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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…
Edgar Winter
Tribute to “Brother Johnny”
Edgar Winter describes making Brother Johnny in tribute to his late brother, blues-rock guitar icon Johnny Winter, as “one of…
Fretprints: Billy Duffy
Personality of The Cult
Co-founder of The Cult, Billy Duffy was Britain’s last ’80s guitar hero, with an attitude and sound that embodied the…
Gene Simmons
Night Vision
Between stints on its lengthy End of the Road farewell tour, Kiss has been issuing an Off the Soundboard series…
Tony Iommi
When Sabbath Rocked with Ronnie
Black Sabbath sounded reinvigorated and refocused on its first two albums of the ’80s – Heaven and Hell and Mob…
John Leventhal
Tele-Singing Architect of Americana
When Shawn Colvin’s Steady On won a Grammy in 1989, John Leventhal was instantly transformed from NYC sideman to in-demand…
2023 June Issue on Spotify
This month we feature Ana Popovic, Ian Hunter, Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton, John Oates, Joe Louis Walker, Mike Keneally,…
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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
Luther Dickinson
Smooth Sailing
The North Mississippi Allstars have always moved forward. With an expanded lineup and fresh songwriting, guitarist Luther Dickinson is in…
Fretprints: Gary Moore’s Still Got the Blues
Defining Document
Throughout his career, Gary Moore was haunted by a prevailing assumption (in rock circles) that he was simply too good…
Kim Simmonds
Back to Basics with Savoy Brown
Under the aegis of founder Kim Simmonds, Savoy Brown has always been a band “subject to change.” Formed in 1965,…
Steve Kimock flashes back to Zero
Amazing improv on “End of World Blues” We review the reissued 1992 album “Naught Again” by Zero, a band that…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Q&A With George Gruhn: A Strong Case
And When to Get an Appraisal
Some of my vintage guitar cases are very worn. One Martin case from the ’40s is missing a latch and…
Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 8
Late ’65: Transistors, Troubles, and Takeover!
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…
Watkins Scout
Merit Badge
Watkins amps never landed big stars, or at least didn’t hold on to the endorsements of guitarists once they became…
Gibson’s 1966-’70 Flying V
In Detail
Body is two-piece mahogany. Pickguard mounts to body with 13 screws. Pickups are patent-number humbuckers with chrome-plated covers. Tune-O-Matic bridge…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Reilander’s Muckbucker Pickups
Fat, But Not Tubby
Reilander’s Muckbucker Pickups Price: $199 (set) Info: www.reilandercustomguitar.com In the 1970s, great guitar-pickup winders began wrapping extra wire on humbuckers,…
Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X
Get Tha Funk Out
The Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X Price: $369.63 Contact: www.mu-fx.com. Think funk. Think Bootsy Collins’ wacked-out Parliament Funkadelic Space Bass lines. Think…
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…
UAFX Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb
Space, Man
The original Roland Space Echo was a thing of sonic beauty, used by everyone from Brian Setzer to Bob Marley…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Fretprints: Fenton Robinson
Unsung Blues Icon
In the encyclopedia of American music, there oughta be a picture of Fenton Robinson next to “unsung blues hero.” Drop…
Steve Evans’ Guitars & Cars Passion Project
Pretty Pairs
Steve Evans was just 12 years old in 1968, when he began to appreciate the sleek bodies of electric guitars…
The Guild Starfire Bass
In the mid ’60s, Guild took its knocks for making guitars that looked “inspired by” Gibson models. Fans of the…
Tony Rombola
Gothic Blues
Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola is moonlighting once again, on the third album by Apocalypse Blues Revival with fellow Godsmack member/drummer…
