
Ed Mitchell
Ed Mitchell was the Editor of The Blues Magazine from 2012-16, and a contributor to Classic Rock and Louder. He died in October 2022, aged 52. A one-time Reviews Editor on Total Guitar magazine from 2003, his guitar-modding column, Ed’s Shed, appeared in print on both sides of the Atlantic (in both Total Guitar and Guitar World magazines), and he wrote stories for Classic Rock and Guitarist. Between them, the websites Louder, MusicRadar and Guitar World host over 400 of his articles – among them interviews with Billy Gibbons, Paul Weller, Brian Setzer, profiles on Roy Buchanan, Duane Allman and Peter Green, a joint interview with Jimmy Page and Jack White, and dozens of guitar reviews – and that’s just the ones that made it online.
Latest articles by Ed Mitchell

The Top 10 Best Rolling Stones Blues Songs
By Ed Mitchell published
No bunch of white kids from London ever had more right to play the blues than The Rolling Stones. This is their top ten greatest blues tracks...

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gretsch G6120 Chet Atkins
By Ed Mitchell published
Built for country master Chet Atkins, the big orange Gretsch G6120 is the ultimate rockabilly guitar, and it helped an old mod create some of the greatest British rock records of all time...

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson Explorer
By Ed Mitchell published
Dismissed as a joke when first released in 1958, the mighty Gibson Explorer would have to wait twenty years before it fell into the right hands.

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Rickenbacker 330
By Ed Mitchell published
Born into the rock'n'roll era, then brutally dispatched in the 60s by Pete Townshend, the Rickenbacker 330 finally achieved true iconic status at the hands of an angry young Mod from Woking

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Jackson Randy Rhoads
By Ed Mitchell published
Randy Rhoads not only helped Ozzy Osbourne cut his greatest records, he aided the evolution of guitar design with his his custom-built Jackson, arguably the greatest metal machine of them all

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson Les Paul Junior
By Ed Mitchell published
When Gibson pulled together a cheaper version of its '54 Les Paul, the result was the Junior, a stripped down tone machine that became an icon in the hands of New York Doll Johnny Thunders

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson ES-335
By Ed Mitchell published
Gibson's second greatest guitar has fuelled some of the greatest tones in rock history, from BB King to Eric Clapton and Dave Grohl. Here's how a modified jazz box changed the world...

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Fender Telecaster
By Ed Mitchell published
Once dismissed as a "toilet seat with strings" the Fender Telecaster rode out a difficult birth to conquer country, blues and rock, and become the most important electric guitar of all

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson SG
By Ed Mitchell published
The Les Paul might Gibson's best known guitar but it's not its biggest seller. That honour goes to the SG, a Devil-horned, mahogany-bodied slab cherished by AC/DC's Angus Young...

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson Firebird
By Ed Mitchell published
When it comes to the coolest looking Gibson electric ever made, Eric Clapton, Brian Jones and Johnny Winter knew the 'Bird was the word...

Led Zeppelin and Stairway To Heaven - Anatomy of a Guitar Classic
By Ed Mitchell published
We break Stairway To Heaven down to figure out what the hell Jimmy Page is actually doing

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Fender Stratocaster
By Ed Mitchell published
In part two of our new series, we examine the proud history of the Fender Stratocaster, the guitar favoured by Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler and more...

The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson Les Paul
By Ed Mitchell published
Celebrating the Gibson Les Paul, the classic rock guitar beloved by Jimmy Page and Slash, and an instrument that's had to be rescued from obscurity twice

Exit stage left: the joy and fear of replacing an irreplaceable guitarist
By Ed Mitchell published
Stepping into the role of a famous lead guitarist can be a daunting prospect. But when Deep Purple, Kiss and Motörhead came calling it was an offer Morse, Thayer and Campbell couldn’t refuse

Anti-Pasti - Rise Up album review
By Ed Mitchell published
Brit punks finally pull their finger out.

Monte Pittman's 5 Essential Guitar Albums
By Ed Mitchell published
Prong and Madonna guitarist Monte Pittman selects the 5 albums that changed his life...

Major Accident - Pneumatic Pneurosis album review
By Ed Mitchell published
For fans of Sham 69, Blitz and Cock Sparrer

The Alligator Records Story
By Ed Mitchell published
After being blown away by a Hound Dog Taylor gig, Bruce Iglauer set up Alligator Records to capture his raucous sounds. Today, Alligator is home to the blues’ brightest stars…

Little Richard - Mono Box: The Complete Specialty & Vee-Jay Albums album review
By Ed Mitchell published
Little Richard's reissue is a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boxset!

Royal Southern Brotherhood: two blues dynasties collide.
By Ed Mitchell published
In the summer of 2012, The Blues travelled to New Orleans to meet the Royal Southern Brotherhood…

The new issue of The Blues Magazine onsale now
By Ed Mitchell published
We celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Mayall and Eric Clapton's iconic Beano album.

Issue 30 of The Blues out today!
By Ed Mitchell published
45 years on, the story of The Allman Brothers Band's iconic At Fillmore East, and the rebirth of southern rock...

The Rolling Stones: Photo Gallery From Breaking Stones
By Ed Mitchell published
A new book, Breaking Stones, captures the early days of The Rolling Stones. We find Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the gang epitomising London cool.
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