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The Latest Breaking News from Billy Gibbons

“Billy Gibbons pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and he’s like, ‘Okay, we’ll play it for a song, right?’” ZZ Top’s Elwood Francis on teching for Joe Perry, lying to Steve Vai – and the curse of playing that viral 17-string bass

The gear-trashing DIY enthusiast once had to choose between Vai and Joe Perry, before being fired and rehired by Guns N’ Roses –in a matter of days

Guitar World

“I said to Billy, ‘We should order one of these, and I’ll play it. It’ll be hilarious.’ Then it went viral. I hate playing that bass. Now I’ve got to play it every night”: Elwood Francis on why he regrets his 17-string bass becoming a ZZ Top staple

Elwood Francis reveals the origins of his preposterous 17-string bass – and why he’s disappointed it went viral

Guitar World

It's a blues extravaganza starring Slash, Kingfish, Samantha Fish, Gary Clark Jr. and Billy Gibbons – only in the new Guitar World

Also starring Lamb of God & Mastodon, plus Marty Friedman, Bruce Kulick, Towa Bird, Eric Gales' pedalboard, Goo Goo Dolls, our EVH SA-126 review and more

Guitar World

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“Queens are gutted we aren't able to play for you.” Queens Of The Stone Age cancel European tour as Josh Homme returns to the United States for “emergency surgery”

QOTSA share “frustration and disappointment” after being forced to cancel eight European shows

Louder

"You move at the speed of inspiration very quickly, and so things feel very possible." Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme on the lasting impact of working with his friends Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor

QOTSA's Josh Homme talks influences and inspirations

Louder

“A guitar from that dark period when the single-cut Les Paul was discontinued”: Is this oddball ’60s electric the weirdest custom model Gibson has ever created? Gibson’s archive curator sure thinks so

The guitar – reportedly admired by Billy Gibbons – was built in 1966 for Torpedo Joe, and is said to be one of the strangest custom models Gibson has crafted

Guitar World

“It’s like guitar heaven”: Brian May turned down the chance to play with Steve Cropper and Billy Gibbons – but when his rejection email was used to write a new song, he had no choice but to take part

The Queen guitarist trades solos with Gibbons on Too Much Stress, the first taste of session legend Cropper’s new record Friendlytown

Guitar World

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“St. Vincent is one of the best players in the world right now… she has that Jeff Buckley thing going on”: Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr names 10 guitarists who shaped his bass sound

The Royal Blood frontman explains why guitarists have influenced him more than bassists as he marks the 10th anniversary of the duo’s debut album

Guitar World

"When you're cold-calling musicians, some of whom you don’t even know, it doesn't matter who you are. It's a hard gig": How Slash organised Orgy Of The Damned

With his recent album Orgy Of The Damned – a selection of classics, each sung by a different guest singer – Slash is the latest rock superstar to take the blues road

Metal Hammer

“There’s nowhere on the planet that these cats would be in the same room together for such a cool low key hang”: Fender just opened a mega new Nashville HQ – and Music City’s finest guitarists were all in attendance

Billy Gibbons, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Chris Shiflett, Guthrie Trapp and many more attended the grand opening of the new location – and some sat round for a jam

Guitar World

“I get accused of not learning more – but I’m not one of those guys. I could learn anything if I wanted to, but I just let it go as it is”: Steve Cropper on recording classic Stax cuts with a Telecaster – and why he thinks his Peavey sounds better

The Stax session icon reflects on the recording of Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay and Soul Man, and looks forward to his new album featuring Billy Gibbons and Brian May

Guitar World

The elite of Nashville guitar players assemble (and jam) for the opening of Fender's new HQ in the Music City

Brad Paisley, Billy Gibbons, Jack White, Brent Mason, Keith Urban, Guthrie Trapp and Chris Stapleton were all in attendance

MusicRadar

“The bass has been given the nickname ‘Momoa’s Koa’”: Jason Momoa is auctioning off a collection of Gibson and Fender Custom Shop guitars and handmade bass builds, including signed Slash and Billy Gibbons Les Pauls

