Welcome to The Virtual Guitar Show 2020!
A plethora of players and great gear await you
Welcome to the first Virtual Guitar Show – a brave new world of great guitar and bass artists and gear from around the world that will be brought to you over the next two days. Hold on to your headstocks as we've got an absolute feast of a festival here!
We're starting our first VGS very strong with a huge selection of players and exclusive interviews, lessons and tips from them. We've also got gear galore from the world's top brands.
Legends
We'll have two legends of guitar with us; Joe Satriani talks in-depth about his career and gear with us, Kiss legend Ace Frehley fields fans questions unearthing everything from signature Gibsons to the 200 reels of two-inch analogue tape music he has in road cases.
And they're just the tip of a huge iceberg of player goodness. Bass ace Stu Hamm gives us the full rundown on his key gear, Primal Scream's Simone Butler checks in to talk bass too, blues queen Samantha Fish tells all about lockdown creativity and more, while Guns N' Roses tonehound Richard Fortus invites us inside his home studio to show us some jaw-dropping vintage gear.
Blackstar artists Gus G and Jared James Nichols have even taken the time to film rig tours for us, direct from their homes.
Gojira's Joe Duplantier will be talking tone and his new Charvel signature model, while blues players Susan Santos and Erja Lyytinen break down licks and riffs from their back catalogues for us to learn.
School's in
Speaking of learning, we have exclusive lessons for you from Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal and acoustic virtuoso Jon Gomm, and guitar writing tips from the funkmaster Cory Wong. Elsewhere, Australian phenom Plini gives us a chord lesson, amongst other things.
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There will be unmissable chats with some of our favourite players as they check in from their homes too; Brian Fallon, Kirk Fletcher, King Crimson's Jakko Jakszyk and King King's Alan Nimmo talk guitar with us, and show us some choice gear from their collections too.
Max Helyer and Chris Miller from You Me At Six will also be previewing their new album and the gear they used for it.
Gear here
And gear… do we have gear for you!
Fender, along with its sister brands Charvel, EVH, Jackson and Gretsch are here with a tour de force of tone to demo.
We'll also go in-depth on Fender's new Tone Master Blonde amps, and shine a light on the Broadcaster guitar to celebrate its 70th birthday.
Yamaha, Ampeg and Line 6 give us an incredible range of performances, tips and behind the scenes footage including Helix, Powercab and classic Yahama guitars, plus a cast including Peter Hook, Chris Buck and Josh Smith.
Acoustic giant Taylor allows you to get up close and as personal as digitally possible with it's wonderful Builder's Edition 816ce, 912ce, 324ce and 652ce acoustics and the more approachable price points and equally sublime sounds of the American Dream series.
Beetronics have made a whole documentary for us with a tour of LA's studios, meeting top producers including Joe Barresi and taking a look at their incredible effects pedal collections. Meanwhile, Walrus goes in-depth on its new pedal, the Juilanna.
You can also see and hear the latest great offerings from Ibanez, IK Multimedia, Takamine, Vox, Laney, Wolfmeister, and the UK's Crimson Guitars.
Allianz will be showing us how we can protect our beloved guitar gear too.
Head to our full VGS Exhibitor A-Z and fill your boots!
More?
Is that enough? Well there's more – LR Baggs' founder Lloyd Baggs gives us the inside story of his journey with the company, British effects pedal icons Adrian Thorpe and Dan Coggins of ThorpyFX answer our pressing pedal questions.
We hope you enjoy the Virtual Guitar Show as much as we have organising it!
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“I think we're about to have a big resurgence now in kids picking up guitars, and I think we've got the Gallagher brothers to thank for it”: Should we be hopeful about the future of guitar music?
“I’ve always wondered why there isn’t more support in this industry - not just for the artists, or the band, but for the crew, the people working their asses off from 7 in the morning to 2 in the morning": Backline demand mental health action