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Magnatone and Slash announce the Lil’ Viper
ST. LOUIS, MO – January 22, 2026 – Magnatone is thrilled to announce the Lil’ Viper – the latest member of the Slash Collection. It’s a lightweight amp designed to…
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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…

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…
Martin Elegant, a.k.a. “Lula”
It’s an extraordinarily rare event to find a high-grade, historically significant mid-1800s guitar in a pawn shop, but that is…

1949 Bigsby Tenor
By the advent of the solidbody electric guitar in the 1950s, tenor guitarists were a dying breed. Consequently, electric tenors…

LA LOM
The Los Angeles League of Musicians
It’s Latin, it’s surfy, it’s twangy – okay, what the heck is it? LA LOM is an instrumental trio that…

Band of Heathens’ Gordy and Ed: Low-Key and Tasty!
Austin heroes play vintage-laden twofer Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi use a few of their favorite things to play…

Have Guitar Will Travel 064 – Luis Carlos Maldonado
“Have Guitar Will Travel” host James Patrick Regan speaks with multi-instrumentalist Luis Carlos Maldonado. Growing up in Arizona and SoCal,…
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both…
ARTISTS

Pat Metheny
The Jazz Guitar Prodigy at 60
His success is obvious – 20 Grammy awards, crossover popularity, loyal fans dating back 40 years. Still, his career path…

Jeff Senn and Crazy Aces
Dealing Out Twang
When you build guitars for a living, you might unwind with another hobby – say, beer-can collecting or crochet. Not…

Bob Spalding: Instrumental Legend
Ventures Guitarist plays “New Space” sampler With a catalog that extends more than 60 years, The Ventures just keep on…

Steve Dawson
Deeper Roots
Calling Steve Dawson a “roots” artist seems a disservice to a musician so eclectic and wildly talented. On Eyes Closed,…
CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

The Thompson Tremor Bender
Big Bend
Longtime musician and professional tool-and-die maker Don Thompson recently introduced the Tremor Bender, a retrofit stringbending device for most Fender-…

A Guide to Vintage Dobros
John Dopyera left National in 1929 to begin work on a secret project – a single-cone resonator guitar he believed…
Classics: December 2021
1967 Rickenbacker 360/12
Live-music fans who roamed South Florida from the early ’80s until the mid 2000s might recognize Craig Ball’s ’67 Rickenbacker…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone
Fuzz. It’s the sound of fury, aggravation, indignation, and – considering the history of the most famous fuzzbox of all…
NEWSWIRE
APPROVED GEAR
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Live Wire
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Narrow(field) Win
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Take Flight
Iconix Pickups Black Mass
Michigan Metal
Michigan may have given us the automobile production line, but Troy-based Iconix Pickups is the antithesis of an assembly line…

Altamira TD Birdseye Oval Hole
Djangology
Altamira Guitars has made a specialty of classical nylon-string, replica, and gypsy-jazz guitars. The latter are created with the same…

James Trussart SteelCaster
Rust Never Sleeps
James Trussart’s guitars exist on a plane of their own. With their peerless styling, the builder’s guitars-as-art are nonetheless fully…

Mesa/Boogie Mark Five: 25
Stage, Studio, Etc.
Mesa/Boogie Mark Five: 25 Price: $1,299 (list) Contact: www.mesaboogie.com Housed in teensy cabinets, so-called “lunchbox” amps are all the rage,…
WHAT ELSE IS NEW
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Black Light/White Noise
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All I Got and Gone

Echopark Clarence
Wayback Machine
Gabriel Currie’s Echopark Guitars have been played around the world by some of the music industry’s heaviest hitters. His is…

Kramer Aluminum-Neck Basses
When it entered the music-instrument market in 1976, Kramer Guitars made a big splash with an aggressive marketing campaign, big-name…

J.D. Simo
Remembering Duane Allman
Chicagoan J.D. Simo began playing professionally at age 10 and just five years later was on the road full-time, eventually…

Ty Tabor
Shades
King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor’s 11th solo album is the follow-up to 2018’s Alien Beans. Ten tracks and three bonus…











































