Welcome…

This month, Total Guitar reaches its 30th anniversary,

TALKING GUITARS STEVE CROPPER

R&B LEGEND, GROOV E MASTER AND HIT SONGWRITER

12 FUNK PALM-MUTING

Pickup Music give you the lowdown on one of funk guitar’s most essential techniques

LINKIN PARK

The Emptiness Machine

EASY ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Guitar Tricks take you through some straightforward strumming techniques

“IT ’S COOL TO HEAR YOUR INFLUENCES COMING OUT ORGANICALLY”

Jerry Cantrell shaped the sound of alternative rock with Alice In Chains, but on his new solo album he’s taking inspiration from the heroes of his youth: for tone, Jeff Beck and blues-rock master Robin Trower, and for guitar harmonies, Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy

“I DON’T THINK ANYONE ELSE IS DOING THIS. AND IF THEY ARE, THEY’D BE STUPID!”

Long ago, the Pixies blazed a trail for Nirvana and others to follow. But now, as before, there is no masterplan. As guitarist Joey Santiago says: “I still go by feel – and with my gut.”

“AC/DC FAMOUSLY WROTE HIGH VOLTAGE. OUR VERSION IS MORE LIKE CORRECT VOLTAGE!”

Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt and fellow guitarist Fredrik Åkesson love to experiment with new sounds. But in a surprising twist, the band’s latest album is a return to their roots. As Mikael says: “It’s that old death metal magic!”

“WHEN YOU START WITH A CRAPPY GUITAR IT BEGINS THE CYCLE OF GEAR ADDICTION!”

Blues star Kenny Wayne Shepherd owns some amazing gear – bespoke Dumble amps and a pedal that reportedly belonged to Jimi Hendrix. In his new album, he’s still finding new ways to express himself as a player…

“MY HANDS HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR SIXTY YEA RS, SO THEYK NOW WHERE THE FRETS ARE!”

In the 1970s, Steve Howe became a hugely influential figure in the sphere of progressive rock as the guitarist for Yes. Now on his third stint with the band, he’s also created an experimental new solo album. “The guitar,” he says, “is a very tempting instrument to explore…”

IN THE BEGINNING: ISSUE 1

Hendrix, dirt boxes, new tech: TG’s launch issue shows guitarists’ interests are timeless

THE DAWN OF DIGITAL MODEL LING

Just six months into TG’s life we were

NOEL GALLAGHER

“I never really wanted to play lead”

BRIAN MAY

“I just wanted to rock!”

DIMEBAG DARRELL

“Dude, I’ve been doing this my whole life!”

PAUL GILBERT’S SCHOOL OF SHRED

No other guitarist has presented more lessons for TG than Paul Gilbert. Here, we revisit one of our favourites…

THE GLORY YEARS: TOO DRUNK TO PLUCK

Cementing TG’s reputation for quality educational content, this 2005 advert for clean living taught us… well, nothing really, but it seemed like agreat idea at the time

MARK TREMONTI RECORDS TG AN EXCLUSIVE TRACK

December 2005: despite the rise of the Internet, print media still rules. And that means when magazines ask for afavour, sometimes extraordinary things happen…

MATT BELLAMY

“I wanted one guitar part to stand out and be just perfect”

THE DARKNESS

“People don’t do guitar solos anymore. That’s the problem!”

CHALLENGE CHARLIE

At a time when TG’s staff were getting, frankly, rather silly, one man stood up to take on the daftest of all our challenges…

JOHN FRUSCIANTE’S LETTER FROM AMERICA

Our July 2006 issue featured none other than

MYTH BUSTERS: THE CA BL E DEST RUCT ION T EST

Need to know whether gear is worth your cash? Who you gonna call…

SOLOS SCIENCE TG’S EPIC SOLOS SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

TG analyses the science behind 20 great solos to find out exactly what makes them so enduring

EDDIE VAN HALEN

“You either capture the vibe or you don’t!”

JIMMY PAGE

“I was using what was really meaty!”

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS CAN’T STOP

This enduring classic from 2002 feat u res John Frusciante’s constant chord chemistry and relent less riffing

THE BEATLES BLACKBIRD

If you’re keen to bump up your fingerstyle technique then this timeless McCartney classic is perfect for you!

THE GAS STATION

REAL WORLD REVIEWS OF THE BEST NEW GEAR

START ME UP!

Five awesome new products to get your gear engine revving this month…

EPIPHONE JIMI HENDRIX LOVE DROPS FLYING V

Prepare to kiss the sky with Epiphone’s latest ‘Inspired By…’ model

NEURAL DSP NANO CORTEX

Neural DSP’s second pedal m ight be the ultimate compact all-in-one rig

GUILD POLARA DELUXE £649

A ’70s staple gets a bit of a re-jig, 54 years after it was introduced

JACKSON PRO PLUS XT SOLOIST SLAT HT6 BARITONE £1,299

We get low with this fast-play i ng, a l l ‐black moder n meta l machine

POSITIVE GRID SPARK 2 £279

The seq uel to the world’s most popular smart guitar amp is here

PETERSON STROBOSTOMP MINI £109

Accu rate, compact and can rea l ly sweeten things up