Welcome!
Testing the new Boss Katana-air amp this issue (p96) has really got me thinking about my relationship with the guitar these days. It’s a desktop combo that allows you to connect your guitar wirelessly via a Bluetooth transmitter - the idea is to make playing at home simpler. But even aside from that, the five amp channels and over 50 effects it offers brings a wealth of tone to your desk. We’ve never had it better as guitar players in terms of access to sounds, so what’s the problem?
Time. Finding the time to play has become an issue for me lately. Ironic, isn’t it? I work on a guitar magazine but with two young children and the multitude of non-playing tasks involved in managing and contributing to the mag, I need to fight to carve out time to play away from work; to experiment with sounds and write songs – the things I love about the guitar. But it’s actually made my time in isolation playing even more precious to me. Even pro musician John Butler (p38) told us that he often has to play guitar late at night at home to make time for it. So the idea of maximising your precious guitar moments as players was on our minds with this issue’s cover feature – and we were thinking of existing and new players and how we can help anyone make bigger steps forward in the practice time they have. We hope our 30 varied lessons will keep you busy over the Christmas period and far beyond!