We've got features on several awesome players this month. Our cover story is an interview with the amazing Steve Vai, and we also take you behind the scenes to show you Eddie and Wolfgang Van Halen's gear backstage at their last show in Nashville. We also talk to a great electric-blues songwriter from Sweden named Anders Osborne, and visit with the legendary Carol Kaye about her incredible career backing the Beach Boys and other big-name acts as part of the Wrecking Crew studio team. On the gear side, we've got the coolest new guitars, basses, amps, and effects from Summer NAMM, and reviews of the new Gibson Les Paul Standard, Deimel Firestar, Kemper Profiling Amp, Walden Natura acoustic, Ampeg Micro-CL bass amp, EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine, Ritter R8 bass, Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein Fuzz, and Diago Little Smasher. If you're looking for cool do-it-yourself projects, esteemed luthier Jol Dantzig shows us five easy and super-cheap ways to improve the tone of your electric, and we also show you how to convert your acoustic to Nashville tuning.

Series: PREMIER GUITAR
Pages: 184