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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…
Tom Feldmann
No Need to Sell Your Soul
“And the Oscar goes to…” If they gave out Academy Awards for the best guitar instructional film, Tom Feldmann’s latest…
Peavey T-20
The Next Step
Introduced in 1982, Peavey’s T-20 was different from other basses in the Peavey lineup, the two-pickup T-40, and the single-pickup…
Fretprints: Van Halen
Birth of the Brown Sound
In the late 1970s, hard rock was on the ropes. Always a guitar-dominated form of music, it had been diluted…
Rickenbacker 325
A Pop Icon and His Beloved Axe
Details In 1962, the Ac’cent Vibrato replaced the original Rick’s standard Kauffman unit, which was derived from a nearly 30-year-old…
The Howlin’ Brothers
Like a long-lost radio show from the ’50s suddenly coming to life on your radio in the late nighttime hours,…
Echopark Clarence
Wayback Machine
Gabriel Currie’s Echopark Guitars have been played around the world by some of the music industry’s heaviest hitters. His is…
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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
Carol Kaye
Think "Extensive"
Contrary to what some aspiring bass players might think, the world’s most recorded electric bassist isn’t some modern-day L.A. dude…
Nils Lofgren
The Secret Weapon
Guitar wizard Nils Lofgren has been an in-demand sideman for more than 50 years, working with Bruce Springsteen & the…
Mick Jones
Foreigner at 40
Somewhere in the world right now, a Foreigner song is playing on the radio. Literally. Thanks to nearly 20 mega-hit…
Ty Tabor
On A Roll
King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor is on a roll. Despite the band being on hiatus due to bassist Dug Pinnick’s…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Gibson’s GA-8 Discoverer
Sonic Satellite
By the end of the 1950s, “space” was the name of the game, and any forward-thrusting gear that hoped to…
Big Beat Boys
Musings on Fab and Gear, 50 Years Ago
Americans tend to link the beginnings of the Beatles phenomenon to a specific date – February 9, 1964, when the…
Freddie Green
Artistry in Rhythm
Fellow musicians called him “Pep” or “Pepperhead.” He was also known as “Mr. Rhythm,” and he could drive a band…
The ’66 Vox UL 730
Beatle Juice
Despite the massive lust for early “copper-panel” Vox AC30 and AC15 amplifiers, one JMI-made line is far rarer – the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
AmpRX BrownBox Voltage-Reduction Unit
Vintage-Safe Voltage
AmpRX BrownBox Voltage-Reduction Unit Price: $269.00 (list) Contact: www.amprx.net Amplifier repairman and builder Patrick Geraghty was frustrated with the sound…
Fishman Broken Record
Acoustic Looper
Part of Fishman’s line of AFX Mini Acoustic pedals, the Broken Record is a looper/sampler for players who like to…
Valco FX Five-0
Garage Band
The Valco FX Five-0 was conceived as “Dick Dale in a box.” Offering overdrive, reverb, and tremolo – each with…
Musicvox MI-5 12-String
That Timeless Jangle
The Musicvox MI-5 12-String Price: $899 Info: www.musicvox.com. Since its appearances in the Austin Powers movies, Musicvox guitars have received…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Ray Benson
Where There’s a Wills, There’s a Wheel
Asleep At the Wheel’s latest album is the band’s third tribute to Bob Wills. Long-time leader Ray Benson recently talked…
Fret-King Esprit III
Déjà Vu, Again
What do you get when you cross a Gibson Explorer with a Fender offset and Firebird vibe? The answer is…
George Gruhn
How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal
If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon…
ToneConcepts, Nels Cline Co-Op on Goo Distortion Pedal
The ToneConcepts Goo distortion pedal was designed in cooperation with guitarist Nels Cline. It has controls for Volume, Shininess (tone),…
