Rob Laing
Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.
Latest articles by Rob Laing
YouTuber buys the cheapest Squier Strat he can find – proves age-old truth about tone, but also something else
By Rob Laing published
Where you invest your money in the signal chain matters
Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson talks playing guitar for Ghost and avoiding a blood explosion in the studio
By Rob Laing published
We caught up with the super Swede after Opeth's set at the Tons Of Rock festival in Oslo, Norway
Joe Bonamassa talks vintage guitars and unfair accusations
By Rob Laing published
"Anything in my collection, with the exception of maybe 20 pieces, you could source from somewhere else"
Sepultura is the one metal reunion that hasn't happened but Max Cavalera seems to now have the final word on the matter
By Rob Laing published
"It was a lot of betrayal and a lot of stuff that people don't know about"
While She Sleeps' Sean Long tells us about gifting Tom Morello his signature Charvel guitar
By Rob Laing published
"It's probably in the bin" Sean jokes as we meet at Oslo's Tons Of Rock festival, but the moment at Download festival was a genuinely touching one between two creative guitarists
Wolfgang Van Halen on the EVH SA-126, why rhythm comes first and who his unsung guitar hero is
By Rob Laing published
We meet the multi-instrumentalist at Olso's Tons Of Rock festival to talk about his new signature model and musical perspective
Blackstar's new Polar 2 is a USB recording interface designed for guitarists
By Rob Laing published
Could this be the missing piece to get you into tracking your ideas? We hope so
Geezer Butler remembers the ups and downs of Black Sabbath being upstaged by Van Halen
By Rob Laing published
He also weighs in on what went wrong with the Rick Rubin-produced 13 album: "Tony was incredibly disappointed in him"
The Marshall JTM gets a special spec for Celestion speakers' 100th anniversary
By Rob Laing published
Say hello to the Celestion 100
Gibson honours Jeff Beck with YardBurst 1959 Les Paul Standard
By Rob Laing published
The Gibson Custom Shop model is revealed on the late guitar legend's birthday
Dave Grohl is playing a Gibson Explorer again – could it be a signature model in the making?
By Rob Laing published
Has Gibson got another confession to make?
Best beginner electric guitars 2025: Start strong with our top picks
By Chris Corfield last updated
Our round-up of the best electric guitars for beginners, tested by experts
Thirty years ago a two-man Cure lineup recorded one of the greatest film soundtrack contributions of all time
By Rob Laing published
30 years on, it remains an undeniably potent piece of Cure history
The front-of-house sound engineer for Van Halen, Rolling Stones and Jeff Beck talks gear
By Rob Laing published
Dave Natale is one of the very best in the business – and he also reveals his amp and drum mic choices for the high-level tours he works on
Stevie Nicks reveals the two reasons why "there is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way"
By Rob Laing published
"Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems"
Yamaha reveals its new flagship acoustic guitar with the FS9
By Rob Laing published
"Clear top end and strong projection" – and a neck joint that combines glued and bolt-on construction for increased body vibration
Hold on, are we using our guitar picks right?
By Rob Laing published
There are no silly questions when it comes to guitar
Fender Japan brings master ukiyo-e artist Hokusai's work to the Esquire
By Rob Laing published
There's going to be a great wave of excitement for these
Slipknot's Jim Root reveals more to us about the Player Series Strat he recently bought from Fender's website
By Rob Laing published
"If you're in a band, and you're playing cover tunes, and you go from metal to pop or even country, you could cover it with this guitar"
Idles and their producer on the unpredictable rig of effects and processors they use known as the Crawler Machine
By Rob Laing published
"It jumps left, right… our monitor engineer cries every night"
Glam session: Def Leppard and Tom Morello join forces for new song Just Like '73
By Rob Laing published
Morello has got his Whammy out but he keeps it melodic
The acclaimed Pearl Jam-inspired Funny Little Boxes 1991 is now a gold standard overdrive pedal
By Rob Laing published
Gold Sparkle is the first in a line of new finish runs
Slipknot's Mick Thomson is a huge gearhead, and this video proves it again
By Rob Laing published
The guitarist is now using Fishman Fluence pickups
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.