• Duke Robillard – Lowdown

    Duke Robillard – Lowdown

    Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the  first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set…

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  • Super PickupGiveaway 2025

    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…

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Blackstar Fly 3

Best In Show… And More

November 29, 2016 · Bob Dragich

While listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on a small, audiophile-grade table radio, Blackstar Amplification CEO Ian Robinson had an…

Tonk Brothers/Washburn 5241

January 23, 2017 · George Gruhn

From the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Gibson produced instruments under a variety of brand names for retailers like…

Ray Benson

Ray Benson

Where There’s a Wills, There’s a Wheel

March 30, 2016 · John Heidt

Asleep At the Wheel’s latest album is the band’s third tribute to Bob Wills. Long-time leader Ray Benson recently talked…

Boss DD-200 Digital Delay

Test For Echo

May 5, 2023 · Pete Prown

Delay pedals are essential, but there are so many different types – tape, reverse, tap, cascade, shimmer, analog and more.…

Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe Custom

“Scarifying” OD

December 23, 2015 · Oscar Jordan

Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe Custom Price: $329.99 retail Contact: www.majikboxusa.com Since Dave Simpson and Rob Nishida joined forces…

Charlie Musselwhite

Lookout Highway

January 16, 2026 · Dan Forte

John Mayall is invariably cited for the succession of guitar greats who passed through his band. But Charlie Musselwhite just…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    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…

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ARTISTS

John Pizzarelli

From Stage to Seven-String

April 28, 2024 · John Heidt

The John Pizzarelli Trio is back on the road supporting its latest album, Stage and Screen. Joined by Isaiah J.…

Ian Hunter

New Music and a Mott Reunion

October 27, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Ian Hunter is upbeat when he discusses his newest album, Man Overboard, and the upcoming reunion with old friends in…

James Elkington

Alt-Tuned Sojourn

April 24, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

Expatriate English guitarist James Elkington has long been based in Chicago, collaborating with other musicians including Janet Bean, Nathan Salsburg,…

Ron Jackson: Standards and Originals

May 23, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Warm, Inviting Jazz a la Montgomery and Benson Jazz guitarist Ron Jackson is a specialist on the seven-string. Here, he…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Gospel Guitars

Semie Moseley’s Venerated Brand

February 28, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

When he wasn’t crafting Mosrites, Semie Moseley could often be found on the road, providing music for evangelists. It makes…

Fender Custom Color Strat main

Custom-Color Stratocasters

July 1, 2014 · R.K. Watkins

The Stratocaster was born in 1954. A solidbody with three pickups, contoured back and top, vibrato, and bolt-on neck, it…

Greg Martin honors Dickey Betts

August 29, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Tribute licks Kentucky Headhunters co-founder Greg Martin was a senior in high school when he first heard the Allman Brothers…

Mark Erlewine’s 40 Years with Willie Nelson’s Trigger

Wooden Wonder

April 26, 2019 · Ward Meeker

For a decade, Willie Nelson chased fame as a performer in the Nashville mold of the ’60s – hair coifed,…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

FOMOfx Virtual Jeff Pro

Whammy For All

December 8, 2022 · Bob Dragich

On most guitars, installing a traditional vibrato is a task ranging from difficult to impossible. And even done right, mechanical…

Emma Electronic DiscumBOBulator V.2 & Big Joe Powerbox Lithium

Envelope Pushed

July 23, 2019 · Pete Prown

Scandinavia may not be the first corner of the globe that comes to mind when one ponders classic funk tones.…

Fret-King Esprit III

Déjà Vu, Again

December 6, 2021 · Bob Cianci

What do you get when you cross a Gibson Explorer with a Fender offset and Firebird vibe? The answer is…

PRS SE NF3

Expanded Options

May 8, 2025 · Bob Cianci

The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Leslie West

Leslie West

Hangin' With Unusual Suspects

January 17, 2014 · Ward Meeker

In deciding who to hit up to play on his new album, Unusual Suspects, Leslie West put a lot of…

Fender American Vintage II 1954 Precision Bass

Ageless Anchor

August 4, 2024 · Michael Shirek

It wasn’t literally the first electric bass, but Fender’s Precision was the genesis of the instrument the world knows today.…

Joe Stump

Professor Shred

September 8, 2022 · Pete Prown

Some musicians use grandiose nicknames like “the doctor” (Dr. John) or “the professor” (Rush’s Neil Peart) – but Boston shredder…

Rory Gallagher’s Photo-Finish

Legend’s Best

October 13, 2021 · Tom Guerra

The year 1977 saw upheaval in rock and roll, from the death of Elvis Presley and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crash…

Positive Grid Spark Go

Ready, Set…

August 4, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Following the success of its highly portable Spark and Spark Mini practice amps, Positive Grid went really small with the…

One of Two of a Kind

Gibson’s L-3 Ganus Brothers Special

July 9, 2018 · George Gruhn

Making custom instruments has always been problematic for companies designed to manufacture in quantity. Though it had an unenforced policy…

Weller Guitars’ Stageliner

Jetson Moderne

November 29, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

More and more, guitar designers are digging deep, thinking out of the box, and using their imaginations to conjure hip,…

EHX’s Bad Stone Phase Shifter, C9 Organ Machine, and Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch Shifter

Pedal Heaven

January 25, 2017 · Pete Prown

When it comes to stompboxes, there are the standard go-to effects that every guitarist, whether a gigging musician or a…

Cordoba 15CFM

Hawai’i Not?

