• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

    2025 December Issue on Spotify

    This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free…

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  • 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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Jeff Plankenhorn

New Innovations For Lap Steel

December 26, 2017 · Willie G. Moseley

Jeff Plankenhorn has always made music his way, using stringed instruments he created. He picked up guitar at age 10,…

DiPinto Mach IV

Garage Days

August 10, 2016 · Pete Prown

There are times when a traditional Strat or Tele won’t scratch a particular itch, and you need a retro plank…

Alan Sparhawk

Lowdown

March 3, 2017 · Michael Dregni

Blame it on a guitar. For Low’s Alan Sparhawk, the inspiration behind the band’s latest album, Ones and Sixes, came…

Magnatone Varsity

Magnatone Varsity

Less is More, Plus

February 22, 2016 · Pete Prown

Magnatone Varsity Price: $1,699 (list); $1,799 (as tested) Contact: www.magnatoneusa.com Magnatone earned a cult of admirers in the mid 20th…

Lollar Pickups’ dB Humbucker

July 22, 2019 · Julian Burtell

Jason Lollar has been in business winding pickups for more than 20 years. While he’s most famous for his take…

Shredding and songcraft – Kire Najdovski

December 22, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

Talas guitarist offers taste of “1985” Kire Najdovski does a great take on “Close to the Killer,” from Talas’ new…

  • Paul Johnson

    Paul Johnson

    The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company

    This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s…

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ARTISTS

The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson

December 2, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Classic P-90 tones! The Gringo Pistoleros’ Larry Wilson shows us a bit of “I Can Still Remember When,” from the…

Status Quo’s Francis Rossi

On Guitars, Music, and Elusive Success

October 13, 2015 · Elliot Stephen Cohen

“I’m only as good now as I should have been when I was 25,” laughs Francis Rossi, the 64-year-old lead…

Jorma Kaukonen

Hot Tuna, Part 1

November 23, 2015 · Dan Forte

Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady have been playing music together for 53 years – 40 of them as…

Rick Vito

Disciples Of Greeny

July 3, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

A Grammy-nominated guitarist with an enviable career, Rick Vito has played with everyone from Bonnie Raitt to John Mayall and…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Epiphone “Bikini Logo” Amplifiers

Beach Party

January 3, 2025 · Dave Hunter

Collectors know well the desirability of Epiphone guitars from the years after Gibson acquired the brand. Further off the radar,…

’53 Gibson Les Paul Junior

May 2, 2018 · George Gruhn

Gibson records say the Les Paul Junior was introduced in 1954. But this instrument has tone and volume pot codes…

Guyatone Micro Effects

Little Boxes, Big Effects

April 29, 2020 · Phil Feser

Musical-instrument accessories importer Guyatone introduced its first series of Micro Effects three years ago to widespread praise. Knowing it was…

The Peoples’ Guitar

Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

July 10, 2017 · L.B. Fred

Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names,…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

PRS SE Silver Sky

Aiming Higher

February 7, 2023 · Bob Dragich

In a world filled with Strat-type guitars, it takes a lot to set one apart, let alone stand above. The…

Blackstar’s HT Series Pedals

Gain to the Third Power

September 17, 2013 · Phil Feser

Blackstar Amplification is known for its successful Artisan, Series One, and HT amp lines. Its new HT effects line includes…

Danelectro Doubleneck

Twice the Tone

May 30, 2025 · Pete Prown

  Jimmy Page. Don Felder. Even Elvis Presley. In fact, who amongst us hasn’t drooled over a 6/12 doubleneck at…

BC Audio Grand Prix 100

Hand-Wired Heaven

April 16, 2019 · Pete Prown

For the past few years, builder Bruce Clement of BC Audio has been getting attention for his killer-sounding and meticulously…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Tyler Morris – 1963 Fender Stratocaster

December 6, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Tyler Morris – 1963 Fender Stratocaster Tyler Morris guides us through his 1963 Fender Stratocaster in Fiesta Red. Follow Tyler…

Duke Robillard

Swingin’ with Singers

January 30, 2023 · Pete Prown

Robillard needs no introduction here, as he’s been one of the leading old-school players of the past 40 years –…

Rocky Mountain Slides Company Firecracker Aluminum Slides

Slick Slide

May 8, 2025 · Joe Bigley

Rocky Mountain Slides Company’s new “Firecracker Aluminum Slides” may look like other guitar slides but it is internally flared in…

Gibson’s Fabulous Florentines

Archtop Elite

January 3, 2025 · Wolf Marshall

The image of Elvis Presley on his 1968 NBC “comeback special” was, in a word, badass. Dressed in black leather…

Steve Morse

Return of the Dixie Dregs

April 14, 2020 · Pete Prown

Steve Morse has been revisiting the past. A member of Deep Purple since 1994, this year he reunited with the…

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter

License To Thrill

April 11, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

To a generation of music fans, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was one of the most recognizable guitarists of the early ’70s.…

Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’

Bluesy and the Folksy

June 28, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Meeting the demand for fans hankering for two titans of the blues to finally make an album together, Taj Mahal…

Ronnie Wood’s ’69 Hiwatt 100 DR103

January 3, 2014 · Dave Hunter

1969 Hiwatt 100 (Model DR103 Preamp tubes: four ECC83 Output tubes: four EL34 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Normal Vol, Brill Vol,…

Eric Krasno

Always Keepin’ On

October 4, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Groovemeister Eric Krasno continues to push his funky, soul-jazz narrative with guitar front and center. His new record, Always, features…

Vintage Guitar magazine Namm 2017

Winter NAMM 2017

January 23, 2017 · Vintage Guitar

Experience Winter NAMM 2017 with James Patrick Regan (1 of 42). Experience Winter NAMM 2017 with James Patrick Regan Experience…

Don Latarski

Electrifying

November 13, 2023 · Pete Prown

Don Latarski is well-known in the Pacific Northwest as a player, author, teacher, and composer. His acoustic playing is revered,…

Kristian Borring

Up From Down Under

September 1, 2023 · Pete Prown

Born in Denmark, Kristian Borring now lives in one of the most-remote major cities on earth – Perth, on the…

Fender Bassbreaker 45 Combo

Hybrid Love Child

March 31, 2017 · Oscar Jordan

Fender’s new nine-product Bassbreaker series combines popular traditional amplifiers with modern technology. Classic tones and flexibility are the name of…

Watkins Rapier 33

October 8, 2015 · Michael Wright

If you were an American teenager in the late 1950s or early ’60s, and you wanted to play the new…

Tony MacAlpine

Post-Modern Neo-Classical

May 7, 2016 · Oscar Jordan

If you’re going to play neo-classical guitar, nothing beats having a conservatory education. Guitarist Tony MacAlpine has that and is…

Brennen Leigh’s Heart-Tugging Honky-Tonk

September 5, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Shades of Norman Blake and Dolly Parton A student of the “Carter Scratch” guitar technique – melody on the low…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Binky Philips

July 15, 2025 · Ram W. Tuli

Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.2 of “Buy That Guitar,” presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli engages…

Dave Gant’s Amp Collection

Key Collection: Nashville pro Dave Gant fosters an impressive gathering of amps

May 7, 2024 · Ward Meeker

Dave Gant grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, and while the city of 17,000 will never be confused with Memphis or…

Sonny James's Epiphone Excellente

Epiphone Excellente

Sonny James' Epiphone Excellente

November 19, 2002 · Walter Carter

The Epiphone Excellente was the fanciest flat-top Gibson made in the 1960s, and to some ears it was Gibson’s best.…

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet

Bluesbreaker Redux

March 29, 2016 · Zac Childs

Marshall Handwired Series 2245THW Head and 1960AHW Cabinet 2245THW Prices: $4,800 (list); $3,299.99 (street); 1960AHW Prices: $2,180 (list); $1,399.99 (street)…

Vox Guitars Invade America

From Dartford to Sepulveda

December 18, 2014 · Peter Stuart Kohman

The Vox brand may be quintessentially English, but it made a huge impact in the U.S. Riding in with the…

Hound Dog Taylor, Son Seals, and Others

October 4, 2016 · Rick Allen

“I’m A Woman” sings Koko Taylor in her face-smacking distaff take on Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man” to open this…

Kinga Glyk’s four-string tightrope

May 24, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Star bassist shines on “That Right There” Superstar bassist Kinga Glyk brings everything from funk-fusion virtuosity to booty-moving grooves. With…

Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton

Alt-Blues Summit

February 4, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

Blues is a language of many dialects, and when regionalisms collide, sparks fly. So it has been since Texas six-stringer…

Tony Iommi

When Sabbath Rocked with Ronnie

February 3, 2022 · Greg Prato

Black Sabbath sounded reinvigorated and refocused on its first two albums of the ’80s – Heaven and Hell and Mob…

Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium

Various artists

January 24, 2024 · Dan Forte

This double-CD’s 40 tracks represent a wide swath of black roots music, from zydeco to gospel, from a Mississippi fife-and-drum…

Classics: December 2022

Reid Farrell’s Fender Tele

August 8, 2023 · Ward Meeker

In 1964, high-school freshman Reid Farrell bought a Fiesta Red ’59 Telecaster with help from his guitar teacher, John Andrews.…

Bob’s Playboy Pickers

May 6, 2016 · Rich Kienzle

Bob Wills was, first and foremost, a fiddler. But he began his career in childhood, strumming guitar and mandolin chords…

Kevn Kinney

Kevn Kinney

Small 'N Happy

December 14, 2015 · Ward Meeker

As any fan of Drivin ’N Cryin can attest, Kevn Kinney at his creative best surrenders little to the greatest…