Friedman Plex

Mystique Maker

May 8, 2025 · Charlie Wilkins

Dave Friedman built his brand (and reputation) by making supercharged Marshall-inspired amps, and his latest hones in on one of…

Luna Art Vintage Parlor Acoustic/Electric

Rustic Charm

April 4, 2023 · Michael Shirek

Luna’s newest entry in its Vintage Series, the Art Vintage Parlor takes modern playability and puts it in a rustic…

PureSalem Honey Bunny, Pink Beard, Attack Captain

Bring The Fuzz

December 27, 2017 · Chip Wilson

Remember your first fuzz pedal? Maybe, like a certain reviewer, you literally worked up a sweat trying to strike a…

Tom Teaches the Blues!

Win a $2,100 Waterloo WL-14L!

July 7, 2017 · Tom Feldmann

 Vintage Guitar is teaming with Collings Guitars and Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop to present an exclusive eight-part series on…

Steve Hillage

Echoes of Earlier Times

April 18, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

Steve Hillage has followed his muse through 40 years making music as a member of the psychedelic band Gong, a…

Mike Keneally Makes the Gravy

June 23, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Dig his Meaty “Celery” The track is called “Celery,” but Mike Keneally sure makes it meaty! With a splash of…

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ARTISTS

Matteo Mancuso

Journey Into the Future

June 10, 2024 · Pete Prown

Emerging as a social-media sensation several years ago, Matteo Mancuso is changing the way we see and hear guitar. Using…

Robben Ford

Crystal Visionary

June 3, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Pure is Robben Ford’s first instrumental album since 1997’s Tiger Walk. A work of complex simplicity, it’s also a singular…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Howie Statland

September 10, 2024 · Ram W. Tuli

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Howie Statland Season 01 Episode 10 In Episode 10 of VG’s “Buy That…

Greg Martin plays “Shotgun Effie”

February 7, 2022 · Doug Yellow Bird

Fresh Headhunters riff Greg Martin co-founder and lead guitarist in Kentucky Headhunters, shows us the opening riff to “Shotgun Effie” from…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

Les Paul Standard of a Different Shade

January 12, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Among experienced (and often jaded) veteran guitar collectors, precious few things create an adrenaline rush – strange one-offs, oddball brands that never quite blossomed,…

George Gruhn

How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal

May 15, 2024 · Louis R. Carlozo

If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon…

Bird Golden Eagle 4/25

Soaring In Birdland

April 24, 2019 · Dave Hunter

Many of the oddballs, also-rans, and otherwise unusual creations we see in the amp world fall into the “B-list” category…

Gospel Guitars

Semie Moseley’s Venerated Brand

February 28, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

When he wasn’t crafting Mosrites, Semie Moseley could often be found on the road, providing music for evangelists. It makes…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Killer Guitar Components Killer Trem Bridge

Bridging the Gap

March 1, 2017 · Phil Feser

In the mid 1950s, Leo Fender and his crew spent countless hours on the design and manufacture of their revolutionary…

Ohana Ukueles

Ohana Ukuleles

Serious Fun

September 7, 2014 · Steven Stone

Ohana Ukuleles Price: $249 (SK-35, CKP-70R); $259 (SK-28) Info: www.ohana-music.com. Just like guitars, ukuleles come in all quality levels, from…

Walrus Audio Eras Five-State Distortion

Serious Saturation

January 30, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

After its Ages Five-State Overdrive proved popular, Walrus Audio dipped back into the concept with a box offering five distortion…

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E

Grand-Auditorium Cousins

April 26, 2016 · Chip Wilson

Walden Sean Harkness 12-String, CG4070E Price: $1,100 (Sean Harkness Model); $1,350 (CG4070E-CERT) Info: www.waldenguitars.com. With 16 years of producing attractive,…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Larry Mitchell

“Great Time To Be a Guitar Player”

March 2, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Larry Mitchell’s guitar-centered “Ah ha!” moments run the gamut from Roy Clark, Van Halen, Prince, and Elvis. With a string…

Pop ’N Hiss: Santana’s Caravanserai

Pageant of Enlightenment

November 4, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

By the summer of 1971, 24-year-old Carlos Santana and his band – Neal Schon on guitar, drummer Michael Shrieve, Gregg…

Black Sabbath

Vol. 4 Super Deluxe

October 14, 2021 · Pete Prown

Sabbaholic Must-Have In May of 1972, Black Sabbath retreated to Los Angeles to record its fourth album, along with a…

Have Guitar Will Travel 077 – Patrick Davis

June 9, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

For Ep 77 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Patrick Davis, from Songwriters in Paradise.…

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.…

In Memoriam: Lasse Wellander

February 9, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist in ABBA and a renowned studio and solo musician, died April 7. He was 70 and…

