-
Super PickupGiveaway 2025
Win Big! 11 Sets! 11 Winners! Win a set of pickups from one of these sponsors: Deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete the survey below to enter giveaway. One entry…

Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #9
Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #9 For his ninth exclusive lesson for VG, Ray Cummins shows how to play a…

ZT Amplifiers’ Lunchbox Junior
Tasty Treat
ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Junior Price: $149 (street) Info: www.ztamplifiers.com. ZT Amplifiers is known for producing compact amps that generate sounds…

Classics – May 2021
This 1940 ES-250 with serial number 96385 left the Gibson factory bound for retailer New York Band on October 25,…

Carlos Santana
Musical Outreach
Carlos Santana’s creative drive is obsessive, restless – and relentless. For his latest album, Blessings and Miracles, he pooled the…

Blackstar Nominated for NAMM TEC Award
Each year, the NAMM Foundation gathers artists, fans, and music-industry professionals for an evening celebrating the achievements of producers, engineers,…

The Collins Kids
Mostly-Moseley Memories
Siblings Lorrie and Larry Collins sprang into the public eye in the mid 1950s – dawn of the television era…
-
Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality,…
ARTISTS

Dennis Jones
Beautiful Simplicity
On Soft Hard & Loud, Dennis Jones combines the guitar-centric sounds of the blues, reggae, R&B, and hard rock. The…

Travis Stever
A Conceptual Break
Few rock bands have explored the “concept album” format as thoroughly as Coheed and Cambria; the band’s first seven full-length…

Michael Manring
Bass Convergence
Most music fans who learn that the eclectic trio 3Below is all bass players will react with, “You gotta be…

Darryl Jones
Stones’ Side Man, Ron Wood Fan
“Unofficial” Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994, readily admits that playing with the carousing rockers…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Vivi-Tone “Skeleton
A Master’s Magnificent Misfire
The eternal question “Who invented the electric guitar?” has no single answer. By the late 1920s, many players, tinkerers, and…
Earliest Gretsch 6120
…Revealed!
The Gretsch company rose to the upper echelon of guitar manufacturers in the 1950s with the introduction of a diverse…

Dan’s Guitar RX: Doubleneck Redux
A Return to Glory for “Jerry”
In 1977, I was doing guitar repair in Big Rapids, Michigan, and my services included picking up and delivering repair…
Realistic Entertainer-34
As prolific as the Radio Shack chain was in the ’60s, it’s surprising we don’t see more vintage Realistic guitar…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight

Boss IR-2 Amp & Cabinet
Sim Plus
With the rise of home recording, videos, and gigging without amps, Boss has introduced its IR-2 Amp & Cabinet, a…

Black Cat’s D&S and N-Fuzz
Two Faces of Fuzz
Located in south-central Connecticut, Black Cat blends an ear for vintage tones with an eye toward modern function and bulletproof…

Soldano SLO Plus Super Lead Overdive
Icon In Reach
If the iconic Soldano SLO-100 is perpetually on your wish list but its price tag keeps you from pulling the…

Dean Zelinsky Tagliare Z-Glide Custom
Future Tense
Every so often, a builder gives the art of guitar design a firm shove into the future. The Dean Zelinsky…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Fender’s J Mascis
Fender’s J Mascis Artist Jazzmaster – J’s Rockin’ Axe
Introduced in the late 1950s as Fender’s “jazz guitar,” the Jazzmaster was also supposed to compete in the market with…

Reflecting on Steve Cropper: A Playlist
Steve Cropper was just 20 years old when his band, the Mar-Keys, began backing singers in the studios of Stax…

Gov’t Mule featuring John Scofield
Surprises
Fans have begged for this music to be released for a long time. For the most part, it’s two concerts…

Life in the Fast Lane
Mick Wall
Despite personality conflicts and substances galore, The Eagles created impeccably crafted music. Mick Wall’s book explains how Glenn Frey, Don…













































