Guitar article by Eric (just the first) (3)
I believe the answer is:
axe
'guitar' is the definition.
(informal term for a guitar)
'article by eric just the first' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'by' could be 'x' (2 by 4 is 2 x 4) and 'x' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for axe that I've seen before include "Terminate - with a hatchet?" , "saw alternative?" , "Cut costs or staff drastically" , "Hack" , "Cut (jobs)" .)