2022 August Issue on Spotify

August 3, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

This month we feature Black Crowes, Graham Nash, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Scofield, ZZ Top, Albert Cummings, Eric Johnson, Def Leppard,…

Keeley Electronics Dark Side

Floyd Fare

August 10, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

In the multi-verse of effects pedals, Robert Keeley’s compressors, dirt boxes, and workstation gizmos are a thing of beauty –…

Rockn’ Stompn RS-4

Order!

May 8, 2025 · Joe Bigley

Powering up your favorite rig in the wrong order can lead to, at minimum, a loud pop through your valued…

Pop ’N Hiss: Wishbone Ash’s Argus

Twin-Lead Loadstone

July 6, 2022 · Willie G. Moseley

Founded in 1969, Wishbone Ash attained fast fame in the U.K. with its meshing of intricate twin-lead-guitar passages and harmony…

Boss Katana 100

Impressive Amenities

May 21, 2019 · Pete Prown

More and more, guitarists’ passion for tube amps is being balanced by the rise of quality digital, solidstate, and modeling…

Ty Tabor’s Six-String Meditation!

June 29, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

King’s X Guitarists’s solo work is mindful, complex Ty Tabor used his Player Strat (with a JB Jr. pickup at…

  • Rik Emmett

    Rik Emmett

    Ten Telecaster Tales

    At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both…

    Read more >>

NOW AVAILABLE!

CURRENT ISSUE

Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!

ARTISTS

Have Guitar Will Travel 101 – Keola Beamer

June 21, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

In episode 101 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine! Host James Patrick Regan speaks with slack…

Marty Friedman’s Melodic Grandeur

June 26, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Vintage Strat, new style on “Illumination” A devout Jackson user with a longstanding signature model, Fender Strat that’s also heard…

Hands On

Lenser Twists Musician Portraiture

July 9, 2019 · Ward Meeker

In 2012, photographer Marc Mennigmann conceived of shooting musician portraits in a very different way – looking beyond faces and…

John Entwistle

John Entwistle 1944-2002

September 7, 2015 · Vintage Guitar

John Entwistle Ode to the Ox 1944-2002 By Ward Meeker Pop music lovers – especially those with an ear tuned…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The City of Guitars

Git-Shopping in Paris

July 9, 2019 · Michael Dregni

On your way to Paris for a romantic getaway? Wanting to see the sights in the City of Light? Then…

In Detail: Gibson’s 1954-’58 Les Paul Junior

April 26, 2022 · Ward Meeker

In 1952, Gibson’s Les Paul model guitar was brand spanking new.  But it wasn’t cutting-edge. True, it was the company’s…

The Real Story of Martin’s 14-Fret Orchestra Models

OM Irony

July 9, 2019 · George Gruhn

Martin Orchestra Model (OM) guitars made prior to World War II are some of the finest ever made for fingerpicking.…

Jon Butcher’s psychedelia mastery

December 5, 2025 · Doug Yellow Bird

Jon Butcher tales his Olympic White ’63 Strat for a rip on “Jam,” a track from his new album, “Nuthin’…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Guild’s S-200 T-Bird

Cult-Fave Phoenix

July 9, 2018 · Bob Cianci

Sometimes admired, often maligned, the cult classic Guild S-200 T-Bird has enjoyed a rebirth in the hands of Black Keys…

Mesa Boogie California Tweed 6V6 2:20 1×10 Combo

Ankle Biter

June 29, 2023 · Charlie Wilkins

Classic Fender tweed amps are known for fat, warm clean tones, but even more for their raunch when cranked. Mesa…

Fender’s Duel Pugilist Distortion & Dual Marine Layer Reverb

Double Trouble

December 8, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Fender launched its Pugilist Distortion and Marine Layer Reverb in 2018, after VP of Innovation Stan Cotey – who’d previously…

Crucial Audio’ Die Götterdämmerung Germanium Fuzz/Ring Modulator

Ring Tones

April 26, 2019 · Pete Prown

Named by Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd after composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, Crucial Audio’s lavishly named Die Götterdämmerung…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Home Feature Image

25 Most Valuable Effects

May 24, 2015 · Dave Hunter

Text by Dave Hunter Data compiled by Alan Greenwood and Gil Hembree Vintage Guitar is marking 25 years of publication…

DoleSonic Half Back Stack

Tone Meets Crafts-manship

December 12, 2013 · Sean OBryan Smith

Shaw Audio Bass 130 Price: $1,350 Contact: www.tremcaster.com, phone: (330) 608-2043 In a day where gear companies often focus on…

Kay Jazz Special

Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader

January 14, 2015 · Willie G. Moseley

Kay entered the electric bass market in the mid 1950s with the K162, which later morphed into the similar K5965…

Fender 5E3 Deluxe

November 9, 2020 · Dave Hunter

Fender 5E3 Deluxe Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, 12AX7 PI Output tubes: two 6V6GT, cathode-bias Rectifier: 5Y3 tube Controls: Independent Volumes…

