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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…

Riversong Guitars Tradition One Performer
New Tradition
Riversong Guitars Tradition One Performer Price: $3,299 (list) Contact: www.riversongguitars.com Occasionally, a luthier’s innovation defines a new acoustic guitar sound.…

Harvey Valdes does Bach – Electrified!
Artist Plugs in to Tackle Work of a Master Harvey Valdes shows us how he does J.S. Bach’s “BMV 999…

Brown Guitar Factory Chambered Electric
Beast Mode
To use a slightly skewed metaphor, John Brown builds guitars to the beat of a different drummer. After all, who…
Taylor Baritone-8
Crazy Eight
The Taylor Baritone-8 Price: $3,998 list; $3,200 street Info: www.taylorguitars.com Some guitarists are happy with conventional guitars and basses. Others,…

ES-Les Paul
F-hole with soul
ES-Les Paul Price: $2,799 to $3,199 (list) Contact: www.gibson.com Gibson’s latest version of the Les Paul isn’t the first with…

Quest for Volume
Django Reinhardt's Selmer #503
Revolutionary jazz demanded a revolutionary jazz guitar. In the summer of 1935, just as his Quintette du Hot Club de…
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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

Gus G’s rippin’ “Demon Stomp”
Rock God on his signature Jackson Star Rock god Gus G – Ozzy vet and Firewind shredder – rips through…

2025 May Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature The Dobbie Brothers, Popa Chubby, Joey Molland, Carlos Alomar, Cream, David Bowie, Rush, Norman Harris, Greg…

Chris Spedding
Convergence of Legends and Friends
The career of guitarist Chris Spedding has spanned more than four decades and included a commendable solo career, a stint…

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…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

“Unicorn”: Ca. 1910 Rafael Casana
This extremely rare guitar has been dubbed the “Unicorn” by virtue of the fact that for all his fame, it…

Intriguing Twosome
A Look at Gibson’s EB-6
As the ’50s drew to a close, Gibson was locked in a heated battle with Fender for a share of…

Gibson’s Budget Redux
The SB Series Guitars and Basses
As the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, Gibson had established itself in the electric-bass market with front-line instruments such as…

Fender 6G6-C Bassman
Brown Sound
There are several revered classics amid the ever-evolving circuits in the amplifier known as the Bassman, but one of the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Peekamoose Model 3
Modern Retro
There’s no shortage of cool, retro-looking solidbodies on the market today, from the big guys as well as the increasing…

Friedman Amplification JEL-20
Firebreather
For 25 years, Dave Friedman has been creating amplifiers that helped him (eh-hem) gain amp-guru status. His limited-run Jake E.…

Fender’s Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster
Country Composite
One of the newest models from Fender’s Artist series is designed to appeal to vintage Telecaster fanatics, country twangers, and…

Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Improving on a Good Thing
Fender’s ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Price: $999.99 list Contact: www.fender.com In 1968, Fender gave its amp line what collectors today…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Intriguing Twosome
A Look at Gibson’s EB-6
As the ’50s drew to a close, Gibson was locked in a heated battle with Fender for a share of…
Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E
Grand-Auditorium Cousins
Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E Price: $1,100 (Sean Harkness Model); $1,350 (CG4070E-CERT) Info: www.waldenguitars.com. With 16 years of producing attractive,…

Martin D-28 Standard
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing…

Edgar Winter
Tribute to “Brother Johnny”
Edgar Winter describes making Brother Johnny in tribute to his late brother, blues-rock guitar icon Johnny Winter, as “one of…










































