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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…
Joe Satriani
Creativity and Chaos
Calling any player “the hardest working guitarist in the business” is rather like referring to one as the “best guitarist”…
Billy Flynn
True Chicago Blues
The phrase “electric blues” is a catch-all for many genres, but for aficionados it refers to a highly specific idiom…
The Rolling Stones
Rolling In The Blues
Mick Jagger’s famous 1968 statement – “What’s the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you…
Bobby “Blue” Bland
The Guitarists of Blues’ Crown Prince
On June 23 of last year, the blues lost one of its greatest singers with the death of Bobby “Blue”…
Epiphone Excellente
Sonny James' Epiphone Excellente
The Epiphone Excellente was the fanciest flat-top Gibson made in the 1960s, and to some ears it was Gibson’s best.…
The Beach Boys
Great Vibrations
It’s ironic – and tragic – that Brian Wilson leads off his long-awaited memoir explaining the voices he hears in…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Band of Heathens’ Gordy and Ed: Low-Key and Tasty!
Austin heroes play vintage-laden twofer Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi use a few of their favorite things to play…
The Steepwater Band
More Players, More Music
The Steepwater Band, based in Chicago, has been a trio for most of its career, purveying guitar-based Americana. Guitarist Jeff…
Joe Satriani
Capturing the Energy
Joe Satriani’s new album, What Happens Next, is a terrific back-to-basics effort with Satch in a trio format. Enlisting Red…
McKinley James
Payin’ Dues in Rhythm & Blues
If you listen to early electric blues and R&B records, you’ll often notice the original sessions were cut without a…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Valco El Grande
Preamp tube: one 6SL7 Output tube: one 6V6GT Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone Speaker: 8″ Rola speaker Output: 5 watts…
Teisco Del Rey Basses
’60s Egalitarianism from Japan
Teisco Del Rey basses from the 1960s are exemplary of the Japanese-made instruments that swept into the American market like…
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Redd Volkaert
Season 03 Episode 03 In Episode 3.3 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Redd Volkaert, one of…
United Guitar Corporation
United They Stood…. A Jersey City Tale
The history of the United Guitar Corporation, which unfolded in Jersey City, just over the river from the glitter of…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Phantom Reissue 1964 PH12
Ghost of Vintage Past
From the Hollies to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, from Robert Junior Lockwood to the Stones, the electric 12-string has a prominent…
Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay
Return to the Space(y) Age
Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they…
Small Wonder
The Orange Rocker 15 Terror
Small-footprint amp heads – tube and solidstate – are all the rage and getting better all the time. Case in…
Dr Z Octal Six 1×12 combo
Valve Variation
Classic guitar amplifiers have made certain vacuum tubes household names (among gearheads) – 12AX7, 12AT7, 6L6, 6V6, EL84, and EL34.…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
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,…
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
Live at Levon’s!
The term “versatile” is laughable when it comes to Larry Campbell. A handful of the artists he has recorded, produced,…
Calexico
El Mirador
Calexico has long crisscrossed the border between American (blues, country, rock and roll) and Latin-American sounds, but the band’s latest…
The Pettyjohn Crush Compressor
Big Squeeze
Compressors can be a real mystery to guitarists who don’t understand the concept. Recording engineers bandy about words like “hard-knee”…
