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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…
Hallmark Swept-Wing
Brief Flight from South of Bakersfield
Bob Shade exemplifies the adage “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” The guitar builder has an enviable assortment of…
Orange VT1000 Valve Tester
Orange VT1000 Valve Tester Price: $499 Info: www.orangeamps.com. Many a Vintage Guitar reader has a stash of tubes lying about…
Check This Action: Where’s Eric?
Eric Clapton and London’s Royal Albert Hall are virtually synonymous. In various contexts he has played the storied venue more…
Pop ’N Hiss: Prince’s 1999
Music, Sex, and The New World Order
1981, the world was enveloped in the Cold War, with its nuclear weapons, Reaganomics, and uncertainty. Prince Rogers Nelson had…
Fender American Vintage II 1954 Precision Bass
Ageless Anchor
It wasn’t literally the first electric bass, but Fender’s Precision was the genesis of the instrument the world knows today.…
EarthQuaker Devices’ Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator
Ground Shaker
EarthQuaker Devices has a knack for launching pedals that range from ideal tools for those seeking otherworldly sonic textures to…
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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
Darryl Jones
Stones’ Side Man, Ron Wood Fan
“Unofficial” Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994, readily admits that playing with the carousing rockers…
Andrew Synowiec’s Ebullient Tonefest
Uplifting Instrumental Rock! Check out Andrew Synowiec and his Heritage Custom Core H-150 P90 ripping through a chunk of “Lead…
Shredding and songcraft – Kire Najdovski
Talas guitarist offers taste of “1985” Kire Najdovski does a great take on “Close to the Killer,” from Talas’ new…
Adam Levy’s Wistful Elegance
Vintage ES-335 on “And They All Sang” Famous for supplying charismatic guitar parts while backing Nora Jones and Tracy Chapman,…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
McKinley James’ Blues
Family Barn Jam! With his ’82 Gibson 335 running into a Headstrong Corduroy (20-watt/6V6) amp, McKinley James shares a…
First ’Burst
In May of 1958, a worker at the Gibson factory pulled two Les Paul guitars – serial numbers 8 3087…
Gibson Basses in The ’70s
Plucky Trio from the “Downer Decade”
Guitar enthusiasts have long heard that the 1970s were the “downer decade” for Fender and Gibson, both of which introduced…
Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 9
Late ’60s: Baldwin And Decline
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Tech 21’s Fly Rig Brit and Cali
Little Monsters
In this age of shrinking guitar rigs, Tech 21’s Fly Rig pedals show just how guitar-related technology is getting smaller…
Carr Amplifiers’ Super Bee
’60s Muscle
Inside its chicken hatchery turned amp shop in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Carr Amplifiers has hatched another beauty in the low-watt/single-channel…
Martin D-28 Standard
If nobody mentioned that Martin’s new Standard line had been updated, a player might be forgiven for not immediately noticing…
Ruppert Acouswitch and Basswitch IQ DIs
Switching Up
Ruppert Acouswitch and Basswitch IQ DIs Price: $600 each with gigbag Info: www.rmi.lu. Part DI, part preamp, and part A/B…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Doyle Bramhall II
In the 15 years since his debut album, Welcome, Doyle Bramhall, II has been in great demand. Along with a…
Leslie West
Still Climbing!
Leslie West is renowned for his iconic tone and revered as a forefather of classic rock. A true survivor, he’s…
Sam Bush
Radio John: Songs Of John Hartford
One of the greatest bluegrass musicians, singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush – playing mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and…
Fretprints: Led Zeppelin
One of the truly classic rock albums, Led Zeppelin’s IV brought together the band’s towering advances achieved with its first…
