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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…

GizmoAudio’s Ripsaw and Sawmill Jr.
Just Like the First Time
Durham Electronics’ ReddVerb Price: $180 each (list) Info: www.gizmoaudio.com Most guitar players’ first pedal was a distortion/OD, often acquired after…

Gibson 1958-’60 Les Paul Standard
A ’Burst by Any Other Name…
One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twelve. That’s the number of Les Paul Standards Gibson produced between 1958 and 1960. Amongst guitar…

Gretsch G5260 Electromatic Jet Baritone
From Surf to Cinema
In the days before seven- and eight-string guitars, the easiest way to go low was to grab a baritone guitar.…

PRS Fiore
Tone Poet
If you’ve seen guitar wizard Mark Lettieri (VG, November ’22) at work, you know how expressive he is. Whether laying…

Steve Lukather
Sun Shine
Steve Lukather has been a busy professional guitarist for 45 of his 63 years, as a founding member of Toto,…

Ian Hunter
Defying the Odds
Taking advantage of the time off in the early days of the pandemic, Ian Hunter hunkered down in his Connecticut…
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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,…
ARTISTS

Sugar Hill Set Marks 25 Years
In an industry where success is measured in weeks or months rather than years, marking a 25th anniversary is no…

Steve Kimock flashes back to Zero
Amazing improv on “End of World Blues” We review the reissued 1992 album “Naught Again” by Zero, a band that…

Sue Foley’s Pinky Tele
Powerhouse Blues on “Dallas Man” Sue Foley and her band (Corey Keller on drums and John Bradley on bass) tear…

Jack Casady
Hot Tuna, Part II
Jazz bass great Anthony Jackson once told Bass Player magazine he was drawn to Jack Casady’s “big, rich, metallic sound…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

National Style O
Although it has never been the favorite guitar of Hawaiian players, National’s Style O, with its shining metal body and…
Gibson’s 17″ Pre-War Electrics
ES-300 of 1940-’43
Among musicians and collectors, Gibson’s pre-World-War-II ES-300 may be less popular today than the ES-250, but in terms of sheer…

Martin 0-28K
The exotic figuration of Hawaiian koa wood on this Martin 0-28K from 1923 has a visual appeal that matched the…

“Boogie Mod” Dual Showman
What do you do when the humble blackface Bandmaster you acquired sight-unseen turns out to harbor one of rock’s hottest…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Demeter Mighty Minnie Pedalboard Amplifier
Mighty Fine
Demeter Mighty Minnie Pedalboard Amplifier Price: $899.99 Info: www.demeteramps.com Years ago, backstage after a concert, slide-guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth mentioned…

Dunlop Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals
Face Lift
Dunlop’s Fuzz Face Mini Distortion Pedals Price: $129.99 (Germanium, street);$99.99 (Silicon and Jimi Hendrix, street) Contact: www.jimdunlop.com. When it comes…

Breedlove’s Jeff Bridges
The Wood Abides
Sustainably sourced guitars – those constructed with wood harvested from managed land rather than the wilds – are often on…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-M
Satisfying Source
Can’t get no satisfaction from your fuzz pedal? Step back to the source, with Maestro’s new Fuzz-Tone. The FZ-M is…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

1937 Martin 0-21
Martin is known for its orderly model-naming system, under which all guitars of a certain style from any particular year…
Carvin Steve Vai Legacy 3 VL300
The Legend Continues
Carvin Steve Vai Legacy 3 VL300 Price: $899 Info: www.carvin.com. For more than 13 years, Steve Vai has been collaborating…

Grace Bowers
Wine on Venus
It would be easy to dismiss this 18-year-old as a prefab gimmick, but Grace Bowers’ guitar work ain’t no hype.…

Ray Gomez
A Time for Honor
One of the hottest guitarists to emerge from the mid-’70s fusion scene was Ray Gomez, who first became known through…












































