“He was one of the world’s top authorities on guitars. His depth of knowledge really wasthat astounding”: The life and times of game-changing guitar journalist Dave Burrluck

Dave Burrluck's editorial portrait.

Of all the obituaries relating to industry figures that we have published in past months, this one has been the hardest to write.

When you lose a member of a tightly knit team suddenly and unexpectedly, it’s akin to grieving a family member. And the sense of loss is definitely on that kind of level among the magazine staff. After all, Dave was entrenched in guitar journalism well before any of us had even thought of doing what we do today.