• 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…

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Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine

Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine

Chorus of Praise

April 6, 2016 · Max Prown

Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine Price: $215 Contact: www.earthquakerdevices.com Known primarily for its monstrous distortion and fuzz units, the folks at…

Def Leppard

Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard

April 24, 2024 · Bret Adams

When Def Leppard released its 1980 debut, On Through the Night, most members were barely out of their teens. Now…

Have Guitar Will Travel 139 – Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult

December 12, 2024 · James Patrick Regan

In episode 139 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist…

Eastman MD515

The Mando-lorian

December 6, 2021 · Pete Prown

Guitarists can expand their instrumental range in several ways, from bass to banjo and even the diminutive mandolin, where guitar-like…

Radial Tonebone Shotgun and Mix-Blender

Swiss-Army Stompboxes

July 9, 2018 · Tom Guerra

Whether it’s due to shrinking pedalboard real estate, shrinking discretionary budgets, or both, stompboxes that serve more than one function…

Neil Young

Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition

December 3, 2023 · Pete Prown

Young’s 1972 smash delivered on the promise of CSNY, offering California rock rife with acoustic guitars, piercing lyrics, and cozy…

  • Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    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,…

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ARTISTS

Peter Frampton

Part One: The Humble Pie Years

October 13, 2021 · Wolf Marshall

Formed with two formidable front men in Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton, Humble Pie was one of the earliest “supergroups”…

In Memoriam: John Regan

April 3, 2024 · Ward Meeker

John Regan, a songwriter, producer, and bassist who was a member of Peter Frampton’s band and Frehley’s Comet, died April…

Pop ’N Hiss: Toto

Fine Line

April 8, 2024 · Bret Adams

In 1978, disco ruled the charts and airwaves. Rock teetered on wobbly legs and there was nary a crunchy guitar…

Shane Speal

King of the CBG

March 4, 2019 · Bob Cianci

In an era of high-tech musical toys, there’s some irony in the fact that the cigar-box guitar – most primitive…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

1963 Fender 6G7-A Bandmaster

Last of the Oxbloods

May 2, 2024 · Dave Hunter

Those who love vintage amplifiers are often fascinated by little anomalies that present themselves in an otherwise period-correct specimen, and…

The Guitars of Ernst Heinrich Roth

International Influence

December 21, 2023 · Cliff Hall

Now just a sleepy town in Germany, over the last 200 years, Markneukirchen has been home to countless luthiers ranging…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 10

Saga of The Lost Supersounds

February 21, 2018 · Peter Stuart Kohman

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…

A Guide to Vintage Dobros

March 14, 2018 · Tom Gray

John Dopyera left National in 1929 to begin work on a secret project – a single-cone resonator guitar he believed…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Altamira TD Birdseye Oval Hole

Djangology

December 6, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

Altamira Guitars has made a specialty of classical nylon-string, replica, and gypsy-jazz guitars. The latter are created with the same…

Black Cat’s D&S and N-Fuzz

Two Faces of Fuzz

November 29, 2016 · Pete Prown

Located in south-central Connecticut, Black Cat blends an ear for vintage tones with an eye toward modern function and bulletproof…

Positive Grid’s Experience Hendrix For Spark & BIAS FX 2

Get Experienced

December 8, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

In the pantheon of guitar gods, few are studied to the degree of Hendrix. And, given the warp speed at…

Martin D-28 Standard

January 14, 2026 · Michael Shirek

If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Mu-FX Phasor 2X

Next Phase

July 10, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Mastermind effects mad scientist Mike Beigel is back with another re-creation of a classic Musitronics effect. The Mu-FX Phasor 2X…

Warwick Thumb Bass

Generational Innovation

April 15, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

Founded in the early 1980s by Hans-Peter Wilfer, Warwick has a familial connection to another well-known German brand from a…

Various Artists

Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan and Dominic Miller

June 27, 2017 · Pete Prown

Bill Frisell is a living jazz icon, famed for his ethereal tone and snaking post-bop lines. Here, he partners with…

Martin 0-28K

Martin 0-28K

June 8, 2015 · George Gruhn

The exotic figuration of Hawaiian koa wood on this Martin 0-28K from 1923 has a visual appeal that matched the…

Gary Clark Jr.

