Nick Beggs on his best (and worst) bass albums

The riff to the opener of one of the all-time great rock albums, perhaps the greatest, has to make itself count, starting with the famous delayed part, leading into the crescendo before the riff finally hits – and when it does, Slash delivers big time. It’s precisely why learning how to play Welcome to the Jungle on guitar remains such a milestone for all aspiring rock players.

“This ’board covers the foundation of my guitar sound,” says Hüsker Dü and Sugar guitar icon Bob Mould. We’d love to stay in touch, sign up for The Pick team to contact you with great news, content and offers. Amit has been writing for titles...

Ever since The Sugarhill Gang first stitched together Rapper’s Delight, the sampling of other people’s records has been a source of constant creativity. “The way that we used to make records was this,” says Sugar Hill bassist, Doug Wimbish. “On Fridays we would go to the club and check out how the crowd responded to a bassline or a riff, which could have been from wherever, it didn’t matter.

It wasn't always that way, though. In the early years of his career in the 1960s – both with the Yardbirds and his own band – Beck used, in succession, a Telecaster, a Fender Esquire and then a Gibson Les Paul. We’d love to stay in touch, sign...

Guitar Techniques is thrilled to present an exclusive track from Whitesnake, Night Ranger and Trans-Siberian Orchestra rock virtuoso Joel Hoekstra, soloing over Jason Sidwell’s track, Excalibur. Joel uses the piece to demonstrate his highly sophisticated multi-finger tapping technique. So much so, that there are no picked notes whatsoever throughout...

Victoria Shen – a sound artist based in San Francisco, CA – has shared video clips of her new “contactless strummer”, which can vibrate multiple strings using a set of spinning magnets. The guitarist posted two clips on Twitter, stating: “I made this handheld prototype for...

Guitarist Denny Laine recalls the making of the 007 anthem the film's producers mistook for a demo. “As a writer who thinks of himself as part craftsman, the idea of writing a Bond theme is akin to being asked to make a bit of furniture for the national collection,” Paul McCartney said in the 2013 biography Man on the Run.

The late '70s-era unit – a favorite of JHS Pedals head honcho Josh Scott – has been slimmed down, with three selectable delay times and up to +20dB of boost also on tap. Produced for only a short time in the late 1970s, the Slap-Back Echo is certainly not one of EHX's most well-known stompboxes.

One of George Harrison and the Beatles’ most influential contributions to the electric guitar actually didn’t involve an electric guitar at all. When Harrison first played an actual sitar on Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) on Rubber Soul, it inspired numerous other pop bands to incorporate the distinctive droning sounds of a sitar on their records as well.

Here is all the audio for Total Guitar 368, available to download or stream and use on your phone/computer/tablet. NB: All audio files, except those for Classic Track, Rockschool and Open-mic Songbook, are available to download. For copyright reasons, Classic Track, Rockschool and Open-mic Songbook are only available for streaming.

The Ozzy lifer has shared a touching tribute to the Prince of Darkness – and says he’ll be ready and waiting if a live return is ever on the cards. Zakk Wylde has voiced his support for Ozzy Osbourne, telling the metal icon he remains “a hero to me and millions around the world”, after Osbourne announced his forced retirement from touring.