The instruments are all being sold to raise money for a host of charities, having featured in the actor’s On The Roam series

Guitar World

“I have never experienced anything like that. It was like piano strings, and it was so far off the neck”: Lee Ritenour on the time BB King invited him to play Lucille and the guitar made him work for every note

Ritenour says nobody on the planet could play like BB King did, and the King of the Blues' trademark vibrato was all the more remarkable on such an uncompromising guitar setup

MusicRadar

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Louder

"It's such a limiting genre": After three albums of blues-rock, the Kris Barras Band have ramped up the heaviness

Kris Barras on the people in power, top advice from Billy Gibbons, and being a "Poundshop version" of Richie Kotzen

Guitar World

10 legendary blues guitars, from Lucille to Lucy and the ‘Loch Ness Monster of Les Pauls’ – a priceless Gibson that has been missing for more than 50 years

Named and famed! Behind every great blues player is a great guitar, and they don’t come more iconic than this...

Louder

"It's the Devil's Music - Hide your kids' stuff!" How Slash made the blues sound like a party again – only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Eagles, Pink Floyd, Kerry King, Sebastian Bach, Lenny Kravitz, Steve Harley, The Black Keys, Walter Trout, Nazareth, Troy Redfern and more

MusicRadar

Does guitar weight matter? Thin Lizzy icon and Les Paul fan Scott Gorham thinks it depends where you're playing

When it comes to pounds and ounces with guitars, opinions and perspectives can differ wildly

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Guitar World

“So well-versed in the art of blues that B.B. King said ‘he was like another one of my sons’”: 12 blues guitar albums that chart the genre – and the instrument’s – evolution

From Son House to Eric Gales, John Lee Hooker to Albert Collins, these classics highlight how blues guitar has changed over the years – its stories, tones and techniques all passed down and reinvented

Guitar World

“One of the greatest Strats I’ve ever played”: Marcus King takes the viral cardboard Fender Stratocaster for a spin – and gives it the highest praise possible

King joins Billy Gibbons, J Mascis and Terry Reid on the list of guitar heroes who have given the Master-Built oddball instrument their seal of approval

Guitar World

“A rare opportunity to explore a unique side of his playing”: Slash hangs up his Les Paul for a 335 in the first taste of his solo blues album – a covers record featuring Brian Johnson, Billy Gibbons, Iggy Pop, Gary Clark Jr. and Demi Lovato

Orgy of the Damned is one of the most eagerly awaited guitar albums of the year, and its lead single – a cover of a Howlin' Wolf classic recorded with AC/DC's Brian Johnson – has been released

Guitar World

“Robin Trower’s guitar sound was the loudest I’ve ever heard. He had two Fender Twins, and he smoked both by the end of the night”: Buzz Osborne names the 11 guitarists who shaped his sound

The Melvins main man picks the jazz, funk and metal players who made him who he is today, recalls the time he heard Jeff Beck’s warm-up routine, and names the unsung ’70s hero who deserves more recognition: “Why aren’t more people talking about him? It makes no sense”

MusicRadar

The cheapest tone upgrade ever or a myth: should you be top-wrapping your guitar bridge like Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Derek Trucks, Zakk Wylde and Joe Bonamassa?

Slinky sustain-enhancer or psychosomatic? Let's talk about top-wrapping

Louder

"We were starting to work in the girl theme. Cars, girls, fast and loud – those elements were starting to gel": How ZZ Top reinvented themselves with Degüello to pave the way for Eliminator

With some top tunes, a vintage clavinet and a battery of effects plastered all over it, Degüello successfully updated ZZ Top’s old-school blues and pointed the way towards future superstardom

The Guardian - UK

‘When they cleared the wreckage, it was all that survived’: 10 of history’s most irreplaceable guitars

As Paul McCartney is reunited with his violin-shaped Hofner bass, we look at equally iconic guitars, from Prince’s phallic symbol to Jimmy Page’s double-necked beast

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