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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…

Josh Smith
Swingin’ Hard
Josh Smith has been very busy. When he’s not on tour or sharing production duties with Joe Bonamassa for artists…

Thurston Moore
Rock N Roll Consciousness
There’s always been a push/pull relationship between the worlds of hippie-inspired jam bands and punk-inspired indie rock. While the latter…

Jerry Miller
Back to Basics
Jerry Miller is back. For many he never left – especially admirers of his innovative playing with the legendary Moby…

Rodrigo Y Gabriela
In Between Thoughts, A New World
The Grammy-winning acoustic duo is back with a collection of consciousness-raising musical concepts, textures, and philosophies augmented by electronica and…

Avid Technology Eleven Rack
Rack and Roll
The proliferation of digital guitar gear grows by leaps and bounds every year as more players learn to love the…

Johnny Nicholas
Full-Circle in Louisiana
Johnny Nicholas has been playing “roots music” since long before the term existed. A childhood friend of Duke Robillard, he…
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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,…
ARTISTS

Shane Speal
King of the CBG
In an era of high-tech musical toys, there’s some irony in the fact that the cigar-box guitar – most primitive…

Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #9
Ray Cummins – Guitar Tutorial #9 For his ninth exclusive lesson for VG, Ray Cummins shows how to play a…

Jimmy James’ Psychedelic R&B
“Parlor Strut” on a vintage Harmony! Proving that ’60s import guitars can make cool sounds, Parlor Greens guitarist Jimmy James…

Dudley Taft
Raucous, Righteous Blues
With the recent release of his third solo album, Screamin’ in the Wind, guitarist Dudley Taft is serving notice that…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Ask Zac: Deep Dive on the Wide Range
Plus, Joey Molland’s Stratotone
I have collected several Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups from the early ’70s, and I’m curious about how to check…

Martin OM-18P Plectrum Guitar
While the most commonly played and collected Martin guitars have a six-string neck, the company has also made a number…

Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker
Basement Jams & Blown Speakers
1966 Heathkit TA-16 Starmaker Combo The days when a kid would break out the soldering iron and take on a…

Music Man’s Hybrid Boogie Amp: The RD-50
Say hey, fellow guitarists! If you live in the Northeast, it’s great to have a hobby that doesn’t require going…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Louis Electric Gattone
Play The Blues
Louis Electric Gattone Price: $2,595 (list) Contact: www.louiselectricamps.com Got the blues? Have we got the amp for you. Louis Rosano…

PRS SE NF3
Expanded Options
The latest result of PRS Guitars “reverse-engineering”/ reconsidering its own instruments, the SE NF3 is the first PRS to be…

Teye Apache
Sound, Feel, Mojo
One of three stunning L-series models (along with its brothers, the El Toro and Cleopatra) introduced by guitar builder Teye,…

Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo
Tone On The Go
Dr. Z Z Wreck Combo Price: $2,999 Info: www.drzamps.com. Originally designed as a head with a matching 2×12 cabinet, the…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer

The Steepwater Band
More Players, More Music
The Steepwater Band, based in Chicago, has been a trio for most of its career, purveying guitar-based Americana. Guitarist Jeff…

Tele of Two Legends
The Amazing Story of One Unique Fender
One day in the mid 1950s, up-and-coming thoroughbred jockey Bill Shoemaker was playing host to his friend, bandleader Hank Penny,…

Sundragon Super Dragon
The Sound Remains
A few years back, amp builder Mitch Colby and music producer Perry Margouleff teamed with Jimmy Page to introduce the…

Alligator Greats
Bruce Iglauer Recalls 50 Years of Blues Guitar
Anyone wondering why a young Bruce Iglauer was so impassioned about recording the raw, high-energy blues of Theodore Roosevelt “Hound…











































