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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…
Simon Adahl’s 1958 Höfner 162
Missing Link
He may not be part of anthropological history like Dutch paleontologist Eugene Dubois, but Simon Adahl did have to dig…
ES-Les Paul
F-hole with soul
ES-Les Paul Price: $2,799 to $3,199 (list) Contact: www.gibson.com Gibson’s latest version of the Les Paul isn’t the first with…
Walter Jr.
A Taste of (and from) Louisiana
Walter Jr.’s blend of soul, funk, R&B, and everything-in-between never wanders far from home. It’s not hard to tell from…
Eliza Gilkyson
Not Your Typical Folkie
“My dad was my biggest influence, especially melodically. He loved dark melodies,” says Eliza Gilkyson of her father, the late…
Jeff Plankenhorn
Alone At Sea
Singer/songwriter Plankenhorn recently moved from Austin to Vancouver Island, and besides penning two numbers himself, he co-wrote seven with Austinites…
Carvin’s HH2 Allan Holdsworth
Off With Their Heads
Headless guitars and basses, which had their heyday back in the big-hair/thin-necktie ’80s (think Power Windows-era Geddy Lee), still have…
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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
Mike Matthews
The Special Effect at Electro-Harmonix
As a child of four, Mike Matthews’ mother taught him how to play classical-style piano. Formal lessons followed; the child…
Fingerpicked Country-Folk, Malcolm Holcombe-Style!
Redoubtable singer/songwriter and a beloved ’58 Gibson Malcolm Holcombe shows us how he does “Good Intentions,“ from his new album,…
Carlos Santana
Holding That Tone
Carlos Santana is illustrating a point. “Most people play like this – around the note,” he says, making a fist…
Bobby Black
Steel Before and After Commander Cody
When he got the invitation, Bobby Black wasn’t sure. The pedal-steel virtuoso, a 20-plus-year veteran of San Francisco’s music scene,…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
Gizmotron
Most Bizarre Guitar Effect of All Time?
Led Zeppelin’s final studio album, 1979’s In Through The Out Door, opens with an eerie, otherworldly drone that weaves and…
Revisiting The Jazzmaster
While volumes have been written about its more-famous sibling, the Stratocaster, surprisingly little attention is paid to the Jazzmaster –…
Fender‘s 50th Anniversary Strat
Height of the Reissue
In celebration of the 50th “birthday” of its famous Stratocaster model, Fender has taken the reissue concept to new heights.…
Fender’s V-Front 5B4 Super-Amp
Wonder Wedge
Though all tweed Fender amps of the late ’40s and ’50s are lauded and lusted after, the V-front Super might…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Guild’s F-40 Standard
First-Rate Reboot
Bigger may not always be better, but sometimes having a little extra juice can make all the difference. Born in…
The Pickaso Guitar Bow
Fiddle Stick
Ever since Jimmy Page grabbed a bow for “Dazed and Confused,” players have tried to bridge the gap between guitars…
D’Angelico’s Deluxe Atlantic Baritone
Lowdown
Baritone guitars have been around for decades, traditionally featured in Nashville and Hollywood studios and elsewhere to “sweeten” a track…
Eastwood’s SD-40 Hound Dog and Classic AC
Subjective as it is, the term “mojo” usually refers to gear that’s been played-in over the years. Eastwood tries to…
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Killer Guitar Components Killer Trem Bridge
Bridging the Gap
In the mid 1950s, Leo Fender and his crew spent countless hours on the design and manufacture of their revolutionary…
Eastwood Sidejack DLX 20th LTD
Horn Section
If you love twangy guitars from the ’60s, you know about Mosrites – the immortal slabs of The Ventures and…
Ball Amps 1950s GE TV
Turn Up The Television
Randall Ball crafts vintage amps like no others. At his workshop in Kearneysville, West Virginia, he translates tried-and-true schematics into…
Chris Dreja
Yardbird Recall
Chris Dreja had a front-row seat to rock-and-roll history, playing rhythm guitar and bass in the Yardbirds behind Eric Clapton,…
