Simple pleasures

Blackberry Smoke’s guitarist reveals his greatest guitar triumphs, the pitfalls and blessings of his Les Paul Junior addiction, and his outright disdain of “bad amps”

Five Stratocasters, all sunbursts and all different – so what is the best vintage if you’re craving a classic?

When the Irish band were a folksy blues three-piece, it was Eric Bell who defined Thin Lizzy on their 1971 self-titled debut and early 70s follow-ups, Shades Of A Blue Orphanage and Vagabonds Of The Western World

From his early days in the repair shop to heading up one of the world’s leading pickup brands, the master pickup maker tells us how his problem-solving mindset led to him working with some of the biggest names in the biz, and why he humbly still seems himself as “crew”

Charlie Wilkins digs into the mystique of NOS valves – can they really transform your guitar tone or is it all just a myth?

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