If you believe every synth player you meet in the pub then the electric guitar has snuffed it... turned up its tremolo arm... shuffled off this mortal pickup coil.

Well nick his drink and tell him he's wrong because there's life in the old hound yet.

One Two Testing's second issue scrutinises the science of strumming. More imagination, care and expertise goes into the making of today's guitars than at any time in the past. And never have manufacturers offered so many attractions even on budget priced instruments.

To prove it, we review over 50 guitars side by side comparing them for facilities, performance and value. Even 50 is only a small cross section of the entire market, but we hope it represents the best you can expect from a 1983 high street.

We interview four well known guitarists from widely varying musical backgrounds, ask Police man Andy Summers to photograph his own guitar gallery and offer a handful of features to help improve your sound, instrument and technique.

And there's another sensational competition (the last one was so successful, we haven't finished counting the entries yet!).

Far from applying for the pension book, the guitar is fighting back against the keyboard onslaught.

The transition from front room piano to front stage synth involved a significant move in approach and style. It meant throwing out all the old keyboard associations.

Now is the time to do the same with the guitar. Its only restraint is history — old links with dead music — and it has talents for rhythm, attack and dynamics that not even the priciest synthesiser can match.

It's all there, waiting. The best future the guitar could have would be if we forgot some of its past.