-
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…
Keeley Electronics Dark Side
Floyd Fare
In the multi-verse of effects pedals, Robert Keeley’s compressors, dirt boxes, and workstation gizmos are a thing of beauty –…
HomeWrecker Pickups
Slumbering Strats, Awake!
In 2011, session guitarist Joshua Hernandez began winding pickups in his living room. From these modest beginnings, and with no…
Jeff Senn and Crazy Aces
Dealing Out Twang
When you build guitars for a living, you might unwind with another hobby – say, beer-can collecting or crochet. Not…
K.K. Downing
Preaching Metal
Classic heavy metal will never fade as long as K.K. Downing remains one of its torchbearers. Sermons of the Sinner,…
Classics: August 2021
Guild F-20 Troubadour and Dan Armstong Lucite
John Wiley couldn’t have known it then, but when his parents rewarded two years of applying himself to guitar lessons…
The Xaviere XV-JT90 and XV-585
Planks for Pennies
Xaviere is a company that imports its guitars from China, sets them up in its Massachusetts shop, then sells direct.…
-
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,…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!
ARTISTS
McKinley James’ Blues
Family Barn Jam! With his ’82 Gibson 335 running into a Headstrong Corduroy (20-watt/6V6) amp, McKinley James shares a…
Tommy Castro
Circling Back
In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his…
Michael Wilton
Rebuilding the Queensrÿche Brand
The highly publicized firing of singer Geoff Tate from the band Queensrÿche has divided fans and spawned two touring bands…
DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC
DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC! Dan Rose used his ’58 ES-175 (with a PAF at the…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Ampeg R-12-R Reverberocket
1962 Ampeg R-12-R Reverberocket Preamp tubes: two 6SL7, two 6SN7 Output tubes: two 6V6, cathode-biased Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume, Tone,…
The Beatles’ Casinos
Of all the guitars made famous by the Beatles, the only one that John, Paul, and George had in common…
The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part 3: The 1960s
Fretted-instrument advertising in the 20th century relied heavily on “glamor” or “cheesecake.” Electric instruments and accessories, in particular, are still…
Dan’s Guitar RX: A ’57 Strat Goes Under the Knife
Battle-Scarred
B.K. Vaught recently walked into my shop with a vintage Strat that had been modified and refinished. While its changes…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
-
Live Wire
-
Narrow(field) Win
-
Take Flight
Harden Rodeo Boost
Yippee-Ki-Yay
Known for building some of the coolest guitars to roll out of Indiana, Harden Engineering recently expanded its line with…
MOD Kits DIY 102+ Amp Kit
Do It Yerself
A good friend jokingly remarked that building tube amps is the legal equivalent of taking opiates – instantly gratifying yet…
ZVEX Woolly Mammoth 7
Fuzzy Beast
Zachary Vex masterminds some of the most radical and downright fun pedals known to mankind. And as he states in…
The MXR Eric Gales EG74 Raw Dawg
Bark And Bite
During a recording career that spans three decades and includes 19 albums, blues guitarist Eric Gales has achieved a reputation…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
-
More Personal
-
Rare Pioneer
Gretsch G5191BK Tim Armstrong Electromatic
Cool Player, Punk Heart
Few punk-rock guitarists have made their mark like Tim Armstrong. Through his work with renowned punkers Rancid, Armstrong has torn…
Seth Lover
Humbuckers and Other Lover innovations
The history of the musical instrument business is full of stories, from the drab to the miraculous. Some bean counters…
Hot Tuna
Live at Sweetwater / Live in Japan
Jorma Kaukonen, who started as an acoustic folk-blues guitarist, returned to that style in 1969 when he and bassist Jack…
Eric Zolan
Funky and Blue
Guitarist Eric Zolan whips up a perfect confection of jazz, blues, and R&B in his playing, heard on his latest,…