Tab Benoit

What 10 Sounds Like

October 4, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

I Hear Thunder marks a return to recording for Tab Benoit. With 13 years between albums, he is recording music that…

TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver

Mono Monster

March 14, 2016 · Pete Prown

TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver Price: $399 Info: www.godlyke.com . Despite its cumbersome name and the fact it…

Allen Hinds

Finding His Spot

April 15, 2019 · John Heidt

Allen Hinds has spent a considerable amount of his 60 years playing guitar, and has kept busy lately with two…

Breedlove FF and KO Mandolins

Breedlove FF and KO Mandolins

New Traditionalists

January 13, 2016 · Steven Stone

Breedlove FF and KO Mandolins1 Price: FF $2,265 (list), $1,699 (street); KO $1,999 (list), $1,499 (street) Info: www.breedlovemusic.com. Unlike luthiers…

Kay’s K161 Thin Twin

Post-war Blues Box

July 5, 2018 · Pete Prown

In his day, Jimmy Reed was a huge influence on everyone from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield to the Rolling…

Home Feature Image

Buzz Feiten

Unsung Hero

May 1, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

An unsung hero, accomplished inventor, and builder possessing priceless musical knowledge, Buzz Feiten’s list of session credits could fill a…

Stromberg Master 400

August 9, 2017 · George Gruhn

Considered by many to be the ultimate orchestral rhythm guitar, these very rare instruments are among the most sought-after, and…

Tunerette

Smokin’ Tuner

May 8, 2025 · Joe Bigley

The guitar world has many options to stay in tune but none as cool-looking as the Tunerette. Don’t let the…

Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model

March 28, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model Tyler Morris showcases his 1953 Gibson Les Paul goldtop and GA-70…

SurfyBear Compact Reverb

Bringin’ Springs

April 18, 2024 · Bob Dragich

Reverb got a big push into the world of guitar when Leo Fender installed Hammond’s Accutronics Type 4 Spring Reverb…

Joe Robinson

Eyes on the Prize

October 4, 2023 · Bob Dragich

Bouncing on a trampoline in the yard of the home his father built outside Temagog, Australia, nine-year-old Joe Robinson gleefully…

Eddie Cochran’s Gretsch 6120

Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got that Twang

August 10, 2022 · Michael Dregni

One night in the late 1950s, Eddie Cochran set the world alight onstage in the City of Angels. Though the…

Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo

Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo

April 28, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Rudy Jaramillo is quick to mention that his effects setup is very simple. “I go into my 1) Boss tuner,…

Smith/Kotzen

January 25, 2022 · Bret Adams

This is one of those projects that gets guitar fanatics drooling. Iron Maiden cornerstone Adrian Smith and prolific American veteran…

Scott Gorham

Heavy Fire

March 14, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

It’s hard out there for a ’70s guitar hero. With the struggles of keeping older fans happy verses the challenge…

Tom Keifer

Thick and Thin

February 10, 2014 · Ward Meeker

Tom Keifer is a tad young to be on the (very) long list of musicians inspired first and foremost by…

Brian F. Wright

The Bastard Instrument: A Cultural History of the Electric Bass

May 2, 2025 · Pete Prown

There isn’t enough serious literature about the electric bass, but this book is a worthy contribution. The author takes us…

George Gruhn

How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal

May 15, 2024 · Louis R. Carlozo

If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon…

Greg Lake’s 
Zemaitis Doubleneck

Twice as Heavy

March 20, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

With progressive-rock juggernaut Emerson, Lake & Palmer, bassist/vocalist Greg Lake (1947-2016) played more than one instrument made by the renowned…

Recording Electric Guitars

The Art of Home Recording

July 8, 2016 · Dave Hunter

The process might seem simple – stick mic in front of amp, press "Record." Truth is, though, that even just…

Burke Guitar

Axe That Time Forgot

June 15, 2023 · Ward Meeker

For more than 70 years, aluminum has been a component in guitar construction. Exactly whose idea it was originally has…

Lightnin’ Malcolm’s One-Man Wizardry

March 24, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

First-Rate Blues with Juke Joint Swagger Lightnin’ Malcolm learned blues first-hand from legends of the genre, and it shows! Here,…

Nancy Wilson

One Heart

April 28, 2022 · Bret Adams

The Covid-19 pandemic halted much of our lives, but there was a silver lining. Many musicians who couldn’t tour or…

Burlison & Sugg

Demon Eye, At Your Service

November 28, 2016 · Kathleen Johnson

Demon Eye mixes the best elements of ’70s hard rock and ’80s metal, and delivers the goods in tight, dark…

Foghat

Road Fever: The Complete Bearsville Recordings 1972-1975

January 25, 2024 · Pete Prown

By the time British blues-and-boogie quartet Foghat struck gold in 1975, it already had a solid catalog under its belt.…