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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…

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…

Lovepedal Purple Plexi
Glory & Overtones
Fans of guitarists with superb tones routinely spot Lovepedal boxes on pedalboards in almost every music genre. From their early…

John Pizzarelli
Better Days
In just over a one-week period in April of 2020, John Pizzarelli turned 60, lost his father (famed jazz guitarist…

Jimi Hendrix Experience
Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967
Imagine a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert where the audience actually disliked the band. That’s the scenario here, a secretly recorded…

Star Board: Bruce Kulick
Bruce Kulick played lead guitar in Kiss for more than a decade, and today stays busy as a solo performer…

Wild Rabbit Salad’s “Postcard From Houston”
Eclectic sounds from Marietta and Bucky Roebuck Wild Rabbit Salad’s “Postcard From Houston” Bucky and Marietta Roebuck of Wild Rabbit…
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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

Derek St. Holmes
Making Rock and Roll Cool Again
Derek St. Holmes has been in the rock and roll business since the early 1970s and is best known for…

Rik Emmett
Triumphant Return
Triumph was one of the leading arena-rock acts of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Striking gold and platinum with…

VG Q&A: A Gilded ’63 Jazz Bass
Plus, Swappable Pickups, Bartell Guitars, and a Mystery Lap Steel
I am the third owner of a 1963 Jazz Bass with a neck stamp “7Jan63A,” pots dated that May, and…

Joe Louis Walker
Indisputable Cred
Joe Louis Walker has enjoyed a long and enviable career making artistically satisfying music while entertaining audiences all over the…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Fender’s 1951-’54 Telecaster
In Detail
Fender’s first Spanish-style guitar was a lesson in functional simplicity with its solid body, single pickup, and bolt-on neck. And…

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

The Story of Nudie’s Mosrite Mandolin
In the mid 1970s, Kosmo and Kathy Cominos collected knives, jukeboxes, wristwatches, etc… But their favorite finds were celebrity-associated musical…

Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass: A Compendium of the Rare, Iconic, and Weird
Nearly two years in the making, Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass: A Compendium of the Rare, Iconic, and…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

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…

Roland Cube Lite
High-Calorie Tone
Roland Cube Lite Price: $169 (street) Info: www.rolandus.com. At just under four pounds, and with a 10″ x 6″ footprint,…

EarthQuaker Devices’ Erupter
Bring The Fuzz
EarthQuaker Devices is one of the most admired pedal builders today, thanks to their original designs that feature tweakable controls…

Rivet ’63/’64 Pickup Set
Pole Position
Rivet Pickups founder David Petschulat made the first locking vibrato with fine tuners for the EVH company, and worked stints…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Scott Henderson
Vibe Station
On his new album, Vibe Station, Scott Henderson once again redefines fusion within a groove-heavy power trio format. As always,…

Darin and Brooke Aldridge’s Family Album
Picture Perfect
The husband-and-wife duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge are one of the hottest acts on the traditional bluegrass/Americana scene. The couple’s…

Mr. Smith goes to Rudy’s
“Upstairs” at a famed NYC guitar boutique
Nashville has Music Row and London has Soho, but if your heart starts palpitating at the mere mention of carved…

Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a…










































