I write features for Guitar Magazine and its website, guitar.com. Recently, I put together six oral histories of classic guitars, from the Les Paul to the Rick 12, based on my interviews archive. I’ve also written some general features, from a Jimmy Page guitar-ography (is that a word?) to a Leo Fender birthday profile. To help you find out more, you might want to pay a visit to an index of my stuff at GM‘s guitar.com site—click here to take a look at what’s on offer—or, if you prefer, you’re quite welcome to have a good old rummage below, where you’ll find direct links to all of my individual articles.
● ORAL HISTORIES …
A series of six features that tell the story of some classic guitar models, all drawn from my interviews old and new.
An Oral History of the Fender Stratocaster has extracts from my interviews with Jeff Beck, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, Dale Hyatt, Karl Olmsted, Don Randall, and Forrest White. Read it online here.
An Oral History of the Fender Telecaster rounds up extracts from my interviews with James Burton, George Fullerton, Dale Hyatt, and Don Randall. Read it online here.
An Oral History of the Gibson ES-335 boasts extracts from my interviews with Larry Carlton, Luther Dickinson, Don Felder, Mark Knopfler, Seth Lover, Phil Manzanera, Ted McCarty, Eddie Phillips, and Mike Voltz. You can read it online here.
An Oral History of the Gibson Les Paul features extracts from my interviews with Billy Gibbons, Ted McCarty, Jimmy Page, and Les Paul. Read it online here.
An Oral History of the Gibson SG gathers extracts from my interviews with Tony Iommi, Johnny Marr, Ted McCarty, Tony McPhee, Barry ‘The Fish’ Melton, Jimmy Page, Les Paul, and Derek Trucks. You can read it online here.
An Oral History of the Rickenbacker 12-String features extracts from my interviews with Suzi Arden, Dick Burke, Mike Campbell, Francis (F.C.) Hall, John Hall, Roger McGuinn, and Mike Pender. You can read it online here.
● OTHER FEATURES …
Abuse & Misuse of Gear … From slicing speaker cones with razorblades to turning guitars into splinters in a collision of angst and art, a short guide to six-string rule-breaking. Read it safely here.
Fender’s Search for the Next Great Guitar … This is a look at the brand’s ongoing quest for a mix of features that might provide the next Strat or Tele. Read all about it here.
Jimmy Page’s Led Zeppelin Guitars … Here’s a trip through the instruments Jimmy used in his career as Zep went from club gigs to superstardom. Read it here.
Leo Fender: The Guitar Genius Who Couldn’t Play a Note … I wrote this succinct profile of the great man in 2019 on what would have been his 110th birthday. Click here to read it now.
Rare Bird: The Gretsch White Penguin Story … The scaled-down sibling of the White Falcon is one of the coolest Gretsch models of all time, though on launch it proved almost as flightless as its namesake. Read it here.
Signature Guitars: From Les Paul to Rob Chapman … The history of more than a century of artist models, from guitars for vaudeville stars to YouTube phenoms who build new brands. You can read it here.