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It was delightful to stumble upon a beautifully written celebration of the electric guitar placed between complaints about the research excellence framework, budget cuts and stories about strike threats ("Shredded bliss", 7 May).

But James Alexander strikes a wrong chord when he argues that there is no guitarist worth listening to who started playing after 1970. Did punk never happen? And after that, what about the highly inventive fretwork and feedback of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore? The squealing Jazzmaster of Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis? The aural onslaught of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields? The musicality of John Squire of The Stone Roses? Johnny Marr of The Smiths might have something to say, too.

Paul Newland, Lecturer in film, Aberystwyth University.