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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…
Ray Cummins
Pal of Chet, Friend of Les
Chester and Lester were enamored of his talent. Moreover, they called Ray Cummins a friend, and his journey includes turning…
Traynor YGM-4 Studio Mate
Behind The Eight Ball
Vintage-amp bargain hunters often compare the quality and features of smaller Traynor combos to Fenders and those of the larger…
Joey Molland
The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was…
Johnny Marr
Brit Gets a Git
When pop-music fans in the U.K. talk about guitar heroes, they tend to put more stake in the way a…
VG Q&A: A Gilded ’63 Jazz Bass
Plus, Swappable Pickups, Bartell Guitars, and a Mystery Lap Steel
I am the third owner of a 1963 Jazz Bass with a neck stamp “7Jan63A,” pots dated that May, and…
DryBell’s The Engine
British Splendor
Customers like John Mayer and Mike Landau have helped put DryBell Musical Laboratory effects on some of the world’s biggest…
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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
Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
“A Bunch of Twangy Guitars”
Buck Owens’ track to stardom had an unorthodox start and believe it or not, his singing didn’t launch that journey…
Fretprints: Earl Hooker
Unsung Blues-Guitar Legend
Chicago, 1959. Ask any blues musician where to go, and the answer was likely, “Wherever Earl Hooker is playing.” Earl…
Gregg Wright plays “Hey Li’l Girl”
Fiery riffs from a blues-rock legend! Gregg Wright has opened for Albert and Freddie King, and toured with The Jacksons.…
Manouche courtesy of La Pompe Attack
(Gypsy) Jazzin’ a James Taylor Tune La Pompe Attack shows us their take on James Taylor’s “Traffic Jam,” from their…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Yamaha Weddington Custom
A Better “Classic”
In 1987, classic American guitars like the Les Paul and Stratocaster were still going strong, with few changes since their…
First ’Burst
In May of 1958, a worker at the Gibson factory pulled two Les Paul guitars – serial numbers 8 3087…
Jeff Hanna
Decades of Dirt
One’s taste in music usually starts in the home, where immersion can fuel the subconscious. Jeff Hanna’s parents loved Ella…
Guyatone Micro Effects
Little Boxes, Big Effects
Musical-instrument accessories importer Guyatone introduced its first series of Micro Effects three years ago to widespread praise. Knowing it was…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Fender’s ’57 Custom Pro-Amp
Big Brother
When most guitarists consider Fender’s famed vintage tweeds, the first that come to mind are the 5E3 Deluxe and 4×10…
HomeWrecker Pickups
Slumbering Strats, Awake!
In 2011, session guitarist Joshua Hernandez began winding pickups in his living room. From these modest beginnings, and with no…
Tyler Amp Works’ HM-18 Combo
Jersey Original
New Jersey has a history as home of some iconic amplifiers, and Tyler Amp Works in Westfield is a father-son…
Guild Aristocrat HH
High Roller
Since its arrival in 1954, the chambered Guild Aristocrat and it’s later solid cousin, the Bluesbird, have offered an alternative…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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And an Archtop Mystery
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Supergroup Alpha
Austin Guitarst Eric Hisaw on “Someone Else.”
Rockabilly Meets Punk! Straight outta Austin, Eric Hisaw and his early-’80s import Fender Tele play a cool living-room rendition…
Beyond the Parlor
Part One: The Guitar in Non-Anglo America
Ed. Note: In this series, Tim Brookes attacks the common argument that the guitar in 19th-century America was small, quiet,…
Blackberry Smoke Unplugs
Ds and LGs
By sound and association, Blackberry Smoke walks a fine stylistic line. A good ol’ rock band when it started rollin’…
The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part Two
Last month, we began looking at some of the more entertaining fretted instrument advertising of the 20th century, in what…
