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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…
EarthQuaker Devices’ Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator
Ground Shaker
EarthQuaker Devices has a knack for launching pedals that range from ideal tools for those seeking otherworldly sonic textures to…
Tx-Watt Flagship
Tone Big as Texas
For more than three decades on the Texas roadhouse circuit, guitarist Jack Kay’s love of vintage Fender and Marshall tones…
Steve Wariner
The C.G.P. Connection
Steve Wariner is among the handful of guitarists designated as a certified guitar player (C.G.P.) by Chet Atkins. The last…
Blackstar Nominated for NAMM TEC Award
Each year, the NAMM Foundation gathers artists, fans, and music-industry professionals for an evening celebrating the achievements of producers, engineers,…
Elliot Easton
Different Directions
Lefty guitarist Elliot Easton has chosen a different route for his most recent musical venture, but its sonic direction should…
The Jayhawks
Power Pop With Twang And Thunder
Those with only a casual ear to the pavement will likely file the Jayhawks under murky signifiers such as “Americana”…
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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
Ray Edenton
1926-2022
Ray Edenton, acknowledged rhythm-guitar master of Nashville’s A-Team, died September 21 at his home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. He was 95,…
Jules Leyhe
Bottleneck Breakout
Forget everything you know about slide guitar. Jules Leyhe just upended the genre on Your First Rodeo, an instrumental set…
Samantha Fish: Slide-Blues Fury!
“I’m Done Runnin’” on a D-18 VG readers know Samantha Fish is the real deal. Here, she uses a Martin…
Prince
Rhapsody In Purple
A year after his death, VG remembers Prince, a musical revolutionary, whose emergence was jarring, even for the most youthful…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS
The ‘‘Blackburst’’
Les Paul Standard of a Different Shade
Among experienced (and often jaded) veteran guitar collectors, precious few things create an adrenaline rush – strange one-offs, oddball brands that never quite blossomed,…
Fender’s 1960 Bandmaster
Power of Three
The earliest renditions of our gear icons are often the most valuable, but on many occasions it’s the transition models…
Star Board: Jared Scharff
“Saturday Night Live” staff guitarist Jared Scharff uses this custom pedalboard, built by Matt Brewster, 30th Street Guitars, New York…
The 1966 Murph Squire II-T
So-Cal Attention Getter
Despite what many enthusiasts believe, there has been only one really significant “lawsuit” that defined a class of guitars –…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Valvetech Amplifier Company’s VAC 25
Tractable Tweed
Who says pragmatic utility and classic tones have to be mutually exclusive? Not Rob Pierce, whose Valvetech Amplifier Company deals…
Koll Super Glide Almighty
Grady’s Choice
What do you get when you cross a Jazzmaster, Les Paul, Gretsch Duo Jet, ES-335, and Tele? You just might…
K775V Kay Jazz II and K5970V Jazz Special Bass
A-Ohh-Kay
K775V Kay Jazz II and K5970V Jazz Special Price: $1,495 (K775V Jazz II electric guitar); $1,150 (K5970V Jazz Special electric…
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…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Debut Drive
Slamo Guitars’ Turquoise Cabronita
Slamo Guitars may not have yet achieved the name recognition of certain others, but Frank Silano has been building guitars…
David Allen Fat ’59 Tele Pickups
Sparkle and Twang
At their best, Tele pickups deliver unparalleled twang – versatile and fat. Conversely, poor T-style pickups are flat and screechy…
Bettie Serveert
Go Dutch!
Bettie Serveert is still going strong, 25 years after bursting on the scene in Amsterdam at the height of alternative…
Shawn Purcell’s Jazz from the East (Coast)
Influences Aplenty! A child of the ’80s, Shawn Purcell grew up listening to Stern, Scofield, and Metheny alongside Zeppelin, Van…
