THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION

YOU CAN LEARN a lot about a person

GREEN MACHINE

With its mix of retro themes, Ancoats’ third-generation New Islington is a boldly British standout in the guitar market.

FAMILY MAN

Armed with just his guitar — and his dad on drums —McKinley James conjures authentic ’60s rock and soul on Working Class Blues.

TIPSHEET

From electric blues to flamenco — Sue Foley has done it all and has advice to share for every guitarist.

FOLDED GLORY

With its innovative technology and updated Ascender model, Ciari Guitars is rising high as the industry’s premier travel guitar maker.

MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS

What does the Forrest Gump of rock call his best work? Steve Hunter picked this handful of tracks.

Dean’s List

As domestic guitar makers earned failing grades, Dean rose to the head of the class with models like this 1977 Z Standard.

Winning Hand

Lemmy, “Fast” Eddie and Phil upped the ante for hardcore rock on Motörhead’s Ace of Spades.

Swede Charity

Designed 1990 Swede is built for comfort, not speed.

AT LAST

After 50 years as a sideman to artists like Etta James and Paul McCartney, Brian Ray takes center stage with his solo debut album. What took so long?

MAN IN THE MIRROR

He beat his demons and outlived the alt-rock explosion. Now as the original Jane’s Addiction lineup reunites for another go, Dave Navarro sits down for a candid reflection on his life in music.

HIGHER GROUND

“Can you take me higher?” Creed asked in 2000. As their comeback tour gets underway, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Mark Tremonti reveals what’s in store for the group and hints at new music up ahead.

AMPED UP

What’s Mark bringing on the Creed tour? Hint: It’s loud, versatile and travels in pairs.

STRING CHARMER

Idiosyncratic, unpredictable and always entertaining, Jim Campilongo talks Teles, Roy Buchanan and his 4TET’s new fire-breathing album, She Loved the Coney Island Freak Show.

DOUBLE PLAY

When Tom Bukovac and Guthrie Trapp get together, you might expect a shredfest. But the guitarslingers’ cinematic new instrumental album is an exercise in economy, emotion and team effort.

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Purists say he’s destroying guitar. But percussive fingerstyle phenom Marcin sees his fire-breathing guitar revolution as more of an evolution. And its time is now.

WHAT BASSISTS AND DRUMMERS REALLY WANT

Want to get the best out of your bandmates? Here’s the inside scoop that every guitar player needs — from industry pros who know.

YA MAHA

FS9 R Concert

RC DAVIS

Scirocco

VOX

VRM-1 Real McCoy and V846 Vintage wahs

TONESPEAK

Birmingham 1275, Manchester 1290 and New Orleans 1250

STRYMON

BigSky MX

How I Wrote… “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”

Neal Schon shares the secrets behind Journey’s unstoppable hit.