Home Feature Image

La Baye 2X4

May 25, 2016 · Michael Wright

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

Randy Napoleon’s Rust Belt Roots

May 24, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

 Jazz prof brings spirit and feel Randy Napoleon plays the 2007 prototype for Benedetto’s Bravo Deluxe while doing this…

Jared James Nichols’ glorious goldtop

April 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Mods and pedals need not apply! Watch Jared James Nichols tear it up on “Dorothy,” his ’52 Gibson Les Paul,…

Tom Feldmann, R.L. Burnside, Poor Black Mattie, acoustic Lesson

R.L. Burnside – Poor Black Mattie

May 8, 2016 · Tom Feldmann

Tom Feldmann demonstrates how to play the signature lick from R.L. Burnside’s classic “Poor Black Mattie.” Tom is playing a…

Tone Pump Solara Studio

Tone Pump Solara Studio

Clean ’N Dirty

February 9, 2016 · Zac Childs

Tone Pump Solara Studio Price: $1,099 (list) Contact: www.tonepumpamplifiers.com The story is a familiar one. A guy learns to repair…

Carr Bel-Ray 1×12

Brit-Based Invasion

December 23, 2024 · Charlie Wilkins

Carr Amplifiers are renowned for their build quality and vintage-inspired tones. Not one to rest on his laurels, founder Steve…

  • Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Carr Skylark Special 1×12

    Take Flight

    Arriving a little more than 10 years after the original Skylark, Carr Amplifiers’ new Skylark Special adds versatility and enhanced tonal depths to squeeze a lot more into this diminutive…

    Read more >>

NOW AVAILABLE!

CURRENT ISSUE

Join 25,700+ subscribers & be notified when new articles & more becomes available!

ARTISTS

Jorge Garcia’s FM Anthems, in Jazz

October 30, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

Fresh takes on revered classics Joge Garcia’s “Still Crossing” is a collection of stellar instrumental performances of familiar tunes like…

Greg Martin

Facts of Life

October 4, 2022 · Bret Adams

The pandemic knocked the Kentucky Headhunters’ 2020 plans out of whack, just like every other artist. It’s the primary reason…

Pop ’N Hiss: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies

On The Money

February 4, 2024 · Bret Adams

Alice Cooper was on a steady upward trajectory when Billion Dollar Babies topped the Billboard chart for one week in…

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Heart & Soul Blues

October 4, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi – homeland of the Delta blues – Christone Ingram learned gospel music in the…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

1939 Gibson Super 400 Premier

February 28, 2017 · George Gruhn

The Gibson Super 400 debuted in 1935 as the first production-model 18″ archtop guitar with f-shaped sound holes; 30 years…

Gibson’s Budget Redux

The SB Series Guitars and Basses

March 2, 2017 · Willie G. Moseley

As the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, Gibson had established itself in the electric-bass market with front-line instruments such as…

Gibson’s 1966-’70 Flying V

In Detail

July 1, 2020 · Ward Meeker

Body is two-piece mahogany. Pickguard mounts to body with 13 screws. Pickups are patent-number humbuckers with chrome-plated covers. Tune-O-Matic bridge…

GIBSON-EB-2-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Gibson EB-2

Kalamazoo’s Biggest Bass Innovation?

October 22, 2015 · Willie G. Moseley

In the mid 1950s, Gibson president Ted McCarty was paying close attention to two new instruments impacting the musical-instruments market…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Friedman Motor City Drive & Fuzz Fiend

Sonic Rapture

April 26, 2019 · Oscar Jordan

An innovative designer, builder, and repairman, Dave Friedman has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry,…

Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X

Get Tha Funk Out

September 4, 2015 · Michael Dregni

The Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X Price: $369.63 Contact: www.mu-fx.com. Think funk. Think Bootsy Collins’ wacked-out Parliament Funkadelic Space Bass lines. Think…

Cable Porter

May 10, 2022 · Julian Burtell

Much of a musician’s setup time is relegated to detangling cable thought to be wrapped pristinely at the previous gig.…

Valvetech Amplifier Company’s VAC 25

Tractable Tweed

July 5, 2018 · Oscar Jordan

Who says pragmatic utility and classic tones have to be mutually exclusive? Not Rob Pierce, whose Valvetech Amplifier Company deals…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Guild F-512

Iconic ’70s 12-String

December 28, 2017 · George Gruhn

Today, players typically equate the 12-string acoustic with Taylor and Martin. For its part, though, Guild’s F-512 remains one of…

Dave Stryker

Strings Meet Strings

January 4, 2023 · Pete Prown

When you say “jazz with strings,” many people imagine smooth, sugary instrumentals. But in the hands of guitarist Dave Stryker,…

 Greg Koch

Way Of The Gristle

January 14, 2026 · Oscar Jordan

On Blues, Greg Koch reaches the outskirts of infinity with an album that showcases his wicked guitar skills and love…

Del Casher

“Papa of the Wah-Wah” Marks Its 50 Years

April 26, 2019 · Dave Hunter

The wah pedal is one of the most widely used effects in popular music, employed by artists playing rock, blues,…

