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In the history of vintage guitars, Gretsch and Mosrite are sometimes linked, and often associated with ’50s hot-country pickers and ’60s rockers. One guitar takes that connection to a new level. This custom Mosrite hollowbody has the chassis of an early Gretsch Country Gentleman and was likely built between 1959 and ’62 for a hotshot […]
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Win an accessory bundle with an Oxford Guitar Supply gift card, Music Nomad KEEP IT SIMPLE, SETUP (KISS)™ kit, Rocky Mountain Slides Co. Bear Claw Tri-picks, Firecracker Aluminum Slides and graphite picks, plus a Reverend back pack to put it all in valued at more than $450. Deadline is November 25, 2024. Complete the survey […]
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As a maker of high-quality instruments, Gibson was hit hard by the onset of the Depression in the 1930s. Company president Guy Hart, a former accountant, recognized that Gibson could not survive by simply waiting for better times, and he took action, diverting some guitar production to wooden toys, creating the Kalamazoo line of budget-priced […]
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Classic Instruments
Horses of Another Color
1) This ’57, from batch 253xx, has the added intrigue of a gold G-cutout tailpiece in place of the Bigsby vibrato. In addition to the standard Amber Red stain on the 6120, the Bigsby was requisite on the Atkins-endorsed models. Having a 6120 that lacks both the finish and the vibrato seem to constitute heresy! […]
Classic Instruments
Gibson’s Budget Redux
The SB Series Guitars and Basses
As the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, Gibson had established itself in the electric-bass market with front-line instruments such as the solidbody EB-0/EB-3 and Thunderbirds, as well as the semi-hollow EB-2 series. However, it struggled to win a share of the budget market despite offering a bass version of its popular Melody Maker and the […]
VG Approved Gear
Lace Cybercaster LS
Modern Mixer
The mere name of Don Lace’s Cybercaster may set calloused fingertips to head-scratching. After all, “cyber” connotes cutting-edge, futuristic. How could that possibly jibe with “caster,” which implies beloved mid-century designs? Truth be told, though, cutting-edge and retro go hand in hand on the sleek Cybercaster, which gives off a hint of Selmer on its […]
Artists
Ken Fischer
1945-2006
Although by most estimates he produced fewer than 100 Trainwreck amps, Ken Fischer – tech, designer, and amp-maker – will be remembered as one of the most authoritative and intuitive tube-amp gurus ever to have touched soldering iron to circuit. Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, in 1945, Fischer died at his home in Colonia on […]
Artists
Marc Bonilla
Servant Of The Music
On March 11, 2016, keyboardist Keith Emerson took his own life. He was 71 and left a legacy of groundbreaking music that brought together the worlds of rock and classical. In May of 2016, a tribute concert was organized by guitarist and bandmate Marc Bonilla, featuring Emerson’s music with guests Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Jordan Rudess, […]
VG Approved Gear
Electro-Harmonix Operation Overlord Allied Overdrive
Sound Assault
Like its namesake World War II invasion, Electro-Harmonix’s Operation Overlord Allied Overdrive involves an assault of sorts – though this particular Operation Overlord’s attack is solely one of grease, gain, and grit. Originally developed to allow keyboardists to mimic the kind of tube overdrive guitarists have enjoyed since the birth of rock and roll, Operation […]
Artists
Jim Peterik
Collection Reflection
Guitarist/songwriter Jim Peterik, who helped compose hit songs like “Eye of the Tiger” and “Hold On Loosely,” has remained active in music and other artistic pursuits – and has long been an avid guitar collector. “I’ve added a few beauties in the last couple of years – a ’67 Firebird I in Inverness Green, near-mint […]
VG Approved Gear
The MXR Eric Gales EG74 Raw Dawg
Bark And Bite
During a recording career that spans three decades and includes 19 albums, blues guitarist Eric Gales has achieved a reputation for solos that are a deluge of precise notes delivered with passion. When pedal and accessory manufacturer Jim Dunlop asked Gales what he would like in a pedal, the guitarist was quick to respond, “A […]
VG Approved Gear
Tx-Watt Flagship
Tone Big as Texas
For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones often had him using both amplifier brands at the same gig. Envisioning one capable of producing American and British sounds, the founder of Tx-Watt embarked on a quest to build the ultimate amp. After 10 […]
VG Approved Gear
Fender American Professional Jazzmaster
Return Of The Rebel
From the get-go, Fender’s Jazzmaster was the black sheep of the family – that wild-at-heart uncle your ma warned you about. Happily, it’s happily back in the lineup with the American Professional model, part reissue, part refined modern guitar. The original Jazzmaster was unveiled at NAMM in 1958 as Fender’s flagship – the upmarket big […]
VG Approved Gear
Dynamic Amplifiers 2040 Series
Tone to "Dy" For
Dynamic Amps 2040 series Price: $2,570 (VA Combo) David Carambula’s Dynamic 2040 series of amplifiers consists of three models: Vintage American (VA), Vintage British (VB), and the HG DynaLead. All use class AB single-channel design that can utilize a variety of output tubes, with output reduction, tube rectifier, tube-driven tremolo, spring reverb, welded-aluminum chassis, point-to-point […]
Artists
Remembering Jeff Beck
The Guitar Hero, Defined
Jeff Beck, the guitarist who pushed the ’60s British Invasion band the Yardbirds from its electric-blues roots to a contemporary rock-and-roll sound before becoming one of the most-influential musicians of his generation, died January 10 after being stricken with bacterial meningitis. He was 78. Born Geoffrey Arnold to Arnold and Ethel Beck on June 24, […]
Classic Instruments
Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295
First Guitar of Rock and Roll
Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the country in July of 1954, courtesy of Elvis Presley’s supercharged-hillbilly singing on “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” backed by Scotty Moore’s guitar. It was the twang heard ’round the world. That guitar […]
Classic Instruments
The Ovation Adamas II
What do you get when you cross a helicopter with a Martin dreadnought? Easy answer – Ovation guitars, perhaps the greatest champion of alternative materials in an age when traditional woods like Brazilian rosewood and Honduran mahogany have become virtually extinct. Among Ovation’s alt-material creations, the Adamas is the ultimate expression. The father of Ovation […]
Classic Instruments
Ecco-Fonic
John Adomono was an American guitar hero of the Cold War years. JFK named him his favorite guitarist, and Adomono played a command performance at the White House. He performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” jammed with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Martin Denny. And at the dawn of the Space Race, […]
Artists
Larry McCray
Redemption Blues
Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.” After 40 years playing the blues, Larry McCray has lived it. And while his star is rising late thanks to a bump from Joe […]
Artists
Steve Hill
One-Man Band
Canadian guitarist Steve Hill is a flat-out rocker, smashing blues into rock and roll with terrifying force, as heard on his latest, Dear Illusion. Often playing as a genuine one-man band with foot-powered drums, Hill drapes his new music with horns, powerhouse vocals, and guitar solos steeped in the blues. Pickin’ and poppin’ strings with […]