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Robert Kaplan

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Guitar: Gear & Tips | Music

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

A Flying V pioneer who inspired Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Albert King was king of the blues – find out why with this lesson in his vocal playing style

King was a player who could say more with less, with a vibrato that give his licks a vocal quality, and this lesson with tab and audio unpacks his style

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Are Vintage Pickups Better Than Modern Pickups? Here's What You Need To Know

There was no mystical fairy dust sprinkled between the windings in Fullerton or Kalamazoo

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Stevie Ray Vaughan defined the sound of contemporary blues guitar – here are 20 techniques you can learn from the Stratocaster master

Get inside the Texas blues icon’s style with this in-depth lesson on his incendiary playing

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Take your guitar solos to the next level with these genre-spanning tips

Soloing ideas for lead guitar in rock, blues, acoustic, metal and more to make you a better player now

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

5 easy ways to create complex sounds from simple chords

Using open strings to embellish your chord work can yield magical results

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Vintage Fender Stratocaster pickups: how they work, what changed, and why their sound is so sought-after

The history of Leo Fender’s Stratocaster single coils – and how to get better tone from your own Strat pickups

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Single coils vs humbuckers: Which pickup type is right for you? | Guitar World

They both offer a unique flavor of guitar tone, but is one pickup really better than the other? We deep dive into the debate

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Why Jeff Beck switched from a Les Paul to a Strat

The late guitar hero first began transitioning to the model with which he would become synonymous during the recording of his 1969 album, Beck-Ola

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

A brief history of Gretsch guitars

One of the oldest surviving names in American instrument making, the Gretsch guitar story is one of the most unique and tumultuous in all of guitar.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Fender Returns to Form Again With the American Vintage II Series | GuitarPlayer

Built to original specs, the new line comprises twelve of the most iconic Fender guitar and bass models from the '50s, '60s and '70s

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

How the Fender Electric XII Became the Sound Everyone Chased During the Late-’60s Craze for 12-String Jangle

The unorthodox 12-string electric found its way onto some of rock's most classic recordings, wooing guitarists the world over, but the course of true love ran any way but smooth.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Unlock the Secrets of Expressive Melodic Playing | GuitarPlayer

Hone your note articulation skills and cultivate your own signature touch with this lesson in legato and staccato phrasing, finger sliding, string muting, bending, and vibrato.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Top 3 Guitar Buying Tips I've Learned After Four Years of Guitar Reviews

A few things I've learned after playing and reviewing almost 100 new guitars since 2019.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Tube-Amp Basics For Beginners

Famous tube amps from companies like Fender, Marshall, Vox, and others have come to define the sound of virtually all electric-guitar music. To varying degrees, we know that these amps sound different from each other—and we might even know some basic sp

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The Keith Richards Guide to Distortion | GuitarPlayer

The Rolling Stone comes clean on distortion in this archive interview from the December 1992 issue of Guitar Player.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

All You Need to Know About John Lennon's Favorite Rickenbacker Model

The Beatles legend's discovery of the 325 model launched Rickenbacker's British Invasion-era success.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Close-Up on a “Perfect” Stratocaster - Premier Guitar

Although the model debuted in 1954, Leo Fender didn't consider his second guitar design complete until '57. Meet that year's serial number 19129.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed: Keith Richards guitar lesson

In the final part of our guitar lessons focussed on classic 1969 albums, we enrole at Keef's slide school

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Gibson PAF Humbuckers: Why Are They So Revered, and How Do They Really Sound? | GuitarPlayer

Is the PAF’s purported “magic” just hype, the inflated elitism brought on by the laws of supply and demand?

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Do vintage electric guitars really sound better with age?

In this opinion piece, vintage-guitar expert Huw Price goes head-to-head with the myth that, like a fine wine, vintage guitars improve with age.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Keith Richards reveals his 10 all-time favorite Rolling Stones riffs and the stories behind them

How the guitar used to record Gimme Shelter disintegrated immediately after the song's completion, and other incredible stories

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The 10 Best Electric Guitars Under $1,000 | Guitarworld

From updated classics to modern single- and double-cuts, signature models and seven-strings, here are the guitars that give you the most bang for your buck.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Guitar Essentials: 20 Blues Turnarounds Every Guitarist Should Know - GuitarPlayer.com

Let’s be real for a second. If we were ranking cars by 0-60 acceleration times, or movies by numbers of tickets sold, we could easily come up with an

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

15 Steps to Better Chops: Pump Up Your Technique with These Essential Exercises

Want to be a better player? Of course—we all do. That’s why we practice. So why does it seem like all that practice time isn’t paying off? It could be because

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

FiiO debuts its latest Hi-Fi music player packing USB-C, 20-hour battery life and more | 9to5Toys

