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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…
Five Classic Amps
A Tone-Spotter’s Arsenal To Cover It All
When it comes to classic guitar tones – whether it’s blues through a Dumble, country through a Fender, rock through…
Tommy Skeoch
Rock and Roll Forever
Tommy Skeoch is revered for delivering guitar tone with equal parts attitude and guttural conviction. Since his departure from Tesla…
The Fender Showman
The Showman
In addition to several significant shifts in style and presentation, for Fender, the transition of the late 1950s into the…
Yamaha Image
Some years back, an insurance company promoted itself as “the quiet company.” While they probably wouldn’t like to hear it,…
Martin D-28 and D-45
Definitive Flat-tops
Martin’s pre-WWII dreadnought guitars set the standard for the modern flat-top, and thus both have been inducted into the VG…
Magnatone Twilighter
King of Vibrato
Magnatone Twilighter Price: $2,249 (12″ combo, list) Info: www.magnatoneusa.com. Magnatone is dead, long live Magnatone! The original Magnatone amp company…
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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…
NOW AVAILABLE!
CURRENT ISSUE
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ARTISTS
Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 1
Beginnings – The Early 1960s
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…
Jake Shimabukuro Plays the Beatles “Something”
Silky-Smooth Shimabukuro Jake Shimabukuro’s playing is a silky delight on this run through the Beatles “Something.” That’s his Kamaka tenor…
Ram Tuli Crunches Numbers for The Guide
Strats and Data
Combine a knack for numbers with a love of old guitars and you get… well, you might get any of…
Thom Douvan
Motown and More
Released in April, guitarist Thom Douvan’s third album, All Over Again, is a mix of self-penned instrumentals (with one notable…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a…
Dallas Shaftesbury 30
We mine the rich seam of obscure vintage American tube amps on a regular basis here in the pages of…
Gibson Tal Farlow
The Tal Farlow is one guitar in a quartet of full-depth Gibson Artists models first cataloged in the early 1960s. Introduced…
Two Tickets to the Top
Keeley Electronics’ Katana and Flexi 4×2
Any gearhead who’s been paying attention the last seven years knows the name Robert Keeley. Since 2001, he and his…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Lively Drives
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Posh Squash
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Chet Powered!
Fenders American Vintage Series
Devilish in Detail
Fender American Vintage Series Price: $2,400 retail/$1,999.99 street (’52 Telecaster); $2,874 retail/$2,299.99 street (’59 Stratocaster); $2,874 retail/$2,299 street (’65 Jazzmaster…
Fender’s Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster
Country Composite
One of the newest models from Fender’s Artist series is designed to appeal to vintage Telecaster fanatics, country twangers, and…
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…
The Postal Delta Zephyr
No Reservations
It’s nice to find guitar builders producing hand-made guitars that are more than a rehash of familiar models, while using…
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
Dumble Overdrive Special OD150 WR
Alexander Dumble’s creations were already established as legendary when we probed our first example in this space back in May…
Noah Zacharin: Seriously Agile Fingerstyle
“Lester Brown” Live From The Big Lonely From his home in a forest between Ottawa and Toronto, singer/songwriter/fingerpicker Noah Zacharin…
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…
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…
