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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…
Michael Staertow
Gramm Backer
You may not recognize the name, but Michael Staertow has been playing some of classic rock’s most memorable riffs for…
Santa Cruz HT/13 Happy Traum
Fingerstyle Dream
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Happy Traum has been a fixture of the American folk scene, from…
Bill Nelson
Brit-Guitar Deluxe
Bill Nelson is one of the unsung heroes of British rock guitar. From his ’70s work with Be Bop Deluxe…
Michael Lee Firkins
Meditations in Southern Rock
Michael Lee Firkins began his career as the ’80s shred era wound down and grunge began to boom. His out-of-the-box…
John Mayall
1933-2024
Drummer Mick Fleetwood was only briefly a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, but that was enough to launch his platinum…
Fender’s Tweed-to Tolex Transition
Best Face Forward
Through its 75 years, Fender has been responsible for myriad leaps forward in the history of guitar-amplifier design and manufacture.…
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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
In Memoriam: Lasse Wellander
Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist in ABBA and a renowned studio and solo musician, died April 7. He was 70 and…
Larry Coryell
1943-2017
Guitarist Larry Coryell died February 19 in New York City after performing the previous night at the Iridium. He was…
Fretprints: Jeff Beck
The JBG: Birth of Heavy Metal?
The proverbial chicken-or-egg conundrum has an equivalent in the spirited debate over the Jeff Beck Group versus Led Zeppelin as…
Lance Lopez
Supersonic Blues Machine
Lance Lopez is a guitar-slinging blues machine that burns like Texas hot sauce in August. He has scorched the festival…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Music Man’s Hybrid Boogie Amp: The RD-50
Say hey, fellow guitarists! If you live in the Northeast, it’s great to have a hobby that doesn’t require going…
Gibson Humbucker
Crunchy, Clean Dirt
Gibson and Fender may be the longstanding heavyweight rivals of the electric guitar game, but they have one very important…
VG Q&A: Jimi Flip
Plus, Precision Bass rests and an odd Galliano
I’ve never read why Jimi Hendrix played and set up a right-hand Strat to play left-handed. Surely, he could’ve found…
Vega De Luxe Electric Plectrum Banjo
Billed as “the latest orchestral sensation… unparalleled for versatility,” Vega’s electric banjos – developed to compete with one being made…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Dr. Z 35th Anniversary Carmen Ghia 1×10
Start Me Up
At the forefront of high-end boutique design, the Carmen Ghia was Dr. Z’s first commercially available amplifier when launched in…
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1
Bi-Amping in a Box
Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-1 Price: $299.95 Info: www.Brimstoneaudio.com. Brimstone Audio is a relatively new company that hit the ground…
Grez Mendocino Short Scale Bass
Time-Machine Tone
In the beginning, there was the Precision Bass. Following Leo Fender’s revelation, things branched out in all directions as builders…
The Siegmund Doppler Vibe
The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get
Siegmund Doppler Vibe Price: $495 Info: www.siegmundguitars.com. It’s been said that Buddy Guy was the first guitarist to put his…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Steve Dawson
Deeper Roots
Calling Steve Dawson a “roots” artist seems a disservice to a musician so eclectic and wildly talented. On Eyes Closed,…
Steve Kimock flashes back to Zero
Amazing improv on “End of World Blues” We review the reissued 1992 album “Naught Again” by Zero, a band that…
Mark Tremonti
Rock Star, Amp Snob!
Many of the people we today consider “guitar heroes” – Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name a…
Dynamic Amplifiers 2040 Series
Tone to "Dy" For
Dynamic Amps 2040 series Price: $2,570 (VA Combo) David Carambula’s Dynamic 2040 series of amplifiers consists of three models: Vintage…
