• 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…

    Read more >>

Moving Pictures: How Rush Created Progressive Hard Rock’s Greatest Record

Will Romano

January 25, 2024 · Bret Adams

Rush’s Moving Pictures is often regarded as the band’s masterpiece, and this book unpacks the creative efforts of frontman/bassist Geddy…

Mudhoney

Plastic Eternity

March 20, 2024 · Dennis Pernu

When it comes to writing music reviews, nothing’s more Lamesville than a critic swiping text from a label’s press release.…

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)…

The PRS HX 50 and HX 2×12 Cabinet

Jimi Jam

July 11, 2022 · Tom Guerra

Paul Reed Smith has earned a reputation building guitars of the highest quality. It wasn’t until just over a decade…

Gretsch Richard Fortus G6636T-RF Falcon

Flying Fingers

December 8, 2022 · Pete Prown

Through the decades, the Gretsch White Falcon has been spied in the hands of everyone from top Nashville session cats…

Harmonic Design’s VP-90

Harmonic Design’s VP-90

Tone with Intent

August 3, 2015 · Tom Guerra

Harmonic Design’s VP-90 Price: $100 Contact: www.harmonicdesign.net Harmonic Design must be doing something right. Specializing in replacement pickups, they boast…

  • 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,…

    Read more >>

NOW AVAILABLE!

CURRENT ISSUE

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

ARTISTS

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks

Minds Made Up

May 26, 2015 · Ward Meeker

Collaborations have rendered some of the greatest tunes in the history of music. Whittle the subject to “just” guitarists, and…

Frank DiBussolo

Jazz Master

January 14, 2025 · Steve Walker

Frank DiBussolo is an eight-time Grammy nominee who has been a featured soloist in the bands of Buddy Rich, Dizzy…

Ronnie Montrose

Remembering Ronnie

Phillips Finishes Guitarist’s Final Recordings

December 7, 2014 · Willie G. Moseley

Ricky Phillips has many fond memories of his friendship and musical association with Ronnie Montrose (1947-2012). The bassist is finishing…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet

Feast Your Ears

October 30, 2024 · Bret Adams

The Rolling Stones were back. Well, they’d never really gone anywhere, but most fans thought they’d lost their way with…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Vox AC100

Scream Machine

December 9, 2021 · Dave Hunter

The history of Vox amplifiers’ evolution through the early/mid-’60s directly tracks with The Beatles’ increasing needs to be heard over…

Dan’s Guitar RX: A ’57 Strat Goes Under the Knife

Battle-Scarred

January 14, 2025 · Dan Erlewine

B.K. Vaught recently walked into my shop with a vintage Strat that had been modified and refinished. While its changes…

The BBE Soul Vibe

Taking Soul to New Levels

July 1, 2020 · Eric C. Shoaf

The original Shin-Ei Uni-vibe became hugely famous after Jimi Hendrix used it with Band of Gypsys (and at Woodstock). Later…

Coral Electric Sitar

Coral Electric Sitar

April 6, 2016 · George Gruhn

For centuries, Indian musicians have utilized the resonant sympathetic strings of the sitar to create the unique sounds of classical Indian…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Swart Atomic Jr.

Splitting The Atom

April 23, 2019 · Phil Feser

When Swart decided to split their Atomic Jr. five-watt combo into a piggyback, they not only went from an 8″…

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Gretsch’s ’55 Falcon G6136-55

Look at that “Cadillac”

July 19, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Gretsch’s 1955 White Falcon was the pink Cadillac of guitars – quite possibly the most outlandish guitar ever produced. The…

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01

This Old Strat

October 2, 2015 · Oscar Jordan

Dogu Custom Electric Guitars’ MOS-01 Price: $2,200 (list) Contact: www.actionfigurestudios.com Improving upon classic designs is a consistent theme in the…

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…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Howard Roberts

H.R. Was a Dirty Guitar Player!

October 7, 2014 · Jim Carlton

In his prime, Howard Roberts played more than 900 studio dates annually and recorded the hippest guitar records of the…

Willie G. Moseley

Bakersfield Guitars: The Illustrated History

November 17, 2022 · Michael Dregni

No, this is not a history of Joe Maphis, Don Rich, Buck Owens, Roy Nichols, Merle Haggard, and the other…

2021 August Issue on Spotify

July 27, 2021 · Doug Yellow Bird

This This month we feature Ray Benson’s Asleep at the Wheel, Neal Schon, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and James Young, Paul…

Rush

Rush 50

January 14, 2026 · Pete Prown

The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong…

Otis Redding

Otis Forever: The Albums & Singles (1968-1970)

May 13, 2024 · Sean McDevitt

Otis Redding’s death in a plane crash in late 1967 created a monumental task for producer and guitarist Steve Cropper…

K.K. Downing

Preaching Metal

July 7, 2022 · Bret Adams

Classic heavy metal will never fade as long as K.K. Downing remains one of its torchbearers. Sermons of the Sinner,…

Xotic Effects RC Booster Reissue

Return of A Legend

October 11, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Twenty years ago, Xotic Effects unleashed its iconic RC Booster. With variable Gain, EQ, and Volume controls, it was a…

Rush

Moving Pictures 40th Anniversary

March 9, 2023 · Pete Prown

If “The Spirit of Radio” helped Rush kick open the door to FM radio, its 1981 follow-up elevated them to…

Category 5 Samantha

Hook, Line, and Tone

May 3, 2023 · Charlie Wilkins

Blues-rocker Samantha Fish (VG, December ’21) electrifies audiences with her high-energy shows. A decade ago, she began favoring Category 5’s…

VG Q&A: ’71 Mahogany Precision?

