-
MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
-
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
-
Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Nils Lofgren
The Secret Weapon
Guitar wizard Nils Lofgren has been an in-demand sideman for more than 50 years, working with Bruce Springsteen & the…

Walrus Audio Eons Five-State Fuzz
Hot on the heels of its Ages Five-State Overdrive and Eras Five-State Distortion, Walrus Audio has unleashed the Eons Five-State…
Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker
Poles Apart
Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker Price: $139 list / $89 direct Contact: railhammer.com Developed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars, Railhammers…

Orange TH30 Combo
Small Clubs, Big Tones
Orange TH30 Combo Price:$1,379 (list) Info: www.orangeamps.com Beyond their eye-catching color, Orange amplifiers have always rendered a distinct sound. Today,…

Nels Cline
Blues Notes and So Much More
Nels Cline has quite the musical resumé, and yet has always been hard to pin down. Whether doing some form…

Melodic, accessible – and shredtastic – it’s Lari Basilio!
Just for VG followers, a solo take on “Novo” Lari Basilio grabbed her signature Ibanez LB1 (dig the purple finish…
-
VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Check This Action: Folk Festival of Blues
I heard blues records earlier than I can remember. My dad had Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee albums, and a…

The Magical Philosophy Of Slide
Time, Touch, and Reverence
In ancient Africa, when early man first dragged a flat rock across a string tied to a stick, he couldn’t…

Charlie Musselwhite’s blues chops on a vintage J-45
See it Here: “Blues Gave Me a Ride” Charlie Musselwhite and his ’54 Gibson J-45 do it up (so) right…

Oz Noy
Dishing Out More Twisted Blues
Oz Noy is talented enough to pay the bills not only as a first-call New York session cat, but also…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Freddie King’s Gibson ES-345 Keeps on Playin’
Family Ties
Watching her baby boy become rapt whenever his grandma played country blues on her guitar, Ella May King had a…

Hanburt Electric Guitars
Rarities From the Pacific Northwest
As a brand of American electric instruments, the name “Hanburt” is about the furthest thing from being a household term.…

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter
License To Thrill
To a generation of music fans, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was one of the most recognizable guitarists of the early ’70s.…

The Epiphone Devon Tremolo EA-35T Combo
Tonally TransAtlantic
After giving the upstart Fender a run for its money in the amplifier department throughout the 1950s, Gibson segued into…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight

Mesa/Boogie Mark Five: 25
Stage, Studio, Etc.
Mesa/Boogie Mark Five: 25 Price: $1,299 (list) Contact: www.mesaboogie.com Housed in teensy cabinets, so-called “lunchbox” amps are all the rage,…

Universal Audio’s OX Amp Top Box
The Tube Abides
Since the mid ’60s, electrical engineers have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of the vacuum tube,…

Carr Bel-Ray 1×12
Brit-Based Invasion
Carr Amplifiers are renowned for their build quality and vintage-inspired tones. Not one to rest on his laurels, founder Steve…
Lollar’s Gold-Foil Pickup
After the Gold Rush
Lollar’s Gold-Foil Pickup Price: $180 (list, each) Info: www.lollarguitars.com Gold-foil pickups are exotic beasts – just like many of the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
-
Remembering a Heavy Hero

Eric Ambel
Eric “Roscoe” Ambel is accomplished guitarist (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Steve Earle) and go-to “roots rock” producer (Bottle Rockets,…

Charlie Ballantine
Midwest Expressive
Befitting a guitarist from America’s heartland, Charlie Ballantine’s mixes jazz, folk-rock, surf/instro, blues, pop, and country into a simmering pot…

Trainwreck Express “Nancy”
World’s most desirable amplifier? Aside from any “standard” vintage amps that have been elevated through their associations with major artists,…

The Daddy Mojo Ozark
All But The Kitchen Sink
For a decade, Daddy Mojo has been making cigar-box guitars that refine the vibe of those rudimentary instruments. In 2016,…










































