Deluxe Dirt

Wampler’s Tumnus Deluxe & Paisley Drive Deluxe

  • Joe Satriani

    Joe Satriani

    The hardest-working guitarist in show business, Joe Satriani recently wrapped up a successful Van Halen tour, a G3 Reunion tour, a live album, a residency in Las Vegas with Sammy…

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NEWSWIRE

ARTISTS

Susan Santos’ Blues-Rock Riffage

July 31, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Solo take on “Have Mercy” Susan Santos grabbed her LsL T Bone, plugged into a Bugera V5 Infinium amp, and…

Johnny Nicholas

Full-Circle in Louisiana

November 30, 2021 · Willie G. Moseley

Johnny Nicholas has been playing “roots music” since long before the term existed. A childhood friend of Duke Robillard, he…

Reverend Freakchild – Surprises at Every Turn!

October 30, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Pushing Boundaries of Blues, Folk, and Rock After a smash-and-grab from his car a few years ago, Reverend Freakchild made…

Charly Baty

Feelin' Good All Over

June 21, 2001 · Frank Falduto

You really have to love a guy who smiles as much as Charly Baty does as he snakes his way…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Sun Rises Again

Sun Rises Again

February 10, 2016 · Michael Dregni

January, 1950: 27-year-old Sam Phillips opens Memphis Recording Service, soon to become famous as Sun Studio and launching rock and…

Ted Newman Jones’ West-Texas Guitars

Melodious Coterie

June 10, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Boxcars Among the vast papers, drawings, photographs, and tapes at Texas Tech’s Crossroads of Music Archive is a guitar beloved…

Jon Butcher’s psychedelia mastery

December 5, 2025 · Doug Yellow Bird

Jon Butcher tales his Olympic White ’63 Strat for a rip on “Jam,” a track from his new album, “Nuthin’…

Paul Reed Smith Guitars

The World of Paul Reed Smith

September 10, 2002 · Michael Wright

Just after we entered the small, crowded office, the door burst open and an intruder blurted out, “Excuse me. Check…


APPROVED GEAR

The Taylor 712e

Naturally Bold

March 13, 2019 · Phil Feser

Taylor Guitars recently redesigned their 700 Series, to add performance bracing, two-piece maple/spruce bridge plate, protein (hide) glue on bridge…

Jon Kammerer Customs Tone Pod Scorpius Deluxe

Comfort and Joy

September 11, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

For 25 years, Jon Kammerer has been on an evolving pursuit to design a comfortable guitar with superior tone and…

Blade California

Tone By Analysis

March 30, 2005 · Vintage Guitar

Long before Gary Levinson started making guitars under the Blade moniker, he was, like many builders, a guitar repair tech.…

Blackstar Amped 2

Satisfying Sounds

February 8, 2024 · Brett Jochim

Blackstar’s entry to the growing market of “all in one” compact amplifier/effects units claims to offer a high degree of…

  • Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster

    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

    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

    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

    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…

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  • Paul Johnson

    Paul Johnson

    The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company

    This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…

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Jeff Pilson

Definitive Diversity

April 15, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

Jeff Pilson’s career has included many notable facets. He rose to acclaim in the classic lineup of the hair-metal band…

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo – Live!

Roger McGuinn & Chris Hillman with Marty Stuart

September 8, 2025 · Dan Forte

A premier folk-rock band morphing into psychedelia in the mid ’60s, the Byrds pioneered country-rock with 1968’s Sweetheart of the…

Deluxe Dirt

Wampler’s Tumnus Deluxe & Paisley Drive Deluxe

April 16, 2020 · Pete Prown

Already road-proven overdrive stompboxes, the Wampler Tumnus and Paisley Drive have received a makeover for 2018. But, is there is…

Travis Stever

Travis Stever

A Conceptual Break

November 30, 2016 · Greg Prato

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

The Gretsch 6169 Electromatic Twin Western

June 10, 2020 · Dave Hunter

What good was selling a newfangled electric guitar back at the dawn of the revolution if you didn’t have an…