Plus, a ’60s Conrad 12-String and Converting a ’65 ES-345TD-SV to Mono

June 5, 2025 · George Gruhn

I have a Fender Precision Bass with a 1971 neck date and serial number 296XXX, and I’ve always suspected the…

Vox Giulietta VGA-3D

Unconventional Archtop

December 23, 2024 · Pete Prown

It may look like a conventional archtop, but Vox’s latest box offers something truly different. Within the Giulietta VGA-3D is…

MORLEYWAH-HOME-MAIN-BIG

The Morley Rotating Wah

Chromed Tone

February 3, 2014 · Michael Dregni

There was a time in the mythic ’70s when guitarists were real men and lugged around 15-pound Morley Rotating Wah…

DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC

January 15, 2022 · Vintage Guitar

DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC! Dan Rose used his ’58 ES-175 (with a PAF at the…

National Model N-720

Star of an Era's End

November 3, 2005 · Michael Wright

Most acoustic guitar players will likely show disdain for any instrument with a bolt-on neck. Even though there have been…

Scott Holiday

Reflection and Escapism in Rival Sons

June 10, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

On the new album by Rival Sons, guitarist Scott Holiday brings a power punch to the band’s most-potent album to…

Selmer/RSA Truvoice TV10

Shock and Awe

June 12, 2025 · Dave Hunter

If the British market needed a couple of decades to decide what form the guitar amplifier would ultimately take, we…

Marty Friedman

Wall of Shred

July 2, 2019 · Greg Prato

Between playing on Cacophony’s landmark 1987 shred album, Speed Metal Symphony, and Megadeth’s 1990 classic, Rust in Peace, Marty Friedman…

Mike Stern

Echoes and Other Songs

July 2, 2025 · Pete Prown

Mike Stern’s smokin’ new album is the last with longtime keyboardist and producer Jim Beard (Steely Dan), who died in…

Fretprints: Paul Simon

Postmodern Troubadour: The Simon & Garfunkel Years

October 26, 2022 · Wolf Marshall

Troubadours – poet/musicians active in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, played a defining role in Western civilization. The…

Raul Malo

Say Less

June 19, 2024 · Rich Kienzle

Raul Malo’s passionate, searing vocals helped define the Mavericks from the early ’90s on. Malo blended his Cuban-American roots into…

Jimmy Day’s 1950 Fender Super-Amp

Just Like Hank

March 11, 2024 · Dave Hunter

As fascinating as we might find any vintage amplifier, at its heart, it’s often just a dusty box of archaic…

Jenny Boyd

Jenny Boyd

Searching For The Source

February 26, 2016 · Dan Forte

Dr. Jenny Boyd is founder and director of Spring Workshops, “organizing psychotherapeutic groups for people in need of personal development.”…

Late 1920s Gibson L-1 "Florentine" Home page main

Late 1920s Gibson L-1 (Flattop)

Gibson "Florentine"

April 9, 2015 · George Gruhn

Because I don’t know what to call this Gibson guitar, I refer to it as a “Florentine,” for lack of…

BASSMAN-HOME-MAIN-THUMB

1964 Fender Bassman

February 17, 2016 · Dave Hunter

1964 Fender 6G6-B Bassman Preamp tubes: four 7025 (12AX7 types) Output tubes: two 5881 (a more-rugged 6L6 type), fixed-bias Rectifier:…

PRS_P22-HOME-MAIN-BIG

PRS P22

Split Personality

December 23, 2013 · Phil Feser

PRS P22 Price: $6,092 (as tested, retail), $3630 (street) Info: prsguitars.com. While PRS has for several years offered a piezo…

Taylor Baritone-8

Crazy Eight

May 10, 2014 · Pete Prown

The Taylor Baritone-8 Price: $3,998 list; $3,200 street Info: www.taylorguitars.com Some guitarists are happy with conventional guitars and basses. Others,…

Custom Kraft Red Fury

August 12, 2014 · Michael Wright

Most guitar aficionados are comfortable with the notion of guitar brands being made by the company of the same name.…

Arbiter Fuzz Face

January 14, 2016 · Michael Dregni

When Jimi Hendrix released his first album, 1967’s Are You Experienced, he launched a new level of guitar heroics as…

Davy Knowles

Manx Bluesman

March 8, 2023 · Dan Forte

  The Isle Of Man, which sits in the middle of the Irish Sea, measures 15 by 30 miles. The…