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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…
Ted Nugent’s 1962 Gibson Byrdland
Anyone who’s ever caught Ted Nugent on tour has seen this instrument, and during the Summer of 2003 it was…
The Travis Bean TB1000S Standard
A Better Idea
Guitar history is littered with “better ideas,” some of which stayed around, went nowhere, or went somewhere before landing in…
Classics: March 2022
Chris Leuzinger’s 1952 Gibson Les Paul
If your radio was tuned to a country station even for a few minutes anytime in the last 30 years,…
Gurus Amps’ SexydriveMkII
Bellissimo!
Chalk up another score for Italian innovation. Chicco Bellini and his company, Gurus Amps, are among the top dogs in…
Jim Lauderdale
Sweet Music
“I consciously did not want to make a knockoff of a Gram record or an Elvis record.” Jim Lauderdale is…
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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,…
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ARTISTS
Bill Nelson
Brit-Guitar Deluxe
Bill Nelson is one of the unsung heroes of British rock guitar. From his ’70s work with Be Bop Deluxe…
1937 Martin 0-21
Martin is known for its orderly model-naming system, under which all guitars of a certain style from any particular year…
Steve Dawson and his Tricone, “Singin’ the Blues”
Roots Artists Expands the Genren The wildly talented Steve Dawson uses a modern National Tricone for this take on “Singin’…
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…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Cry, Baby!
The Story of the Vox Wah
Beyond being crowned “Album of the Century” by Time magazine, Marley and the Wailers’ 1977 LP Exodus is a wah-wah…
Simon Adahl’s 1958 Höfner 162
Missing Link
He may not be part of anthropological history like Dutch paleontologist Eugene Dubois, but Simon Adahl did have to dig…
Ray Cummins – I’ll See You In My Dreams
Ray Cummins Plays the 1956 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 prototype “Dark Eyes” VG ace online tutor Ray Cummins uses the…
The West Avalon R
Too Funky
1971 West Avalon R • Preamp tubes: two 12AX7, two 12AT7 • Output tubes: two EL34 • Rectifier: solid-state •…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Killer B Standard
Feel the Buzz
In a marketplace crowded with indie guitar builders, Killer B differentiates its Standard model with uncommon contours and a customizable…
Maxon Fuzz Elements Pedals
Elemental Fuzz
Maxon Fuzz Elements Pedals Price: $189 to $199 Contact: www.maxonfx.com Classic fuzz pedals are some of the fine wines of…
Avante Gryphon
Game Changer?
Avante Gryphon Price: $1,495 (street) Info: www.veilletteguitars.com People bandy about the term “game changer” so often these days it barely…
Universal Audio’s OX Amp Top Box
The Tube Abides
Since the mid ’60s, electrical engineers have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of the vacuum tube,…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Chuck Loeb
“Most Wanted” For Melody
From its terrific melodies to the meat-and-potatoes playing that makes him a mainstay of smooth jazz radio, guitarist Chuck Loeb’s…
Kochel Resonator
Big-Sky Steel
Self-taught guitar builder Sean Kochel has always been a compulsive tinkerer, even as a child. Years ago, he and his…
Banjo Master Tony Trischka Plays “Chinese Breakdown”
Prime “Earl Jam” sample! One of the most influential figures in roots music, Tony Trischka, master of the five-string, shows…
Selmer/RSA Truvoice TV10
Shock and Awe
If the British market needed a couple of decades to decide what form the guitar amplifier would ultimately take, we…
