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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…

Mojo Hand Octaverse
Reverse Gears
The Mojo Hand Octaverse is billed as a “dedicated reverse octave delay,” which is a mouthful, but accurate. It offers…

Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought
Reviving the ’30s
Guild’s Orpheum Slope Shoulder 14-Fret Rosewood Dreadnought Price: $4,999 (list); $3,799 (street) Info: www.guildguitars.com. Compared to Martin’s longstanding factory location…

Reggie Young
Memphis R & B to Nashville Studios
Reggie Young passed away on January 17, 2019. Here is an extensive interview he did with VG in 2001. Reggie…

Check This Action: Blue Steel
Freddie Roulette was one of the most amazing musicians I ever heard, knew, or saw – the absolute monster of…

Mike Lipe Virtuoso
Back to the Future
Mike Lipe Virtuoso Price: $4,000 Contact: lipeguitars.com; phone (818) 352-6212 Mike Lipe has built guitars for top players and guitar…

The Subdudes
At its core, the Subdudes’ character sound is Tommy Malone’s sophisticated acoustic guitar blended with John Magnie’s keyboards, their soulful…
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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

Popa Chubby’s Dangerous Attitude
NYC blues beast rips on “I Don’t Want Nobody A fixture in New York City blues joints and familiar face…

Sheryl Bailey
New Ground in The SBQ
Sheryl Bailey has enjoyed a steady upward trajectory since her career launched 20 years ago. One of the leading proponents…

Chris Bergson: Heartfelt Pandemic Picking
Chris Bergson: Heartfelt Pandemic Picking Chris Bergson used his ’60s Teisco to play a bit of his tune, “Hector and…

Henry James Schneekluth
Psychedelic
Henry James Schneekluth handles the groovy guitar parts in Robert Jon & The Wreck. While impassioned Southern rock might be an…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The Supro “Model 24”
Okay, Zep police, sound the alarm and prepare to loose the hounds – we are finally about to lift the…
Gibson Super Jumbo 100
The Super Jumbo 200 is Gibson’s most celebrated flat-top model, and deservedly so, thanks to its use by cowboy movie…

Classics – May 2021
This 1940 ES-250 with serial number 96385 left the Gibson factory bound for retailer New York Band on October 25,…

Warwick Thumb Bass
Generational Innovation
Founded in the early 1980s by Hans-Peter Wilfer, Warwick has a familial connection to another well-known German brand from a…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

EVH Wolfgang WG Standard
Atomic Punk
EVH Wolfgang WG Standard Price: $799.99 (list); $599.99 (street) Contact: www.evhgear.com Decades after the release of the first Van Halen…

Looks Aren’t Everything
Ugly Amps Big Ugly 50 and 100
Steve O’Boyle got his start converting old tube PA heads into guitar amps. Flash forward nearly 17 years and O’Boyle…

Gibson ES-335 Joe Bonamassa Signature Model
A Semi-Hollow For Joe
Gibson ES-335 Joe Bonamassa Signature Model Price: $3,335 (street) Contact: gibson.com. The collaboration of Gibson and blues-rocker Joe Bonamassa began…

Pigtail Music
Pigtail music makes ABR-style and wraparound bridges (in the U.S.) with vintage-style appearance and materials, but to tighter tolerances. Their…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

North Mississippi Allstars
Blues Dance Music
Luther and Cody Dickinson’s latest pushes the boundaries of northern Mississippi blues music by integrating programmed loops and electronic dance…

Steve Howell Fingerpicks “Stocking Feet Blues”
Solo acoustic homage to rural-blues great Steve Howell is a veteran of blues, rock, and jazz. Here, he fingerpicks a…

Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster
Flipped Axis
Pity the poor right-handed masses. Emulating the vibe of Jimi’s various Strats has always been tough on them. Some players…

Gibson M-III Standard
Missing the Mark(et)
Gibson’s bread and butter has long been tried-and-true designs that represent remarkable innovations – even if they date back to…











































