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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Jimmy Bryant
Country-Jazz Virtuoso
When Leo Fender strode into a cowboy bar on the outskirts of Hollywood one day in 1950, he had no…

Pat Travers
Full Blast
It’s an elite class – rock guitarists who crossed the Atlantic to achieve their rock-star dreams. Somewhere between the mid-’60s…

Orville Gibson A model
All carved-top guitars and mandolins trace their ancestry back to Orville Gibson of Kalamazoo, Michigan. However, as this A model…

Gretsch G5191BK Tim Armstrong Electromatic
Cool Player, Punk Heart
Few punk-rock guitarists have made their mark like Tim Armstrong. Through his work with renowned punkers Rancid, Armstrong has torn…

Thomas Nordegg
Indispensible
At certain large-scale rock shows, there’s often a white-haired gentleman running onstage to hand guitars to artists like Steve Vai,…

The SeaGlass Route6jr
Boutique Nobility
Roger Mello of SeaGlass Guitars officially opened shop in 2011. Today, he offers four electric models; his Route6jr maintains the…
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VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Glenn Hughes
Golden-Voiced Bassist
In the past year, Glenn Hughes has experienced highs like being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…

John Abercrombie
1944-2017
After a lengthy illness, jazz guitarist John Abercrombie died August 22 at a hospital outside Peekskill, New York. He was…

Fretprints: Fran Beecher
Rock-and-Roll Guitar Begins
The ripples that anticipated a rock-and-roll tsunami were in motion in the 1940s, when pop, “race records,” and country converged…

Carl Verheyen
Well-rounded and busy
Carl Verheyen says it all came to him when he heard the Eagles’ album called The Long Run. At that…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

1965 Epiphone Emperor
The Epiphone Emperor has a long, convoluted history. It first appeared in Epiphone’s catalog in late 1935 as a response…

Fender Custom Colors in the 1960s
Misty Lakes, Foamy Shores
In the 1950s, America’s fascination with the automobile was running at a fever pitch. The booming economy of the country’s…

Alternative ’60s Club Classics
Amps Beyond the Everyday
The “club amp” has been a perpetual best-seller since the dawn of guitar amplification, and several big-name ’60s models are…

Wolf Strat
A Legend’s Guitar, Discovered
After possessing it for several years, curiosity finally got the best of the owner of this 1963 Stratocaster. He had…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra
Humble, Capital D
One glance at the control panel and cabinet styling of the Louis Electric 6L6-183 Cobra is all most will need…

ZT Extortion Expressive Distortion
Mutant Distortion
ZT Amplifiers put their name on the map four years ago with the compact Lunchbox solid-state amp. Now they continue…

HeadRush MX5
Many Riches
In 2021, Ibanez re-tooled its hollowbody line to devise big surprises like the Japanese-made AF95, a full-bodied archtop with a…

Lotus Pedal Designs’ Snowjob Underdrive
Love That Yellow Snow
You may be wondering, “What in the world is an ‘underdrive’ pedal?” Good question. Well, you know the traffic-jam of…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
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Remembering a Heavy Hero

Jack White
These 26 recordings delve into the heart of the prolific song-smithing of Jack White, providing an eye-opening retrospective of B-sides…

Jonny Wickersham
Social D Guitarist Does ’70s Cali Rock
Best known as the Les Paul Junior-slinging guitarist stage left of Mike Ness in Social Distortion, Jonny “Two Bags” Wickersham…

Pop ’N Hiss: Brian Setzer’s The Knife Feels Like Justice
Cat Out of the Bag
Changing genres after achieving great success can be a risky career move for a musician. But after making it big…

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks
Minds Made Up
Collaborations have rendered some of the greatest tunes in the history of music. Whittle the subject to “just” guitarists, and…










































