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Trending Now
Gibson landing Les Paul’s name on the headstock of its debut solidbody electric in 1952 was the biggest guitar-star endorsement of its time. And, as was the way, an amp came with it, offering a flavor of tube tone that plenty of players still dig today. The term might have been coined by disc jockey […]
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When Shawn Colvin’s Steady On won a Grammy in 1989, John Leventhal was instantly transformed from NYC sideman to in-demand producer, songwriter, and player. The first to call were Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash, followed closely by Marc Cohn, who was working on his self-titled debut album. Leventhal’s work with Cash resulted in the introspective, […]
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VG Approved Gear
Fender American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster
Period Piece
Sure, we all drool over Fender Custom Shop axes, but those instruments are sometimes out of wallet’s reach. Coming to the rescue is Fender’s new American Vintage II series, which attempts several things at once: on the surface, it offers period-accurate re-creations of classic planks, down to tiny details, but more importantly, delivers them in […]
Classic Instruments
Q&A With George Gruhn: A Strong Case
And When to Get an Appraisal
Some of my vintage guitar cases are very worn. One Martin case from the ’40s is missing a latch and the handle is falling apart. I have newer, better cases for everyday use, but I’m concerned that repairing the originals would devalue the appeal of the “guitar with original case” package if I sell. Should I […]
VG Approved Gear
Jammy Instruments’ Jammy G
Digital Six
Digital, MIDI, and synth guitars have been around for decades. One newer entry in the field is the Jammy G, a digital guitar connected to an app that accesses its sounds and the ability to control MIDI instruments. It’s also highly portable for strumming on the go. Part of that portability is due to the […]
Artists
Neal Schon
Spacesaver Sale
Eyebrows raise with news that a superstar guitar collector is preparing to sell iconic instruments. Alarms might trigger, even. But don’t dial 9-1-1 for Neal Schon. Holder of 800 instruments “…and counting,” Schon, co-founder of one of rock’s all-time biggest acts, recently discovered that his 15,000-square-foot storage facility was bursting at the seams. But his […]
Artists
Fretprints: Yngwie Malmsteen
Alcatrazz and the Birth of Bach and Roll
Los Angeles, 1983. The rock community was a land devastated by the bombast of L.A. metal – Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Mötley Crue, Ratt, and their minions. Nothing, however, could prepare its jaded cognoscenti for the appearance of an unlikely Swedish emigre, 19-year-old Yngwie Malmsteen. Born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm on June […]
Classic Instruments
Eight-String Basses
Sonic Niche
Emerging in ’60s catalogs from Hagström and Framus, eight-string basses occupy a distinct place among musical instruments – their potent, dense sound used to add texture or color. An all-mahogany solidbody with a short-scale 21-fret rosewood fretboard, Hagström’s H8 was best-known for being played by Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who used one […]
VG Approved Gear
Garage Guru
The Epiphone Crestwood
The original Epiphone Crestwood was built at Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory, alongside Les Pauls and other ’50s classics. A double-cut solid-body, it appeared a full three years before that other double-cut legend, the Les Paul SG. Epiphone’s new version of the Crestwood is a cool tweak of the original brought to modern specs, but retaining an […]
VG Approved Gear
Orangewood Guitars’ Echo 12 Live
Fresh-Squeezed Jangle
Twelve-string sales ebb and flow in part with the popularity of a song featuring one. Orangewood Guitars aims to change such fickle trends with an affordable 12 that plays and sounds great in any situation. The Echo 12 Live has a dreadnought body with a solid Sitka spruce top and layered back and sides made […]
Artists
Eric Zolan
Funky and Blue
Guitarist Eric Zolan whips up a perfect confection of jazz, blues, and R&B in his playing, heard on his latest, Calder’s Universe. His authentic approach avoids fusion and post-modern ideas, opting instead for licks that wouldn’t be out of place on a ’60s soul-jazz record. “Calder’s Universe” is a sly mix of vintage R&B and […]
Music
Check This Action: Reissues – Living In The Past?
Reissues have always been around in the form of greatest hits and best-of packages. But after then-independent Rhino Records started cross-licensing tracks from major labels to create anthologies and compilations in the ’80s and ’90s, the majors realized there was money to be made by dusting off their own tapes. Music listeners benefitted from CDs […]
VG Approved Gear
Maestro Electronics Titan Boost and Arcas Compressor Sustain
Louder, Tighter
Maestro Electronics has been around for 60 years and is best known for creating the FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone used by Keith Richards to play the legendary lick on “Satisfaction.” Maestro recently introduced five pedals in a new Original Collection that includes the Arcas Compressor Sustainer and Titan Boost, each purporting to deliver secret sauce for any […]
Classic Instruments
Maestro Rover R0-1
The UFO of Rotating Speakers
To record “Little Wing,” Jimi Hendrix plugged his Stratocaster into his usual amplifier, then did the unthinkable; he ran guitar signal into an organ speaker – a Leslie rotating-speaker cabinet. Inventor Donald Leslie had designed the unit for Hammond organs, offering a swirling, otherworldy sound ideal for church services, scary or watery sonic effects for […]
Readers' Choice
Album of the Year
From 2012 to the present — read about each Readers’ Choice Awards Albums.
Music
GA-20
Live in Loveland
Visceral, raw – and without bass – this live album captures 11 oldies and originals from Plaid Room Records in Loveland, Ohio. Guitarists Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs, with drummer Tim Carman, take listeners back to the days of late-’50s black Chicago, where blues, rock and roll, and country coalesced into an intoxicating beverage. Recorded […]
Artists
Andy Stack
Group Therapy
Andy Stack spent the past few years doing gigs in New York City, staying busy as a session player, doing gigs with various bands, and even working in the orchestra pit for Broadway productions. But he needed something more. Looking to change things up, he formed Buffalo Stack, which recently released its self-titled debut album. […]
Artists
Aldo Nova’s 2022 “Paradise”
Rock legend’s thunderous return Forty years after “Fantasy,” Canadian rock legend Aldo Nova has returned with two new projects. One is a semi-autobiographical rock opera called “The Life and Times of Eddie Gage.” Here, he and his modded Les Paul Standard tear it up on a fresh version of his renowned instrumental, “Paradise,” from “Aldo […]
Classic Instruments
Höfner’s Fledermaus Gitarre
A Bat By Any Other Name
Much like the scant records of almost every large-scale American guitar manufacturer, production logs at Höfner’s headquarters in Hagenau, Germany, aren’t big on details. So when it comes to researching instruments built more than a generation ago, the facts are subject to the time-addled recollections of the human mind. But of course that doesn’t reduce […]