Universal Audio Max and Del-Verb

Smart Stomps

April 19, 2024 · Pete Prown

After rolling out several “amp-in-a-box” pedals last year, Universal Audio is back with a fresh line of stompboxes to help…

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO

Archtop Ruler

January 24, 2017 · Michael Dregni

In the early 1950s, the grand old luthiers like Epiphone and Gibson couldn’t believe there would ever be a market…

Newman Guitars’ Honeycomb Chambered Jr.

Way Cool Version

June 7, 2023 · Tom Guerra

Following Ted Newman Jones’ passing in 2016, protégé Jeff Smith took over Newman Guitars and is furthering the vision, using…

Earthquaker Devices’ Avalanche Run

Test for Echo

July 5, 2018 · Zac Childs

The story of Earthquaker Devices begins with Jamie Stillman fixing his own overdrive pedal and then deciding to get into…

Have Guitar Will Travel 063 – Brendan Byrnes

December 14, 2021 · James Patrick Regan

Host James Patrick Regan welcomes guitarist/composer Brendan Byrnes to the latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” Brendan is a…

Billy Flynn

True Chicago Blues

April 24, 2019 · Pete Prown

The phrase “electric blues” is a catch-all for many genres, but for aficionados it refers to a highly specific idiom…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Take Flight

    Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

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ARTISTS

Blu DeTiger: Funk-Pop Pioneer

October 23, 2024 · Ward Meeker

When she was seven years old, sibling rivalry spurred Blu DeTiger to get a bass so she could play along…

Mark Knoll

It's about Time

May 24, 2021 · John Heidt

Despite spending three-quarters of his life as a professional musician, singing and playing blistering lead guitar in various groups, until…

Honkytonk Homage

Guitars Venerate Bakersfield Landmark

April 29, 2024 · Willie G. Moseley

Country-music fans familiar with the history of Bakersfield, California, know of Trout’s nightclub. The last of the venues that gave…

Freddie Salem

Outlaw On The Trail

October 11, 2021 · Pete Prown

The Outlaws weren’t just a great Southern band, but also one of the most intense guitar experiences in all of…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Steve Vai

Relentless Explorer

January 9, 2023 · Pete Prown

More than 40 years into his career, Steve Vai is still pushing himself as a musician and exploring the boundaries…

B.C. Rich Eagle

April 28, 2020 · Michael Wright

When my son was young I used to do “guitar shows” for his classes, showing off 10 or so electric…

Epiphone “Bikini Logo” Amplifiers

Beach Party

January 3, 2025 · Dave Hunter

Collectors know well the desirability of Epiphone guitars from the years after Gibson acquired the brand. Further off the radar,…

United They Stood, Part 2

Ghosts of Jersey City

July 11, 2022 · Peter Stuart Kohman

In the history of guitars, the tale of United Guitar Corporation is a ghost story – little documented and lost…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

The Prestige Classic TBK

Hidden Treasure

October 15, 2021 · Bob Cianci

One of the best-kept guitar secrets, Prestige is a small Vancouver-based operation that has flown under the radar for 18…

Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Effect

In a Mello Tone

March 5, 2019 · Rich Maloof

Producer George Martin was so fond of John Lennon’s tape-relay keyboard that he described it “as if a Neanderthal piano…

Bergen Guitars ST and TL

Messing with Perfection

March 4, 2014 · Chip Wilson

Bergen Guitars ST and TL Price: $2,195 (ST, base)/$2,595 (as tested); $1,895 (TL, base)/$2,295 (as tested) Info: www.bergenguitars.com. If your…

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force

Tones of Destiny

April 6, 2015 · Zac Childs

The Providence Velvet Comp, Red Rock OD, and Phase Force Price: $199 (per piece, list) Contact: www.providence.jp Providence is a…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

KayKraft Style A

March 31, 2010 · Michael Wright

Almost any guitar can be viewed in terms of a confluence of influences that produced it, from the company history…

Brown Guitar Factory Chambered Electric

Beast Mode

April 23, 2019 · Michael Dregni

To use a slightly skewed metaphor, John Brown builds guitars to the beat of a different drummer. After all, who…

Fretprints: Fran Beecher

Rock-and-Roll Guitar Begins

March 9, 2023 · Wolf Marshall

The ripples that anticipated a rock-and-roll tsunami were in motion in the 1940s, when pop, “race records,” and country converged…

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Dirt on My Diamonds, Vol. 1

August 7, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

It’s easy to summarize Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s raw-yet-modern blues approach. Joined by co-vocalist Noah Hunt, Shepherd delivers a lyric straight…

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Look at that “Cadillac”

July 19, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Gretsch’s 1955 White Falcon was the pink Cadillac of guitars – quite possibly the most outlandish guitar ever produced. The…

