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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Oz Noy & Andrew Synowiec
Musical Combustion
New from Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec is a guitar team-up highlighting hot licks, high energy, and strong songwriting. The…

2021 August Issue on Spotify
This This month we feature Ray Benson’s Asleep at the Wheel, Neal Schon, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and James Young, Paul…

Chordal Colorations
Iconic Axes of Different Hues
Though their colors are complementary, Brian May’s Red Special and Brian Setzer’s ’59 Gretsch 6120 couldn’t be more different in…

Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium
Various artists
This double-CD’s 40 tracks represent a wide swath of black roots music, from zydeco to gospel, from a Mississippi fife-and-drum…

Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,”…

Belfast Bluesman Dom Martin
Gallagher, Buchanan Inspiration! Dom Martin grew up listening to blues-guitar legends including his Irish countryman Rory Gallagher, and has created…
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Charlie Musselwhite
Lookout Highway
John Mayall is invariably cited for the succession of guitar greats who passed through his band. But Charlie Musselwhite just might be the American equivalent. In a 60-year career, his…
ARTISTS

Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers Change Gears
It’s a brave new world for Drive-By Truckers and their latest album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. Guitarist/songwriter Patterson Hood says…

Alex Haddad and Kyle Lewis
Two Times the Vibes
Nashville’s Them Vibes hearken to the two-guitar teams of yesterday. Established by the songwriting duo of front man Brother Love…

Grace Bowers
Truth of Youth
The word “prodigy” is overused in the music biz, but Grace Bowers is a real-deal young funkster. Just 18 years…

John Oates’ Prized Guild F-30
Roots Return
Most people know Hall & Oates as a pop-music hit machine that has sold millions of records. What you may…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Italian Smorgasbord
The Goya Rangemaster 116 SB
American guitars made in the 1950s and ’60s constitute an almost-holy canon, yet most players in that era took their…

1965 Epiphone Emperor
The Epiphone Emperor has a long, convoluted history. It first appeared in Epiphone’s catalog in late 1935 as a response…

Fender 5E7 Bandmaster
Preamp tubes: one 12AY7, two 12AX7 Output tubes: two 6L6s, fixed biased Rectifier: 5U4G tube Controls: Volume, Volume, Treble, Bass,…
Martin’s “12-Fret” 000-42
Martin has never been a stranger to producing certain guitars in very limited quantities. But just how rare is the…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Blackstar Fly 3
Best In Show… And More
While listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on a small, audiophile-grade table radio, Blackstar Amplification CEO Ian Robinson had an…
Gibson 1928 L-1 Blues Tribute
Blues Time Machine
Gibson 1928 L-1 Blues Tribute Price: $4,255 retail; $3,299 street Info: www.gibson.com. The Gibson L-1 boasts the kind of intriguing…

Carr Amplifiers’ Mercury V
Carolina Combo
Back in June 2003, Carr’s original eight-watt Mercury combo earned high praise in VG for its top-of-the-line components, attention to…

The Logan Telemaster
Masterful Mashup
Though Bob Logan has been building guitars since 1972, he worked in construction for a few decades before fully dedicating…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
Nate Bergman
Skankin’ With Lionize
The members of Lionize blend heavy rock with reggae to create infectious tunes… kind of like if the guys in…
Excelsior Americana
If you play any breed of twang, country, roots-rock or, well, “Americana,” could there possibly be a better amp than…
Earliest Gretsch 6120
…Revealed!
The Gretsch company rose to the upper echelon of guitar manufacturers in the 1950s with the introduction of a diverse…

Mason Razavi – Masterful Jazz
Gibson L-5 on “You Stepped Out of a Dream” Mason Razavi is known in jazz circles for his superb…













































