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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Mike McCready
Strat Swap: Fender CS Mark Anniversary of Ten
“I smashed a lot of guitars!” says Mike McCready of his nights onstage as Pearl Jam rode the crest of…

John Scofield
Uncle John’s Band
Cue up the title cut and admire John Scofield’s chord-melody approach to the Grateful Dead’s 1971 FM hit. While Sco’…

Steve West
Life Since “Louie, Louie”
What constitutes a Guitar Hero? Is it Hendrix or Van Halen, or is it your seminal six-string inspiration? Or what…

Nancy Wilson
Beautifully Unbroken
Responsible for guitar-laden classics such as “Crazy On You,” “Love Alive,” and “Devil Delight,” Nancy Wilson has been inspiring musicians…

Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall Hendrix is undoubtedly the greatest rock guitarist who ever lived, and Experience Hendrix LLC is now releasing a…

Newman Guitars Lake Placid Blue
Portrait in Blue
Excitement at the arrival of this offset beauty was dampened by the sad news that its creator had passed away…
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VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Tom Principato
Bridging the Big Pond
Tom Principato’s 18th album, Live and Still Kickin’! portrays the energy of its title and was recorded on two continents.…

Dave Specter
Chicago Style
Dave Specter’s Message In Blue is chock full of imaginative instrumentals, great guest vocals, and blistering guitar work from Specter.…

Pop ’N Hiss: Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak
Fight Or Fall
At the dawn of 1976, Thin Lizzy was in trouble. Neither of the quartet’s previous two studio albums, Nightlife and…

Mason Razavi – Masterful Jazz
Gibson L-5 on “You Stepped Out of a Dream” Mason Razavi is known in jazz circles for his superb…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Recording King Ray Whitley
As a maker of high-quality instruments, Gibson was hit hard by the onset of the Depression in the 1930s. Company…

“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…

Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls
On the Road to ’59
Strings and Things Les Paul Many articles have been written about how guitarists and dealers in the mid/late 1970s and…

Fender Custom Shop Marks 30 Years
Dream Makers
In “official” terms, the Fender Custom Shop opened in 1987. But its story actually began February 1, 1985 – the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

The Budda Twinmaster
Return of a Boutique Legend
In the early days of boutique-amp building, there were but a few contenders on the scene. One of the strongest…

Fuchs Audio Technology Full House-50 Combo
The Art of the Deal
The Fuchs Full House-50 1×12 is a compact amp that strives to deliver a range of tones in a small…
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,…

Z.Vex Fuzz Probe
There-Mayhem
The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory pedal unleashed sonic possibilities ranging from a horde of wasps to the (presumed) sound of the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
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Remembering a Heavy Hero

Six-Strings, 60 Years Ago
A Likely First
Had he survived to this day, Elvis Presley – cultural icon extraordinaire – would be 80 years old. The man…

Tom Feldmann
“And the Oscar goes to…” If they gave out Academy Awards for the best guitar instructional film, Tom Feldmann’s latest…

Check This Action: Monumental Treasures
One of my favorite gospel albums has the mouthful title An Evening With Rev. Louis Overstreet, His Guitar, His Four…

Iron Maiden
Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast
From the 2019 tour, this two-CD live set from Mexico captures the British metalers in top form, four decades after…













