While most of us are fine popping in a pair of earbuds and listening to our favorite jams from our smartphones, audiophiles and other music enthusiasts are always looking for new ways to enjoy thei…

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Fender's excellent desktop app for learning to play songs is now free

Fender's $35 Riffstation desktop app, which helps you break down songs to learn its chords and riffs at your own pace, is now available for free on macOS and Windows.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Here’s why Gibson is bankrupt—no, it’s not because rock is dead

The company that made the guitars played by Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Joan Jett, The Edge, and Pete Townshend has filed for bankruptcy. Gibson Brands, maker of the famed Gibson guitar, filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The 10 Best (and Affordable) Acoustic Guitars

The best acoustic guitars mix quality woods with immaculate construction. We picked the best guitars within the consumer price range.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The Legacy of Lucille: The Surprising Story Behind B.B. King's Guitar

Eric Clapton had "Blackie" and "Brownie"; Willie Nelson has "Trigger"; Keith Richards, "Micawber." But before all of them, B.B. King had "Lucille."
For more than a half-century, the bluesman and Lucille have been virtually inseparable...

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

What Makes an Electric Guitar Sound Like an Electric Guitar?

There’s an old joke in the technology industry: If a product has a problem, simply sell it as a feature. The electric-guitar-effects industry is no different.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Ukulele

The little instrument has gone from being an exotic new trend to the embodiment of kitsch since it arrived on Hawaii 125 years ago, but is currently enjoying a revival.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Twang 101: Travis Picking Essentials

Travis picking is one of the most important accompaniment styles in country guitar, and it’s a vital component in any guitarist’s technique arsenal.

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Dave Davies talks guitars, self expression and You Really Got Me

The legendary Kinks guitarist recalls the formative musical experiences he shared with his brother Ray in late 1950s London

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Hank Marvin on the Fender Stratocaster

As The Shadows' King Of Twang, Hank Marvin was Britain's first guitar hero of the electric era, inspiring a generation of players with single-coil tones as springy and lush as a manicured lawn – but he also played the first Fender Stratocaster to reach

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Two New Studies Suggest Women Are More Attracted to a Man Holding a Guitar | Guitar World

There's a certain Je ne sais quoi about a guy holding a guitar. Or so says a new study from France, which concluded that a man is perceived as ...

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

What's the Big Deal About Output Attenuators?

in the age of reduced stage and studio volumes has driven many players to seek creative volume-reduction solutions while, ideally, trying to retain the full girth and depth of their sound. The output attenuator has become a particularly popular method of volume reduction in recent years, and on paper it might appear the perfect solution

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

George Harrison's '62 Rickenbacker Guitar Headed to Auction

The auction will also feature a Jimi Hendrix guitar and a signed copy of 'Beatles '65'

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

The 26 Stages Of Learning To Play The Guitar

No one ever told you playing the guitar actually required talent .

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

10 Things You Gotta Know About the Fingerboard

EVER FEEL A LITTLE OUT OF TOUCH OR just plain lost on certain parts of the guitar fingerboard? You’re certainly not alone. Consider this: A standard-tuned, 6-string guitar with a 22-fret ’board has a range just shy of four octaves and contains five middle Cs, while a full-size piano keyboard covers over seven octaves yet it has only one middle C. What’s up with that?!?

Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

Must Have Guitar Pedals Chosen By Top Guitar Bloggers - Guitar Gear Finder

Top guitar bloggers share their 3 must-have guitar pedals that will last you your entire lifetime as a guitarist. Find out what type of pedals to consider and what they will do for you.

    Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

    How The Beatles Forever Changed Gretsch

    I remember February 9, 1964, vividly. I was a teenager living in the New York City area and for weeks, all the great AM rock ‘n’ roll radio stations like WABC with Cousin Brucie and WINS with Murry the K had been shouting “The Beatles Are Coming!” and saturating the airwaves with Beatles music. Their single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” had just reached #1.

    Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

    Gibson Guitar Company Gives the Feds the Finger

    The award for P.R. champion of the week goes to the Gibson guitar company, makers of the famous Les Paul guitar, and headquartered, I'm proud to say, here in my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.A couple of years ago, the Feds raided the Gibson factory her

      Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

      ES-335

      Official Gibson site: Buy acoustic guitars, Epiphone or Les Paul electric guitars, bass guitar packages and banjos. Get Baldwin piano information. Free online guitar lessons, view guitar sheet music and guitar tablature and learn to play guitar.

        Music | Guitar: Gear & Tips

        Stratocaster

        For well more than half a century, there is simply nothing else that sings, screams, whispers, wails, roars, rocks and rolls like a fine Fender electric guitar.