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Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!

Ready to set the tone for your holidays, Hilary Gardner and her band return for a fantastic take on the classic Elvis hit “Blue Christmas” (written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson) just for VG followers! Accompanied again by Justin Poindexter and Sasha Papernik, this time they’re joined by Jen Hodge on a ’64 Silvertone 1444 (with a modded headstock) running through a silverface Fender Princeton Reverb. Justin’s 57 Gibson ES-225TD is plugged into a blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb. Keep up with Hilary at www.hilarygardner.com

GIVE YOUR GUITAR-LOVING FRIENDS THE GIFT OF VINTAGE GUITAR! And Treat Yourself to the classic VG 2025 wall calendar – FREE!

To take advantage of this fantastic offer, simply click SUBSCRIBE! Or call 1-800-844-1197 and mention code: JHLDY24 for a 1-year sub!

Hilary Gardner returns with a fresh take on a holiday classic!

Ready to set the tone for your holidays, Hilary Gardner and her band return for a fantastic take on the classic Elvis hit “Blue Christmas” (written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson) just for VG followers! Accompanied again by Justin Poindexter and Sasha Papernik, this time they’re joined by Jen Hodge on a ’64 Silvertone 1444 (with a modded headstock) running through a silverface Fender Princeton Reverb. Justin’s 57 Gibson ES-225TD is plugged into a blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb. Keep up with Hilary at www.hilarygardner.com

GIVE YOUR GUITAR-LOVING FRIENDS THE GIFT OF VINTAGE GUITAR! And Treat Yourself to the classic VG 2025 wall calendar – FREE!

To take advantage of this fantastic offer, simply click SUBSCRIBE! Or call 1-800-844-1197 and mention code: JHLDY24 for a 1-year sub!

Music

Led Zeppelin

The Complete BBC Sessions
Zep On The Beeb

This three-CD set builds on an earlier reissue of Zep recordings for the BBC from 1969 and ’71, adding a third CD of unreleased ’69 tracks. More than 45 years later, it’s still impressive how well BBC engineers managed to capture the sound and fury of early Zeppelin, especially in its scrappy first year. This […]

by Pete Prown
Classic Instruments

The Norma EG 470-2 Deluxe

Everyone of a certain age – and no doubt some younger folks – remembers the sage career advice given young Benjamin Braddock in the classic film The Graduate: “Plastics.” In 1967, such wisdom was humorous because young people knew business was full of “plastic people” in suits. So, it’s especially ironic that someone of a […]

Brian Tarquin
Artists

Brian Tarquin

No Idle Hands

Brian Tarquin is more than keeping busy. In the space of six weeks, he recently released two very different instrumental CDs centered on his playing with a multitude of guests, and he published a coffee-table book about guitars. Guitars For Wounded Warriors is a tribute to those who have served. “I wanted to really give […]

Classic Instruments

William Peale, Jr. Gibson Super 400

Sharp-Shooter Special

The iconic “singing cowboy” was created by Hollywood actors like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and others. Many used fancy, customized guitars, often with their name emblazoned on the fingerboard, and the majority were high-end flat-tops including Martin D-45s and Gibson J-200s. This 1940 Gibson Super 400N was made for a genuine Texas cowboy […]

George Gruhn and Staff
VG Approved Gear

Guild Bluesbird

Flyin’ High Again

The Guild Bluesbird has a long history that began in the 1950s with Guild’s answer to the Gibson Les Paul –the M-75 Aristocrat, later renamed the M-75 Bluesbird. The guitar appeared in the Guild catalog for years before it was discontinued in the 1970s. It remained off the radar until the mid-1990s, when Guild reissued […]

Jamie Kime
Artists

Jamie Kime

Lord Of The Jam

Jamie Kime’s first solo record, Alleys, displays a mix of lush guitar tones, poignant soundscapes, and evocative panoramas. We recently sat with him to discuss it, and his recent gig touring with Zappa Plays Zappa project, featuring Franks Zappa’s son, Dweezil. Was there a theme when you started recording Alleys? A lot of the tunes […]

VG Approved Gear

Colby Dual Tone Booster 50

Double Versatile

Colby DTB50 Price: $3,800 (head); $750 (cabinet) Contact: www.colbyamps.com From 1978 through 2010, Mitch Colby helped Marshall become a preeminent name in amplifiers. He recently founded Colby Amplification, where he builds amps by hand, one at a time, and his first model, the Dual Tone Booster (dtb), was built in collaboration with Jim Weider, best […]

