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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…

Gwenifer Goes “Cattywomp”
Fierce fingerstyle! Hailing from Wales, former punk-rock drummer Gwenifer Raymond’s fingerstyle playing is inspired by greats like John Fahey and…

Empress ParaEq MKII Deluxe and Heavy Menace
In The Details
It’s cliché to call a parametric EQ a “Swiss Army knife,” but with Empress’ updated ParaEq MKII Deluxe, the comparison…

Fender’s 6G9 Tremolux
Preamp tubes: two 7025, two 12AX7 Output tubes: two 6BQ5/EL84 Rectifier: GZ34 Controls: Bright channel: Volume, Treble, Bass; Normal channel:…

Jonathan Wilson
Rare Bird
Given his busy career as a player and in-demand producer, it’s not surprising that singer/songwriter Jonathan Wilson needed more than…

Kansas’ Leftoverture
Iconic American Prog
Progressive rock emerged from the British psychedelic scene in the late ’60s with bands like the Nice, Procol Harum, Moody…

Doug MacDonald and the Three T’s
Jazz Veteran Brings the Swing! West-Coast jazz legend Doug MacDonald used his Benedetto Bravo to show us a bit of…
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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,…
ARTISTS

Jerry Kennedy
A-Team Guitarist, A-List Producer
Jerry Glenn Kennedy, a 13-year-old who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jerry Glenn,” got the shock of his young life…

Wolf Hoffmann
Mean Business
Traditional heavy metal is still a thriving beast thanks to bands like Accept, whose latest studio album, Too Mean to…

Remembering B.B. King
Ed. Note: Everyone associated with Vintage Guitar magazine is saddened to learn of the passing of B.B. King. In 1995, Mr. King…

Exquisite fingerstyle from Will Ackerman
Trademark Melodies from an Icon Will Ackerman and his Steve Klein guitar show us a piece of the lovely “I…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Watkins Dominator
Crying V
Is there any more stylish vintage amp than the V-front Watkins Dominator? This creation is delightfully twee yet utterly enticing…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 2
The Black Bison Leads the Herd
In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled…

La Baye 2X4
1967, the Summer of Love. Everything still seemed possible, and anything went. No more war, racial and gender equality, Fresh…

Teisco Del Rey Basses
’60s Egalitarianism from Japan
Teisco Del Rey basses from the 1960s are exemplary of the Japanese-made instruments that swept into the American market like…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

McGregor Pedals’ Crunch and Crunch Plus
Transparent Pair
McGregor Pedals founder and self-proclaimed “Chief Mad Scientist” Garth McGregor Heslop hand-wires pedals in his Vancouver shop. Two of them…

Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One Humcutters
Clear Crunch
In the quest for tone, the secret is a combination of pickups, wood, construction, and the magic in a player’s…

Gibson Everly Brothers SJ-200
Full Dress
Gibson has always had a knack for producing distinctive guitars. The EDS-1275 in Cherry finish will forever be tied to…

PRS Swamp Ash Special SE
Bolt-On Beauty
Known historically for its set-neck guitars, PRS has produced a number of killer bolt-ons, like the CE and Silver Sky.…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

Bill Frisell
Music Is
Bill Frisell is a musical treasure who has proven himself in so many musical situations he’s impossible to categorize. His…

The Birth of Newman Guitars
Newman Guitars was established in Austin, TX in 1977 by Ted Newman Jones. Ted was a pioneer of design…

J. Rockett Audio Archer, The Dude, and El Hombre
Overdrive Ecstasy
Part of the success behind J. Rockett Audio Designs lies in the fact that, like any player who might tackle…

Steve Stevens
Return of the Ray-Gun Ace
Best known as Billy Idol’s guitar ace for the past 25 years, Steve Stevens won early fame for Idol’s 1983…














































