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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…
Steve Lukather
Sun Shine
Steve Lukather has been a busy professional guitarist for 45 of his 63 years, as a founding member of Toto,…
Steve Earle
Hillbilly Highway
When Epic Records dropped Steve Earle in ’85 after a series of fiery but commercially unsuccessful recordings, Nashville was in…
Lonnie Mack
Strike Like Lightning
Lonnie Mack hadn’t released an album in eight years when this comeback effort arrived in January of 1985. His first…
Kramer 84 and Pacer Vintage
Tap, Shred, Dive!
Kramer 84/Pacer Vintage Price: $1,166 (84); $1,267 (Pacer Vintage) Info: kramerguitars.com It’s hard to think of ’80s guitars as vintage,…
The Blues Will Set You Free
We’ve all heard of blues in bars, but what about blues behind bars? That’s what Paul Oscher had in mind…
Warner Hodges
In And Out of Scorcherland
If your ear was at all tuned to “alt-country” (a.k.a. cowpunk) in the late ’80s or you were lucky enough…
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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
Sebastian Nagel’s Satisfying Funk
Winston Brothers groove it up on “Drift” Sebastian Nagel and his band, The Winston Brothers, balance groove, melody, and space…
Jerron Paxton
Country-Blues Scholar
Hailing from Los Angeles, Jerron Paxton is a remarkable bluesman, able to conjure sounds of the rural, interwar South through…
Paul Quinn
Relentless Persistence
For Paul Quinn, music begins and ends with the blues. The soft-spoken guitarist began playing by listening to British blues…
Snarky Puppy’s Mark Lettieri
Empire Central: Funky homage to Dallas Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lettieri took a minute at soundcheck to use his PRS…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Gibson GA-83S Stereo-Vib
If you hung around the audio world’s collective R&D room long enough in the late 1950s and early ’60s, you’d…
National N-275
Gibson is widely known for its guitars, mandolins, and banjos, but many are unaware the company built instruments for nearly…
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…
Building a Studio
The Art of Home Recording
VG will equip readers with the knowledge and skill to achieve professional-sounding home recordings. We guide you through the setup…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Widman Set Neck
An Eye For Detail
Widman Set Neck Price: $3,900 Info: widmancustomelectrics.com. John Widman is a custom guitar builder whose artistic leanings began while he…
Roland Micro Cube
Mighty Mouse
Roland Micro Cube Price: $130 (street) Info: www.rolandus.com. Every once in a while you have to pinch yourself and thank…
Waterloo WL-14
Modern Johnson
Waterloo WL-14 Price: $2,100, $1,890 (street) Contact: www.collingsguitars.com or www.waterlooguitars.com Robert Johnson slid into a photo booth, dangling a cigarette…
Ibanez PN1-NT
Parlor for Pennies
In recent years, the parlor guitar has exploded into popularity, reviving a 19th century instrument that was, as its name…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Nancy Wilson
Sister Act
After the release of the acclaimed Red Velvet Car in 2010, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band, Heart,…
Epiphone Zenith Fretted and Fretless Bass
New Groove Territory
For decades, guitar players have known the name Epiphone. Renowned for making great-sounding jazz boxes like the Zephyr and Emperor…
Robben Ford
Made To Last
When Robben Ford approaches traditional blues, he takes ownership, transporting it to new places. This latest five-song EP is no…
George Cotsirilos – Jazz Sans Cliché
Deft work on an L-5 for “The Three Doves” George Cotsirilos grew up listening to Bloomfield, Hendrix, and Clapton, then…
