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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
Frank Ford
Frank Ford, a renowned guitar builder and co-founder of Gryphon Stringed Instruments, passed away December 17. He was 79 and…
Chris Dreja
Yardbird Recall
Chris Dreja had a front-row seat to rock-and-roll history, playing rhythm guitar and bass in the Yardbirds behind Eric Clapton,…
Farewell to a Venture
Nokie Edwards 1935-2018
Nole Floyd “Nokie” Edwards, former lead guitarist and bassist with The Ventures, passed away March 12 from complications related to…
Andy Gill
The Gang’s All Here
One of the most original-sounding guitarists to emerge from the post-punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s was Gang of…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Weymann Model 890 Jimmie Rodgers Special
Hey Hey, Tell ’Em About US
Jimmie Rodgers has been called many things; while active from 1927-’33 he was billed as “the Singing Brakeman” and ”America’s…
1939-’42 Gibson SJ-100
$100 Cowboy Flat-Top
Through the 1910s and early ’20s, Gibson catalogs denigrated flat-top guitars as inferior, unworthy of the company name. But that…
1978 Gibson RD Artist
Throughout most of the 1970s, Les Pauls ruled the guitar roost. But toward the end of the decade, some players became…
Gretsch 6134 White Penguin
There’s no doubt the White Penguin is one of the rarest Gretsch instruments. It is estimated that no more than…
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Empress Effects Tremolo
Outboard Highness
Ontario-based Empress Effects’ Tremolo pedal is housed in a 45/8″ x 35/8″ x 13/8″ die-cast box and boasts a ton…
Hall & Collins Signature Echo
Echo Rock
For guitarists whose lives are dedicated to replicating the echo effects heard on songs like Hank Marvin’s “Apache,” Hall &…
Stomp Under Foot Ram’s Head
Piece of the Pi
Matt Pasquerella has a reputation as a pi connoisseur… no, not the eating kind, the fuzzy kind. The creator of…
Singleton Guitars Capella
Shining Bright
Mark Singleton holds the distinction of being a smokin’ guitarist as well as, for the past 24 years, a builder…
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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…
