2023 BEST OF THE YEAR

Welcome…

I’d promised myself we wouldn’t mention the pandemic

ONE CARELESS OWNER

Fender’s latest signature Strat is a tip of the hat to a grunge icon

“I’M STILL A GREEDY LEAD PLAYER AT HEART!”

SO WHY HAS PLINI GIVEN A SOLO TO TOSI N ABASI ON A NEW EP?

PRS MT-100

Mark Tremonti gave us a guided tour of

JHS NOTAKLÖN

The Klon Centaur ranks amongst the most sought-after

BOSS RV-200

There’s no shortage of reverb pedals out there,

10 FINGERSTYLE JAZZ LICKS

Go fingerstyle as Pickup Music tutor Arianna Powell introduces some cool jazz licks to play without a pick

BLINK-182

Dance With Me

2023 THE YEAR IN GUITAR

There was so much great guitar music to celebrate this year, with the return of Metallica, The Rolling Stones and a fired-up Nuno Bettencourt, alongside the rise of modern virtuosos Matteo Mancuso and Sophie Lloyd. But the story of 2023 began with the loss of one of the most influential players of all time…

NUNO BETTEN COURT

HE CREATED THE MOST TALKED ABOUT GUITAR SOLO OF THE YEAR – INSPIRED BY HIS GREATEST HERO, EDDIE VAN HALEN. NOW, THE EXTREME V IRTUOSO REVEALS THE FULL STORY OF RISE. “THIS,” HE SAYS, “IS THE F IRST TIME I’VE BROKEN DOWN THE SOLO IN THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL…”

R ISE AND SHINE

The 5 Greatest Solos Of 2023

POWER UP!

The riffs that rocked 2023

01 KING GIZZARD & THE WIZARD LIZARD WITCHCRAFT

With the release of their 24th album, these

THE TG TOP 50

The guitar albums of the year: from metal to blues, rock ’n’ roll to jazz fusion and all points in between…

17 FOO FIGHTERS BUT HERE WE ARE

(Roswell)

“For most of this record, I didn’t even bring a guitar!”

Inside the Foos’ M.O. – by guitarist Chris Shiflett

BEST OF 2023… THE ALBUMS

16 STEVEN WILSON THE HARMONY CODEX (Virgin) This

02 UNPROCESSED …AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

(Unprocessed/SPV)

“THE RIFFS FLY, BRO!”

Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett recalls how Metallica made the guitar album of the year – with songs pulled from the “rif f bank” and solos cooked up on the spot. He also reveals how he grabbed another prized guitar thanks to Joe Bonamassa, and how he finds inspiration playing along to birdsong and aeroplanes…

KEITH RICHARDS

KICKING ASS WITH THE ROLLING STONES, HAVING FUN WITH A BEATLE, AND PAYING TRIBUTE TO THREE ALL-TIME GREATS – CHARLIE WAT TS, MUDDY WATERS AND JEFF BECK…

WOLFGANG VAN HALEN

ROAD-TESTING HIS NEW PROTOT YPE GUITAR, HAVING FUN WITH SE VENAND EIGHT-STRINGS, ROCKING WITH METALLICA AND SHARING SONGS WITH DAVE GROHL…

NITA STRAUSS

FINDING INSPIRAT ION IN ALL THINGS METAL, AND DOING SOME THING EX TRAORDINARY IN THE BEST GIG OF HER LIFE…

CHRISTONE ‘KINGFISH’ INGRAM

FLYING HIGH IN LONDON, JAMMING WITH ERIC GALES AND SAMANTHA FISH, AND HEADING INTO FUSION TERRITORY…

JAKE KISZKA

HONING SLIDE GUITAR CHOPS, CREATING AUTHENT IC ROCK MUSIC AND F INDING NEW INSPIRAT ION IN PL AYERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD…

SOPHIE LLOYD

A L ANDMARK SIGNATURE GUITAR, A WHOLE LOT OF SHREDDING AND A NEW ADVENTURE IN FUNK…

CORY WONG

MORE SOLOS ON RECORD. MORE AMPS ON STAGE. AND A WHOLE LOT TA LOVE FOR NUNO…

YVETTE YOUNG

USING ONLY ONE GUITAR, BUT SE ARCHING FOR NEW WAYS TO MAKE GUITAR MUSIC THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE GUITAR MUSIC…

PLAY LIKE THE STARS OF 2023!

TG looks at the playing styles of the guitarists who made waves this year

THE GEAR OF THE YEAR

The six-strings, amps and effects pedals that have had us reaching for our wallets in 2023

ACOUSTIC GUITARS

01 Fender California £779 Fender’s retro-inspired range consists

AMPLIFIERS

01 Positive Grid £129 Spark Go Micro Amp

EFFECTS /MULTI-EFFECTS

01 Fender Tone Master Pro Floorboard £1,649 Just

LED ZEPPELIN

I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY

PHOEBE BRIDGERS SO MUCH WINE

OPEN-MIC SONGBOOK

THE GAS ST AT ON

REAL WORLD REVIEWS OF THE BEST NEW GEAR

EPIPHONE KIRK HAMMETT ‘GREENY’ 1959 LES PAUL STANDARD £1,499

The most affordable version of ‘Greeny’ yet

FENDER VINTERA II JAGUAR & MUSTANG

Fender’s well-received, retro-inspired line gets a hotly-anticipated sequel, but can it live up to the hype?

GUILD SURFLINER DELUXE

The Surfliner gets a vibrato and ‘deluxe’

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GUITAR RIG 7 PRO

One of the oldest suites of guitar effects is still one of the best

JACKSON PRO PLUS SERIES DINKY DKAQ

A shred machine loaded with premium parts for just over a grand?

TAYLOR BEACON

Bring home the Beacon?

MAMAS GUN

Taking the sound of classic soul to audiences