Spooky. We´ve just randomly picked up an issue of Guitarist from exactly a decade ago, and underneath those lush fonts and that elegant logo, it offers a sobering demonstration of the astonishing stability in the world of guitars.
Guitarist´s April 1997 issue: take it away, it´s scaring us
As well as the issue being only the second for Guitarist´s present Editor Mick Taylor (as Production Assistant), and the presence of ever-jovial Guitarist fixture Simon Bradley on practically every page - and even with both issues featuring NAMM reports, BC Rich Mockingbird reviews and Rocktron Effects on test… What had us reaching nervously for our flux capacitors most of all was that the issue´s two featured artists - Nuno Bettencourt and John Mayall - just so happen to be featured in our two most recent issues as well!
There are probably other similarities, but we stopped reading and placed the magazine back in its cryogenic vault, for fear of disturbing further Eddies in the space-time continuum.
So there you have it - stone-cold proof that a career playing the guitar does guarantee artistic longevity. Or maybe it´s just evidence that Guitarist and guitarists are in some kind of time warp. Hmmm… I´m off to strum my reissue Strat and have a think about that one.
“Those arpeggios... That was the sickest thing I ever heard”: Yngwie Malmsteen on why guitarists should take inspiration from players of other instruments if they want to develop their own style
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