• Super PickupGiveaway 2025

    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…

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MIKE MATTHEWS HOME-MAIN-BIG

Mike Matthews

The Special Effect at Electro-Harmonix

July 24, 2013 · Ward Meeker

As a child of four, Mike Matthews’ mother taught him how to play classical-style piano. Formal lessons followed; the child…

D’Angelico Excel SS

Classic Versatility

December 23, 2024 · Bob Cianci

The modern D’Angelico company specializes in hip semi-hollow guitars with a nod toward their namesake, legendary luthier John D’Angelico. Case…

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal

OD Treat

October 28, 2014 · Ray Wuolo

Dutch Kazoo Analog Fuzz Pedal Price: $225 retail Info: www.dutchkazoo.com It’s not easy for a new boutique overdrive or distortion…

Golden Age Pre-73 MkIII, Ear Trumpet Edwina, and Avantone CR-14

The Front End

July 5, 2018 · Pete Prown

Strike up a conversation with anyone who records music and they’ll talk your ear off about mics and preamps. If…

SynapticGroove Snapperhead OD/Distortion

SynapticGroove Snapperhead OD/Distortion

Dirty Deeds

May 10, 2014 · Oscar Jordan

With their first offering, Benjamin Harrison and Chrystal Gilles of SynapticGroove set out to fill the gap between heavy effects…

Jim Lauderdale

Harder Country

June 25, 2025 · Rich Kienzle

Jim Lauderdale has had three busy years. 2021’s Hope, which he calls “a very uplifting album,” emerged from the pandemic.…

  • Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings

    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

Jay Geils

More of That Jazz

April 13, 2017 · Johnny Zapp

Guitar maestro Jay Geils is a musical chameleon. In the ’70s, the J. Geils Band kicked out nine records that…

Jeff Plankenhorn’s “Alone At Sea”

January 9, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Tasty slide on a square-neck Oahu Singer/songwriter Jeff Plankenhorn’s music is a rootsy mix that embraces blues and pop while…

D.K. Harrell and His ’76 ES-335

October 29, 2025 · Vintage Guitar

B.B. King of the Blues Award winner plays “Liquor Stores and Legs” Winner of the B.B. King of the Blues…

Pop ’N Hiss: Lou Reed

Definitive Riffs- Lou Reed’s Rock ’N Roll Animal and Live

December 2, 2021 · Willie G. Moseley

Eccentric and enigmatic, composer/singer Lou Reed gained notoriety in the mid-’60s while fronting the NYC band Velvet Underground. Not particularly…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

1978 Dean Z

May 25, 2005 · Michael Wright

The mid 1970s were a turbulent time in guitar history. The American guitar establishment – at least Gibson and Fender…

The Hagstrom EDP46 DeLuxe

June 20, 2025 · Michael Wright

World War II was responsible for an unbelievable amount of what we today know as the modern world, from computers…

Nick Moss – clean and tasty on “Scratch N Sniff”

October 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Instro-rock, fully greased Get ready to have your funtime socks knocked off, ‘cuz this exclusive Nick Moss run through “Scratch…

Guild S-200 Thunderbird

July 14, 2020 · Michael Wright

Back in 1958, when Gibson introduced its revolutionary Explorer, Flying V, and mysterious Moderne, the public – rather like Queen…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Magnets and Magic The PAF – Yesterday, Today

Magnets and Magic

The PAF – Yesterday, Today

June 21, 2016 · Ward Meeker

When it came to launching a solidbody electric guitar, Fender beat Gibson to the punch with its Broadcaster model in…

Brown’s Guitar Factory Lap Steel

Steel Yourself

July 13, 2016 · Steven Stone

At the beginning of amplified music, one of the first instruments to get a magnetic pickup was the Rickenbacker “frying…

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo

Back to the Country

December 15, 2014 · Dennis Pernu

Gretsch Roots Collection: Jim Dandy Flat-top, Dixie 6 Guitar-Banjo Price: $239 retail (Jim Dandy Flat Top) and $499 retail (Dixie…

Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay

Return to the Space(y) Age

June 9, 2023 · Michael Dregni

Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Jim Lauderdale

Sweet Music

April 27, 2020 · Michael Dregni

“I consciously did not want to make a knockoff of a Gram record or an Elvis record.” Jim Lauderdale is…

Joe Negri

Royal Handyman, Jazz Legend

January 4, 2018 · Rich Kienzle

Long before becoming Handyman Negri on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” he had already been a teen guitar prodigy, first-generation bopper, and…

Misa Kitara

Axe of the Future?

