Hardwired

MY FAVORITE ENSEMBLE to play in is the power trio. With only three instruments — electric guitar, bass and drum kit — there’s so much freedom to explore concepts like space, time and dynamic range. Th

IN LAST MONTH’S column, I talked about how using open G tuning (low to high: D, G, D, G, B, D) has inspired me to find my own musical and compositional voice as a guitarist and craft some cool and uni

Fifty years on from their first successes, Roger McGuinn, the 12-string architect of THE BYRDS , tells Uncut about their exceptional first 18 months – and his relationship with Gene Clark. As the young group make their jet-powered escape from the folk think tank, we hear about making the scene on the Strip, outraging Iowa and a muted response in the United Kingdom. But ultimately how “Eight Miles High” became the spectacular conclusion of the band’s first era. “I almost left The Byrds entirely to go and be in this space band With Dino Valente,” McGuinn tells John Robinson

With a new album and a new range of signature guitars lined up, the next 18 months are looking busy for this American blues hotshot

AN ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE all electric guitarists should strive to master is the art of string bending, which can be used to create personally expressive, vocal-like sounds in unique ways. String bending

PHYSICAL STORAGE Store small USB sticks in craft boxes I’ve just started transferring MP3 files to small USB sticks to use in the appropriate socket in my Bluetooth speaker. But storage as usual with