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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…
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5
Tone To Carry-On
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 Price: $249 (list) Contact: www.tech21nyc.com Long before the Line6 POD, the Box of Rock, or…
Xotic Bass BB Preamp V1.5
In Your Face
Sometimes, bassists need boost, too, like when that bass-solo interlude from Sade’s “Smooth Operator” comes along and it’s time to…
Buddy Merrill
1936-2021
Buddy Merrill, guitarist, steel-guitarist, composer, arranger, recording artist, and occasional vocalist, died December 5. He was 85. A seasoned musician…
JHS Charlie Brown Overdrive
Beautiful Noise
While few guitarists get the opportunity to plug into every vintage Marshall amp and hear their distinguishing tonal characteristics, most…
Steve Cropper
Friend, Legend
Even before he began to record seminal music using an Esquire plugged into a Harvard amp – creating one of…
PRS Swamp Ash Special SE
Bolt-On Beauty
Known historically for its set-neck guitars, PRS has produced a number of killer bolt-ons, like the CE and Silver Sky.…
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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
Dad’s Day 2021
VG’s Annual Salute to Fathers Who Inspire
Marty Ashby’s very musical family has been playing together since he was a little kid. Here’s a shot of them…
Fretprints: Hiram Bullock
Dangerously Funky Fusioneer
In the sonic constellation orbiting jazz-rock, Hiram Bullock traveled a separate trajectory. His work on “Angela,” the theme for “Taxi,”…
Fretprints: Ty Tabor
X Marks the Spot
The turbulent 1980s ended with a tsunami of bands seeking new sounds. Trends like classic-rock redux, blues/roots revivals, nu-metal, grunge,…
Freddie Salem
Outlaw On The Trail
The Outlaws weren’t just a great Southern band, but also one of the most intense guitar experiences in all of…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Robbie Robertson, 1943-2023
Lasting Legacy
It’s ironic that Robbie Robertson was famous mostly for his songwriting, because beneath the minimal, compositional style that marked his…
Ampeg Gemini II G-15
Preamp tubes: three 12AX7, one 6CG7, one 7199. Output tubes: two 7868. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: volume, treble and bass on…
Parsons/White StringBender
From the origins of country-rock to Jimmy Page, Metallica, and a slew of modern country-pickin’ wizards, the string bender lends…
The Rickenbacker 4000
The model 4000 was not only Rickenbacker’s first foray into the electric-bass market, it was decidedly different from Fender’s Precision…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Gretsch’s G6128T-CLFG Cliff Gallup Signature Duo Jet
Tip Of The (Blue) Cap
Hot dog! Gretsch has long dreamed of issuing a Cliff Gallup signature guitar, but the stars never quite aligned –…
DigiTech iStomp
Morph For Less
DigiTech iStomp Price: $149.95 Info: www.digitech.com/istomp If you’re the type of gearhead who turns heel and runs from DSP effects,…
Sundragon Super Dragon
The Sound Remains
A few years back, amp builder Mitch Colby and music producer Perry Margouleff teamed with Jimmy Page to introduce the…
The Dr. Z CAZ-45
Prescription Filled
When word got out in early 2020 that Mike Zaite and Alan Phillips (founder of Carol-Ann Amplifiers) were collaborating on…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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And an Archtop Mystery
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Supergroup Alpha
Dana Sutcliffe
Here’s the Scoop
Many know Dana Sutcliffe from his classic guitar design, the Alvarez Dana Scoop produced from the late 1980s through the…
Alter Bridge
Since 2013’s Fortress, Alter Bridge has lost no momentum. They’ve focused their talents to create a successful formula that highlights…
Fretprints: Paul Simon
Postmodern Troubadour: The Simon & Garfunkel Years
Troubadours – poet/musicians active in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, played a defining role in Western civilization. The…
Wata
Mega-Decibel Fuzz
Anyone who digs fuzzed-out hard rock with amps pushed to their limit should add Boris to their play list. Hailing…