Alex Machacek

Stripped Down

February 16, 2015 · Oscar Jordan

When you get the thumbs-up from icons like John McLaughlin and Chick Corea, it’s got to feel good. But, fusion…

Paul Gilbert

The Joy of Destruction

November 4, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

We’ve all been there; cruising along in the car, minding our business, soaking in cool guitar tunes when another driver…

Bill Nelson

Still Deluxe

September 9, 2015 · Pete Prown

Most people remember Bill Nelson as the front man/guitar hero in the English band Be Bop Deluxe. Since folding that…

Nate Bergman

Skankin’ With Lionize

November 12, 2014 · Oscar Jordan

The members of Lionize blend heavy rock with reggae to create infectious tunes… kind of like if the guys in…

Zakk Wylde

Doomsayer

August 11, 2022 · Greg Prato

Best-known as Ozzy Osbourne’s longest-tenured guitarist, Zakk Wylde has also been the leader of Black Label Society since the late…

George Fullerton

Guitar Icon

May 14, 2023 · Willie G. Moseley

George Fullerton, whose decades-long association with Leo Fender earned the two early electric-guitar innovators a place in history, He died…

Forty Quid of Klunk

Tales of the Harmony Bass

January 6, 2014 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh, Klunk! It’s not the most artful musical introduction, but it was effective. And by the time a screaming Hammond…

EVH Stripe Series Star

Romeo Delight

March 1, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

There was time when guitarists waited for new Van Halen records like ferrets on crack. After all, in the early…

Paul Reed Smith

Lions Roaring in Quicksand

December 6, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

The new album by guitar builder Paul Reed Smith and his band, Eightlock, offers soul-based sounds with deep grooves, three…

Rickenbacker 4005

November 24, 2020 · Willie G. Moseley

California’s Rickenbacker guitar company has a tradition of things a bit differently. One of the earliest electric guitars was their…

Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls

Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls

On the Road to ’59

January 28, 2016 · Michael A. Slubowski

Strings and Things Les Paul Many articles have been written about how guitarists and dealers in the mid/late 1970s and…

Gibson 1953 GA-40 Les Paul Model

Brown Sound

March 31, 2025 · Dave Hunter

Gibson landing Les Paul’s name on the headstock of its debut solidbody electric in 1952 was the biggest guitar-star endorsement…

Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P asks “Who’s Gonna Ride”

April 29, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

’59 Stratotone at the Memphis Slim House While Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P and his ’59 Harmony Stratotone were visiting the…

J.D. Simo

Tele-Free Trio

January 8, 2014 · Zac Childs

J.D. Simo moved to Nashville seven years ago and quickly landed in the coveted hot spot as the lead guitarist…

Ace Frehley

Shock Waves

December 13, 2024 · Bret Adams

As an original member of rock titans Kiss, “Space Ace” Frehley inspired countless budding musicians. His new album, 10,000 Volts,…

Dave Haskell

Wings and Strings

April 20, 2016 · John Heidt

Plenty of improbable stories involve guitarists making first records amid peculiar circumstances. But few match Dave Haskell’s journey to Pivot…

Epiphone Emperor Swingster

Juke-Joint Jammer

August 9, 2013 · Sean OBryan Smith

Though its high-point in terms of popular exposure may have occurred when McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison “discovered” the Casino, Epiphone…

Supro Amulet 1×10

Old-School Soul

December 23, 2023 · Charlie Wilkins

Paying homage to low-powered tube amps from yesteryear, the Supro Amulet was designed to re-create classic Supro sounds with a…

Dallas Rangemaster

The Dallas Rangemaster

January 26, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Eric Clapton christened it “woman tone.” On the famed 1966 “Beano” album, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, the…

Rockn Stompn Sequential Power Strip

“Good” Power!

March 1, 2017 · Chip Wilson

Power. Juice. Electricity. The brilliance of Ben Franklin, James Watt, and Nikola Tesla helped harness, if not tame, this vital…

Divided By 13 BTR23C Brian Ray Signature

English Flavor

March 21, 2014 · Oscar Jordan

Divided By 13 BTR23C Price: $2,800 Info: www.dividedby13.com. After years of repairing and modding amps for himself and pals like…

Jim Lauderdale

Hope

July 22, 2022 · Rich Kienzle

Inspired by the pandemic, veteran singer/songwriter Lauderdale stresses resiliency and renewal on these 13 originals, enhanced along the way by…

The JangleBox J-Boost

Seamless Sheen

March 5, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

Twelve years ago, Janglebox founder Steve Lasko set out to create effects pedals that capture the sparkling clean chime made…

Snowy White

Snowy White

One Man, One Guitar

March 11, 2016 · Donald Wiedman

Snowy White, one of the finest blues and rock musicians to come out of the U.K., built a career on…