Live North America 2016

May 26, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Gary Clark Jr. has brought back the soaring psychedelic blues-rock guitar solo. After a backlash of post-Hendrix overkill, replaced with…

The Story of Albanus Guitars

Windy-City Wonders

March 7, 2019 · James W. Leckinger

“Art for art’s sake.” The expression is common. But how often is it practiced? In a basement studio on Chicago’s…

To The Limit

The Effectrode LA-1A Leveling Amplifier

April 15, 2020 · Pete Prown

In the world of guitar effects, there are consumer-grade pedals and pro-grade pedals. The former are affordable and fun, the…

2022 February Issue on Spotify

February 2, 2022 · Doug Yellow Bird

This month we feature Twisted Sister, Bruce Forman, Styx, Warren Haynes, Greg Martin, Dave Specter, Eric Krasno, Graham Dechter, Eric…

Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

September 26, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV,…

Eastwood RD Artist

RD Our Lips

July 9, 2018 · Pete Prown

Issued during Gibson’s infamous “Norlin era,” the original RD Artist has become surprisingly collectible over the years, thanks to its…

Dennis Dunaway

Earwigs, Alice, and Beyond

March 20, 2019 · Ward Meeker

Lungs burning, sweat soaking their shaggy hair in the Arizona sun as miles passed beneath their feet, Dennis Dunaway and…

The Schaffer-Vega Diversity System

Making Rock Roll

December 8, 2021 · Michael Dregni

“ The best thing I ever did in the beginning was not use effects,” AC/DC’s Angus Young told VG in…

Spacey T

Spacey T

Eclectic Journeyman

June 21, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Tracey Singleton, better known as Spacey T, is a post-Hendrix guitar wizard with an eclectic soul and chops to match.…

Lance Lopez

Hard-Time Music

August 8, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Several years after being liberated from Supersonic Blues Machine, Lance Lopez is back and better than ever. Wielding hard lessons…

Earthquaker Devices’ Avalanche Run

Test for Echo

July 5, 2018 · Zac Childs

The story of Earthquaker Devices begins with Jamie Stillman fixing his own overdrive pedal and then deciding to get into…

Way Huge Saffron Squeeze MkII

Way Huge Saffron Squeeze MkII

Fresh-squeezed

July 7, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

Twenty years after its launch, the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze compressor has been improved upon. Doing fierce business with an…

Seth Lee Jones

Pedal Pusher

July 27, 2022 · Pete Prown

Thanks to giants like Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and Sonny Landreth, we’re living in a golden age of bottleneck guitar,…

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special

July 5, 2016 · Dave Hunter

The exalted amps of Alexander Dumble have been legendary since he began building in the late ’60s, and have become…

Cory Wong

Emperor Of The North

October 11, 2021 · Oscar Jordan

Cory Wong’s latest solo album, Striped, is a jubilant record and his eighth this year. Defying the temperature of the…

Full Dozen, Semi-Hollow

12 Variations on a Classic Design

December 2, 2016 · Vintage Guitar

To complement our February 2016 issue survey of the semi-hollow electric guitar, we tested 12 examples of the form as…

Robin Trower

Conquering Hero

January 30, 2023 · Bret Adams

As frustrating as the Covid pandemic has been for keeping artists off the road the past two-plus years, for many,…

Robbie Robertson

The Many Sides of

October 26, 2015 · Dan Forte

It’s difficult to say which is more ironic: the fact that Robbie Robertson, one of rock guitar’s true stylists, is…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 040 Featuring Johnny Hatton

December 15, 2020 · Art Department

  In Episode 40 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with bassist Johnny Hatton, whose current…

The Dig 3’s Hundt, Duncanson play “Tell Me the Place”

December 28, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Old-school blues duet Gerry Hundt and Andrew Duncanson play straightforward Chicago-style blues in The Dig 3. Here, they play “Tell…

The D’Angelico Excel Mandolin

March 13, 2015 · George Gruhn

The 1,164 archtop guitars made by John D’Angelico have brought him great renown as the finest individual archtop guitar builder…

Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab

Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab

Lights! Sound! Action!

November 6, 2015 · Chip Wilson

Immix Eleven V-Series 30 Amp/Cab Price: Amp $1,995 (list); cabinet $895 (list) Contact: www.immix11.com Remember the first time you encountered…

Robert Mugge

Capturing the Blues

July 6, 2016 · Dan Forte

In 1991, Robert Mugge made the documentary Deep Blues, with the help of journalist Robert Palmer, who wrote the book…

Darin and Brooke Aldridge’s Family Album

Darin and Brooke Aldridge’s Family Album

Picture Perfect

April 6, 2016 · Kathleen Johnson

The husband-and-wife duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge are one of the hottest acts on the traditional bluegrass/Americana scene. The couple’s…

The Ultimate Book of Blues Guitar Legends

The Ultimate Book of Blues Guitar Legends

August 13, 2025 · Bret Adams

  The blues is the foundation of nearly all American popular music, and this book by Vintage Guitar’s music editor…