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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…
Remembering Tom Petty
In the colossal wake of the Beatles, Tom Petty – more than most – was that kid the Byrds spoke…
Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher 50th Anniversary Edition
Rising appreciation for the late Irish guitar wizard continues with a 50th anniversary/five-disc box of his 1971 solo debut. With…
Friedman Amplification JEL-20
Firebreather
For 25 years, Dave Friedman has been creating amplifiers that helped him (eh-hem) gain amp-guru status. His limited-run Jake E.…
Sound City L/B 120 Mark IV
Preamp tubes: three ECC83 (12AX7), one ECC81 (12AT7, in the phase inverter) Output tubes: six EL34 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Normal…
Eric Gales
Makin’ Good
The wild and crazy life of Eric Gales has been well documented, but through it all, his guiding light has…
Danelectro’s Four-String Basses
The guitars and basses made by Danelectro in the ’60s epitomized “no frills.” And though they were considered the nadir…
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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
Carol Kaye
Think "Extensive"
Contrary to what some aspiring bass players might think, the world’s most recorded electric bassist isn’t some modern-day L.A. dude…
Phil Keaggy & Mike Pachelli
Guitar Adventures
Listening to Adventure-us, one may think they’re hearing one guitarist, but it’s really two masters – Phil Keaggy and Mike…
Eric Sardinas
Resonator Rock
Resonator/slide specialist Eric Sardinas is no blues curator. While he pays homage to the music that inspires him, Sardinas is…
Henry Garza
Still Familia
The music created by Los Lonely Boys – brothers Henry, Jojo, and Ringo Garza – is an amalgam resulting from…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Jim Kelley FACS Reverb
Truly a deserving name in the early era of the “boutique” amp scene, Jim Kelley is also an extremely under-recognized…
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…
Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls
On the Road to ’59
Strings and Things Les Paul Many articles have been written about how guitarists and dealers in the mid/late 1970s and…
Spectrum 5
Joining playful mid-’60s cultural icons such as the Ford Mustang, NBC’s “The Monkees,” the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” and Cassius Clay, the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ Reissue
Dual-Mode Delivery
The evolution of Randall Smith’s legendary high-gain Mesa/Boogie design into the revered Mark IIC+ of the mid ’80s established a…
Gibson L-5S Ron Wood Signature
Serious Lumber
In 1972, Gibson introduced the L-5S as a smaller, thinner solidbody version of its L-5 hollowbody. Most mistook it for…
Giffin Vikta
Feelin’ Special
Giffin Vikta Price: $2,295 Contact: premierbuildersguild.com. Roger Giffin is a guitarmaker to the stars, having built for Eric Clapton, Pete…
The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Synthful
Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine Price: $283.60 (retail); $212.70 (street) Contact: www.ehx.com Building on the success of its Freeze Sound Retainer…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Nels Cline
Blues Notes and So Much More
Nels Cline has quite the musical resumé, and yet has always been hard to pin down. Whether doing some form…
DryBell’s The Engine
British Splendor
Customers like John Mayer and Mike Landau have helped put DryBell Musical Laboratory effects on some of the world’s biggest…
Roy Orbison
Playing the role of a lonely, heartbroken teen, Roy Orbison was the Enrico Caruso of early ’60s pop, his voice…
The National Silvo Electric Hawaiian
One of the most innovative companies of the pre-World-War-II era, National found out quickly that innovation was a double-edged sword.…
