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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…

Sigma by Martin
Following the Line
Long overlooked and relegated to an obscure corner of the collectible market, Sigma by Martin guitars have recently gained popularity…

Rich Robinson
Back on the Wing
Rich Robinson. All photos by Neil Zlozower. Emerging as grunge began casting a metaphorical pall over the pop music landscape…

Stephen Ulrich
Film Noir Guitar
The instrumental music of Big Lazy echoes of Hollywood soundtracks – scores from gritty detective flicks, suspenseful prison breakouts, and…

Alvino Rey’s “Mini” Gibsons
Alvino Rey’s 1936 Gibson mini guitar. From its beginnings, Gibson has built custom orders and unique instruments for specific artists,…

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…
Martin 00-18
They were days, before Kent State, when everywhere you looked, kids sat under trees, singin’ songs and swappin’ licks. Fresh-faced…
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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

Jedd Hughes
More Personal
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd…

Charlie Parr
A Muse From Olden Times
Charlie Parr makes new music from olden times. And he makes it the old way – not only using just…

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…
Brad Whitford
Aerosmith’s Master of Wicked Licks
Aerosmith’s 2011 Back On the Road tour was a two-month jaunt that consisted of 18 shows and took the band…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Star Board: Rudy Jaramillo
Rudy Jaramillo is quick to mention that his effects setup is very simple. “I go into my 1) Boss tuner,…

The Oud
Ancient to Modern
If Beatles guitarist George Harrison had used an oud instead of a sitar to give “Norwegian Wood” its distinct sound,…

The ’66 Vox UL 730
Beatle Juice
Despite the massive lust for early “copper-panel” Vox AC30 and AC15 amplifiers, one JMI-made line is far rarer – the…

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

Gibson’s Memphis ES-275
History Now
Take a quick glance at the Gibson Memphis ES-275 and you might think this is a venerable Gibson from decades…
Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker
Poles Apart
Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker Price: $139 list / $89 direct Contact: railhammer.com Developed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars, Railhammers…

The DoleSonic Vintage 108 Woody
Not Your Dad’s Boutique Amp
The guitarist’s greatest quests is most often that of the tone that resides within their heads. That quest drove guitarist…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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More Personal
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Rare Pioneer
Gibson Super 400 PN
The Gibson Super 400 Premiere cutaway acoustic first appeared in Gibson literature in the 1940 catalog, on a page showing…

Reverend’s Rick Vito Signature Soul Shaker
Built For Speed
Blues-/roots-rocker Rick Vito knows what he wants from a guitar, and the Reverend Soul Shaker is proof. An art deco-inspired…

1986 Dumble Overdrive Special
The exalted amps of Alexander Dumble have been legendary since he began building in the late ’60s, and have become…

Robert Randolph
The Sacred Steel, Family, and SRV
Living testament to the versatility of the pedal-steel guitar and a rarity in pop music, Robert Randolph adroitly addresses the…













































