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Taylor® Guitars Kicks Off 2026 With Two Major Launches – The Next Generation Of Its Flagship Grand Auditorium Guitars And New Gold Label Square-Shoulder Dreadnoughts
Taylor upgrades its most iconic models, adding “Next Generation” features to its Grand Auditorium body shape while expanding its recently introduced Gold Label Collection with traditional, square-shoulder dreadnoughts EL CAJON,…
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Thomas Custom Guitars
Rarities from the Pacific Northwest
Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich…
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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…

The Vox Saturn IV
In the mid 1960s, England’s Vox company was in the right place at the right time. Buoyed by frontline British…

Shooter Jennings, Ryan Bingham, and Various Artists
Outlaw: Celebrating The Music Of Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002, would have turned 80 in 2017. He and compadre Willie Nelson still personify country’s…

Travis Stever
A Conceptual Break
Few rock bands have explored the “concept album” format as thoroughly as Coheed and Cambria; the band’s first seven full-length…

Peavey VYPYR X2
Small Wonder
Continuing its decades-long innovative streak, Peavey’s VYPYR X2 Guitar Modeling Amp brings modern styling, a new open-back cabinet, and re-tooled…

Sugar Hill Set Marks 25 Years
In an industry where success is measured in weeks or months rather than years, marking a 25th anniversary is no…

Joanna Connor
Best Of Me
With a decades-long career and a boatload of albums to her credit, slide queen Joanna Connor is no stranger to…
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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…
ARTISTS

Pop ’N Hiss: Grand Funk Railroad’s Live Album
Pulverizing Performance
Brutish power chords and shrieking guitar lines abetted by pounding percussion, overdriven bass riffs, and wailing vocals – at the…
Mary Kaye
Beyond the Stratocaster Connection
Most informed guitar enthusiasts associate veteran “lounge” guitarist Mary Kaye with the unique ’50s Fender Stratocaster model (blond finish, gold…

Nalle Colt
Keeping Old-School Alive
Vintage Trouble has emerged as one of the hardest working bands on the music scene. Laced with an ultra-cool visual…

Vic Juris
The Core of Big Apple Jazz
Every noted jazz artist in the world is familiar with Vic Juris. His body of work commands serious respect and…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

“Unicorn”: Ca. 1910 Rafael Casana
This extremely rare guitar has been dubbed the “Unicorn” by virtue of the fact that for all his fame, it…

Italian Smorgasbord
The Goya Rangemaster 116 SB
American guitars made in the 1950s and ’60s constitute an almost-holy canon, yet most players in that era took their…

Jeff Plankenhorn’s “Alone At Sea”
Tasty slide on a square-neck Oahu Singer/songwriter Jeff Plankenhorn’s music is a rootsy mix that embraces blues and pop while…

Fender 5E7 Bandmaster
Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7 Output tubes: two 6L6s, fixed biased Rectifier: 5U4G tube Controls: Volume, Volume, Treble, Bass,…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!

Xotic XW-1 LPB Limited Edition
Small Wonder
Wah pedals come in a variety of sizes and textures, so finding one that checks all the boxes can be…

Newman Guitars 5 String
Less Is More
Getting one’s hands on a five-string electric like the one Ted Newman Jones built for Keith Richards in the ’70s…

GJM Guitars Tenoroc
Designed To Rock
Road-warrior guitarists with years of gigs under their belt who later design guitars have an advantage over builders without that…

Taylor 814ce
New Life at 40
Taylor 814ce Price: $4,378 (list); $3,399 (street) Info: www.taylorguitars.com Of all the guitars in Taylor’s product line, the 814ce is…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Revisiting Room 335
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Plus, a Pro’s List of Repair Glues
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Rising Tides

Keeley Hydra Stereo Reverb & Tremolo
The Life Aquatic
Stompbox wizard Robert Keeley’s latest creation packs a boatload of deep-sea diver sounds in one small package. The Hydra Stereo…

Judas Priest
50 Heavy Metal Years of Music
With 42 CDs containing every studio and live album by the British colossus – including 13 discs of unreleased material…

Fishman’s Aura Spectrum DI, ToneDEQ
Potent Preamps
Unlike most electric guitarists, acoustic-electric pickers tend to worry about preamps. A lot. This front stage is critical because acoustic…

Classics: January 2023
Jay Mitzner’s ’53 Gibson Les Paul.
Overhearing his 13-year-old son noodling on a beginner guitar in his bedroom one day in 1958, it occurred to Murray…











