Artists

Scott Holiday

Unrivaled Son

Regardless of the state of pop or rock music, it’s invigorating when a group comes along to remind us what rock and roll sounds like when it’s written from the soul, played from the gut, and delivered with conviction. Offering all but the smell of the hot EL34s, Rival Sons’ latest album, Great Western Valkyrie, […]

Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought
VG Approved Gear

Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought

Reviving the ’30s

Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought Price: $4,999 (list); $3,799 (street) Info: www.guildguitars.com. Compared to Martin’s longstanding factory location in Pennsylvania, Guild’s acoustic guitar factory has been a gypsy. The company first produced guitars in Hoboken, New Jersey, before moving to Waverly, Rhode Island, then to Corona, California, followed by Tacoma, Washington. Today, New […]

Music

Check This Action: The Sound Of The Surf

Before acts like the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean sang about surfing, guitar bands in Southern California started playing a style of instrumental rock that fans dubbed “surf music.” Inspired by the sounds of Duane Eddy, Link Wray, the Fireballs, and Ventures, groups like the Belairs, Eddie & the Showmen, and Challengers became local […]

VG Approved Gear

Republic 207 Tricone

Brass Ring

Resonator guitars appear to inspire a particular kind of affliction among players. And it’s a difficult addiction to maintain, given the paucity of vintage National and Dobro instruments, their much-cursed playability, and their ever-climbing prices. Frank Helsley, Jr. is wise to all that. As a teen in Texas, he first heard Johnny Winter play the […]

Lengardo Milano JBE Series
VG Approved Gear

Lengardo Milano JBE Series

Beyond Kalamazoo

Lengardo Milano JBE Series Price: $4,254 Contact: www.JBEPickups.com Though a name unfamiliar to most, Lengardo is a brand of Phaselus, a manufacturer/distributor of guitars and music accessories in the European Union. Recently, the company partnered with JBE Pickups to produce a new line of guitars offered for the U.S. market. The Milano is its take […]

Artists

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody

Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part One

There are many ways for an advertiser to attract attention, and in the history of 19th- and 20th-century print hucksterisim there have been few stones left unturned in the battle for audience eyes! If the intended demographic is largely male, one of the most reliable strategies is to place a pretty girl next to – […]

Artists

Tagore Grey

British Steel

If you’ve been starving for good old-fashioned hard rock, the Treatment has your number. The British band has been building its reputation for more than a decade, delivering in-yer-face guitar riffs and solos that echo Def Leppard and AC/DC. Their latest, Waiting for Good Luck, features guitarists Tagore Grey and his brother, Tao. We asked […]

Saint Blues
VG Approved Gear

St. Blues Bluesmaster, Blindsider, and Delta Blues Box

Straight from the Delta

Saint Blues Bluesmaster/Blindsider Price: $2,399 (Bluesmaster); $2,550 (Blindsider) Info: saintblues.com St. Blues’ history stretches back to the days when its founders customized guitars for the likes of Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, and Duane Allman as their tours passed through Memphis. Today the company has a storefront just a few yards from the legendary Sun Studio, […]

Artists

Myles Goodwyn

1948-2023

Myles Goodwyn, co-founder, creative force, and guitarist/frontman in April Wine, died December 3. He was 75 and while no cause of death has been reported, for years he lived with Type 2 diabetes. Goodwyn grew up in Waverly, Nova Scotia, and was influenced by an uncle who was a gigging musician; at age six, his […]

Blackstar HT Club 40
VG Approved Gear

Blackstar HT Club 40

Monster of Rock

Blackstar HT Club 40 Price: $699.99 (list) Contact: www.blackstaramps.com Standalone combo amplifiers that cover broad sonic terrain are popular with guitarists looking for quick, pedal-free stage setups. Blackstar’s HT Club 40 fulfills those desires by offering a foot-switchable, two-channel, 40-watt combo with two modes per channel, Master Volume, and a 12″ speaker. At just over […]

Have Guitar Will Travel

Have Guitar Will Travel – 020 Featuring Dan Hawkins

In this episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Dan Hawkins, producer and guitarist for the Darkness. They dig into the band’s new album, Easter is Cancelled, and other topics including Dan’s home studio (where the album was recorded), his collection of recording gear, his car collection, the music business, […]

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