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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…
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Dan Hawkins
Toast of the Town
When The Darkness roared out of England with its 2003 debut Permission to Land and the hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” the music world was slapped across…
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NEWSWIRE
ARTISTS
Noah Zacharin
Simple Pleasures
While some regard folk guitar as a relatively simple style, Noah Zacharin is a seriously agile fingerpicker. Also a fine…
Bondra & Morris – Fallin’ For You
Bondra & Morris – Fallin’ For You Check out “Bondra & Morris” featuring Vintage Guitar online contributor Tyler Morris (Guitar),…
Fretprints: Jeff Beck
The JBG: Birth of Heavy Metal?
The proverbial chicken-or-egg conundrum has an equivalent in the spirited debate over the Jeff Beck Group versus Led Zeppelin as…
Del Casher
Checking in with L.A. studio stalwart
Casher with actress Brooke Shields at a soundtrack recording session. He’s called “The Papa of the Wah-Wah Pedal” and has…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Standard in Custom
Schecter’s Custom Shop Marks 35 Years
Riding high after 35 years with an array of original instruments, an impressive artist roster that started early with Pete…
Gibson Basses in The ’70s
Plucky Trio from the “Downer Decade”
Guitar enthusiasts have long heard that the 1970s were the “downer decade” for Fender and Gibson, both of which introduced…
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…
Gibson’s Budget Redux
The SB Series Guitars and Basses
As the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, Gibson had established itself in the electric-bass market with front-line instruments such as…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Black Cat Vibe and TWA’s Triskelion Mk. II
Opposites Attract
In today’s world of proliferating boutique pedals, guitarists have a staggering array of divergent options. Case in point, the Black…
Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion
Evil Twins
Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but…
DryBell Module 4
Compress Yourself
Inspired by the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer, Drybell Musical Electronic Laboratory’s Module 4 Compressor adds several highly usable features.…
JHS Charlie Brown Overdrive
Beautiful Noise
While few guitarists get the opportunity to plug into every vintage Marshall amp and hear their distinguishing tonal characteristics, most…
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Tommy Castro
Circling Back
In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…
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Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on…
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Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps
Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been…
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Vivi-Tone “Skeleton
A Master’s Magnificent Misfire
The eternal question “Who invented the electric guitar?” has no single answer. By the late 1920s, many players, tinkerers, and inventors were exploring ways to get more volume from fretted instruments. Steel-string flat-tops from Martin, f-hole archtops from Gibson, and metal-bodied resonators from National were louder than their predecessors, but ran up against physical limits.…
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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 per customer, any double entries will be automatically disqualified. See previous winners!! *ELIGIBILITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.One entry per…
