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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…

Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P asks “Who’s Gonna Ride”
’59 Stratotone at the Memphis Slim House While Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P and his ’59 Harmony Stratotone were visiting the…

Star Stomps
Famous Sounds Abound in New Book
Stompboxes inspire their own special mania. While the allure of guitars is obvious with their colorful, curvaceous looks, effects are…

Steve Hillage
Echoes of Earlier Times
Steve Hillage has followed his muse through 40 years making music as a member of the psychedelic band Gong, a…

Jesse Aycock
Oklahoma’s Finest
Super-sideman Jesse Aycock (Hard Working Americans, Elizabeth Cook) has a new self-titled album highlighting his understated (but mindblowing) guitar, slide,…

Jack Bruce 1943-2014
Jack Bruce, an icon of electric bass, died October 25 in Suffolk, England. Best known for his work with Cream…
Blackstar Amped 2
Satisfying Sounds
Blackstar’s entry to the growing market of “all in one” compact amplifier/effects units claims to offer a high degree of…
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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…
ARTISTS

Jim Lauderdale
Harder Country
Jim Lauderdale has had three busy years. 2021’s Hope, which he calls “a very uplifting album,” emerged from the pandemic.…

George Fullerton
Guitar Icon
George Fullerton, whose decades-long association with Leo Fender earned the two early electric-guitar innovators a place in history, He died…
Greg Lake
Recalling the Music
Bassist/vocalist/songwriter Greg Lake came to notice in 1969 as member of King Crimson and his membership in Emerson, Lake and…

Rob Fleming
From Bowie to KillerStar
KillerStar is no David Bowie cover band. Instead, it’s an uncanny project from U.K. guitarist Rob Fleming and drummer James…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Ray Butts EchoSonic
If you want to talk star-user ratio, the Ray Butts EchoSonic is near the top of the heap. Most accounts…

The ‘‘Blackburst’’
Les Paul Standard of a Different Shade
Among experienced (and often jaded) veteran guitar collectors, precious few things create an adrenaline rush – strange one-offs, oddball brands that never quite blossomed,…

Fender Precision Bass
The “Final” Configuration
The Fender Precision Bass was the first commercially successful solidbody electric bass. Played somewhat like a guitar and sporting a…

First Guitar of Rock and Roll
Scotty Moore’s Gibson ES-295
Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
The Vox AC30C2X and AC15C1
Brit-Rock Mojo in a Box
Fully appointed in classic Vox dress, the famed British amp maker’s new AC30C2X and AC15C1 both sport enough of that…

Fender American Professional Jazzmaster
Return Of The Rebel
From the get-go, Fender’s Jazzmaster was the black sheep of the family – that wild-at-heart uncle your ma warned you…

Supro’s Titan 1642RT
Born To Gig
Supro’s new Titan amp is built to play out. This 50-watt 1×10 tube combo packs it all into a compact,…

Martin D-28 Standard
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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And an Archtop Mystery
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Supergroup Alpha

Line 6 Catalyst 100
Natural Vibe
The latest array of amp modelers from Line 6 – pioneers in the field – is the Catalyst, in 60-,…

Rush
Moving Pictures 40th Anniversary
If “The Spirit of Radio” helped Rush kick open the door to FM radio, its 1981 follow-up elevated them to…
Setting Up Effects
Certain Guidelines Apply to a Signal Chain, But Your Ears Are the Ultimate Judge
One question frequently asked by guitar players is how to set up effects and arrange them in a proper signal…

Dingwall Super P
Fanning the Flames
A time-honored approach to guitar and bass design is to take a classic and improve it. That’s certainly the case…






































