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MusicNomad is running a fun Valentine’s Day challenge for guitar players — and it’s a good one.
Has Your Guitar Been KISSed? 💋🎸 This Valentine’s Day, MusicNomad is asking one big question: Has your guitar been KISSed? Show your guitar some love with a KEEP IT SIMPLE,…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from…
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Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. …

Italian Smorgasbord
The Goya Rangemaster 116 SB
American guitars made in the 1950s and ’60s constitute an almost-holy canon, yet most players in that era took their…

J.D. Simo
Psychedelia and Satan
Psychedelic bluesman J.D. Simo deploys impressive wah skill, blistering fuzz tones, and hypnotic grooves that will expand your consciousness. His…

Earl Slick
Martian Connection – and More
Brooklyn-born guitarist Earl Slick is best-known for his work with David Bowie, which spanned several decades. His recent participation with…

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

Ben Reynolds
Mudd Slinger
If you’re into heavy, swampy rock and roll, the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies first album in decades, Fall Line, will satisfy…

In Memoriam: Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine, co-founder of the influential garage/new-wave band Television, died January 28. He was 73 and passed after a battle…
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VG Q&A: Harmony History
And an Archtop Mystery
I recently received two guitars as gifts and am trying to learn more about them. The first is a Harmony I believe is from the early ’70s. Its serial number…
ARTISTS

Sonny Burgess
1929-2017
Sonny Burgess, one of the last of the great Sun Records stars, died August 18. He was 88 and had…

Al Joseph
Prog-Metal Creation
Al Joseph is breaking new ground in prog-metal. Known for his riveting guitar playing and instruction with Jam Track Central,…

The Sebastian ‘Burst
Inspirational Icon
The mere mention of a Gibson Les Paul Standard made between 1958 and 1960 commands attention. But one like this,…

Unsung: The Story of Marlo Henderson
The creation of great music is almost always a collaborative effort. From session players to engineers, producers, arrangers, and marketing…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 7
1965: Summer Of The Hollowbodies
The Way Back Beat survey of instruments designed by James Ormston Burns continues with the final products developed by his…

Sound City L/B 120 Mark IV
Preamp tubes: three ECC83 (12AX7), one ECC81 (12AT7, in the phase inverter) Output tubes: six EL34 Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Normal…

The España 6/12 Doubleneck
More is always better, right? Eleven is better than 10 on an amplifier, three pickups are better than two, and…

The Fender Blender
Extreme Fuzz
When Robin Trower segued from his wah-driven blues-rock riffing into the slowed, deep-blues groove of the second half of his…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight

Electro-Harmonix Soul Food, Nano Big Muff
Add OD, To Taste
Price: Soul Food, $89.25 (list), $62.81 (street); Nano Big Muff, $95.64 (list), $69.80 (street) Info: www.ehx.com Guitarists have an insatiable…

Eastwood’s Airline Bighorn
Goin’ “Old-Store”
Most everyone has seen a department-store-catalog guitar (or two!) from the ’60s or ’70s. With their funky, cool body shapes…

Fuchs Audio Technology Full House-50 Combo
The Art of the Deal
The Fuchs Full House-50 1×12 is a compact amp that strives to deliver a range of tones in a small…

IK Multimedia iRig HD
Pocket Rocket
Ain’t technology grand? With a device like the iRig HD, you can plug your guitar into an iPhone, iPad, or…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Five Alternative Club Classic Amps of the ’50s
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Remembering a Heavy Hero

1962 Gretsch Country Gentleman Custom
Atkins Oddity
By the early 1960s, the Fred Gretsch Company was riding high with an array of eye-catching electric guitars highlighted with…

Mesa Boogie California Tweed 6V6 2:20 1×10 Combo
Ankle Biter
Classic Fender tweed amps are known for fat, warm clean tones, but even more for their raunch when cranked. Mesa…

Collings Julian Lage OM1 JL
Great Expectations
The late Bill Collings and his craftsmen are renowned for their beautiful-sounding guitars. It’s apt they’ve connected with a beautiful-sounding…

Freddie King
Getting Ready/Texas Cannonball/Woman Across the River
A three-in-one reissue, this Freddie King package encompasses the LPs he recorded for Leon Russell’s Shelter label from 1971 to…














































