-
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…
Bad Cat Cub V EL34 Amp
First-Class Blast
The Bad Cat Cub has evolved through several iterations since arriving with the maker’s inaugural lineup 25 years ago. It…
Alday B-Blender
One For The Masses
Taylor 814ce Price: $129.95 (list) Info: www.b-blender.com Why aren’t we guitarists ever happy to have our guitars sound like guitars?…
Roland’s JC-22 Jazz Chorus
More Than Just Chime
The original Roland Jazz Chorus doesn’t get the kind of love that American and British amps in the rock and…
Moving Pictures: How Rush Created Progressive Hard Rock’s Greatest Record
Will Romano
Rush’s Moving Pictures is often regarded as the band’s masterpiece, and this book unpacks the creative efforts of frontman/bassist Geddy…
National Bel-Air
The idea of Gibson providing guitar parts to another prominent guitar maker is laughable today, but in the 1940s and…
Michael Angelo Batio
The Fine Art of Face Melting
Michael Angelo Batio is one of the most prodigious guitarists on Earth. Since his stint with the rock band Holland…
-
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,…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
ARTISTS
Dale Watson
Keep On Truckin’
The seeds of the latest album from Dale Watson were sown in 1998, when he released The Truckin’ Sessions .…
Pop ’N Hiss: Taste
Breakout Blues
The ’60s may have been the most musically significant decade in the history of popular music, but very few countries…
David Ryan Harris
Songs For Other People
David Ryan Harris gets his greatest exposure singing and playing guitar around the world with John Mayer, but he’s been…
Chris Jack
The Routes: Psychedelic Faithful
The Routes embody all the best elements of the ’60s psychedelic-rock scene. Based in Japan and fronted by British-born guitarist…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
All That Glitters
Gibson’s Copper Iridescent Les Pauls
Like large celestial bodies, some guitar collectors have a gravity that draws objects to them. In 2016, rare custom-color Les…
Electra MPC
Standard X340
One of the more successful Japanese-made guitar brands of the 1970s was Electra, the brand name used for electric guitars…
New Lease on Life
The Sound of Rock Gets a Brush-Up
If restoring dusty, neglected old tube amps built more than half a century ago isn’t challenging enough, restoring amps with…
The Gibson ES-5
Instrument Profile
Gibson, like all American guitarmakers, had to shut down electric guitar production for three years during World War II. But…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight
Fender Strat-o-Sonic
Mahogany body, P-90-style pickups, wraparound tailpiece, 243/4″ scale? Sounds like a Gibson Les Paul Special. But alas, the instrument bearing…
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…
Weller El Dorrado
Rock-and-Roll Screamer
Tucked away in southwest Illinois near St. Louis, luthier Steve Weller is making interesting instruments. His El Dorrado model is…
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5
Tone To Carry-On
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 Price: $249 (list) Contact: www.tech21nyc.com Long before the Line6 POD, the Box of Rock, or…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Stéphane Wrembel
Djamming!
There’s plenty of Gypsy jazz guitarists who can play more notes at faster tempos than Django Reinhardt, but few can…
Mark St. John
The Lost Kiss Interview
With the release of Kiss’ recent live album, Off The Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, New York, 1984, fans hear one of precious…
1965 Epiphone Emperor
The Epiphone Emperor has a long, convoluted history. It first appeared in Epiphone’s catalog in late 1935 as a response…
Gary Clark Jr.
Live North America 2016
Gary Clark Jr. has brought back the soaring psychedelic blues-rock guitar solo. After a backlash of post-Hendrix overkill, replaced with…
