Bad To The ’Bone

This month’s cover feature on T-Bone Walker and

High Flyers

These guitars have outlines that you'll recognise, but their meagre price points surely belie the set of specs and level of build quality? Let’s find out

Talking ’Shop

Remixed and refreshed by the late, great amp-guru Mark Sampson, this Black Cat has two more valves, 10 more watts and a whole new voice

Maine Lines

The latest in Bourgeois’ Touchstone range has shades of Gibson’s J-45. Will it live up to expectations and carve a legendary niche all its own?

Swell Shaper

Electro-Harmonix takes one of the best-loved features of its POG2 and puts it into a standalone pedal

Power Up

The latest in Walrus Audio’s Canvas accessory range enables your pedalboard to run from USB power delivery

the Wishlist

Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for

What’s The Story?

Three new signature models for team Oasis. Valid instruments or another cash-in? Let’s examine the evidence…

Three Here, Now

Gibson and Epiphone’s latest signature models have been chosen for their specific roles in the Oasis history book

Strat Attack

Two new lower-end, similarly priced Stratocasters cater for both vintage and more modern tastes and blur the line between Fender’s USA and Mexican manufacturing. Which one has your name on it?

UNDER THE HOOD

Let’s whip off those ’plates and take a look inside

Master Chef

More aged nitro finishes and a new US-made line-up that pares back the modernisms. Are our tastes changing? Max Gutnik, chief product officer at FMIC, tells all

Special Source

Building on what it started with its Collider delay/reverb pedal, Source Audio delivers a close Encounter of the ambient kind

Gas Supply

Gibson Les Paul Double Cuts From £1,499

Albums

The month’s best guitar music – a hand-picked selection of the finest fretwork on wax

Tones Behind The Tracks

Album: Gatherings (Commoner Records)

All That Jazz

Neville Marten catches up with Essex jazz-rock legends, and gets wiped out by selfie hunters at Ronnie Scott’s with Guthrie Govan

Taking ’Stock

Alex Bishop explores the art of repairing the notorious guitar headstock break, and why it’s different every time

Fit To ’Burst

Last month, Jamie Dickson got up close with seven original ’Bursts from ’58 to ’60 in London. Here’s what was learned

Chord Names: maj9 (PART 1)

In the first of this mini-series, Richard Barrett gives you the essential tools to understand the world of complex chords

Feedback

Your letters to the Guitarist editor. Drop us a line at guitarist@futurenet.com

KIKI WONG

TikTok sensation turned Smashing Pumpkins shredder talks cheap Hamers, Craigslist deals, and how her rig has evolved since she became a Pumpkin

CLEAN MACHINE

If the Fender Stratocaster is such a perfect design, why – wonders Dave Burrluck – is there a whole industry of aftermarket parts and pickups to improve it?

1961 Southern Jumbo Restoration Pt 4

As work continues, we get to hear the guitar for the first time in months

ACE FREHLEY 1951 – 2025

The consummate showman and KISS’s ‘Spaceman’ guitarist dies aged 74, following a fall at his home

DANNY THOMPSON 1939 – 2025

The fabled upright acoustic bassist leaves us with a thousand tales of misadventure and an extraordinary body of music that weaves through the rock ’n’ roll era

KEN PARKER 1952–2025

One of the guitar world’s most visionary makers, who took the archtop guitar to unimaginable levels and also created the radical Parker Fly, has died aged 73

CHRIS DREJA 1945–2025

Co-founder of The Yardbirds, Chris Dreja – who supported Clapton, Beck and Page on rhythm or bass guitar, then went on to become a photographer – has died, aged 79

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR

In a journey from classical guitar via Stevie Ray Vaughan, the soulful blues-rocker explains how the blues helped her find her voice, and why Teles will always be her number one

Wolfgang Van Halen

As the son of one of the world’s most influential rock guitar players, it’s understandably taken Wolfgang Van Halen some time to feel comfortable in his own skin as the creative visionary behind Mammoth. This year’s third full-length, The End , is undoubtedly the sound of his confidence growing stronger and stronger

T-BONE WALKER

How His Guitar Gave Birth To Electric Blues

ElectriC BlueS

T-Bone Walker may have been the first true hero of modern electric blues, but he stood upon the shoulders of jazz and blues giants, as we explore in the following pages

Jared James Nichols

With a new album and a new range of signature guitars lined up, the next 18 months are looking busy for this American blues hotshot

Blues Headlines

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks