Charis Acoustic SJ

Charis Acoustic SJ

Spirit in the Wood

February 1, 2016 · Chip Wilson

Charis Acoustic SJ Price: $4,800 (base); $7,100 (as reviewed) Info: www.charisacoustic.com. The spiritual aspects of music perhaps originate with the…

Lucinda Williams

Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You: A Memoir & Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart

March 20, 2024 · Michael Dregni

Turning 70 is a time for reflection, and Lucinda Williams offers two takes. Her poetic autobiography recounts her troubled, peripatetic…

“Unicorn”: Ca. 1910 Rafael Casana

November 17, 2022 · R.E. Brune

This extremely rare guitar has been dubbed the “Unicorn” by virtue of the fact that for all his fame, it…

Amptweaker’s FatMetal Distortion

Amptweaker’s FatMetal Distortion

Metal To the Pedal

April 14, 2016 · Tom Guerra

With all of the subgenres of heavy metal out there, it was only a matter of time before the pedal…

Frampton, Foreigner Join HoF

Rockin’ the Hall

September 8, 2025 · Bret Adams

Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Alexis Korner, and John Mayall became classmates during the 39th Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction…

Nick Moss

Backbone Shiver

July 11, 2024 · Oscar Jordan

On Get Your Back Into It!, guitarist Nick Moss and harmonica savant Dennis Gruenling combine blues, swing, and rock and…

  •  VG Q&A: Harmony History

     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…

    Read more >>

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ARTISTS

Andy Timmons

Back to the Bread ’N Butter

March 15, 2019 · Willie G. Moseley

After a decade pushing his craft to new creative realms, Dallas-based guitarist Andy Timmons is once again purveying original instrumental…

John Jorgenson

John Jorgenson’s Gypsy Jazz Orchestra

February 13, 2014 · Michael Dregni

Call it a “Gypsy jazz wall of sound.” John Jorgenson’s new album, Istiqbal Gathering, features the master guitarist backed by…

John Sebastian & Arlen Roth

Reimagine the Lovin’ Spoonful

February 6, 2023 · Dan Forte

In the ’60s, the Lovin’ Spoonful boasted one of the most impressive song catalogs in rock and roll. During the…

Jimi Bell

Lord of Shred

March 15, 2019 · Tom Guerra

Recognized worldwide as a master technician, southpaw shredder Jimi Bell first received widespread notoriety for his role sharing a nightclub…


CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS

VOXAC50-HOME-MAIN-BIG

Vox AC50

April 21, 2015 · Dave Hunter

Vox AC50 Preamp tubes: one ECC82 (12AU7), three ECC83 (12AX7) Output tubes: two EL34s, fixed-biased Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Volume, Treble…

The Höfner Model 485G

December 27, 2023 · Michael Wright

At the end of World War II, the town of Schönbach, in western Bohemia, became Luby, Czechoslovakia, and the people…

Italian Smorgasbord

The Goya Rangemaster 116 SB

April 27, 2020 · Michael Wright

American guitars made in the 1950s and ’60s constitute an almost-holy canon, yet most players in that era took their…

Fender Custom Shop Marks 30 Years

Dream Makers

May 9, 2019 · Vaughn Skow

In “official” terms, the Fender Custom Shop opened in 1987. But its story actually began February 1, 1985 – the…


NEWSWIRE

APPROVED GEAR

Yamaha THR10

Practice Perfection?

December 10, 2013 · Phil Feser

Yamaha THR10 Price: $299 Contact: usa.yamaha.com As a rule of thumb, practice amps are a compromise. Blissfully portable, they typically…

PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow

Multi-Functional Gem

January 17, 2014 · Phil Feser

While most guitarists are familiar with PRS (and some dream every day of adding one of the company’s Private Stock…

The Vox Bobcat V90

Feral Feline

January 18, 2023 · Bob Cianci

In the Swinging ’60s, Vox guitars were all the rage, particularly among British and European players. Though stylish and visually…

Boss SDE-3 Dual Digital Delay

Double Echo

November 14, 2025 · Pete Prown

Based on the famed Roland SDE-3000 rack unit, Boss’ SDE-3 combines some classic delay sounds of the 1980s, updated with…

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Sweet Sustain

Guitar Tech Craig’s Dino Sauce Compressor

April 16, 2020 · Chip Wilson

Imagine a Strat tuned to open G, a D chord being floated at the seventh fret with a Craftsman deep-well…

Music Man’s Hybrid Boogie Amp: The RD-50

December 26, 2017 · Paul Bechtoldt

Say hey, fellow guitarists! If you live in the Northeast, it’s great to have a hobby that doesn’t require going…

Thomm Jutz plays “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies”

November 27, 2023 · Vintage Guitar

Flatpicked English folk with an Appalachian touch Sparse and haunting, Thomm Jutz and his ’48 Martin D-18 share a solo…

The String Sling

Trapper Keeper

January 9, 2023 · Ward Meeker

Almost all of us have a guitar – maybe even two – we like a bit more than “the other…

Echoplex EP-2 Feature Home Page Vintage Guitar magazine

Echoplex EP-2

February 17, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Sam Phillips didn’t invent tape echo with his mid-’50s recordings of Elvis, but he just as well may have. So…

Fender ’68 Custom Vibro Champ Reverb

Small Wonder

August 11, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

Fender’s ’68 Custom amp series has become popular among pickers who love old-school looks and sounds but prefer contemporary modifications…

Oz Noy

Coming to America

April 27, 2020 · John Heidt

When Oz Noy mov-ed to New York City at age 24 in 1996, he was an established guitarist in his…

Mike Campbell

Got Lucky

December 8, 2025 · Bret Adams

Mike Campbell is one of the most-heard guitarists on earth thanks to his work in the legendary Tom Petty and…

J.D. Simo

Mind Control

December 8, 2022 · Oscar Jordan

The topic is psychedelic blues, and J.D. Simo is the man with the brown acid. Hypnotic wah, talking hollowbody guitars,…

Maestro Fuzz-Tone

December 8, 2015 · Michael Dregni

Fuzz. It’s the sound of fury, aggravation, indignation, and – considering the history of the most famous fuzzbox of all…

Tonk Brothers/Washburn 5241

January 23, 2017 · George Gruhn

From the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Gibson produced instruments under a variety of brand names for retailers like…

Andy Summers

Fresh Harmonics

March 8, 2023 · Oscar Jordan

Guitarist in the megastar band the Police, author, photographer, and solo artist Andy Summers can never be accused of having…

Paul Benjaman: Tulsa twanger

August 27, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

Funky solo from “Undercover of Night” On his new album, “My Bad Side Wants a Good Time,” Paul Benjaman serves…

Peavey’s Razer, Mystic, and Foundation

Peavey’s Razer, Mystic, and Foundation

Contrasting Chronologies

March 11, 2016 · Willie G. Moseley

Just a handful of years after Peavey turned the world of electric guitar upside-down with its T-60 guitar and T-40…

Producer Dave Cobb Draws Artists of All Ilks

Music-City tune Charmer

December 7, 2022 · Ward Meeker

Grandson of a Pentecostal minister, as a kid, Dave Cobb attended church every day, weaving old-time hymnal music into his…

Carla Olson & Mick Taylor

Sway: The Best of Carla Olson & Mick Taylor

April 12, 2023 · Bret Adams

There’s a timelessness to the earthy, powerful rock and roll captured in this collection. The blend of Textones founder Olson’s…

Selmer Modele Jazz and Stimer M.10 Amp

Electricfying Early Jazz

March 6, 2015 · Michael Dregni

In the 1930s, the quest for volume was the Holy Grail of guitar construction, as guitarists sought instruments to slice…

“Telecaster Bob” Bain

Studio Immortal

June 22, 2018 · Jim Carlton

For seven decades, he flexed his chops on more sessions than any living guitarist, laying down famous licks on Mancini’s…

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,…

Phil Campbell

Motöring Ahead

February 27, 2018 · Greg Prato

From 1984 through 2015, Phil Campbell was the guitarist in Motörhead, and for the last 20 years of the band’s…

Weymann Model 848

Mail-Order Rara Avis

October 8, 2019 · George Gruhn

From 1864 through the 1940s, H.A. Weymann and Son, Inc. made, imported, and sold marching band, orchestral, percussion, and other…

Classics: May 2022

“Wild” Jimmy Spruill’s ’66 Fender Jaguar

January 9, 2023 · Ward Meeker

Wilbert Harrison’s 1959 version of Leiber and Stoller’s “Kansas City” shares space at the summit of all-time blues/pop classics, its…

Boss DD-200 Digital Delay

Test For Echo

May 5, 2023 · Pete Prown

Delay pedals are essential, but there are so many different types – tape, reverse, tap, cascade, shimmer, analog and more.…

Heavy Trash

May 15, 2016 · Michael Dregni

Heavy Trash is an on-again-off-again band headed by Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray. They’ve released three superlative albums of their…

VG Hall of Fame 2012 Inductees

January 9, 2013 · Vintage Guitar
1963 Fender Twin Reverb Prototype

1963 Fender Twin Reverb Prototype

July 7, 2016 · Dave Hunter

The Twin has long been the flagship of Fender’s high-wattage amp lineup, and it achieved/retained that status through several iterations…

Have Guitar Will Travel 101 – Keola Beamer

June 21, 2024 · Vintage Guitar

In episode 101 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine! Host James Patrick Regan speaks with slack…

Steve Vai

Taming The Hydra

November 7, 2025 · Oscar Jordan

After finishing a sold-out tour with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson for the G3 Reunion concerts, Steve Vai joined Adrian…

Yes

Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

December 10, 2025 · Pete Prown

Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience…