Visual Sound Route 66 V3 American Overdrive

Visual Sound Route 66 V3 American Overdrive

Get Yer’ Kick

April 15, 2016 · Anders Fransson

Visual Sound Route 66 V3 American Overdrive Price: $179 (street) Contact: www.truetone.com/ Over the years, the Route 66 pedal by…

Julian Lage

Squint

March 31, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Julian Lage walks an intriguing line between jazz and rock-and-roll. On his latest – and first release on the stellar…

SurfyBear Compact Reverb

Bringin’ Springs

April 18, 2024 · Bob Dragich

Reverb got a big push into the world of guitar when Leo Fender installed Hammond’s Accutronics Type 4 Spring Reverb…

Peerless Retromatic

Peerless Retromatic

Modern Vintage

April 27, 2016 · Pete Prown

Peerless Retromatic Price: $1,699 Info: www.peerlessguitars.eu While many new guitars of the last decade have touted authentic (or semi-authentic) “retro”…

Rickenbacker 375F

Seven Siblings

October 4, 2017 · Peter Stuart Kohman

Every guitar company has had its odd ducks, its failures, its forgotten models. While some are consigned to the scrapheap…

Avante Gryphon

Avante Gryphon

Game Changer?

February 3, 2016 · Pete Prown

Avante Gryphon Price: $1,495 (street) Info: www.veilletteguitars.com People bandy about the term “game changer” so often these days it barely…

  • 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…

    Read more >>

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ARTISTS

John Entwistle

John Entwistle 1944-2002

September 7, 2015 · Vintage Guitar

John Entwistle Ode to the Ox 1944-2002 By Ward Meeker Pop music lovers – especially those with an ear tuned…

Reflecting on Steve Cropper: A Playlist

December 4, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

Steve Cropper was just 20 years old when his band, the Mar-Keys, began backing singers in the studios of Stax…

Gregg Wright plays “Hey Li’l Girl”

May 27, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Fiery riffs from a blues-rock legend! Gregg Wright has opened for Albert and Freddie King, and toured with The Jacksons.…

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Laying Down the Blues

April 24, 2019 · Greg Prato

Blues-rock suffered a blow in 1990 with the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. But later in the decade, a crop…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Dan’s Guitar RX: Reviving a ’56 Duo-Jet

Ugly, But An Oldy

January 11, 2024 · Dan Erlewine

Blake Burkeholder, a repair expert in my shop, has always wanted a Gretsch. So, when he found a ’56 Duo-Jet…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone

December 8, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Fuzz. It’s the sound of fury, aggravation, indignation, and – considering the history of the most famous fuzzbox of all…

Star Board: Joe Moss

Star Board: Joe Moss

December 18, 2015 · Vintage Guitar

Joe Moss is the archetypical blues “road dog,” regularly rolling out of his home base of Chicago to wail for…

Magnatone X-5 Zephyr

Last Gasp

June 14, 2023 · Michael Wright

Ever since Lonnie Mack unleashed The Wham of That Memphis Man and Buddy Holly sang “Peggy Sue,” Magnatone amplifiers have…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

JORDAN BOSS TONE

Jordan Boss Tone

Little Fuzz with the Big Buzz

January 11, 2016 · Michael Dregni

In the august and revered Hall of Fame of Fuzz, the Jordan Boss Tone deserves a prominent pedestal. Perhaps it…

Real McCoy Custom Wah Pedals

Real McCoy Custom Wah Pedals

Crying Out Loud!

May 11, 2016 · Lisa Sharken

RMC3FL Prices: $255 RMC4 Picture Prices: $235 RMC8 Guitar Eqwahlyzer Prices: $269 RMC10 Prices: $235 Info: www.realmccoycustom.com. Geoffrey Teese began…

Alembic Essence Zebrawood 4

July 3, 2019 · Pete Prown

Alembic basses are the stuff of low-end legend, famed for magical tones in the hands of Stanley Clarke, Jack Casady,…

TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver

Mono Monster

March 14, 2016 · Pete Prown

TWA GD-02 Great Divide Analog Synth Octaver Price: $399 Info: www.godlyke.com . Despite its cumbersome name and the fact it…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

The Eastman SB55

Little Devil

May 6, 2022 · Michael Dregni

When re-creating a classic, it’s all too easy to feel hidebound to the original – especially if it’s an icon.…

The Yosco No. 2

Tenor Banjo

March 6, 2014 · Michael Wright

The banjo and American music cross paths in a remarkably entangled web of complexity. The banjo was brought to the…

John Osborne

Feelin’ Fearless

October 25, 2024 · Ward Meeker

 Brothers Osborne play a distinctive version of 21-century country music. Rising above trendy themes and sounds like tailgate anthems and…

Arlington Guitar Show 2013

October 20, 2013 · Vintage Guitar

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Blackberry Smoke Unplugs

Ds and LGs

March 3, 2017 · Ward Meeker

By sound and association, Blackberry Smoke walks a fine stylistic line. A good ol’ rock band when it started rollin’…

The Sammick Viper

April 29, 2021 · Michael Wright

Some guitars hit the market at the perfect time to becom e classics – think Les Paul and Stratocaster. Some…

The Cicognani SexyBoost2

Top-Tier Driver

May 10, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Italy’s Cicognani Engineering makes amplifiers, pedals, and nifty accessories. With a client list that includes Robben Ford, Richard Fortus, and…

Blues Hall of Famer Joe Louis Walker

June 29, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

“Blue Mirror” jam from “The Weight of the World” Blues Hall of Famer Joe Louis Walker grabbed his pearl-front Zemaitis…

The Charvel Model 4

January 25, 2016 · Michael Wright

Certain guitar brands develop a mystique among aficionados – sometimes it’s even deserved! Somewhere on this continuum lie Charvel USA…

Guyatone LG-160T

The Secret's Out!

May 24, 2006 · Michael Wright

Like plants, Japanese guitars have an almost secret life of which few people outside are aware. While many Americans in…

Spectrum 5

December 30, 2013 · Michael Wright

Joining playful mid-’60s cultural icons such as the Ford Mustang, NBC’s “The Monkees,” the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” and Cassius Clay, the…

LA LOM

The Los Angeles League of Musicians

July 3, 2025 · Pete Prown

It’s Latin, it’s surfy, it’s twangy – okay, what the heck is it? LA LOM is an instrumental trio that…

Pat Travers

Pat Travers

Full Blast

February 18, 2016 · Ward Meeker

It’s an elite class – rock guitarists who crossed the Atlantic to achieve their rock-star dreams. Somewhere between the mid-’60s…

Joe Satriani

December 8, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

The hardest-working guitarist in show business, Joe Satriani recently wrapped up a successful Van Halen tour, a G3 Reunion tour,…

Arlen Roth

No Stone Unturned

May 9, 2017 · Tom Guerra

To guitarists raised on his “Hot Licks” instructional video series, session and touring great Arlen Roth is something of a…

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…

Johnny Nicholas

Full-Circle in Louisiana

November 30, 2021 · Willie G. Moseley

Johnny Nicholas has been playing “roots music” since long before the term existed. A childhood friend of Duke Robillard, he…

John Entwistle

John Entwistle 1944-2002

September 7, 2015 · Vintage Guitar

John Entwistle Ode to the Ox 1944-2002 By Ward Meeker Pop music lovers – especially those with an ear tuned…

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Chris Isaak

Sun Worship

May 9, 2014 · Ward Meeker

Most pop-music fans became aware of Chris Isaak through his 1991 hit “Wicked Game” and its uber-high-profile video, directed by…

Fender’s 1951-’54 Telecaster

In Detail

September 13, 2017 · Ward Meeker

Fender’s first Spanish-style guitar was a lesson in functional simplicity with its solid body, single pickup, and bolt-on neck. And…

Burns Steer Cutaway

The Burns Steer Cutaway

June 3, 2011 · Sean OBryan Smith

The story of the Burns Steer Cutaway begins in 1925 with the birth of the “British Leo Fender,” James Ormston…

Dave Jenkins

Cruisin’ Again

May 20, 2021 · John Heidt

Anyone who listened to Top 40 radio in the late ’70s and early ’80s is familiar with Pablo Cruise. The…

Chris Tapp

Heavy Adversity

August 10, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Unphased by knee-jerk comparisons to rock duos like the White Stripes, Royal Blood, and Black Keys, The Cold Stares have…

Marshall’s EH-1 Echohead, RG-1 Regenerator & RF-1 Reflector

Little Marshalls, Big Tones

July 14, 2020 · Phil Feser

Continuing the tradition set forth by the stout little metallic gray/gold boxes of the GV-2 Guv’nor Plus, BB-2 Bluesbreaker II,…

Dan Auerbach

Black Keys’ Road Map Back to Blues, British Rock

March 6, 2014 · Michael Dregni

Forget about the classic quartet. Forget the power trio. Forget any preconceived shortcomings you may have concerning a rock-and-roll duo.…

Sue Foley

Still Playing Pinky

September 8, 2022 · Michael Dregni

Sue Foley’s Paisley-finished Telecaster is the one guitar to which she has remained true since her debut album, Young Girl…

Tomer Cohen

From Israel to NYC

December 14, 2023 · Pete Prown

Twenty-five-year-old Tomer Cohen plays jazz with the earthy feel heard in improvisations by Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and early Pat…

Pat Martino

1944-2021

August 29, 2022 · Wolf Marshall

Music suffered an incalculable loss with the passing of Pat Martino, who died in his sleep on the morning of…

Henriksen Amplifiers’ The Blu

Sound Cube

October 14, 2019 · Steven Stone

One old cliché among gigging musicians is, “They pay me for the aggravation, the music is free.” A good deal…