Latest articles by Chris Vinnicombe
"I had lived in London for a couple of years, but I had never really seen the dark underbelly of it,” – how Ed Sheeran wrote his breakthrough song, The A Team
Song stories: how a Christmas gig at a homeless shelter provided bittersweet inspiration
Fender '68 Custom Princeton Reverb
The Big F plunders its back catalogue once again and drags a vintage stalwart into the present
Strymon Deco
You have only to turn on the radio to notice that mainstream pop and indie guitar playing is more textural and less 'rock' than ever. Enter the Strymon Deco
Classic Interview: Ed Sheeran's bad guitar habits – “The first song I ever learned to play on the guitar was Layla by Eric Clapton. I used to know all the solos for Guns N’ Roses songs”
In this interview from 2012, the pop megastar shares his secret to finding warm acoustics, talks Lego and Yazoo milk, and explains how rapping like Snoop can keep a crowd onside
iPhone amp modelling arms race escalates!
AmpliTube goes live on the App Store, Peavey launches AmpKit
Kemper Profiling Amp
It's new and groundbreaking, but don't run for cover. Does Kemper's much-hyped Profiling Amp really take digital modelling to the next level?
Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Fender's ultimate flexible floor-filler gets put through its paces
Washburn Custom Shop to launch Nuno Bettencourt N7 seven-string
Extreme guitarist's signature model gets extra string
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker
Strat with a Tim Shaw-designed humbucker
Fender Ltd Ed American Vintage '70s Hardtail Stratocaster
This 70s Hardtail Strat feels like a nod to an era rather than an attempt to create a period-correct replica
Fender Modern Player Short Scale Stratocaster
Fender's chefs have added an intriguing new starter to the menu. Will the smaller proportions of this Modern Player satisfy, or leave us hungry for a full-scale portion?
Fender Modern Player Short Scale Telecaster
With miniaturisation abundant in the workshops of amplifier and effects pedal engineers the world over, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to find The Big F getting involved
Fender Pawn Shop Special Vaporizer
We test the impact of this bombshell from Fender's retro rocket surgeons
Fender Modern Player Starcaster
The US giant's opinion-divider returns - will it finally find success in its modern form?
Orange Crush Pro Series CR120H
Transistor bliss or solid-state illogical? Borehamwood's finest valve amp maker has something new for thrifty guitarists, and there's nary a vacuum tube in sight...
Gibson LPJ
A stripped-down street brawler of a Les Paul with Hollywood sounds on a Holyhead budget
Musikmesse 2012 video: AddString - fit an extra string to your acoustic guitar
Make your 6-string acoustic sound like a 12-string
VIDEO: Kemper Profiling Amplifier hands-on review
Hear our A/B test of this game-changing product
