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GALLERY: SXSW 2015

See performance shots of AWOLNATION, Courtney Barnett, Elder, Future Islands, Portugal. The Man, Nikki Lane, and more!

AWOLNATION live guitarist Dave Stewart worked his Fender American Standard Stratocaster HH during the band’s entire headlining set inside Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater while frontman and AWOL-creator Aaron Bruno focused on stage theatrics and singing.

2015 marks South by Southwest’s 28th year as a destination festival in Austin’s beautiful neighborhoods like South Congress, East Austin, and downtown along 5th and 6th Streets. Since its inception, SXSW has tried to serve all music fans with a healthy dose of underground and unsigned acts representing nearly every musical genre imaginable. This year was no different with over 2,200 acts that descended upon the Lone Star State’s capital for five days and nights. Premier Guitar had boots on the ground and here is a fraction of the guitar-centric highlights from the event.

Submarine Pickups boss Pete Roe at his workstation.

Single-coils and humbuckers aren’t the only game in town anymore. From hybrid to hexaphonic, Joe Naylor, Pete Roe, and Chris Mills are thinking outside the bobbin to bring guitarists new sonic possibilities.

Electric guitar pickups weren’t necessarily supposed to turn out the way they did. We know the dominant models of single-coils and humbuckers—from P-90s to PAFs—as the natural and correct forms of the technology. But the history of the 6-string pickup tells a different story. They were mostly experiments gone right, executed with whatever materials were cheapest and closest at hand. Wartime embargos had as much influence on the development of the electric guitar pickup as did any ideas of function, tone, or sonic quality—maybe more so.

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Pearl Jam announces U.S. tour dates for April and May 2025 in support of their album Dark Matter.

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The legendary German hard-rock guitarist deconstructs his expressive playing approach and recounts critical moments from his historic career.

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Katana-Mini X is designed to deliver acclaimed Katana tones in a fun and inspiring amp for daily practice and jamming.

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