release
- “A player who took the instrument to places no one else had ever gone before”: Epiphone honors Jimi Hendrix with an Inspired by Gibson recreation of his psychedelic ‘Love Drops’ Flying V
September 3
- “Eddie Van Halen gave me this guitar. I was just absolutely blown away that he did it”: John 5 shares the stories behind 10 of the most prized guitars in his collection
September 2
- “I’m a happier person when I’m not trying to sound like John Mayer or Wes Montgomery or George Benson. I get hired to be me, instead of those awkward moments where they say, ‘Can you sound like XYZ?’” Molly Miller on balancing jazz and Jason Mraz
- “I didn’t even look up for the first six months for fear of losing my place, because he’s Paul freakin’ McCartney!” Brian Ray on navigating nerves while learning the ropes in Paul McCartney’s band