August 11, 2014 · Pete Prown

Misa Kitara Price: $789 Info: www.misadigital.com. The guitar synthesizer has been around for more than 30 years and made significant…

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

The ‘‘Blackburst’’

Les Paul Standard of a Different Shade

January 12, 2016 · Ward Meeker

Among experienced (and often jaded) veteran guitar collectors, precious few things create an adrenaline rush – strange one-offs, oddball brands that never quite blossomed,…

Dominic Miller

Team Player, Solo Turn

April 3, 2024 · Pete Prown

A longtime member of Sting’s band, Dominic Miller is the quintessential team player, even on his own solo albums. His…

Radial Tonebone Shotgun and Mix-Blender

Swiss-Army Stompboxes

July 9, 2018 · Tom Guerra

Whether it’s due to shrinking pedalboard real estate, shrinking discretionary budgets, or both, stompboxes that serve more than one function…

Melissa Carper and Sad Daddy

May 2, 2017 · Rick Allen

With her bass making a dependable, rhythmic anchor, Melissa Carper sings like a bird soaring “where the wind blows high…

Charlie Starr: Open-Tuning Magic on “Azalea”

June 28, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Blackberry Smoke frontman on a vintage Gibson Enjoy a bit of the supremely tasty “Azalea,” played by Charlie Starr and…

Fender’s “First-Gen” Strat

August 9, 2016 · George Gruhn

The Fender Stratocaster is arguably the most popular electric guitar model in the world. From the time of its introduction…

Thomas Custom Guitars

Rarities from the Pacific Northwest

January 9, 2026 · Peter Blecha

Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better…

Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

January 13, 2016 · Vintage Guitar

For the December ’14 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine, Dan Forte interviewed Bill Frisell. Here’s a look at the many guitars used…

2022 May Issue on Spotify

May 5, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

This month we feature Steve Vai, Edgar Winter, Joe Satriani, Del McCoury, Gregg Wright, Sam Williams, John Mayall, Eric Clapton,…

Garage Guru

The Epiphone Crestwood

December 6, 2021 · Pete Prown

The original Epiphone Crestwood was built at Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory, alongside Les Pauls and other ’50s classics. A double-cut solid-body,…

Uli Jon Roth

Return to Tokyo

April 24, 2019 · Greg Prato

In the 1970s, rockers were cranking out now-classic live sets with stunning regularity – Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys in…

Tab Benoit

What 10 Sounds Like

October 4, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

I Hear Thunder marks a return to recording for Tab Benoit. With 13 years between albums, he is recording music that…

1949 Bigsby Tenor

March 7, 2023 · George Gruhn and Walter Carter

By the advent of the solidbody electric guitar in the 1950s, tenor guitarists were a dying breed. Consequently, electric tenors…

Harden Muddy Waters

Mojo Working

August 13, 2025 · Pete Prown

Harden Engineering is a small Chicago shop that specializes in hand-made instruments in a variety of shapes and sizes and…

Chris Stapleton

Higher

October 8, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

 Chris Stapleton’s distinctive style – blending elements of Outlaw country with high-caliber original songs, powerful vocals, and a minimalist, edgy…

Festive Frets

Suggested Listening for Your “Guitholidays”

December 17, 2021 · Vintage Guitar

Listen to VG’s “Festive Frets Holiday Play List” on Spotify! From the two-string refrain that kicks off Bobby Helms’ “Jingle…

Jimmy Vivino

Showtime!

December 6, 2013 · Ward Meeker

Growing up in New Jersey, Jimmy Vivino was in many ways a typical Italian-American kid. His life centered around family…

Vintage guitar magazine Silvertone’s 1449 and 1423

Silvertone’s 1449 and 1423

Classic Comeback

October 23, 2014 · Vintage Guitar

Silvertone’s 1449 and 1423 Price: $739 list/$479 street (1423); $629 list/$399 street (1449) Info: www.silvertoneclassic.com With an up-swell of interest…

Jerron Paxton

Country-Blues Scholar

August 12, 2025 · Pete Prown

Hailing from Los Angeles, Jerron Paxton is a remarkable bluesman, able to conjure sounds of the rural, interwar South through…

Guild Bluesbird

Flyin’ High Again

April 24, 2019 · Bob Cianci

The Guild Bluesbird has a long history that began in the 1950s with Guild’s answer to the Gibson Les Paul…

 VG Q&A: Harmony History

And an Archtop Mystery

January 15, 2026 · Michael Wright

I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony…

The Manakooras

Tiki Twang

June 7, 2023 · Pete Prown

Call it exotica or tiki twang, but the Manakooras play tropical instro that evokes visions of dreamy Pacific islands. Led…

Looking for the Magic: American Power Pop in the Seventies

Various artists

October 8, 2024 · Pete Prown

Power pop is a concoction of teen-themed vocals, a relentless beat, and wild, joyous guitars. With 74 tracks, this box…

Greg Koch

Blues

January 14, 2026 · Oscar Jordan

The Gristle Master returns with scintillating blues and the influences that made him the six-string slayer he is today. On…

Nate Najar

This Is Nate Najar

June 27, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Nate Najar plays accessible jazz on a classical guitar and applies classical technique to match. This album showcases the music…

John Wetton

1949-2017

March 12, 2019 · Pete Prown

Born June 12, 1949, British bassist and front man John Wetton died of colon cancer on January 31 at the…