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Magnatone and Slash announce the Lil’ Viper
ST. LOUIS, MO – January 22, 2026 – Magnatone is thrilled to announce the Lil’ Viper – the latest member of the Slash Collection. It’s a lightweight amp designed to…
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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…

Fretprints: Metallica’s Master of Puppets
Genre Giant
In 1984, Kerrang magazine coined the buzzword “thrash,” signaling the arrival of an unprecedented heaviness in rock music – not…

Fender’s V-Front 5B4 Super-Amp
Wonder Wedge
Though all tweed Fender amps of the late ’40s and ’50s are lauded and lusted after, the V-front Super might…

Walrus Slöer Ambient Reverb
Reverb Reimagined
Reverb is nearly omnipresent in modern music, and for those looking to add some with a twist, Walrus Audio has…

Peter Rowan
Carter Stanley’s Eyes
Peter Rowan spent 1963 through ’67 as lead singer/guitarist with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys before his own…

Retro and Wonderful
The EHX Mainframe Bit Crusher
The Mainframe Bit Crusher is a nasty little pedal that warps, mangles, distorts and produces lo-fi digital sounds and trippy…

PRS Silver Sky
Stratospheric
Paul Reed Smith has for years experimented with Leo-inspired concepts, and his newest guitar, conceived in collaboration with rocker John…
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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…
ARTISTS

Allen Hinds
Flowing
On The Good Fight, guitarist Allen Hinds finds the sweet spot between melodic fusion and good, earthy music for the…

Steve Morse
Already busy touring and recording with Deep Purple, axe virtuoso Steve Morse has added another dish to the menu –…

Fretprints: Yngwie Malmsteen
Alcatrazz and the Birth of Bach and Roll
Los Angeles, 1983. The rock community was a land devastated by the bombast of L.A. metal – Eddie Van Halen,…

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…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Airline GIM 9151A
After The Fall
1970 Montgomery Ward Airline GIM 9151A Preamp tubes: three 12AX7 Output tubes: four 6L6GC Rectifier: solid-state Controls: Volume, Treble, Bass…

Two Legendary Les Paul Deluxes
Southern Gold
In the late 1960s, Gibson reintroduced the single-cutaway Les Paul based on its classic ’50s model. But, a new version…

Gibson M-III Standard
Missing the Mark(et)
Gibson’s bread and butter has long been tried-and-true designs that represent remarkable innovations – even if they date back to…

Classics: September 2022
Danny Gatton’s ES-295
Glenn Holley was just five years old when he became infatuated with the sound of rockabilly music thanks to Elvis…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

The Epiphone ES-175 Reissue
Return of a Classic
There are plenty of affordable hollowbodies on the market, but Epiphone’s recent reissue of the Gibson ES-175 is almost a…

Death By Audio’s Deep Animation
The Other Side
If you thought envelope filters died out after Jerry Garcia passed into the great beyond, think again. Submitted as proof…

Keeley Halo Dual Echo
Dot Matrix
In this latest Keeley offering, the goal is capturing Andy Timmons’ “Halo” sound, which mines the world of dotted-8th delay…

Grez Mendocino Short Scale Bass
Time-Machine Tone
In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Black Light/White Noise
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All I Got and Gone

Radial Headload Guitar Amp Load Box
Taming a Shrew
As low-power amps gain in popularity, one wonders what will happen to all the 50- and 100-watt amps starting to…

The Beach Boys
Great Vibrations
It’s ironic – and tragic – that Brian Wilson leads off his long-awaited memoir explaining the voices he hears in…

“Boogie Mod” Dual Showman
What do you do when the humble blackface Bandmaster you acquired sight-unseen turns out to harbor one of rock’s hottest…

Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive
A Step Further
Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive Price: H20 V3 $199 (list); VS-XO $199…














































