Everyone knows a good drummer joke. Or two. Drummers are indeed a special breed. Singular Sound’s BeatBuddy drum-machine pedal, however, is no joke. And as the first drum-machine-in-a-pedal designed for guitarists, it, too, is special. The BeatBuddy provides Charlie Watts in a box – along with Buddy Rich, Al Jackson, Jr., and John Bonham thrown …

Ruppert Acouswitch and Basswitch IQ DIs Price: $600 each with gigbag Info: www.rmi.lu. Part DI, part preamp, and part A/B switcher all rolled into one pedal with a big emphasis on quality, versatility, and reliability, Ruppert Musical Instruments’ flagship Basswitch and Acouswitch share an 8.5″ x 6.25″ x 1.5″ heavy-steel chassis, Lehle actuator-style footswitches, Lehle …

Gibson is widely known for its guitars, mandolins, and banjos, but many are unaware the company built instruments for nearly 30 brands for several distributors and music store chains, primarily from the 1920s through the early ’40s. Some of the best-known names include Kalamazoo, distributed by Gibson, and Recording King, which was distributed by Montgomery …

Fano Alt de Facto RB6 Price: $2,495 Info: fanoguitars.com In recent years, a trend in the guitar realm has been to re-create the magic of vintage-style instruments. This has ranged from player-modded updates of classics to manufacturers painstakingly attempting to age/“relic” guitars. Dennis Fano uses both approaches in his Alt de Facto line of guitars, …

Describing Carlos Santana’s guitar playing, Greg Rolie, the Santana band’s original keyboardist, declares, “It’s real music; it’s not just a bunch of notes put together.” Truer words were never spoken. They’re just part of the bonus-feature band interviews in the DVD of the live follow-up to the studio reunion of the original Santana band, Santana …

Keeley Electronics Seafoam Chorus Price: $229 (list) Contact: www.robertkeeley.com In a world of proliferating effects pedals, discovering one that does what it promises well can be a rewarding discovery. Finding one that does what it promises and rewards experimentation with some unexpected sounds can invoke bliss. Housed in a small-footprint design and resplendently painted in …

Widman Set Neck Price: $3,900 Info: widmancustomelectrics.com. John Widman is a custom guitar builder whose artistic leanings began while he worked as a graphic designer and photographer. After building bolt-neck instruments using off-the-shelf parts, he began crafting instruments from scratch, and recently introduced the Set Neck. A chambered single-cut, the Set Neck is built from …

Steve Gunn’s Way Out Weather is a textured effort that takes cues from a diverse palette including John Fahey, Chicago blues, ’60s/’70s Americana, Philip Glass, world music, and improvisation. The Pennsylvania-born guitarist and songwriter offers a refreshing take on modern folk-rock. What were your main guitars on the new album? On “Milly’s Garden” and “Tommy’s …

Taking a cue from the burgeoning world of television, in 1951, Leo Fender married the name “Telecaster” to his new electric-solidbody guitar. Originally dubbed “Broadcaster” (which infringed on a Gretsch trademark), after being given a new name, the Telecaster became a new guitar for a new age of popular music. At the time, country, jazz, …

In the 1950s, America’s fascination with the automobile was running at a fever pitch. The booming economy of the country’s post-war years pushed the car from a purpose-built means of transportation to the center of family and social life. As a result, automakers started to offer their wares in ever-better dress. Beyond plush interiors and …

The life of blues-rock icon Stevie Ray Vaughan was under a microscope even before his tragic death in a helicopter accident in 1990. Four years prior, a breakdown put him in a hospital while on tour in Germany, then in drug and alcohol rehab facilities in London and Atlanta, and few celebrities were as open …

Bill Frisell is a living jazz icon, famed for his ethereal tone and snaking post-bop lines. Here, he partners with Thomas Morgan for a live set – just guitar and standup bass – cut at the Village Vanguard in New York. It’s intimate and beautiful, as you’d expect from ECM. “It Should Have Happened A …

It would be an understatement to say that REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall and his 1965 Fender Jazz Bass, dubbed “Butter,” have been through a lot. Born and raised in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Hall, who has been with the band for more than 30 years, acquired this mainstay when he was 16. In an ironic twist, …

The CGT has been making music for 25 years and is celebrating with this wonderful, back-to-basics recording. Guitarists Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Hideyo Moriya cut the record au natural with no effects and minimal compression – just microphones and new acoustics made by Kraut, Somogyi, and Breedlove. The set kicks off with Moriya’s sweetly …

Noted in musical history as one of the players who pushed the steel guitar beyond Hawaiian music to more-complex chording and wild interchanges with Spanish-style electric guitarists, Noel Boggs emerged from a tragic childhood, using the guitar and music as a motivator, guide, and ultimately, means to a make a living. Boggs was born in …

Guitarist, soul singer, and songwriter Bobby Womack passed away June 27. He was 70 and had suffered from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Womack’s career spanned more than 50 years. His soulful essence and music had a far-reaching influence on contemporary music around the world. His expansive catalog crossed musical boundaries, ethnic groups, and left an …

Aside from being in the Monkees, Mike Nesmith was a talented songwriter and key contributor to the birth of country-rock. His new autobiography, Infinite Tuesday, is accompanied by a 14-track CD retrospective and provides insight to the musician’s early career. An early Monkees track is “Papa Gene’s Blues,” a fun piece of folk-rock from the …