January 21, 2022 · Pete Prown

The ukulele phenomenon shows no signs of slowing, with models ranging from well under $100 on up to thousands. The…

Punk-Rock Pioneer Ivan Julian

July 17, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

NYC Luminary Goes Avant-Garde! Ivan Julian does an experimental take on “Misty” before going into the solo from “Love Is…

Effectrode’s Fire Bottle Magnetic Pickup Booster

Effectrode Fire Bottle Magnetic Pickup Booster

The Box That Went to Harvard

January 21, 2016 · Pete Prown

The Effectrode Fire Bottle is a pedal that deviates from the norm and offers something fresh. Unlike a chorus, distortion,…

EKO 995

February 22, 2012 · Willie G. Moseley

The Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February of 1964 is often referred to as the most important…

Deke Dickerson

Making Merle’s Memoir

December 14, 2023 · Ward Meeker

From the day he first picked up a guitar at 13, Deke Dickerson honed in on guitarists like Chuck Berry,…

Fender’s 1960 Bandmaster

Power of Three

March 20, 2019 · Dave Hunter

The earliest renditions of our gear icons are often the most valuable, but on many occasions it’s the transition models…

Doyle Bramhall II

December 9, 2016 · Rich Kienzle

In the 15 years since his debut album, Welcome, Doyle Bramhall, II has been in great demand. Along with a…

John Leventhal

Tele-Singing Architect of Americana

March 27, 2019 · Zac Childs

When Shawn Colvin’s Steady On won a Grammy in 1989, John Leventhal was instantly transformed from NYC sideman to in-demand…

Altamira TD Birdseye Oval Hole

Djangology

December 6, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

Altamira Guitars has made a specialty of classical nylon-string, replica, and gypsy-jazz guitars. The latter are created with the same…

Jeff Senn and Crazy Aces

Dealing Out Twang

June 6, 2014 · Michael Dregni

When you build guitars for a living, you might unwind with another hobby – say, beer-can collecting or crochet. Not…

Scott Sharrard

Destined for the Gig

March 2, 2017 · John Heidt

Anyone who has seen the Gregg Allman Band in person or caught its new CD/DVD, Back to Macon, Ga, knows…

B&G Little Sister Private Build

Doncha Go And Do…

April 19, 2019 · Yoel Kreisler

B&G Guitars just about do it all – from mixing their own nitro finishes to winding pickups and even casting…

’66 Epiphone Casino

April 6, 2020 · George Gruhn

In the Epiphone line of the 1960s, the Casino occupied middle ground. In appearance as well as electronics it ranked…

Boss Katana Gen 3

Big Step

May 30, 2025 · Pete Prown

The Boss Katana amplifier has a cult of devotees, many of whom have been waiting for a Bluetooth version that…

Carvin’s HH2 Allan Holdsworth

Off With Their Heads

April 29, 2016 · Phil Feser

Headless guitars and basses, which had their heyday back in the big-hair/thin-necktie ’80s (think Power Windows-era Geddy Lee), still have…

Thomm Jutz plays “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies”

November 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Flatpicked English folk with an Appalachian touch Sparse and haunting, Thomm Jutz and his ’48 Martin D-18 share a solo…

From Badass to Bonamassa

New Pedals from MRX, Cry Baby, and Way Huge

May 20, 2021 · Max Prown

The latest from Dunlop includes a pair of overdrives and a fresh addition to the venerable Cry Baby wah family.…

The Manakooras

Tiki Twang

June 7, 2023 · Pete Prown

Call it exotica or tiki twang, but the Manakooras play tropical instro that evokes visions of dreamy Pacific islands. Led…

The PRS HX 50 and HX 2×12 Cabinet

Jimi Jam

July 11, 2022 · Tom Guerra

Paul Reed Smith has earned a reputation building guitars of the highest quality. It wasn’t until just over a decade…

Stéphane Wrembel

Roll Over, Django

June 9, 2020 · Michael Dregni

Talk Gypsy jazz with most devotees and they’ll quote you chapter and verse on Django Reinhardt. Talk with acclaimed Gypsy…

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E

Grand-Auditorium Cousins

April 26, 2016 · Chip Wilson

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E Price: $1,100 (Sean Harkness Model); $1,350 (CG4070E-CERT) Info: www.waldenguitars.com. With 16 years of producing attractive,…