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I feel like there aren’t all that many

BULLET FORCE

PEOPLE ✪ NEWS ✪ NOISE Photo Kevin Nixon

“IT SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE MINE... EXACTLY.”

NOEL GALLAGHER’S NEW SIGNATURE ACOUSTIC COMES WITH A RICH HERITAGE AND A HEFTY PRICE TAG. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO GET THE CLASSIC GALLAGHER SOUND

“I WAS WILLING TO TRY NEW THINGS”

SINGER-SONGWRITER JAKE BUGG ON HIS NEW ALBUM AND THE OLD GUITARS HE USED FOR IT

“THE GUITAR TONES ON THIS ALBUM ARE SUBLIME”

PRINCE’S SHELVED 2010 ALBUM WELCOME 2 AMERICA IS NOW BEING RELEASED, AND IT’S A FUNK TOUR DE FORCE

NOVENTA REIGN

Fender’s latest workhorse range embraces the power of Nine

ROYAL BLOOD

Typhoons

GETTING STARTED WITH... LEGATO LICKS

These techniques appear in every genre of guitar and will rescue you if you run out of ideas mid-solo

TO SHRED OR NOT TO SHRED

That is the question for fast-fingered virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert and Nick Johnston

IN THE WOOD SHRED

Learn the techniques of our shred superstars with TG’s tabbed licks

“We wanted to be more in your face!”

Rising stars of the UK’s thriving post-punk scene, their latest album a top ten hit, Shame specialise in punchy three-minute songs. So why do they need three guitarists in the band? As they explain, it’s all about interplay

“THE MOST RESPECTFUL THING TO DO IS REALLY PLAY, IMPROVISE AND MAKE IT COME ALIVE AGAIN...”

When guitar heroes Eric Clapton and Duane Allman joined forces in 1970, they created a rock classic. 51 years later, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs is reinterpreted on a new live album from The Tedeschi Trucks Band. And for slide maestro Derek Trucks, it’s personal

Kim Thayil

AS SOUNDGARDEN’S LEAD GUI TARIST, KIM THAYIL’S HEAV Y, DARK AND PSYCHEDELIC GROOVES SET THE TONE FOR ALT-ROCK. NOW, ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BAND’S CLASSIC ALBUM BADMOTORF INGER, HE REVEALS THE ORIGINS OF HIS UNIQUE SOUND. HIS MOTTO: “I LIKE NOISE!”

The Player

Inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan and feted by Clapton, John Mayer is one of the most gifted guitarists of the modern era. He also knows how to the play the fame game - from crafting pop hits and collaborating with fellow A-listers to teasing his new album via TikTok. This is his story: the making of a guitar superstar

I ❤ The 80S

A track-by-track guide to the slick sounds and classy guitar playing on Mayer’s new album, Sob Rock

THE CONNOISSEUR

Taking an inventory of Xanadu would be easier than cataloguing John Mayer’s rigs, but let’s take a quick head count of his most significant guitars, amps and pedals

“You can’t take the guitar playing out of me” John Mayer, in his own words.

Rule number one “I’ll tell you the number

“I GREW UP A LONE WOLF IN MY BEDROOM PRACTISING MY GUITAR. ALL I EVER REALLY CRAVED WAS A COMMUNITY”

When John Mayer joined Dead & Company – featuring members of the original jam band, the Grateful Dead – he got a kick out of being a team player. And by honouring the legacy of the late Jerry Garcia, he found a new dimension to his playing

“I’M NOT SURE HOW I’D FEEL IF SOMEONE WROTE MY SONG BEFORE I DID!”

English singer-songwriter Mary Spender was already a successful YouTuber when she had the idea to finish and release John Mayer’s new single before he could. “I’m glad he had a sense of humour about it”, she says

THE SHAPESHIFTER

In ten key collaborations, John Mayer has travelled from classic blues to hip-hop, modern rock to mainstream pop and beyond

The Sky’s The Limit

WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT JOHN MAYER’S IDEALISED DOUBLE-CUT, WITH THE HELP OF PAUL REED SMITH HIMSELF

MAYER’S PL AYING STYLE

From subtle acoustic works to full blown rock, we look at the ever-versatile playing style of John Mayer

CREAM STRANGE BREW

Learn Eric Clapton’s blues phrasing tricks in the psych-blues stomper that kicked off Cream’s breakthrough ‘Disraeli Gears’ album

NIRVANA COME AS YOU ARE

‘Nevermind’ the amps, TG and Rockschool dive into the depths of this MTV Unplugged smash from Seat t le’s grunge pioneers

TOM PETTY FREE FALLIN’

Discover how Tom Petty and Mike Campbell’s easy shapes morph three sus chords into an anthemic riff

THE GAS STATION

REAL WORLD REVIEWS OF THE BEST NEW GEAR

FRIEDMAN BE-MINI HEAD

How does a head this small sound so huge?

CHARVEL PRO-MOD SO-CAL STYLE 2 HH HT

Charvel widens its appeal

LINE 6 HX STOMP XL

Expanded stompbox puts Helix sounds on your pedalboard with flexible switching options

UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAFX ASTRA MODULATION MACHINE

A special kind of ensemble

JOCELYN GOULD

Photo Anna Yatskevich “For artists there are