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
"I think the speakers in your amplifier have the largest single impact on guitar tone": This guitarist seeks to proves it
By Rob Laing published
Tone is in the cone
Fender and Knockaround are offering you the chance to wear a Strat as glasses
By Rob Laing published
They're available in See-foam Green
Porter is a new open-source headphone amp for bass and guitar designed for using with your pedals
By Rob Laing published
"Distraction-free and all-analog, with no apps and no updates"
Can the relic'ing on a Fender Mike McCready Road Worn Strat be 'improved'? This video finds out
By Rob Laing published
It turns out that one of the key ingredients is a relic wax made by one of the UK's top pickup builders
The cost of playing live is going up but grassroots artists say they're not being paid more
By Rob Laing published
In a new survey, a worrying 54% of live acts have reported no change in gig fees, while 29% reported a decrease
Learn classic metal riffs for beginners with Chimaira guitarist Rob Arnold
By Rob Laing published
Featuring Black Sabbath and Metallica
How much difference does a guitar's fretboard wood actually make to its sound? Well, this video surprised us
By Rob Laing published
The rosewood Vs maple debate
Could the Harley Benton DNAfx GiT Advanced stake a claim as the best value multi-effects and amp modeller pedal right now?
By Rob Laing published
55 amps models, 26 IRs with third party support and 151 effects at a very competitive price
The follow-up to Funny Little Boxes' 1991 pedal has a sneaky preview in a new Alice In Chains tutorial video
By Rob Laing published
And it sounds very promising
While She Sleeps' Sean Long and Mat Welsh on their search and discovery of the perfect guitars
By Rob Laing published
Video The Sheffield band's fresh approach to metal is reflected in their guitar ethos
JD Simo demos Mike Bloomfield's old '63 Strat and proves more than worthy of it
By Rob Laing published
"Mike was the original guitar hero for the baby boomer generation"
Does the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop model sound that much better than the standard version?
By Rob Laing published
And the Gibson version joins the mix too
Rob Chapman has some good advice on what to do when you lose motivation as a guitarist
By Rob Laing published
And it won't cost you any money
See Julian Lage make the new Fender Player II Tele sound truly world-class
By Rob Laing published
A Tele demo/love letter from one of the very best guitar players around right now
Why are young northern musicians less supported than the rest of the UK?
By Rob Laing published
A new report highlights a north / south divide emerging
"A strong statement from Fender in 2024 about accessibility and quality": Fender Player II Telecaster and Stratocaster
By Rob Laing published
The new standard?
Guthrie Trapp's guitar pick hack could be a gamechanger for you
By Rob Laing published
"When I started doing that I realised that not only does it sound a lot better to me, I think it's a more direct contact from more surface area"
Rory Gallagher's legendary '61 Strat is going up for auction
By Rob Laing published
The first lot from Bonham's Rory Gallagher Collection is a big one indeed
Jared James Nichols teaches you Mississippi Queen by Mountain
By Rob Laing published
Fire up the P-90
The one important thing that relic guitar haters might be missing out on
By Rob Laing published
And it's not about aesthetics
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
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