December 1958 to April 2024
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our highly valued amplifier guru, who died suddenly in April
Nick contributed his detailed, authoritative amp reviews in almost every issue of Guitarist for well over two decades. He came onto our radar after writing a letter to then Guitarist editor, Neville Marten, wondering if we needed someone to write about amplifiers. He included a review he’d written and, hugely impressed, Neville commissioned him on the spot.
Born in December 1958, Nick caught the rock ’n’ roll bug early on, and although he attended Cheltenham Grammar School (like a certain Rolling Stone), his long-time friend Cos remembers him as “a bit of a rebel”. Neville remembers him as a “monster” guitar player, too, and he served time with many local bands, not least The Detonators during the 80s, toting his self ‐built guitar based on a Gibson SG. “Nick actually wanted to be a session player,” but, remembers Cos, “punk rock ruined that –his words.”
He’s remembered by all who knew him as a humble, modest man, but “give him a guitar or anything to do with amps… that’s all he talked about”, Cos tells us, a recurring theme among the tributes we’ve received.
“Nick was a gentle, softly spoken man –but when he had a guitar or apen in his hand, it was a different story,” says Blackstar’s director of marketing, Joel Richardson. “He wrote with guru-like knowledge and an understanding of the guitar player’s needs. As anew company 17 years ago, we knew that, to succeed, our products needed to impress Nick Guppy. This is a value we uphold to this very day. We wear the Gold and Choice awards given by Nick with pride as we know he didn’t give them freely. It will take some time to come to terms with the fact we won’t be able to tell Nick about our latest products and wait eagerly for his opinion to be printed in Guitarist magazine. From all at Blackstar: thank you, Nick. You have helped us more than you could ever know.”
“Nick was a revered and respected voice within the world’s guitar playing community,” says Steve Mueller (Product Development, Mesa/Boogie &Gibson Amplifiers). “His knowledgeable depth, thoroughness and fairness in his reviews earned him a distinguished position as a true authority. He will live on through this massive body of work. It will underscore his legacy as one of the most authoritative and prolific reviewers the world has ever known.”
From an editor’s perspective, Nick was the perfect contributor, not only for Guitarist but also Total Guitar. Nothing was too much trouble. His copy was always early, always accurate. Above