Fender’s ’57 Custom Pro-Amp

Big Brother

March 13, 2019 · Michael Dregni

When most guitarists consider Fender’s famed vintage tweeds, the first that come to mind are the 5E3 Deluxe and 4×10…

Marshall 2100 Lead & Bass

Rock Breaker

February 1, 2024 · Dave Hunter

Adescendant of the legendary “Bluesbreaker” combo that helped launch the cranked-Marshall sound into the annals of rock, the 2100 combo…

Big Bill Broonzy

Live In Amsterdam, 1953

December 25, 2023 · Dan Forte

Perhaps because he died just prior to the Folk Boom and a few years before the Blues Revival, Bill Broonzy…

Gibson Wall-Board Guitar

Out of the Woods, Off the Wall

September 28, 2024 · Deke Dickerson

In the world of “guitarcheology,” it’s well-documented that the truly interesting stuff – prototypes, one-offs, custom instruments – usually surface…

Blues Player of the Year

February 6, 2017 · Vintage Guitar

Joe Bonamassa Awarded in 2018 Joe Bonamassa can be safely filed in the “force of nature” category. Thirty years ago,…

Kochel Resonator

Big-Sky Steel

August 4, 2024 · Bob Cianci

Self-taught guitar builder Sean Kochel has always been a compulsive tinkerer, even as a child. Years ago, he and his…

Blackstar Artist 15

All ’Rounder

March 5, 2019 · Michael Dregni

Blackstar’s Artist 15 is a British amp with an American accent. Though designed and built around good ol’ American-flavored 6L6…

Martin GPCE Inception Maple

Bold Beginning

December 23, 2024 · Michael Shirek

Almost 100 years ago, Martin reinvented the flat-top box when it began delivering X-braced, square-shouldered, and oversized dreadnoughts. Now, the…

Blowing Free: Underground and Progressive Sounds of 1972

Various artists

March 10, 2023 · Pete Prown

The Cherry Red label is spot-on at packaging vintage U.K. rock, and this boxed set is no exception. This one…

Bad Company

July 6, 2016 · Pete Prown

Thanks to advances in audio tweaking, studio engineers can now take 40-year-old concert tapes and make them sound thrilling. Case…

Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter

Tremolo Transformed

December 27, 2017 · Rich Maloof

Tremolo is a simple effect: the amplitude, or volume, of an incoming signal is raised and lowered in pulsating waves.…

Dad’s Day 2017

VG’s Annual Ode to Fathers Who Inspire

June 13, 2017 · Vintage Guitar

This article originally appeared in VG August 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized…

Dave Wyndorf

Cover Up

May 9, 2022 · Greg Prato

Like most rock bands, the men of Monster Magnet found themselves with a lot of time on their hands once…

Fender’s Musicmaster and Duo‑Sonic

Little Brothers

August 28, 2018 · Terry Foster

Often forgotten, the diminutive student-grade duo went from concept to reality in short order to capitalize on teenagers taking up…

Fender Player II Series Telecaster

Twang Banger

May 30, 2025 · Dave Hunter

As the world’s first mass-production solidbody electric guitar fast approaches its 75th birthday, Fender continues to offer variations on the…

Echopark Ghetto Bird

Sweet Emotion

February 3, 2014 · Pete Prown

Echopark Ghetto Bird Price: $6,800 (as reviewed) Contact: www.echoparkguitars.com You know you’re holding something special when the guy who previously…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 047 Featuring Reb Beach

March 24, 2021 · Art Department

In the new episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan welcomes Reb Beach. The renowned guitar slinger for Winger and Whitesnake delves into his…

Lance Lopez

Supersonic Blues Machine

February 27, 2018 · Oscar Jordan

Lance Lopez is a guitar-slinging blues machine that burns like Texas hot sauce in August. He has scorched the festival…

The Fender “Korinacaster”

Double-Cut Kuriosity

October 5, 2015 · Ward Meeker

There’s irony in the fact that Leo Fender, creator of the first solidbody electric guitar to be mass-produced, wasn’t the…

Check This Action: Discovering Son House, Again

February 1, 2023 · Dan Forte

In 1964, blues enthusiasts Nick Perls and Phil Spiro, along with freelance photographer/writer Dick Waterman, made a pilgrimage to track…

Home Feature Image

Gibson 1958-’60 Les Paul Standard

A ’Burst by Any Other Name…

June 9, 2016 · Ward Meeker

One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twelve. That’s the number of Les Paul Standards Gibson produced between 1958 and 1960. Amongst guitar…

Nancy Wright

December 9, 2016 · Dan Forte

The ubiquitous saxophonist of the San Francisco blues scene for 30 years, Nancy Wright finally stepped to the fore and…

Carvin’s HH2 Allan Holdsworth

Off With Their Heads

April 29, 2016 · Phil Feser

Headless guitars and basses, which had their heyday back in the big-hair/thin-necktie ’80s (think Power Windows-era Geddy Lee), still have…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker

Hard To Handle

August 21, 2024 · Pete Prown

At the dawn of the ’90s, rock and roll was not in a good place. MTV had spurred a craze…

Vince Gill & Paul Franklin

Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys

June 19, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

Ray Price (1926-2013) created a distinctive hard-country sound in the ’50s, combining his powerful vocals with the iconic Cherokee Cowboys,…