The Siegmund Doppler Vibe

The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get

December 19, 2013 · Tom Guerra

Siegmund Doppler Vibe Price: $495 Info: www.siegmundguitars.com. It’s been said that Buddy Guy was the first guitarist to put his…

Muireann Bradley, Old Soul

January 22, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Vintage Blues, Vintage L-50 Direct from Ireland, 17-year-old Muireann Bradley indulges us (and tugs at our Led Zep heartstrings) with…

J. Rockett Audio Archer, The Dude, and El Hombre

Overdrive Ecstasy

November 13, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Part of the success behind J. Rockett Audio Designs lies in the fact that, like any player who might tackle…

Zakk Wylde

Electric Heart, Acoustic Soul

February 27, 2018 · Oscar Jordan

Storming the stage like King Conan The Biker, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde was one of the highlights of…

Univox Uni–Fuzz & Super–Fuzz

Univox Uni–Fuzz & Super–Fuzz

Full, Fat Fuzzzy

March 15, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Pete Townshend sent many a guitar and amp to an early grave. But there’s no known evidence of him doing…

Ronnie Baker Brooks

February 27, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Second-generation bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks’ first album in 10 years blends the soul of Chicago, hot guitar licks, and old-school…

Various Artists

Homegrown Heroes

May 25, 2017 · Rick Allen

Subtitled “1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels,” these three boxed sets collect nuggets from dozens of independent record labels that popped…

Category 5 TBR-35 2×10

Backline Star

May 13, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Don Ritter started Category 5 Amplification designing amps for blues players before expanding to other genres while holding to the…

ToneSpeak 12″ Line

Speaking of Tone…

July 10, 2023 · Julian Burtell

New to the musical-instrument side of speaker building, but far from neophyte, Misco introduced its ToneSpeak guitar speakers in 2021…

ZT Extortion Expressive Distortion

Mutant Distortion

May 8, 2014 · Rich Maloof

ZT Amplifiers put their name on the map four years ago with the compact Lunchbox solid-state amp. Now they continue…

Carson Creation

One Very Personal Stratocaster

May 9, 2023 · Willie G. Moseley

An itinerant Western-music guitarist who befriended Leo Fender and other employees at his up-and-coming company in the early ’50s, Bill…

Rockn Stompn Sequential Power Strip

“Good” Power!

March 1, 2017 · Chip Wilson

Power. Juice. Electricity. The brilliance of Ben Franklin, James Watt, and Nikola Tesla helped harness, if not tame, this vital…

Martin 5-18

Martin 5-18

October 11, 2014 · George Gruhn

The Martin style 5-18 is the smallest guitar in Martin catalogs; at the lower bout, it measures 11.25″, while at…

Check This Action: A Mess of Blues

March 10, 2023 · Dan Forte

It doesn’t happen often, but I still encounter people who think the blues is strictly sad music. I tell them…

TC Electronic Spark

Booster Shot

June 12, 2023 · Pete Prown

Everyone’s guitar tone sometimes needs a little assistance, especially playing with a band. To the rescue comes the TC Electronic…

Carvin Audio VLD1 Legacy Drive

Legend In A Box

April 19, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

When Steve Vai needed a portable preamp to take on the road to emulate his signature amp tones, Carvin Audio…

Dennis Jones

Beautiful Simplicity

November 15, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

On Soft Hard & Loud, Dennis Jones combines the guitar-centric sounds of the blues, reggae, R&B, and hard rock. The…

The Electra Endorser

December 2, 2025 · Michael Wright

Flame-top guitars were fairly common during the 1970s “copy era,” but few reached the levels of figure we often see…

Schertler’s JAM 150

Schertler’s JAM 150

Plays Well with Others

October 21, 2015 · Rich Maloof

Schertler’s JAM150 Price: $1,249.99 (list); $999.99 (street) Info: www.schertler.com Schertler’s JAM150 is a compact combo amp capable of pulling double-duty…

Reverend Rick Vito Soul Agent

Swank Plank

February 8, 2024 · Pete Prown

Some guitars look great, while others sound or play great. With Reverends’ Rick Vito Soul Agent, you get all three…

The Howlin’ Brothers

August 18, 2014 · Michael Dregni

Like a long-lost radio show from the ’50s suddenly coming to life on your radio in the late nighttime hours,…

Rose Sinclair Swings on a Stringmaster D-8!

July 18, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Steel Guitar Beyond Country on “Secret Love” Rose Sinclair used her ’61 Fender Stringmaster D-8 to play this exclusive piece…

Letritia Kandle

and the Magnificent Grand Letar

February 11, 2014 · Deke Dickerson

Run down the list of early electric-guitar innovators and an all-male group typically comes to mind – Les Paul, Alvino…